ORIGINAL: John H Cliff, I bought mine new, with a view to keeping it for 10 years or more (whether or not that happens remains to be seen) so I took the view that I would buy exactly what suited
me, and to hell with conventional wisdom, mush of which is perpetrated by the dealers for their own benefit. I therefore ordered the car virtually bog standard, with the only options being cruise, heated seats and badge delete. By going for the 2.7 with 5 speed box, it was the only option which kept the car out of the £400 per year tax band, a point which will get more useful as they continue to hike the top rate. I don't like this craze for ever bigger wheels, it can make the car look like a cartoon if you overdo it, and I like the look of the 17" wheels. As the car has a sizeable appetite for tyres, the 17" tyres are cheaper, and I prefer the handling with less grip anyway as the steering has more feel. Neither do I like leather to sit on, so the Alcantara seats were almost a bonus for me, and the standard seats are plenty good enough. Noteworthy that you have to go all the way to a GT3 to get Alcantra as standard! The standard radio/CD player is rubbish, and the upgrades are none too hot either, and ludicrously expensive, so I just listen to the engine instead. £100's of pounds for metallic paint? ... I think not, Guards Red looks just fine to me. In short I wanted the
car ... not the endless toys and upgrades, and besides the Cayman feels better to me as a simple light car, more in keeping with how Porsches used to be before they became luxury jewellery. Mistakes? If I was ordering again I would go for the climate control (which of course should be standard anyway) as the manual system is a bit of a fag to use. The car is a bit too quiet, so I might consider the sports exhaust (I am distrustful of most aftermarket ones). Other than that the car is a joy to own and use. It is by some margin the best car I have ever owned, and the best Porsche too (Ipreviously had a 964 and a 968). I drove it back to back with a pals new 997 C2, and we both concluded it had by far the better road feel, if not perhaps as much grunt. Speaking of which, the 2.7 has more than enough pace for todays road conditions, and regularly gives me over 30mpg in normal use. Even the Cayman is not perfect, nothing is, but even if money was not an issue, I simply cannot think of another car available today that I would replace it with. Nuff said really! [
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] John H