Proud Father

[g59tester]

I'm just surprised it took sooo long for you Cayman guys to disagree with me..

All I can say is that at 70 MPH my turbo is a lot quieter than my Cayman ( both Standard exhausts ) I do agree about tyre noise, some of which is down to tread patterns... I believe.

With regard to numbers in the club 20 years ago, yes I think there were fewer members because we had our own very active Titanic 944 website/Forum . Some days I was getting 40-50 posts a day!

John and some of the other stalwarts who still have their 944s from then like Pete, Tony, Tref will vouch for that. We organised out own Xmas lunch and on a number of days we organised Rolling road days

PS, Jeff having owned your Cayman that length of time I'm sure you know the engine is also nearer your head!

Eddie Buckley

1988MY 944 Turbo

2007 Cayman S

 

[John Sims]

It's a very different world to 20 years ago, too....

I think that is a fair point. Also, as the owner of Porsches then bastard child, that made the 944 community slightly more rebellious and tightly knit perhaps?

There were certainly less models and registers then, and the 356 community were still part of the club. I don't actually think we have many more "Members" than back then even though we have more people who pay subscriptions and hold membership cards?

 

[John Sims]

... I don’t recognise your comment that unlike your 944 our Cayman’s are unloved! [] Plus, unlike the 944 the Cayman hasn’t been around long enough to achieve “classic” status so the comparison is a bit unfair.

Happy days. I rather like the fact that the 944 and (even worse) 924 were looked down on back in the day. I bought my 944 because it was then cheap power, that was almost despite the Porsche badge, which has always had snob connotations. It was through the 944 that I got to appreciate the merits of Porsche and became an enthusiast of the brand rather than just the car.

Imagine our joy over the Boxster and subsequent Cayman which provided a diversionary target for the 911 snobs "Oh! So you don't have a 911? I'll go and talk to these people over here then".

I do see, and love, the Cayman for being, in my eyes, the modern 944 with perhaps the Boxster the 924. I love the way the architecture is better than that of the 911 but it is still (or was) held back so it didn't eclipse its big brother. I also like, because of that, it has managed to some extent keep the price of the Cayman to a level.

 

[Dylan1]

I too enjoyed my first porsche the 944 2.5 in 1987

as for the cayman being held back for the 911 I believe that was the case certainly with my great 987 S but as I’m awaiting delivery in the new year of my GTS 4.0 with the same BHP as my 3.8 991S I suspect those days are over !

I believe my new one will be as quick as most 911 apart from GT and turbo models in the real world

let’s see!

 

[John Sims]

... as for the cayman being held back for the 911 I believe that was the case certainly with my great 987 S but as I’m awaiting delivery in the new year of my GTS 4.0 with the same BHP as my 3.8 991S I suspect those days are over ...

I'm not so sure. When you read the spec comparisons on the Porsche configurator it seems there are some very precise and Germanic differences between models, and performance, even when dealing with the same displacement. Even the GT4 RS (the last hurrah of the combustion engine in a Cayman?) seems oddly short of the GT3? My theory is, if they went full "Sphericals to the Wall" with the Cayman the layout is such that it could eclipse the GT3. 10 years ago Porsche was saying the 911 configuration had reached its zenith from the point of evolution for racing (never say never) and you got the impression they really wanted to use the Cayman but the marketing department wouldn't let them.

Who knows what the future will bring though as isn't an electric 911 just a 2+2 electric Cayman? [8|]

 

[g59tester]

John, I'm with you all the way with your comments. My White 952 "Silverose" cost , I believe £44K in '88. The performance and price wasn't far short of the contemporary 911. Needell, thought the 944 turbo was one of the best handling cars he had ever driven

Eddie Buckley

 

[Motorhead]

I’m also in agreement with John’s comments. I’d also point out that Porsche finally has taken a leaf out of the Cayman’s book because the 911 RSR race car has it’s engine positioned in front of the rear axle!

It’s no secret that the next Cayman will be a full EV in which case the term mid-engine becomes redundant. Porsche are still saying that the 911 will remain ICE powered, but for how long, and of course they won’t be able to sell the car in the UK beyond 2030? Apart from the fact that potential UK customers are going to be very disappointed, the loss of the extensive and very profitable 911 range will be of significant concern to the dealers. It’s going to be interesting to see how Porsche deal with Cayman/Boxster-911 placement in the electric era.

Jeff

 

[g59tester]

Jeff, on page 10 of Nov Porsche Post there is an article about Porsche's carbon -neutral fuel being produced in Chile. To quote other bits "Our Icon,the911, is particularly sited to the use of efuels" and "efuels will make it possible to reduce fossil CO2 emissions in combustion engines by up to 90 %" Basically they are using green hydrogen combined with CO2 to produce Synthetic methanol

Having said all that, on the face of it, Boris's 2030 ban on ICE's would preclude the 911 being sold in this country

Interesting stuff!

Eddie Buckley

 

[Motorhead]

Yes, I was aware of Porsche’s carbon neutral fuel programme Eddie, which may or may not give them some sort of dispensation in certain markets, but as you point out it doesn’t help the UK market if Boris goes ahead with his pledge to ban IC engine cars here from 2030.

Plus, even if it can be supplied in volume (questionable?) how will its use be enforced unless the car is only able to run on this type of fuel? Going forward very rapidly, nearly every fuel station would have to have at least one pump supplying carbon neutral fuel which could present a significant logistical problem. Although I applaud Porsche’s efforts and commitment I can’t see that it will prolong significantly the use of ICEs for private car use, but it should at least enable the continued use of such engines in the race car environment and so hopefully we’ll still be able to enjoy the sound of high-revving classic car engines for some time to come.

Jeff

 

[John Sims]

.... Porsche's carbon -neutral fuel being produced in Chile ...

Building a plant, the international supply infrastructure and shipping from Chile? That doesn't sound exactly carbon neutral to me unless this new fuel actually sucks CO2 out of the air.

The most environmentally friendly cars are existing ones as, if you keep using them, you don't have to make new ones. But that doesn't make headlines, sound bites or money for manufacturers. []

 

[geoff Ives]

'Quote. 'It's a very different world to 20 years ago, too. How many members did the Club have 20 years ago, out of curiosity?'

'Between 12K and 15K Members but we knew each other and met regularly. For instance Cornbury House was open on the 1st. Sunday of every month except January.

I could go on for a very long time but I will spare you that tedium.

Geoff Ives, Former Director, Regional Organiser, Register Secretary and now a 'Yesterday Man'.

 

[g59tester]

Jeff, maybe you'll be able to convert your redundant heating oil tank and get a tanker delivery to fill you up every 2 months or so....

Being of 1946 vintage I hope I will still be around in 2030! Being an engineer i'm certainly going to miss the "excitement" of a high revving petrol engine. However I have been fortunate enough to witness Group B rally cars driven in anger, many iterations of F1 engines, and even enjoyed the world championship for R/C cars when they were in their Heyday .

The Highlight was being at Le Mans in 91 with my son to hear the Mazda 787B with Herbert/ Gachot/ Weidler going through the stands on the Start/ finish straight... full chat. Hearing has never recovered as my dear wife will testify

EV racing is clearly quite close but seems very anodyne.... i cant see myself paying money to see that!

Eddie Buckley

 

[Motorhead]

Ha,ha! Unfortunately I’m on gas Eddie … although maybe that’s not looking so good when the Govt. turn it off! []

What a coincidence! … I’m a similar vintage (1947), a retired consulting engineer and I was also at LeMans for all the years when the Mazdas were running and recall us all cringing at the low frequency pulsations of the Wankel engine when we were over the (old) pits and in the stands. In their earliest spec I reckon that they were the only cars you could hear all the way round the circuit from the pit straight!

Happy days, and like you I can’t generate any enthusiasm for EV racing in any form … oversized Scalextric racing! My specialisation was sound and vibration in mechanical structures, much of my work involving vehicles, and so for me the critical “sound element” is missing with EVs, no matter how impressive their performance.

Jeff

 

[g59tester]

Hi Jeff,, that is a coincidence !. Ironically i'm an Electrical Engineer but could never get excited about DC.... it was always tooooo Dangerous! I only retired in the last few months . in the last 14 years I was working in Renewables which I found very interesting.... and allowed me to buy my Porsches

I went to Le Mans11 years in a row and was eventually put off while camping with PCGB! I was accused by the owner of a brand new Black Boxter of causing some dust whilst putting up my tiny 2 man tent. Needless to say by the end of the weekend his car had about 5mm of dust on it!

Which region are you? i'm Cotswold, Hereford and Worcester, and Gloucester! yes I do live in the Bermuda triangle

Eddie

 

[JohnCRS]

Perhaps we ought to start an 'Old Cayman Codgers Rant' thread. We can go on about anything as long as each post has the word Cayman somewhere in the text. We could wave our pension books to join but I realise that, unlike 20 years ago, we are now digital. Actually, we could have a thread for different age groups - oldies don't moan more, they just shout and have less left to lose if they upset someone - then we could have a competition between the groups for the longest whinge. We could start with the youngest complaining how the club is run by a bunch of old codgers who have no idea about the modern world, and the old'uns ranting about the upstarts with their new fangled phones and ideas of electrickery. We can then meet in the middle with a bun fight at Cornbury House protesting about the ridiculous cost of 'paint to sample'

Sorry I can't develop this idea further, but I'm off to take my medicine and its over 200 miles away across some rather choice roads!!

By the way, welcome John. I do hope you and your son enjoy his car. Everything has grown vastly more complex, the model range, the purchasers and their motivations. The benefit is that there is more chance of finding others to share your particular interests, but it sometimes takes a while.

 

[Motorhead]

Great idea John! Maybe we should also have an annual prize for the forum post which has gone furthest off-topic too!

*** Eddie … you’ll see that my post includes my location and associated Regions ***

Jeff

 

[John Sims]

Perhaps we ought to start an 'Old Cayman Codgers Rant' thread. We can go on about anything as long as each post has the word Cayman somewhere in the text....

Pretty much standard in the 944 area of the forum. I'm really not seeing an issue.

 

[AndrewCS]

my old Freelander is a better option for the lanes around Gower

Sure is, did exactly that twenty years back []