planet-9

[rusnak]

Ha, what a mistake.

I tried to join that forum, but they have a trivia question that you have to answer before they admit you.

"What is Porsche's newest sport utility vehicle"?

Oh, and if you answer Cayenne, then no....it's Macan. So you obviously are not Planet-9 material. Reminds me of the joke about the difference between a Porsche and a porcupine.

[jimtweet]

Originally Posted by rusnak

Ha, what a mistake.

I tried to join that forum, but they have a trivia question that you have to answer before they admit you.

"What is Porsche's newest sport utility vehicle"?

Oh, and if you answer Cayenne, then no....it's Macan. So you obviously are not Planet-9 material. Reminds me of the joke about the difference between a Porsche and a porcupine.

His prick is out the outside

[mooty]

no real cayman driver's on that site anymore. it used to be good. in 2007 or so.

[DRACO A5OG]

R, at least you did say Touareg :-P

[rusnak]

J, hey now that Touareg is not a bad little car.

I am just now digging into the Cayman. I'm really struck by the advanced engineering, but really low build quality compared to our air cooled 911s. Fit and finish is great, but you can only get so righteous with plastic screws, snap in parts, and plastic everywhere. I think if anyone was going to be snobby, it should be the air cooled guys. But thankfully that is not the case.

[Justin@Athens]

Originally Posted by rusnak

J, hey now that Touareg is not a bad little car.

I am just now digging into the Cayman. I'm really struck by the advanced engineering, but really low build quality compared to our air cooled 911s. Fit and finish is great, but you can only get so righteous with plastic screws, snap in parts, and plastic everywhere. I think if anyone was going to be snobby, it should be the air cooled guys. But thankfully that is not the case.

I thought the same thing about the Cayman. But you can really say the same thing about the 911 now too. They are pinnacles of engineering, put together with the fewest and cheapest plastic screws and tabs that they can integrate. There really is no reason for it either, other than cost savings. I find the the build quality up through the 993 to be one of the most significant perks of owning a Porsche. Things from this era were meant to last, and could be easily disassembled and repaired vs. just replaced.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by mooty

no real cayman driver's on that site anymore. it used to be good. in 2007 or so.

Pretty much. I sponsored it in 2009 and 2010. After that I became a bunch of waxers.

They once wrote a differential article that was a total and complete joke. Guy took apart my diff and Quaife's, took pictures of the parts, and then basically said," they are both nicely made". Zero technical content to speak of.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by rusnak

I am just now digging into the Cayman. I'm really struck by the advanced engineering, but really low build quality compared to our air cooled 911s. Fit and finish is great, but you can only get so righteous with plastic screws, snap in parts, and plastic everywhere. I think if anyone was going to be snobby, it should be the air cooled guys. But thankfully that is not the case.

Rennlist is well populated with Cayman guys. Either of the two forums under water pumpers will get you whatever answers you need.

[Nick Triesch]

Air-cooled cars did have great build quality but some really dumb engineering. Like...front and rear hood struts really hard to replace, air filter really hard to replace, factory A/C that just never cooled down our cars very well with those two front tiny air vents, flow-through ventilation on your face that never happened!!! All other 1985 cars were able to put air on your face!!!! The ventilation system from Hell!!! Still do not have it mastered. Our tiny cars are filled with a bunch of air fans for what? The Bug had a bigger interior and the forced air would melt you. It is true, our cars are hand made but there is something to say about the wonderful Cayman cars.

[rusnak]

My 3.2 911 is in "Sport Mode" pretty much all of the time.

The Cayman S has a Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang style of button that you push and it goes into sport mode.

The Cayman also has heated bun warmer seats, and a real cup holder that is to dieeee for. The 911 only has that air cooled scream, shifting that feels like a shotgun bolt sliding into place with authority, and no PASM so you might actually spin and crash. The Cayman looks really cool and has a thingy that filters dirty air coming into the car.

[Tremelune]

Interesting. I've been on Planet-9 for years, as I am an aspiring Cayman owner. It reminds me very much of 6speedonline.com...Lotta nonsense, no tech.

I see this divide and evolution often...At first, the community is people who have the money to buy a new car and probably don't want to deal with fixing it. It's all chat about mods and "lifestyle".

Then they depreciate to the point where the yokels get in and things start breaking. This is the phase Caymans are entering, and my guess is that this has precipitated the move to Rennlist, where tech talk is the norm.

Soon they'll be where 944s were a decade ago—dirt cheap to buy, with a wealth of technical knowledge online and people doing very interesting builds. Eventually, possibly, they'll be where the 911 is now, rapidly appreciating with everything going to restoration and talks about the "correct" gear shift knob...

All these forums are a business. They used to be run by enthusiasts. It's a bummer.

[rfloz]

Originally Posted by Nick Triesch

Air-cooled cars did have great build quality but some really dumb engineering. Like...front and rear hood struts really hard to replace, air filter really hard to replace, factory A/C that just never cooled down our cars very well with those two front tiny air vents, [and] with a bunch of air fans for what?

Now, if you deleted all that nonfunctional crap, along with your sunroof, of course, you'd have a real sports car and it would be more than 100# lighter. Roughly equivalent to 10 more horsepower. Win-win.

Sorry about the highjack, I couldn't resist.

[impactbumper]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

I bet you could dump a large amount of weight from a Cayman ...............................

You can put a golden saddle on a donkey, still a donkey

[winders]

Originally Posted by impactbumper

You can put a golden saddle on a donkey, still a donkey

You can call a Cayman a lot of things, but a donkey isn't one of them. Unless, of course, you think your Carrera is a sloth.

[impactbumper]

Originally Posted by winders

You can call a Cayman a lot of things, but a donkey isn't one of them. Unless, of course, you think your Carrera is a sloth.

I think my Carrera is a piece of ****. I owned a Cayman S myself, and it was a figurative speech.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

I bet you could dump a large amount of weight from a Cayman ...............................

Yes sir, you are very right.

I can give you guys my own impression of the '11 Cayman S, but my opinion is worth only the price you paid for it.

First of all, the torque is really very massive. I'll post the tech specs here if anyone is interested.

Manual has a 6-speed. I would advise getting the "S" model, not the standard. I would probably also advise waiting for the GTS model to come down in price in say 5 or 6 years and look for a low mileage example. The trick is to buy all of those add-ons, which can amount easily to 50% of the base price, for free.

The sport seats are fantastic. Not on a long trip fantastic, but track or DE fantastic.
Sport Chrono is stupid. But Sport mode is worth every penny.
Limited slip diff is worth every single penny and then some. IMO it adds at least a grand to the value of the car.
The S model onboard computer is pretty cool. Once you get used to using the function lever on the steering column, it becomes second nature and offers quite a lot of information, and is better than using Mercedes Benz style rocker switches on the steering wheel.
The overall size is not too large. If anything, it's the closest Porsche has gotten to the '80s 911s in 30 years of making cars.
You have to see the car in person to get a good feel for the shape of the flares, scoops, etc. Really quite a handsome car.
I already mentioned all of the plastic everywhere.
Sunset Porsche has a neat LED upgrade kit to switch all of the internal lights to LED. I think I'll buy that. I might buy the LED fog lights too. But I'm not going to do the fog light delete. Anything you can do to increase forward visibility on dark roads is a good thing.
Dont ask about gas mileage. The car is thirsty.
Sound in Sport mode is delicious, especially at WOT.
Driving impression is very very very similar to a 914-6. Even turn in feels the same. You apex on the brakes, and trail throttle oversteer, but really put the car into a 4 wheel drift and steer with brakes and steering input.
There is almost no good way to lift the car without a hydraulic lift. There are a lot of undercarriage aero bits, and suspension parts that you can damage with a jack.
The rear axle is a piece of art.

If anyone is interested, I'll post pics of the car.

[impactbumper]

so we are talking 981 then? Different story.

[rusnak]

Not the Spyder.

[Drisump]

Purely a third party account....a buddy with a 993 (former SC owner) had a GT4 on order. He was offered the opportunity to test out a car for two days. His impressions....very fast, great seats, beautiful shift, but very dead (little feel) steering compared to the hydraulic ps or non powered steering. In his mind this was a deal breaker, a Porsche, any Porsche, should have fantastic steering feedback and he felt this car didn't offer it. Don't shoot me....I'm just relaying a real account from the perspective of a guy who has had the opportunity to drive few decades of Porsches (GT3's, RS's, Turbos of various eras, etc). Guys, keep your cars. Cheers

[seafeye]

I really enjoyed my Cayman. Yes. I'm sick of all the plastic. But the bright side is that plastics have come a long way in 30 years. Like any corporation today, we are being controlled by bean counters. Zero ethics. Zero morals. Zero respect for employees. Just concerned with the bottom line.
Porsche culture was that if you take care of your employees first, suppliers second, your customers third, your shareholders would be automatically be taken care of.
Seems in today's culture It's shareholders first. End