crw

1. Since I don't track my cars, any real advantage to an "S" over a base car?

2. Are sports seats a must?

3. Agate grey vs. Black - is the grey too drab or do those that have it like it or have regrets?

4. An must have options to have?

Chester7

Can't answer some of your questions since I love bright colors and like as much power as I can get. A base can be the very best value vs the S and GTS.

Must options for me:
1. Upgraded lights (either xenon or LED upgrade are much better than base)
2. Bose radio- I got the base radio and regret it
3. Dual zone climate control
4. Heated seats
5. Cooled seats- I live in Texas

NH718

I have the similar questions as the OP. I'll be using my Cayman as a daily driver and plan on using it for long road trips. I'm not sure about the Power Steering Plus option. Would you recommend it? What other options should I get?

Frank237

I worked too long and too hard for my money to waste it. My take on options is probably a unique one.Unless the option price is FAIR, I'd pass it up.

The nearly $4K 14/18 way seats are IMHO a waste of money. I have the 2 way Sport seat and it's fine.

Dual Zone A/C. I'm alone in the car 95% of the time.
Toggling a switch up and down for a few seconds isn't a huge deal for me versus toggling in a temperature setting.

HAPPY with the $990 BOSE upgrade.

HAPPY with the std Bi-Xenon lights. On two lanes still have folks flashing me when on low beam, so they seem to be bright enough.

If the S option wasn't so costly, I would have liked the extra 50 HP. But S models were all heavily optioned and I refused to go over $70K for a loow mileage/Demo car. So finding an S was nearly impossible. I came from a 450 hp Gen 6 Camaro and I think the base 300 HP engine in the Cayman is fine.

Also very happy with how the base cars, std suspension reacts and how the car handles overall. If You are NOT tracking the car I see no need for the upgraded suspensions offered.

My interior is blk with chalk seat centers, I like a second color to break up the black interior. I also have seat heating/cooling. I would not have spec'd cooling but it does seem to make things more comfortable. Certainly a good option for a warm climate.

I was not set on either transmission choice. PDK was fine, same for the 6 spd MT. I ended up with a manual and I am really liking it. I feel more connected to the car, but that said...the PDK is brilliant as well.

I'd suggest driving an S model and a Base car too. That may help with your decision. I think it's tough to go wrong with either flavor or any COLOR. They all seem to look great on this body style.

Good Luck!

ZXTT95

What do you like in a car, first? If you're buying CPO or have a tighter budget, plan to accept missing some features you may want.

In my limited experience so far, I can barely find opportunities to use all of the base power, unless I drive a few miles into rurul areas. With PDK, this a ~4.5s to 60 car - unless you're used very, very fast cars, I expect you will find legal speed limits come and go with surprising quickness. I don't notice anything in the way of lag to complain about - perhaps I'm just not that sensitive to it or don't have any high power, non-turbo cars in my history to compare to.

I have Agate Grey and it was one of my wanted colors - I'm not sure how to describe these kinds of mid to darker grey colors, but perhaps understated menace would be one way. I feel that I can see the lines of the car, and that for me anyway, this kind of color works with different wheel colors.

Desired features for me, to use as a DD:
14-way seats, as much for the memory function as the seats themselves. If I was ordering the car I would be very tempted to get 18-ways - they always felt great when I tried them. You're unlikely to find 18-ways in used base cars.
Premium package features - climate control, seat heating, dimming mirrors/auto wipers, upgraded headlights.
Entry and Drive (didn't get this one :-()
LCA
GT Sport Multifunction wheel (I got multifunction, but not GT Sport)
PASM - the one car I drove with this (actually the 20mm lower version) felt planted like nothing else. It also had 19" wheels, so was probably close to optimal. I didn't get this - it seems to be quite rare outside of the GTS, especially on base cars. Too bad.
PSE (did not get - not terribly common on pre-19 base cars, but will be on every 19+)
Two-tone leather (this is the $650 leather option - it improves the look and feel of the cabin by a surprising amount - mine has black and chalk, so mostly black with some chalk to provide contrast)
Bose - better than the base stereo, I think and certainly good enough for me.
Connect (for Apply CarPlay) - Connect is standard on 2019+, but CarPlay is not so be careful.
Extended Range Fuel Tank (base) - not going to be a deal breaker of course, but life will be better with fewer trips to the gas station, I figure.

Wheels:
This is a tricky one. I have Carrera S painted platinum. They look good, but I would have been quite happy with 19" wheels and if I was speccing this new I would certainly not pay for 20" wheels. I would possibly get standard (for base) 18" and buy the best aftermarket 19" I could afford.

Sport Chrono:
A must have for some, but for DD PDK drivers you don't get much for the money, IMHO. The dial and individual mode is nice, the dynamic transmission mounts are nice. I'm not sure I'd ever use launch control, Sport Response or Sport+. For a manual car, this does add rev matching, which I would want since I've never been able to heel and toe.

Navigation - use your phone, unless it's free (ie. on a used car).
Connect+ - I think you a subscription to something to get any value from this.
Power Steering Plus - mine has this, I'm not sure I'd know if I didn't have it, but I think its a net plus for me anyway. I wouldn't base a decision on it.
Folding mirrors - well, I guess if you really need it.
Cooled seats - depends where you live.
Smartphone Compartment - I have it, and I think it came as part of Connect for pre-19 cars. For 2019 or newer, it's a standalone option. I wouldn't pay for it by itself.

Hope this helps some.

Chester7

I left out Apple CarPlay. I agree with others about not needing 14 way and 18 way seats. I have sport seats plus (base in the GTS) and they are great for me (I have zero aches and pains, so I am more tolerant of any car seat).

If you want to add a tune (APR, Cobb, etc) the PDK is a better transmission. Based on APR feedback, the PDK can handle a big increase in power.

michael818

That’s such a broad question that it’s difficult to answer. One thing about Porsche is the amount of customization available is incredible.

You need to think what you want to do with the car - is it a DD or a weekend toy? If you’re driving the car every day then comfort will matter. The PASM suspension is a must for me. All of the Porsche seats are comfortable but the 14 and 18 way seats add memory and move back when exiting the car to make egress easier. Hard to say if they are worth the money. I’ve had all three variations in different cars and would probably take the 14 way seats if making the choice.

As to an S over a base - 50 hp is a significant bump but only you can say if it’s worth it for you. The S will make some things standard that are otherwise optional on the base. The S is significantly faster. As to the argument of what is enough - you can get in trouble with even the cheapest eco box available if you try hard enough. I like the S.

The gray is a nice looking color. I had black on one car and gray on another, I think the gray looks good and is easier to keep clean.

As to other options, I agree that the Bose is worth the money, as is the Apple Car Play, I use Waze through car play and prefer it to factory nav. I think sport chrono is worth the money, more so with PDK for me than with MT.

Things like dual zone heating, self dimming mirrors are nice but not must haves for me. I do like the entry and drive. PSE falls into the same place for me, I could take it or leave it but it’s standard now if you’re buying new or late model.

You could spend thousands more in making the car look unique but ultimately those decisions are too subjective to generalize. If you’re buying the car to keep for many years they could be worth it, if you’re keeping it for a short term, they are costly and you’ll never get that money back.

Good luck.

rasetsu

Yes, major real advantage between base and S when it comes to power but the question is whether that increase in power is actually necessary. IMO, it really isn't. You just work the engine a little more with the base 2.0 but buy what you can afford. No one has ever complained about too much power. My original budget was for a new order on a base but I got a CPO S with 8K miles for $66K with more options and for less money after they closed the books on 2019 orders.

Sport seats are standard and Sport plus seats are not a must in the Cayman. I've sampled both the manual sport seats and the 14 way but ended up with the 18 way sport plus seats because again, I found a S with a lot of options. The benefit of the 18 ways with the seat memory is the auto comfort entry and exit feature where the seat automatically slides back a little when you open the door. The sport plus seats move your shoulders forward a little bit but otherwise, it's mainly the appearance of the seat back.

Agate grey is actually a very attractive color on the Cayman. It's subtly aggressive with a lot more character than just black, IMO. I will never own another black car again as the cons far outweigh the pros for me.

A base stripped down Cayman is a lot of fun as it is. But if you need it for a daily driver and for longer trips, I don't know of anyone who's said any of the creature comforts are "too much" except for navigation which is a complete waste of money in my book. Mine came with it. It's a 2017 and my neighborhood isn't even on the map in it. Our European neighbors seem to get more use out of built-in navi probably because their roads don't change often but in my area, they are changing all the time. If you are to use the car a lot especially at night, I would suggest finding one with PDLS headlights and auto dimming mirrors. Mine has neither but my Macan has both and I can notice the difference when I don't have them.

For reference, my S is a manual and has Sport Chrono, PASM sport, sport exhaust, 18 way sport plus power seats, full black leather interior, navi with Connect, Bose, heated and ventilated seats, auto climate, 20" Carrera S wheels in matte black, and I negotiated with the dealer to get red belts to break up the otherwise black interior.

I had to have either ventilated seats or Sport Tex because I live in Texas. The one thing I really wish it had were power folding mirrors because I park it in a small single bay garage. I also would have preferred gloss black wheels or the titanium colored ones as brake dust just clings to the matte finish. The option that is utterly useless to me is navi with Connect. Connect used to be the only way to get CarPlay though if you need that. The options I did not expect to get but really appreciate are Sport Chrono and full leather. Sport Chrono gives you the ability to program several of the driver preferences with an individual setting and it rev matches which is nice since I can't heel toe worth crap. Full leather really changes the interior environment.

k.alexander

I started looking at a new or a lightly used CPO base. However, after driving the base and the S, I quickly realized that I really needed to get the S. Don’t get me wrong, both are enough to get you in trouble, but the deciding factors for me were: 1) I was coming from a sports car with 332hp, and I was buying a much more expensive car and my first Porsche, I couldn’t explain to myself why I was getting a car with less hp that my current/previous car; 2) there is definitely more turbo lag in the base than the S; I have very limited experience with turbo cars, but the lag is definitely there, don’t get me wrong the base is still great, but you feel the lag at anything bellow 2500 rpm or so.

Now all that said, I ended up with a ‘18 GTS CPO that had 7500 miles on it. I wasn’t looking at GTS models, and only started looking to expand my search results. My first requirement was that the car had to be a manual, and there are not that many of them around.

The GTS of course comes with all the suspension bits, so PSE, PASM (mine is 20mm lower, whomever said above that the car feels ridiculously glued to the ground was not kidding, although as my DD, I would have probably preferred the slightly higher ride), PTV, and SC (which I wanted because I thought the chrono on the dash looks cool, however, in reality now that I’ve had the car a few weeks, I realize that it’s pretty pointless, but still kind of cool. As a manual, I also get rev matching on downshifts in Sports/Sports+ which is cool! I didn’t get that option in my prior car, 370Z and always regretted it; and as much as I thought that I never manually reved up the engine on downshifts, getting this feature made me realize, oh no, I’m actually doing it all the time, it’s just become so natural that I don’t even notice—I know because when I put the car in Sports/+ I catch myself doing it all the time just as I realize that the car is doing it itself :-), no launch control or that 20sec boost option in SC on manual cars—no biggie.)

My GTS has a leather dash. Not sure if that’s standard on GTS or what, I think the answer is yes. It SIGNIFICANTLY improves the look and feel of the interior. It was the first thing my wife noticed as soon as she first opened the door to the car. Likewise there’s decorative stitching on the dash and other parts of the interior; again HUGE IMPROVEMENT to the interior, HUGE! The car also has Sport-Tex seats, which were actually my preferred option although I wouldn’t have paid for them if I was ordering a new car, but I like them a lot, and as a DD and a car that I plan on keeping long term, I think they will wear much better than leather seats, same goes for =inheritDeletion of Alcantara because I can only imagine what Alcantara looks like after 5 or 7 years of daily wear. Dual tone interiors have always seemed 100 times more visually pleasing to me, mine is =inheritGraphite Blue/Chalk with Sport-Tex Seat Centers i.c.w. Sport Seats Plus - an absolutely sick color combo, especially on a Graphite Blue Metallic exterior color car. GTS comes with Sports Plus 2 way seats—I like them, I wouldn’t have said no to 14 or 18 way seats, but the ones I have are plenty and I would definitely not pay for 14/18 way seats on a new order. I have Chalk Seatbelts, eh, I’m sure they’ll get dirty quicker, and I would have preferred plain black, but I guess black would not have gone with the rest of the interior which is not black anywhere. Exterior of the car has high gloss door handles and rear wing; I wouldn’t have spent money on this, but it does look pretty cool. Carrera S 20” also look much better than 19” but I was honestly looking for a car with 19s as a better option for DD.

Other things I have are GT steering wheel (again I think a GTS standard option) cool but not sure I would have paid for it, Multifunctional Steering Wheel is a huge plus and something I would have paid for if ordering a new car, luckily mine has it. Heated steering wheel—eh, it’s ok; now heated seats I’ve now learned are amazing! I don’t know why anyone would pay for Dual Climate; I had a car for a weekend with that option and besides the fact that I’m in the car alone 95% of the time, I also think that it’s such a small space that it’s unlikely that the dual climate really does anything. Also I found those controls to be somewhat more confusing to use over the standard climate controls, although I guess it does give you the option of setting a specific temperature vs just a dial from cold to hot.

My second MUST HAVE option was CarPlay, first because I’m a huge Apple fanboy, second because I think CarPlay is awesome, and third because I use Waze all the time. You can actually retrofit CarPlay to 718s via a software upgrade, it runs roughly $500 for the software and whatever else the dealership will charge you to do it, although it’s basically just loading up the software so can’t be that bad. I would not order the Navi because I think CarPlay with Waze or Google Maps or even Apple Maps is better, will continue to get updated all the time, and does a much better job of showing traffic and navigating based on traffic. The GTS I got does have a Navi (I haven’t used it once yet) and luckily has CarPlay (which I use 100% of the time), and also has Connect+ which the dealer activated a free year for me—I haven’t used it yet, and never will, and have no intention of paying for it past the free year’s trial—a completely useless option in today’s world of smartphones.

Things I wish the car had that it doesn’t. Porsche entry and drive — man do I miss the equivalent feature from my Z. A freaking 2009 base Nissan Z had that feature, but with Porsche it’s a damn option I would actually consider paying for this on a new order. LCA — never had it, would be cool to have it, unlikely I would have paid extra for it. Adaptive Cruise Control - would love this option, but not available for manual cars either way, which makes sense. The damn Light Package (or whatever it’s called), really just for the lights on the mirrors on the sun visors; I know it adds some other lights in the interior, but not having those is a sin—again, I doubt I would have spent the roughly $350 that that option costs on a new car. Also whatever would make the interior mirror dimmable would be nice, but not a huge deal. I’m sure if I really wanted to I could just buy that mirror separately either from Porsche or possibly third-party. I do need a slim lane change assist convex/cave mirror to go on top of the regular central rear-view mirror; I’ve been using the same one for like 20 years on all my cars, but it doesn’t fit on the Porsche...If anyone can recommend one that fits I would appreciate it, it’s something I keep meaning to research and buy.

@ZXTT95 Smartphone Compartment - I have it. I generally understand what it does form the description on the website, but maybe someone can explain it better to me. Thanks! Would not have paid for it. In fact I’ve come to mostly connect the phone to the usb in the armrest but then throw the phone on the passenger seat; it’s faster, and when I put the phone in the armrest, I forget it there all the damn time, and I never ever ever forget my phone anywhere.

Bose. My car has standard stereo. It’s fine for me. I’m not an audiophile by any means, mostly listen to books/podcasts in the car anyways. I’ve heard the Bose, I’m pretty sure it sounds better, but again I would not spend a $1k on it—I know I’m in the minority on this opinion. Ok I think that’s enough.

crw

Thanks for all of the advice.

Had a 2009 base car - was a nice car, regretted selling it. Bought in during the market crash and sold it a few years later for the same price.At that time it stickered for $84K - bough it for $62K. That car I should have kept and used.

Moved on to a 993C4S. it was a garage queen for the next 9 years. After a while I was afraid to drive it due to it's low mileage, ever increasing value, and the cost/limitations of agreed value insurance. It was a great car for a collection and will like continue to increase in value. Do I regret selling it - some days yes and some days no.

I tried a SL63AMG for a year. Nice car, Not tight enough for me, too much horsepower, and it was the 1st automatic transmission I ever owned. I want a manual again - I don't like paddle shifting and simply leave it in auto mode - not engaging.

I will picking up a Cayman - love the look and will shoot for a CPO S.

Frank237

This was useful for me.....

k.alexander

I second that video. Definitely watch it.

rasetsu

Leather dash is not standard. The GTS interior has to be configured a certain way to get. Standard is partial leather seats with Alcantara seat centers, partial Alcantara door card panels, and Alcantara center console lid. Everything else is textured plastic.

I thought the same about the dual zone climate but if you don't have dual zone, you won't have auto climate either which means fiddling with the fan speed and temp toggles. If they were nice round dials, it wouldn't be a big deal to me at all but the toggles are small and don't have a confident tactile feedback.

rasetsu

Leather dash is not standard. The GTS interior has to be configured a certain way to get. Standard is partial leather seats with Alcantara seat centers, partial Alcantara door card panels, and Alcantara center console lid. Everything else is textured plastic.

I thought the same about the dual zone climate but if you don't have dual zone, you won't have auto climate either which means fiddling with the fan speed and temp toggles. If they were nice round dials, it wouldn't be a big deal to me at all but the toggles are small and don't have a confident tactile feedback.

Any chance you bought the Miami blue GTS with PCCB that was in PA earlier this year?

k.alexander

No. I bought a Graphite Blue Metallic one, no pccb, from WARRINGTON Porsche in PA.