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For those interested in the 718 Cayman S, I purchased a CPO about two months ago and have been driving it for nearly 6 weeks now. My initial impressions after two weeks are here.
After six weeks in the cockpit, I can say most assuredly I have ZERO regrets. Love this car.
First, here’s the build (with commentary):
BASE 718 Cayman S - Awesome!
0Q White - Nice in hot climate, looks great too
250 Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) - Love it!
427 20" Carrera Classic Wheels - liked them better than i thought I would
446 Wheel center caps with colored Porsche Crest - elegant
457 Lane Change Assist (LCA) - much more useful than I expected
489 Heated Multifunction Steering Wheel - much less useful than I expected. The diamond button does not work with carplay at all, so that pretty much kills the reason I wanted MFS to begin with.
581 Luggage net in passenger footwell - meh
583 Smoking package - meh
603 Bi-Xenon Headlights incl. Porsche Dynamic Light System (PDLS) - really like these. The daytime running LEDs are a really classy touch too.
762 Launch vehicle - never used
7UG Navigation Module for Porsche Communication Management (PCM) - Carplay is better
9VL Bose® Surround Sound System - much better than expected
AG Standard Interior in Black - looks nice, doesn’t get hot
IV1 Porsche Connect Plus - 50-50, some good, some not worth it. I am paying for the security package, but nothing else as I get more from carplay. And carplay is much easier.
P06 Power Sport Seats (14-way) with Memory Package - glad I got it
P9D Premium Package Plus (Sport Seats, 14-way) - Some useful touches, including vented seats.
My impressions at 6 weeks:
Visibility is really good -- I do no not struggle to see traffic, or anything. Everything is visible pretty easily. And LCA is really helpful as well.
Sport Button -- After reading previous responses I’ve been using it more for daily driving. It really is fantastic. Fundamentally changes the car in major as well as nuanced ways. And the speed boost and torque is really nice. I do not have Sport Chrono and I remain convinced I would not really use it. Sport button is perfect for me.
Interior overall -- roomier than it felt initially. Also the air conditioning is probably the best I’ve ever experienced. Yes, it’s a small cabin. But when it is hot, the air is freezing cold within seconds, if not instantly. The seats are finally adjusting to me, or maybe I am to them. They are firm, but more comfortable now as I have fine tuned the adjustments.
Performance and handling -- Had a chance to drive route 9 north out of Saratoga, CA on the holiday weekend. This car is far more capable than I am. I don’t have PTV or PASM and yet it sticks to curves at speed like nothing else I have ever driven. Power is there when you want it, but comfy when you don’t. It is solid, planted and fast. I still find that I get to 80mph on the highway in what feels like a split second -- need to watch the speedometer as it is easy to go very fast in this car without realizing it. Steering is sublime, as is the PDK. I have used manual mode a couple of times with paddles, and honestly that is fine, but the PDK is truly fantastic and gets more out of the car than I can.
Styling -- I’m still in love with the looks of the Cayman -- all gens. I think it looks better than other P cars. For me, 718 gen is more muscular looking than the 981.1 or 987. It is a beauty to behold from any angle, but especially the font and rear quarter angles.
Storage -- I use it for grocery shopping. ‘Nuff said.
Daily driving -- excellent. In standard mode, it is comfortable, relatively quiet, even sedate in some ways. But press on the gas and it comes to life very quickly.
Build quality -- seems to be excellent. Not a sound or squeak out of it when I drive. It does seem to have some body noise when I transition out of my sloped driveway onto the flat street, but only at the moment, no other time. Need to watch the angle of approach too as a direct perpendicular angle can scrape the chin lightly.
So far, I am really happy with this car. It is my first Porsche, but it is the best car I have ever owned. I find myself thinking about what I might want to trade it in for in a few years.
762 is not an option you can use. It’s simply a designation for the first tranche of identically-optioned cars that are forced on dealers by PAG for the sales “launch” of a new model.
“Launch Control” is part of the Sport Chrono option for PDK-equipped Porsches.
Glad you are impressed by, and enjoying, your first Porsche.
It may have ruined you, for life, for “lesser” cars.
Nice writeup. Out of curiosity, what are you coming out of previously?
I'm genuinely curious how the 718's electrically-assisted steering stacks up (before I inevitably drive one; haven't yet had time to do so). My baseline for "acceptable" is 90s/early 00s BMW 3ers, as that's what I've been driving for the past 17 years. I sampled most of the modern BMW lineup last summer and walked away realizing I was done with them; even the much-hyped M2 was disappointing on account of how bad the steering rack was. Shocking for a marque which once advertised steering feel (and, to a lesser extent, heft) as its most striking characteristic.
I'm well aware that the controls in newer Porsches are softer than their predecessors, but I've got time in the 987 and my uncle had a 996 (and prior to that, a 993) that I drove on occasion and I distinctly remember it offering ample feedback and requiring significant effort to drive (which I liked), so at least they'd be regressing from a much higher baseline. If the 718 can at least match the weight and feel of my E46--don't think that's a tall order--I won't have any complaints.
Nice writeup. Out of curiosity, what are you coming out of previously?
I'm genuinely curious how the 718's electrically-assisted steering stacks up (before I inevitably drive one; haven't yet had time to do so). My baseline for "acceptable" is 90s/early 00s BMW 3ers, as that's what I've been driving for the past 17 years. I sampled most of the modern BMW lineup last summer and walked away realizing I was done with them; even the much-hyped M2 was disappointing on account of how bad the steering rack was. Shocking for a marque which once advertised steering feel (and, to a lesser extent, heft) as its most striking characteristic.
I'm well aware that the controls in newer Porsches are softer than their predecessors, but I've got time in the 987 and my uncle had a 996 (and prior to that, a 993) that I drove on occasion and I distinctly remember it offering ample feedback and requiring significant effort to drive (which I liked), so at least they'd be regressing from a much higher baseline. If the 718 can at least match the weight and feel of my E46--don't think that's a tall order--I won't have any complaints.
I test drove a 987 and I could not honestly tell the difference in steering. This is not to say there isn't any... maybe I didn't drive long enough to be able to tell. All i know is that I find the steering on the 718 to be great. I feel the road just fine, but not in a jarring way. And you just need to think about steering to actually do it.
762 is not an option you can use. It’s simply a designation for the first tranche of identically-optioned cars that are forced on dealers by PAG for the sales “launch” of a new model.
“Launch Control” is part of the Sport Chrono option for PDK-equipped Porsches..
I've always wondered about this -- had no idea. Thank you for explaining. That makes total sense. So apparently, I have used it.
I test drove a 987 and I could not honestly tell the difference in steering. This is not to say there isn't any... maybe I didn't drive long enough to be able to tell. All i know is that I find the steering on the 718 to be great. I feel the road just fine, but not in a jarring way. And you just need to think about steering to actually do it.
That's very promising to hear. Even if there is a difference, if it isn't immediately apparent from the first couple turns around the block, it's probably not significant enough to matter to me in this case (whereas you can literally tell an F82 M4 and E46 apart while blindfolded...just from putting your hands on the wheel while you sit idling). Thanks for the input!
The 987 is a relatively raw (by modern standards) car, but some of that is due to other characteristics of the car, and not necessarily steering alone. I'm not looking for a rack that rivals a wooden sailing ship in a car I will probably drive several times per week and take on occasional road trips. The 993 is a bit fatiguing to drive over the course of a couple hours; what made BMW so great in the past was that they honed in on a particular sweet spot between fun and comfort. You know exactly what the front end is doing, but you can also drive it all day. I'd expect Porsche to skew more towards fun even on the newest cars, but as long as it's on the right side of that equation I'll be beyond satisfied. Looking forward to the test drive!
If/when you need to leave your car for a few weeks, the smoking package is very handy to plug your trickle charger into. My favorite part of the memory package is how the driver's seat automatically slides back when you open the door and then moves back forward after you get in and close the door.
I am very upset the diamond button doesn’t do anything with Apple CarPlay. Other than volume and the other scroll wheel I never touch the buttons. I could easily use the main head unit volume as well. I really regret having the MF wheel because of this.
I am very upset the diamond button doesn’t do anything with Apple CarPlay. Other than volume and the other scroll wheel I never touch the buttons. I could easily use the main head unit volume as well. I really regret having the MF wheel because of this.
Yeah, it was a surprise for sure. It works outside of Carplay just fine. But since I mostly use carplay, the button is useless unless I assign it to a PCM function, which isn't really useful with carplay anyway. Volume and being able to see vehicle info is good and works fine. But, had I known this I would have bought a local model with a GT Sport wheel without MF. Seems to me this would be a very simple update via software.
Nice writeup. Out of curiosity, what are you coming out of previously?
I'm genuinely curious how the 718's electrically-assisted steering stacks up (before I inevitably drive one; haven't yet had time to do so). My baseline for "acceptable" is 90s/early 00s BMW 3ers, as that's what I've been driving for the past 17 years. I sampled most of the modern BMW lineup last summer and walked away realizing I was done with them; even the much-hyped M2 was disappointing on account of how bad the steering rack was. Shocking for a marque which once advertised steering feel (and, to a lesser extent, heft) as its most striking characteristic.
I'm well aware that the controls in newer Porsches are softer than their predecessors, but I've got time in the 987 and my uncle had a 996 (and prior to that, a 993) that I drove on occasion and I distinctly remember it offering ample feedback and requiring significant effort to drive (which I liked), so at least they'd be regressing from a much higher baseline. If the 718 can at least match the weight and feel of my E46--don't think that's a tall order--I won't have any complaints.
FWIW. I, too, am very strongly affected by steering feel, and also consider my long-gone E46 as the paragon of steering of cars I’ve had in the last 20 years. I’ve had 2 newer 3 series with HPS, which were just OK, and a gen 1 X1 which still had HPS (deliberate on my part, because at the time, it was the last BMW hold out without EPS). I literally hate the eps on BMW’s based on the several I’ve driven (why I now drive Porsches), and my wife’s current gen X3M40i has horrible steering as far as I am concerned—it feels like you are stirring a pot of mud—and I can’t for the life of me understand what the heck they are doing. She loves it, so what can I say. I’ve had 3 Miatas, the first two of which had very nice HPS, and the last, a current gen with EPS, did not last long in my possession because the steering was meh in my opinion (too light and little on center feel).
That Miata was replaced with a CPO 981 Boxster S, whose steering I really enjoyed (the first EPS car I’ve driven with good steering, which led to my subsequent acquisition of a Macan GTS as my dd, replacing an MB GLC300 whose steering was moderately better than BMWs but certainly not great), and my new-to-me 718 BGTS is even better. I’m quite happy with its steering, although I realize by reputation it’s not like Porsche’s of old. Both Boxsters have 20 inch wheels in case that matters (it might). The E46 is just a many-year-old memory, but based on that memory, the 718 is at least as good steering wise, and over all, the best driving experience I’ve ever had. The Macan GTS (now with power steering plus deactivated) steering is pretty decent (the third best EPS I’ve driven, but certainly not Boxster level, behind the 2 Boxsters).
So I think you may be happy with 718 steering is my point.
Had a chance to drive route 9 north out of Saratoga, CA
Mmmmm, so nice. Back when I lived in California I spent a year living in Boulder Creek in 1999 and commuted to Apple in Cupertino everyday. I'd take Highway 9 to work and Bear Creek Road (off 17) on the way home. I only had a little Honda Del Sol VTEC 2-seater back then, with the targa top, but it was A LOT of fun. That would be an AMAZING road for the Cayman, I'm truly jealous.
07-08-2020, 02:14 PM
718 Cayman S at six weeks
