Congratulations! That's a gorgeous car. I like the subtle facelift changes, and think the 718 looks great.

I did a transaxle fluid and oil change, this weekend in my 3.4 Cayman S. Took it out for a winding mountain road drive with my girlfriend, yesterday, and properly rang it out. I was all grins at 6500RPM, and she said "You really love the sound of this car, don't you?"

However, for me, handling and power are even more important. I was thinking about the 718 "controversy" and having come from a base 944, I don't think I would have any problem with a 718. In Colorado, high mountain driving robs us of exciting power, when blipping though majestic scenery at 12,000 feet above sea level. My last four cars have been turbos, aside from my Jeep and Cayman. My ski and mountain travel car is a high output Volvo turbo, still.

I would embrace the turbo, if it gave me everything that the H6 Cayman does and more, in the performance, handling and looks departments. I'm sure it is going to be a great ownership experience.

 

 

Hah, good one!

 

I finally got behind the wheel of a 718 S equipped w/PDK and normal brakes on an auto-x course at an event sponsored by a local dealer with a Porsche instructor on hand to give ride-alongs and then accompany drivers.

Because I got there later than expected, I missed out on the ride-along with Eric, the Porsche driver. Those that I spoke to who went around the auto-X course with Eric behind the wheel were blown away by the car's abilities. In the hands of a skilled driver, the thing is undoubtedly a weapon. As I stood in line and watched Eric give ride-alongs to those at the front, you could see the 718 in stock form was noticeably quicker through the course than other high priced, modded-for-auto-x-use machinery that was on hand running the course at the same time (this was a local PCA auto-x event). Obviously, Eric's skill factored in here, but the handling of the car was still impressive to watch.

Finally, when I got to the front of the line and drove the car, I was really impressed. New to PDK, I just left it in full-auto mode. Off the line I felt zero lag under hard acceleration and with max torque coming on so early (1,900 revs?) there were just gobs of it. I didn't get to walk the auto-x course beforehand as many had so I had no idea of its layout. Lack of familiarity had me at times backing off because I didn't know where in the hell to go, but I put my foot in it several times coming out of low speed corners and the rate of acceleration was impressive. Again, I thought there would be lag, but I didn't feel it.

I got to stand near the car for about an hour as it launched repeatedly on the auto-x course and was thus able to listen to the sound of it compared to other NA engine cars that were also running the course. You could say I was able to compare sounds "side by side." The 718 sounded much different than I thought it would. Sort of a coarse, flatulent sound. Not bad under hard acceleration, just different. I'm not hugely hung up on the sound like a lot of folks so to me it was fine.

The thought that kept running through my mind was, "Is this really only a 4-cylinder?" It sure felt plenty powerful, at least in the powerband used on this auto-x course.

Admittedly, one lap around an unfamiliar auto-x course does not lend itself to a thorough evaluation of the car. I'd still love to test drive it on normal roads, but preliminary impressions were quite favorable.

 

^ Nice Read & not surprised.
Very consistent with other reviews.

 

It's a beautiful car. Congratulations. I'm sure you'll have many wonderful experiences with it.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write-up your recent driving experience, Suicide Jockey. It was both informative and helpful, and provided a real "road tester's" perspective on the car.

 

As another new 718 S owner, I agree that the power does not have the feel that many associate with a 4 cylinder. Having limited history with Porsche, I do not find the sound at all detrimental to the "experience" the car provides. As several have mentioned in this thread, what makes a "good sounding" car is very subjective. I fall in the 2015 Z/28 engine raises the hair on my arms camp, and while I now have several P cars, I don't find the exhaust notes as pleasing as V8/V10 cars.

Our 718 S does not have the PSE, and as I have yet to hear one in person with that, I am very curious how that changes the exhaust signature. I assume that Fabspeed and others will have exhaust options eventually, so given that I was not too concerned about the lack of PSE. But I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has heard a 718 S with PSE in comparison to one without.

 

We just spent several weeks with multiple exhaust configurations on a 718 Base. The sound potential of the 718 is very different for previous Porsches, so it may take some getting used to by some. We love it haha.

Here is a teaser video of our more aggressive system (high flow cat and muffler delete). A nice plus was that we didn't experience drone on these cars no matter how aggressive the system. Product line should be making it to our website shortly

 

Wow, that sounds good.

 

Sounds bitchin'!!

 

That sounds really good!

 

Thanks for the kind words guys!

 

That is amazing what you guys achieved there, an exhaust which also plays music.

 

Its funny you say that as marketing and I actually had an in depth conversation about whether or not to add music to this clip lol. We determined that this particular shot seemed a bit awkward with nothing in the background...so we played around with the music sound level for about 10 minutes so we had just enough in the background for a filler....Hoping it isn't too much!