hokiemiata

Hello All, Noob here. Im in the market for a 987.2. I come from years of owning several miatas that were turbo'ed, super'ed, NA, and the current miata is a Mazdaspeed; IMO the greatest drivers car ever built is the Miata. I also own an E36 M3.

In any case, Ive done the research and here is what I want:

987.2 Cayman (Non-S, extra $$$ not worth it to me for the S)
LSD (must)
PDK (highly desired)
S Chrono (desired, but negotiable on this)
Dont want PASM.
Sport wheel with the flappy paddles (desired, but I know a shadetree mechanic can retrofit this in)
Researching the above, I think I will likely be looking at $22k on the low end and $30k on the top end.

The above are the three requirements. I dont care about color etc, nor do I care about wheels. Wanted to get some feedback from the collective group on the following:

-LSD. So option 220 Locking diff is rare, and was not offered in conjunction with any other option set for the 987.2. Someone had to specifically ask for it. This of course puts me in a bind as finding a Cayman for sale with this option is rare. The options I have are to wait it out and keep searching; or forgo the PDK requirement, get the 6 speed, and put in an aftermarket LSD. I know I dont have any options for aftermarket LSD with PDK.
-If I forgo the PDK due to the LSD issue above, and get the 6spd, what benefit do I get with SC? Note that I dont have PASM. A hard redline limit with a nice clock with the 6spd isnt sexy enough for the $$$.

So what should I do; get PDK or not. I REALLY want PDK, but I also want LSD. Is the above line of thinking valid?

Marine Blue

I think finding PDK and LSD will be a needle in a haystack on a non S or even S for that matter. The only immediate 987.2 Caymans that I know which commononly had both would be the Cayman R. If you can afford it I think you’ll find what you’re after.

billwot

Yeah, I felt that way too,... until I got my Cayman,

Pep!RRRR

I’ve got a newer 981 base Cayman with a manual tranny that has seen a lot of track time. Yes, compared to a Miata it has more torque, but honestly, not enough torque that I have trouble putting the hammer all the way down on corner exit. In other words, I’m not sure the LSD is really necessary with a base Cayman. Of course I’ve never had an LSD so it hard to be certain.

hokiemiata

LSD is a must for me. Im going to be taking the car to the track 1-2 times a year. Also, the occasional spirited "tail out" turn during my commute is a regular part of my morning routine. I hate open diffs. They are just no fun. Any true sports car needs an LSD, IMO.

Marine Blue

daylorb

Doesn't the R come standard with LSD?

elvn

Yes

hokiemiata

unfortunately outside my price range

hokiemiata

So had a discussion with Matt @ Guard. Couple of things were clarified. There are certainly aftermarket Diff options for PDKs, and they are only $300 more expensive; I had read somewhere that there were no options for aftermarket diff somewhere on the forums for PDK. I described my use case, and he said to avoid the PDK, go with the 6 spd. While the factory configured PDK is fine for average on the road Yuppie Porsche owner use, even using it hard on 2-4 HPDE's is enough stress to cause it to fail prematurely. People that use the PDK in aggressive situations usually add additional cooling for the transmission to protect it. Also said the 6spd is far more serviceable as parts are commonly found. Also the Diff swap with the 6spd is definitely easier.

This Is excellent as this opens up my options significantly.

daylorb

2-4 HPDE's is enough to cause it to fail??? That is a surprise to me and contrary to everything I have known or heard about PDK. Someone might want to tell all the guys buying GT3's with them and pushing them to the limits...

Marine Blue

daylorb

Interesting - that has not been suggested for my Spyder, although I've found a number of posts dealing with it on S. Is the R/Spyder different? Looks like plenty of folks who build a dedicated track car are upgrading cooling on the R as well.

Wonder if something like this is enough? http://www.tpcracing.com/pdk-aux-cooler-kit.html

Marine Blue