vracer

It was a base '16, and it ain't got no power. I'm hoping that the extra 50 ponies in the S will please me more. But - - for 'everyday freeway & suburban' driving the base suspension was just about perfect. When I had my 2000 Boxster, the S had a "somewhat" stiffer suspension than the base car. Is that still true? I had been thinking about a car with PASM, but was told by a gentleman on this board that the "comfort" setting was even stiffer than the regular S car, and of course, sport was stiffer still. I have been around a race track more than once or twice, but always in a designed race car, never in a modified street car. My present daily driver is a '16 bimmer; they re-worked & tightened up the suspension that year; it is adjustable & adaptive. I would put the base Cayman about half way between comfort and sport on the bimmer. FWIW, I have had to bite very expensive bullets on two cars that pushed the design envelope too far toward track use to be comfortable daily drivers. Both weren't just stiff, they were harsh and jiggly. I'm hoping to use the expertise on this board so I don't make another similar mistake.
Thanx guys 'n' gals,
Richard

Marine Blue

Kitc2246

I have a 2009 Boxster PDK with Sport/Sport+. One of these days I will upgrade to a 981 (2013-2016) and it will definitely be an S with Sports Chrono. I track my Boxster and the PDK Sport+ is basically a track mode keeping RPMs between 4K and redline. You can get ones with Sport Suspension which would be great for the track, but liable to be too stiff for a daily driver. You can get ones that have an extended warranty if you buy from the dealer. Check out Porsche.com/usa pre-owned website. Use the advanced filter for options and the transmission you want. There are 192 981's at dealers.

vracer

Kit,
I have been tracking "All the usual suspects", but I never even heard of Porsche's own site. Thanx

MyNameIdeasWereT

I have a 987.1S and the stock suspension was way too soft for my taste. It was definitely comfortable and would make a great daily, but I considered it numb to the road, which is not something I want for my track dedicated build. A newer S will be a tad stiffer than a Base, but internet comments mean nothing compared to what you experience on a test drive.
Also keep in mind that no two cars are going to be the same. So don't make all your judgements based on how one car rides.

With as many people that upgrade their suspensions, if you really dislike the ride of an S, you could always swap on a Base's suspension. I sold my stock suspension for $300 shipped, so it wouldn't be a huge expense to find the factory parts you want.

I agree that you'll find the S is probably more adequate on power. I also thought the Base was too slow. Even for a commuter, I want that extra power to help with merging in traffic or avoiding accidents.

Also, compared to a 986, these newer cars are going to feel a lot more numb to speed. I consider my 987S to feel very slow compared to my other cars that do 0-60 just as quickly, but you realize just how not-slow it is when you're outrunning other cars off the line without even trying. Porsche engineered these cars for handling at speed and you can accelerate to 100mph while feeling as comfortable as you would be at 35mph. So be sure your test drive experience includes driving with other cars on the road for a real world comparison.

Scooby921

Just in case this was from my reply in your other thread...

PASM is a stiffer spring than the base suspension, but the added "active" dampers handle it well. While it is stiffer I wouldn't call it rough or unruly. I absolutely love it, especially on the poor quality roads around metro Detroit. It's probably 10-15% stiffer than the base, and the X73 sport is going to be another 10-15% stiffer again. It's not like going from a comfy road suspension to a set of track-oriented coilovers. Plenty of folks also report the X73 being a reasonable suspension for daily driving / street use. I didn't select it for Southeast Michigan, but would have if I were just about anywhere else in the country.

Your location says California. Your rough roads are my "good" roads. Any suspension option is going to work for you.

vracer

Thank you, Scooby & others. I drove an 'S' yesterday; it has enough hp, (realizing you can never have too much). Because the two rides were on different roads and different days, I couldn't tell if the suspension was different from the base car. Too me, it felt firm, not stiff or harsh, and it was really well dampened. Definitely, it felt stiffer than either the bimmer or my '96 Ferrari 355 on their comfort settings. Since both settings on PASM seem to be more firm than the standard suspension on the 'S'. It looks like my next toy car will be an 'S'. (And it does open up more, and probably cheaper cars.) All that said, I'd love to hear more opinions.

kiznarsh

I daily drove my 981 S with X73 for 2 years and loved the suspension. Stiff but not uncomfortable on the street and perfect for spirited canyon runs (never tracked it).

$0.02

daylorb

Look at a 987.2 Spyder or R, slightly more power, stiffer suspension, not unruly on the street in my opinion.

Great write-up here if you come from a 355... https://www.evo.co.uk/porsche/boxste...ari-360-spider

vracer

Well, I'm now an official Cayman S owner, and to get here, I feel like I have gone 0-60 in 3.8 sec. As far as the PCM, or whatever the 'heck' the center console Nav. stuff is called, I haven't gotten over 30 mph yet.

WalterMitty

Scooby921

And after posting pics take a drive. Based on your location I will recommend Trinity Rd / Oakville Grade Rd between Sonoma and Oakville. Did that last summer while visiting wine country. That road is so steep and twisty I have no idea how they actually paved it. Probably classifies as "rough" by California standards, but better than most of what I get to drive on. I was incredibly disappointed that I only had a Subaru Legacy as a rental car.

vracer

Sorry, Walter; it's not worth the effort. I'll just say that it is silver/black. I was hoping to find either Agate or White, but this was local, one owner, lowish miles, chea---inexpensive,& was optioned the closest to my wish list. What is interesting is that it is "the missing link". I 'always' wondered why there were no Caymans from model year '13. My car was born in May, 2013, and sold in July.

If you want to see an interesting car, look slightly left. That is a "Special Wishes" car, and the last of the 911s. In '89 Porsche started producing the 964 that was "85% new" and 911 was no longer in the serial number. I think that the Special Wishes Dept. was formed in the 80s, but it may have been earlier. Basically, if you wanted an option that Porsche did not produce, and had some extra cash floating around, you were referred to that department, and they built it for you. It will go 'down the road' sometime soon.

Scooby, thanks, I have driven it, and it is great. We have some fabulous roads in West Marin. Get off Hiway 1, and hit the back roads. Some of them still have 19th Century 'one room school houses' that are still in use. See Point Reyes National Park. Just after the rainy season is the best time. The hills are a fabulous green, not that California 'golden brown'. Actually a group of us are going out tomorrow morning.