Yep you have the crappy buttons. The paddle shifting wheel transforms the car. It was an option but you can buy and replace the one in your car. 987.2 or 981 is interchangeable. Here’s a link to Suncoast but you can also find them cheaper on fleabay.

https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/PDKPADDLE.html

 

Thanks. Will look into it. Easy enough to diy? I've got 10 thumbs.

 

Very easy with tons of videos on youtube. Did it to mine already. Took 30 minutes total.

 

If you haven't done the spark plugs in the last 15k you might want to consider those, along with new coils as those are a common failure on these cars. I know according to the manual the PDK fluid doesn't have to be changed for quite some mileage yet, but I've seen enough PDK's on the 987.2 have issues to the point where I'd recommend changing it now if it hasn't been done all ready. Hardcore track guys are doing it once a season now for reliability, but that would be irrelevant to you mentioned you aren't a tracker haha.

In regards to sound and performance, the lowest hanging fruit is going to be with new headers and software. I'd expect we can get you 25-30hp gain between those two with our Long Tube Street Headers and Softronics ECU Tune. The powercurve is much smoother and responsive, and the sound is kicked up a nice amount even with the factory rear system. If you're looking for a complete exhaust solution we also have a Valved Exhaust System that is a bit more aggressive and sportier than the OEM PSE yet has quite a comfortable cabin presence with valves closed. Don't expect much performance out of changing the catback, it won't be enough for you to feel but does offer the best ROI from a sound improvement. It's not like the 987.1 where they had secondary cats hiding in the mufflers haha.

I've built a good amount of these cars and have a 2012 Cayman R myself that I've been playing around with for some time. Please feel to give me a call/text any time at 484 883 6197 and we can run through any questions you have on your car. I'm always up to spend time chatting cars with a fellow petrolhead

Best regards,
John Gaydos

 

Thanks again for chiming in. Will look into this. Truth be told, I've also gotten used to the current shifters. Takes bit bit of adjustment when I drive my wife's merc that has the "traditional" paddle shifters you have switched to and have suggested.

 

Thank you for taking time. Yeah.. not a tracker and now only a very occasional b-roader. I'm on the wrong side of 50 and smashed up my 997 bad quite a few years back. Got smashed up too. Age and still strong memories of the pain have shrunk my cojones quite a bit so I'm a lot more .... "adjusted" these days lol.

Noted on the cats and tune. I'm a novice at all this but from reading, that's what I gathered. A question. With a tune, Im reading the gains will be throughout the range? With 200 cell cats, the gains are only at the high end past 5500 rpm? If so, any way to get the power bump to kick in at a lower rpm? Again, per my incident described above, its not very often and for long that I'm at 5000 rpm or more.

Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry to hear about your incident, I hope the pain fades with time. I had a nasty hit at Watkins Glen and had to get concussion therapy while dealing with a broken hand for months. Definitely not a fun time and my hand still gives me issues. Had to jump right back in the seat though, else the cojones would have shrunk quite a bit as you said haha.

Thats not necessarily true. You won’t get good gains out of just recoring the factory headers as you still have the restriction of the misshapen primary tubes and much less than ideal merge collector. However, when you change the entire header design and add high flow cats like with our street headers, you net some good gains across the curve and give the tune a nice bit more potential to take advantage of. Here’s a couple photos of performance gains we saw on a 987.2 Spyder with our street headers, valved exhaust and a tune. You can see how you gain nicely across the curve.

 

I'm also thinking of moving up to 19s. My stock rims look like this and the specs I think are 8J x 18 ET57 + rear 9J x 18 ET43. If I go to 19s, what wodth and offset range do I need to stay within? So many sites on this but I can't seem to find this answer.

There's a local guy selling his own 19s that look pretty good. Specs are.... is this within the upside parameters for my cayman?

 

I'm also thinking of moving up to 19s. My stock rims look like this and the specs I think are 8J x 18 ET57 + rear 9J x 18 ET43.

There's a local guy selling his oem 911 19s that look pretty good. Specs are 19x8 +57 and rear 19x11 +67. Is within the upside parameters for my cayman? is this within the upside parameters for my cayman?

 

I am digging this thread! I am going thru the same with my new to me '11 987.2 S.

In terms of ways to get an immediate grin-on-face response, I HIGHLY recommend the sport steering wheel as others have mentioned. This is your PRIMARY interface with the vehicle. Why skimp on that? The look and feel is amazing, and I could not imagine having the PDK without the paddles. Really adds to the experience.

Do you have the new style clear LED side markers? I think those add a fresh look. Window tint can add a touch of class, and slightly tinted protection film looks good on the 987.2 car head lights in my opinion. Can also get a yellow tint for the DRLs. The 19 wheels also add a touch of modern.

I am looking to get a front splitter, mostly for protection since I just had the bumper resprayed. I eventually would like a duck tail rear spoiler and carbon side intakes. A Porsche side decal is also in order.

But before all that, the mechanicals come first! How are your control arms? Any thunks yet?

 

HI,

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm focusing on performance first and will definitely relook your suggesitons when I start the aesthetics part. Mine will be subtle though.

As for control arms.. not too sure what that is and does but no thunks yet. I do get some minor "rubbing" sound that seems to be coming from the back. I'm told its is likely due to my suspension mounts? No issues with bouncing over humps. The "rubbing sounds are only intermitent though and not when the car is fully warmed up. It mostly comes when the car is cold but even then, not always.

 

Get the GT4 steering wheel with the "notch" on top for reference.

https://rennlist.com/forums/987-981-...ing-wheel.html

 

HI All,

Just wanted to give an update on my refresh program and to thank all who have helped so far.

Have done the cosmetic mods... added stripes to the car (guarantees 50 bhp) and carbon wrap to the spoiler, front splitters and base of wing mirrors.

Need to go back to have the now black painted Cayman S emblem centralized and will do that when the stock of the brushed silver grey films come in as the top of the wing mirrors will be wrapped with it.






I have also changed my hazy tail lamps to LED 718 style lamps. Not Porsche original of course. Super easy to install (45 mins?) with an 8mm Ikea spanner .... I think it really updates the look of the car and coincidentally matches my stripes extremely well.







Will be refreshing my ceramic coating in Dec to complete the cosmetic refresh.

Will be ordering my FVD tune from Rhonda soon. Have decided to forgo the 200 cats given the cost benefit return (yes, the tune is not much better) and live with my local modded muffler with some kinda of internal bypass. New Sebro front rotors and textar pads will be done in December with Goodridge steel braided brakes lines together with the annual service in December.

Now that Michelin is offering the PS4S in 18s I'll also wait for that to reach my shores and switch to them from my 4 year old PS2s.

Have a great weekend all.