Hello, first post here. I've never owned a Porsche but I am looking to buy a 987.2 or a 981 Cayman (base or S) in the next year or so. In the past, I've had a GTI, a 128i, and a couple of NA Miatas. My current third car/toy is a Miata which sees about 8-10 track days per year and some spirited street driving. I'm really excited to trade up to a Cayman. As I start to look more seriously at the market, I have a couple of questions that I haven't yet seen addressed in my research.

1. Are there different versions of these cars by state? An example of what I mean is the E9x and E8x BMWs, which had the N52 in most states, but in some states these cars were sold with the N51 engine. The N51 was very similar to the N52, but had additional emissions equipment and lower compression in order to meet California regs. So are there multiple versions of the Caymans for different states?

2. I love working on and modding my cars myself. What are the "must have" Porsche-specific tools? It sounds like the Durametric diagnostic tool is pretty useful, but are there others (including software and specialty hand tools) that I should be factoring into my planning?

3. As the 987.2s get up there in age, are there any maintenance items that would need to be taken car of before tracking the car? I'm not talking about mods, but things like replacing coolant hoses, water pump, etc. to avoid issues on track. In the Miata world, there is a baseline checklist that covers all the common maintenance items and I'm wondering if there is something similar for the Cayman.

Thanks for reading!

 

Congrats on your journey!
1. Pretty sure the same engine for each state. The difference instead is base engine vs S engine. FYI all 987.2s and 981s are DFI except for the 987.2 base.
2. Pretty standard tools. Full set of Torx sockets and drivers. Extensions are helpful, as parts of the car are tougher to access than your Miata (spark plugs for example). Need some pry tools for interior work, you can’t pull the trim apart with your hands like in a 996/986.
3. The car can handle the track right out of the box (I’ve heard), but pretty soon you will want to make some mods. Especially to deal with understeer, because front camber is limited with stock arms. Water pumps seem to hold up better than prior models. Shift cables have a 100% failure rate. Stick brakes are fine (other than pads of course).

 

I see you are in DFW, welcome, be sure and join PCA when you get your car as we have a very active group here..

I would highly suggest the 981CS, I love driving it and if you would like to test drive mine sometime let me know..


1. Fairly certain all cars were the same in all 50 states. No differences that I'm aware of.
2. I do a lot of DIY myself, and I've collected some tools over the years when wrenching on the P-cars.. If you plan to do anything to the cooling system, I would say the airlift vacuum tool for filling the cooling system is awesome.. Also a padded socket to protect my titanium lug nuts. I did have to get a set of E-torx sockets, and also a few long (8") ball-end allen and torx bit sets. I do use my Foxwell NT520Pro to clear codes/reset maintenance reminders/etc. on both my Porsches. It's a good value at $150. I also have a Durmetric but I use the Foxwell most of the time now.

 

I agree with everything said above and have the Foxwell tool also!

A few more items that haven’t been mentioned.
Oil filter tool, it’s 74mm or 74.4mm might want to look it up
Pressure blender for brake fluid (I have motive)
Lift, quickjack , jackpoint, rennstands, ramps, or a bunch of 2x4s. Lifting all 4 corners can be a pain with only a jack and stands.
22mm wrench if you plan to remove the headers (is for the O2 sensors).
11mm crowfoot to bleed clutch pedal.
Battery tender and tire inflator (I assume you do from the Miata).

 

9eight7
not to get too far off OP. I'll be bleeding the clutch for the first time in a couple months. What type crowfoot would you recommend? Flarenut, std, 12 pt ?
thx

 

I used a 11mm crowfoot on a 3” extension, a universal and another extension to bleed the clutch. Then a regular 11mm wrench for the brakes.

 

https://sonictoolsusa.com/s12-xd-tools-735-pcs/

Got this on sale last year.... Has 98% of what you need.

 

It was worth $200 of the Durametric pro cable to me to turn off that &%#@% seatbelt dinger.
I second the Durametric in principal, but looking at the current price it's hard to justify either the pro or enthusiast, the pro on price, the enthusiast doesn't do enough. My pro was under $500 refurbished a few years ago. I'd get the cheaper thing to read and reset codes and just borrow a pro Durametric to change whatever settings you want.
The factory shift cables in a 987.2 are consumables. Mine broke at 20k and 38k miles. Installed Numeric at 45k. No more breaky.

 

Thank you all for your replies! Looks like these cars are pretty stout. If I go with a 987.2, I'll be looking into the shifter cables. I've seen a few threads recently about this so I guess it is the biggest common problem with these cars. I'll also look into the Foxwell tool.