shmark

Been shopping for 993s for the past couple weeks, and then made the mistake of driving a Cayman S today. WOW. I loved it! What a car. And my wife actually likes it too.

So what's the experience been like so far? I am seriously considering it now, thinking cobalt blue with a natural leather interior, Sport Design wheels, Sport Chrono....

It would definitely see track time, probably a near-daily driver here in Atlanta. Am I in as much trouble as I think?

PogueMoHone

Yes,

that's a sweet combination...but if you procrastinate,somebody will steal it from under you. Now drive the 997S and you'll forget all about it.

38D

As a daily driver, the Cayman will be far better than a 993. The interior is nicer and it has far more creature comforts. For the track, the 993 will be tougher, last longer (true dry sump, not crappy wheel bearings, etc.) and be about the same speed as the Cayman (both in D class). It's all about trade offs.

pstoppani

Agreed on the daily driver comment; I much prefer the Cayman over my 993.

mooty

not crappy wheel bearings
________
hey how you know?
my boxster eat wheel bearings like i devour donuts.

shmark

True dry sump and crappy wheel bearings? Can you elaborate on this? Those things would be important to me because any car I buy will see several autocrosses and track days a year, in addition to driving on the street. That's part of why I like the 993, the dual-purpose is so natural for it. But I was blown away by driving the Cayman yesterday and am seriously thinking about it.

shmark

BTW I know better than to drive a 997...would ruin everything for me and it's just not an option. Hell convincing the wife about the Cayman won't be easy.

mooty

other than GT2, 3 TT, today's porsche aren't dry sumped.
it's really not a big prob if you only do "several trackdays" with all due respect, if you do only several track days, i dont belive you will be fast enough on slicks to have oil starvation issue. now if race on slicks you may need accusump and deeper baffled oil pans (both can be retrofitted to cayman for $1-2k) i tracked c2 oever 5k track miles in one year, on r compounds, never had oiling issue (maybe i am just too slow) but most ppl on r compounds can't get enough lateral G's to have oiling prob (now if you are high banked ovals, you may have a prob).

the wheel bearing is smaller and dont last as long as the ones on 996 or gt3. but it's still good for about 30 trackdays (about 6000 miles on track) for me. based on your usage, maybe every 2-3 years you need new front bearings. that's not too bad.

shmark

Actually used to track a 914 about 5k track miles a year so I know what you mean. I thought I was pretty fast. That's part of the appeal of the Cayman, the mid-engine configuration. Now I'm looking at the Cayman brochure and it definitely says it's a dry-sump engine. To me, that's pretty cut and dry unless suddenly Porsche is playing fast and loose with the terminology. So can someone elaborate on the idea that it's not a real dry sump? Oil tank, main pump, scavenge pump, high capacity, looks like dry sump doesn't it? Or am I missing something.

mooty

it's not a TRUE dry sump. there is no SEPARATE oil tank like GT3 GT2 TT.
when you do oil change, you only drain from the case. no oil tank.

chris walrod

Porsche seems to get away with calling the modern day Porsches semi-dry sump. This is where the oil sump is indeed (somewhat) separate from the crankcase, just not a dedicated and separate oil tank.

Based on our recent Boxster experiences (two flat bedded trips to the dealer), the newer cars are just not as robust or tank-built like that of the older air cooled cars.

I really think Porsche learned A LOT from the 996 cars with their inherent troubles and applied better thought-out updates to the 997, 987 and Cayman. At least I would certainly hope so

That said, bring your helmet to the dealer and sit in a Cayman. See if you can get comfy without compromising seating position. Just dont let the service advisor see you doing this--it may be hard to get warranty work if he does

ventoGT

Shmark--get the Cayman. You won't regret it. Carrera Classic 19" wheels though. They look killer on that car.

Ernie J

The Guys at MantisSport have a 1.5 qt deep sump , windage tray and oil cooler/electirc oil pump setup for your oiling worries. Its on their Cayman S racer.
---------------------------------- Ernie

DCLee

Sounds like just what I need, PM me, Ernie. I was hoping to use my little seven-row 993 Turbo-S auxilliary oil cooler in the C-Car, would that work?

Lee in D.C.
Cayman S project car

shmark

I keep waffling...I really want the Cayman but that voice inside my head keeps screaming wait a year! Let someone else take the hit. But then I drive by the dealer again and get all twisted.

I'm going to keep hunting for a bit and if I can't find my ideal 993 I'll probably pick up the Cayman.