Jim Michaels

I think John's right. For those of us coming from older Porsches there are a lot of new things to learn and adapt to on the Cayman. After four autocross days and two track days I still have work to do, but I'm convinced that PASM and Sport Chrono will allow one to go faster in both venues. In my view, those who drive only on public roads won't need either of these options, unless you just want to play with the clock timer part of Sport Chrono, which also operates without being in Sport mode. Serious track junkies can order Sport Chrono and pass on the PASM, opting for a firmer and lower aftermarket sport suspension system. But the Porsche suspension seems well tuned, so one should be very careful that the aftermarket replacement is actually an enhancement rather than a detriment. One final comment; for me, the stock Cayman requires greater driving finesse to go fast than my more track prepared RSA did. Some gross inputs that worked with the RSA seem to unsettle the Cayman. It's easy to over-drive the stock Cayman, thus losing the delicate balance and some speed.

Joe Yang

My Cayman S came with only one option: floor mat. The car is just PERFECT stripped. You don't need PSM or Sport Chrono.

Joe
---------------------
'04 GT3 white
'06 Cayman S yellow
'00 Boxster (sold)
'05 BMW 325i
'05 Subaru Legacy GT Limited

Jim Michaels

Joe: So you're the guy who ordered only one floor mat. Did you really need that? The car already comes with carpets standard. You must win the anchor position of one options extreme; the other options extreme is anchored by someone who paid over $100k for his Cayman. I guess some people just have to try to improve on perfection.

soltino

Yes, definitely a case of degree, not kind. (-%


tino

Joe Yang

I actually found this car at local Porsche dealer. The story goes that this car should have been Mooty's but he just bought his second Cayman one week prior, so I snatched away...sorry Mooty.

Yes, a stripped Cayman is VERY rare. I don't miss not having Xenon, Bose, PASM, Sport Chrono, nor butt warmer.

I absolutely love this car! It's perfect as-is.

Joe
---------------------
'04 GT3 white
'06 Cayman S yellow
'00 Boxster (sold)
'05 BMW 325i
'05 Subaru Legacy GT Limited

Jim Michaels

My friend ordered only the PASM, Sport Chrono, and Model Designation Delete on his white Cayman, so that was the most stripped Cayman I knew of before I heard about yours. Mine has only those 3 options, plus xenons, sport steering wheel, and sport seats.

Joe Yang

Pete, I think I met you at Thunderhill last year. I was driving my white Boxster parking next to you, along with my friend Fong's white GT3 and Mooty's M3. Glad you bought the Cayman. Very nice choice of color...speed yellow like mine except I have 18" wheels.

Jim, I do have one upgrade that the sales person gave me for free. I got the sport steering wheel. This would have been one option that I don't mind paying ($250). White is very nice color. Actually white was my first color choice if I were to order my car. But I also LOVE my yellow. It looks awesome at the track!

Joe
---------------------
'04 GT3 white
'06 Cayman S yellow
'00 Boxster (sold)
'05 BMW 325i
'05 Subaru Legacy GT Limited

ELUSIVE

in my opinion sport chrono only does one thing...put more money in Porsche's pocket.

Joe Yang

On the track, I turn PSM off. First time out with the Cayman I had it on as pre-caution. 2 laps later I turn it off because PSM kicked in EVERY turn and was very annoying. It actually slow me down killing the corner speed. The slight over steering is what you need (which was missing from the Boxster) through the corners. I suppose Sport Chrono will let you 'hang-out' more with delay PSM but it is still there. I found Cayman handling is SO neutual and predictable, better than my Boxster due to stiffer chassis, that I don't need PSM.

Throttle feel is very good as-is. You don't need Sport Chrono to make it quicker. It will only make your throttle steering more choppier.

I was tempted to order PASM. The idea that I can stiffen up suspension by push of button (plus lowering the car) appealed to me. But so far I didn't find the suspension too soft. If I ever decide to do track setup, I would prefer mechanical coilovers over electronics OE suspension.

Joe
---------------------
'04 GT3 white
'06 Cayman S yellow
'00 Boxster (sold)
'05 BMW 325i
'05 Subaru Legacy GT Limited

1AS

Pete,
I haven't tried the package, but I'm guessing you aren't driving it the way the test engineers do. First, if you are very experienced, I apologize. What I'm about to say is superfluous.
Experienced track drivers are very aggressive with the throttle, accelerating all out on every tiny bit of straight road. That's the way they get enough momnetum to use the brakes to shift weight forward without getting too slowed-down. If you don't get going fast enough, when you use the brakes to improve turn-in, you are too slow. If you keep on the gas lightly, you just understeer off and have to lift.
My advice would be to try to listen to what the car is telling you. It probably needs some trail brake on entry, so you need throttle response to maintian velocity. If my ignorance causes me to be way off base, I apologize. In ultra-high power cars, throttle modulation is pretty critical, but otherwise it's often more like a toggle switch- all the way on or all the way off. It's hard for me to see the Cayman as having enough torque to smole the rears on corner exit with so much weight and failrly generous rubber out back. As soon as you are turned in, do you nail the throttle? AS

STLPCA

SC's Sport Mode does more than (1) tighten the throttle response, (2) raise the rev limiter, & (3) significantly alter the criteria for PSM intervention when PSM is left on or turned "off." It also increases the minimum triggering level for ASR to permit greater slip, i.e., greater ability to throttle steer/drift AND it also delays ABS intervention.

Seems to me that's a bunch of positive performance enhancements for the relatively modest cost.

PogueMoHone

Absolutely, and it changes the torque curve I believe, no small thing either when you want to the back-end around at lower speeds.

The Sport Chrono, PASM and xenons are must have options, at least when you go to sell it.

pstoppani

1) all it does is change the throttle map; it does not do anything for throttle response; you simply get more gas for less pedal movement. This has nothing to do with throttle response.
2) it does not raise the rev limiter; it just makes the limit harder since it's using an aggressive throttle map (rev limite just closes the throttle)
3) does not significantly alter PSM; it just delays it a bit
4) does not affect the torque curve

Alexander - It is under trail braking where the transition to throttle is too abrupt.

In my experience, the Sport mode of the Sport Chrono Package is a way of making the car feel faster, especially when driving significanly below the limits. As you approach the limits, the Sport mode hinders rather than helps. The same was true of the sport button on the E46 M3; the faster you got, the more you needed to turn it off because you lose throttle finesse.

pstoppani

Turning off PSM is much more affective for such drivng; trust me, in Sport mode, PSM is still way too intrusive.

PogueMoHone

I don't trust you.

It does chage the torque curve, look at the torque maps.

Further, on ice and snow try it with and without sport chrono and PASM and see how much easier it is to get the back-end out.

One of the many little things the Porsche professionals teach you, and have you practice over and over (when working on drifting the car), at their ice driving school (Camp4).