This was a last minute add for me. Ridiculous that a $90k car doesn't have this standard. But I gave in because I prefer setting a temperature than hot/cold in a daily driver.

For a weekend car, I might skip it.

 

Why does your desired interior temp change based on what's going on outside? I like my car to be 72 F no matter how hot or cold it is out there.

 

Ok, build is in. I went with dual zone. I won't regret getting it (other than the extra cost), but I may regret not opting for it. I don't care if the wife can have the adjustment, but I do care if I'm constantly toggling to get the temperature right.

 

Set temp and forget. Insulting this itsbeven an option but I got it so it matches the RS and Macan controls.

 

Because one's body adapts to longer term (e.g., seasonal) ambient temperature changes. Plus, I may change the temp setting based on what I'm wearing.

 

Or how HOT your passenger is.

 

Drove about 32 hours back from NY with my wife, in temps ranging from 65 to 39. The basic climate controls are fine, no issues at all.

One feature you need, if you will ever drive at night, is the dimming mirrors.

my .02

 

So, just for clarification - the standard system functions just like the dual zone system, except for the fact that it
1. controls two instead of one zone?, True / False?, and
2. it displays a bar, instead of actual temperature.


The answer to 1. is worth $700.
Anyone can say for certain?
Where is the sensor?

 

I'm gonna disagree with this. I got the dimming mirrors in my car, and discovered the wing is at the perfect height for SUV headlights to cast a shadow on the mirror sensor but still reflect right into my eyes. When the trucks are far back, the mirror will dim like it's supposed to; but since most SUVs around here like to tailgate in traffic, I get full-blast in the eyes most of the time. Very annoying.

If I were to do it again, I think I would get the normal mirror instead, since I could at least flip the dimming lever manually.

 

The standard system just has fan control (like the dual zone system, but I believe without an Auto mode) and then rather than setting a target temperature you just have a Hot/Cold spectrum you can choose from to control the intensity of the heat/AC, but since that's necessarily relative to outside temperature, maintaining a constant temperature in the cabin will involve adjusting that based on outside temperature. With dual zone, you can just essentially say "Do whatever it takes to achieve this temperature", for each side of the cabin separately if desired.

 

I haven't driven enough at night to notice this, but from experience with my M3 and then driving other cars without this feature, I realized how much I'd come to like having auto-dimming on the side mirrors when changing lanes at night, and if you don't get this option, there's no manual way to dim those as far as I know.

 

I almost pulled over and called it a night the glare was so bad......then I discovered the on switch, and everything was nice after that. It made a massive difference (for me at least). Didn't miss the HVAC - but I can see if this were a DD it would be helpful.

 

Is this an on switch for the side mirrors on cars without auto dimming, or do you mean the button on the rearview mirror to toggle auto-dimming where an amber LED lights up to indicate it's on?

 

This

 

jphughan, Thanks for the clarification. Also now realized that there are plenty of threads in the boxster/cayman forums that also confirm this. The standard system is 50's technology.
My '89 944 had single zone climate and so does my '01 boxster. In both, that was not an option. Didn't even realize that any one car company would still spend development $$'s on NOT providing something that has been customary for 25 years or more. Imagine a TV, where the remote is an upgrade ..