Art14244

Hello. I'm new to this forum and have some questions for the Porsche savvy...

1. Anyone with experience ordering and picking up a new vehicle from the factory in Germany?

2. Cost and or savings in doing so?

3. Are US dealers negotiating at all on 2014 Cayman S's?

4. With Man trans, what is the benefit (if any) of the Sport Chrono package? Does the Man trans have auto rev feature? Can it be disabled?

5. Difference between the fixed "sport suspension" option and the adaptive suspension (other than the fixed version simply being lower)?

6. Opinions on the sport exhaust versus standard?

Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

Art

Frank 993 C4S

Welcome to RL!

I picked up my new GT3 in Germany a couple of years ago, drove it in Europe for 6 months. The experience was absolutely priceless!

Looking at the car configuration, Euro delivery is a no charge option and 2 weeks of insurance is usually included. The Euro Nav disk is usually an extra charge.

Can't help you on the other items - Good luck with your analysis!

Art14244

Thank you, I'm seriously considering taking my son (14 years old) with me.....once in a lifetime thing we'd both not forget. Thanks for the reply.

Frank 993 C4S

Memories!

Chris

1) I picked up my 2014 Cayman S in June this Summer, an experience not to be missed, definitely worth doing if you can. If you choose Leipzig you can drive a similarly equipped car around their track. I chose Zuffenhausen as I wanted to see the Porsche factory there. Your Cayman is not built at either
facility. Planet-9 has a couple of blogs on people's experience with the program.

2) Dream on, it has not even been 2 years since Porsche stopped charging for this service!! You get one night at a hotel free and the Taxi to and from the airport is paid for, oh they do give you a full tank of fuel and 2 weeks insurance.

3) Depends where you are located, areas where there are multiple dealers seems to generate the need to discount. Up here no such luck but if I had been willing to order in CA for instance and drive it home there were savings to be had.

4) I have the manual and could not warrant the expenditure of the SC, you get down shift throttle matching when Sport Plus is engaged and you get the dynamic transmission mounts. If you want dashboard bling then maybe that would sway your decision. I found there were other $2K options that were higher on my want list.

5) Fixed sport is 10mm lower than PASM which is 10mm lower than stock. I like the PASM as it provides a great ride even on the 20" rims when cruising. Others like the firm ride all the time the sports suspension provides. I would go and see if you can drive both and make up your own mind. Sports Suspension can also be retrofitted if you so wish.

6) Another option that some are fanatical about, for me the stock is just fine. Now if the sports exhaust provided more power you might convince me but it does not and for the $3K you can save some money and get a proven after market system that does provide more power without the switchable baffle. If power is your game there are some horses to be had from not only the exhaust but updated intake with larger throttle body from the 991.

Hope this helps some

william_b_noble

two comments:
1. sport exhaust includes a resonator and some plumbing to make a louder engine sound inside the cabin (the resonator is like a speaker cone, it's in the intake manifold). you turn this on/off with a switch in the cabin. Not something I thought useful.

2. beware of the really low cars - I bought a 991 like that and I couldn't get it in/out of my driveway without actually pulling the spoiler lip off the car - very annoying. Wife also despised the rough ride and complained continually. Switched to a cayman without the lowered suspension and with 19 rather than 20 inch wheels and it just drags a little on the driveway and wife doesn't complain.

Dino944

Others have answered several of the questions, particularly those regarding overseas pick up.

As for discounts, yes some US dealers are discounting the 2014 Cayman S. I found discounts ranging from 4% to 7.5% off the MSRP, and that was for a car I was ordering. I do not know if picking the car up in Germany would affect whether a dealer would discount your car.

I ordered the sport chrono. I believe the rev blipping only occurs in Sport or Sport Plus mode, and not in the normal setting. It remaps the throttle and gives a harder redline. I believe without it, fuel cuts off about 500 RPM below the redline, while with SC turned on, fuel cut off is just about at the redline. And as others mentioned you get dynamic transmission mounts.

We opted for PASM. I got to drive a Boxster S with it on 20" wheels for 600 miles. It was stiff in the sport setting, which might be best for the track or very smooth highways, and in the normal setting it soaked up bumps without losing its composure, and yet it wasn't too soft, it was ideal for most roads. It is far superior to the PASM I had on my 2008 Boxster RS60. We also drove some Cayman S's with PASM and without. We ordered our Cayman S with PASM and 20" Carrera S wheels. I briefly considered the sport suspension, but I was concerned about ride height being too low (every now and then the little plastic bits behind the front wheels of our 987s would scrape, and I couldn't imagine what would happen if it had been 10mm lower), and my wife didn't want something that felt like we were riding on wooden wagon wheels.

We also ordered the sport exhaust. My wife heard it and really liked it (we had it on our last car). There is no power gain, but to be honest, I don't like aftermarket stuff on my car (you may like it everyone is different). Yes, its expensive, but when selling the last car it was something other potential buyers liked. Some people I know that get aftermarket stuff, spend money on it, but it doesn't add any value, buyers bitch about it being aftermarket (even if they like it, so that they can negotiate the price down further), or if they really don't like it and don't want it, you have to try to sell it on your own and deal with shipping etc. Overall, the new 981S without PSE sounds really good, much better than the 987S without PSE. However, we both really liked PSE on the 981S.

I should mention we drove the 981S in both Boxster and Cayman forms, so not all of the above is based on our experience test driving Boxsters.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

JCtx

So the PSE switch does nothing for the sound outside the car? That'd explain why somebody posted a video over the Planet-9 forum with a camera attached to the rear bumper, and I could not hear any difference. Owners said there was a 'clear' difference... but maybe they were making that call based on the noise INSIDE the car.
Can somebody with PSE confirm if the system has vacuum valves on the MUFFLERS, like Corvettes and Ferraris, or not? I personally hate intake noise, so if it's only for the cabin, I'd definitely scratch it off my options list. The only thing I hate more than intake noise is fake speaker noise, like BMW and many other automakers now do. If PSE OFF is louder than stock inside the cabin, it's a deal-breaker for me as well. If it was quieter or at least the same when turned OFF, AND it has valves on the mufflers, then I'd buy it. Thank you folks.

Dino944

No, that's not accurate. There is a clear difference outside of the vehicle when PSE is turned on.

I saw the same video I believe at Planet 9, and it wasn't a good video or representation regarding the sound difference between PSE on vs. off.

JCtx

Thanks a lot for your clarification. Then another fear of mine with PSE might be validated by your statement. That PSE is louder inside the vehicle than stock even when off, due to different plumbing of the intake, no? I really doubt there're valves for the mufflers AND the intake for extra sound purposes.

May I ask you if you have laid on your back under your car and see the muffler valves? If there're any, you should clearly see them even without having to lift the car at all. The engine is right there, after all. And also curious if somebody has lifted the engine cover and see if there's also intake piping involved. I believe the extra intake noise is true because manufacturers love to add intake noise, even though it's not appealing to everybody. Thx.

RareAir

Regarding European delivery... if you are even considering doing it, stop thinking about it and just go for it. I did ED on a BMW a couple years ago, and it's an experience I'm so glad to have had. I will do another trip for a Porsche in the future.

If you do decide to go, here is a great car spot just south of Stuttgart:

http://www.meilenwerk-region-stuttgart.de/

A great lunch spot with a truly amazing selection of cars to view. While we were there, a group of guys were taking Lamborghini's out for test drives, which meant a wonderful sound in the space every so often.