Introduction

Hello all! Yesterday I placed my order for a rather spiffing Cayman and I'm 'rather excited' (tm)so I thought I would say hello. I chose Atlas grey metallic with the 19' Carrera S wheels (the wheels I first chose are not yet available). Expensive options I selected were PASM as I intend to use this as a track car and a daily driver, and Xeon headlights , as my current car has them and anything without now looks broken! Sports seats, sports wheel, climate, Bose (I couldn't say no after hearing it!), rear wiper. I was initially put off by my dealer having no delivery slots until July/Aug but a bit of calling round got a Jan build for March delivery. I wanted a March delivery to give them a few months of sorting out the initial niggles, plus to get the first of the 2006 registrations. I frequently go on track days and driving holidays and frequent the Nurburgring a fair bit. In fact, pretty soon after getting my car I plan on taking it straight to the ring! Can't wait! I've currently got an S2000 which is fast, but before that had a Civic Type R, which was faster (particularly with a numpty like me driving) round the ring. The Cayman should be blitzingly amazing and as soon as I get it, I'll want to make it my first destination upon leaving the dealership!! I chose the Cayman due to the performance and driving rewards its going to give. The 911 has always been great, but I haven't really liked a 996, the 997s are out of my price range and a 993 is a bit old (for what I'm looking for) and the Boxster, as nice as it is, isn't for me. BUTTHEN THECAYMAN CAME ALONG!! Excellent - the perfect car for me At the moment I have a Honda S2000 (which I love) and a Porsche 911 SC Sport Targa (which I love). The 911 is on ebay at the moment and the Honda's being traded on Cayman collection. Before these I had a CivicTypeR (+ a house!), a TVR Cerbera, a TVR Chimaera, and a bunch of other sports cars.I like my cars rear wheel drive and fast! The fact that the Cayman's asthetics are awesome is merely a plus point!! Anyway, that's me - 'Hi all'. I have a website with some pics of my cars, travels n' stuff if you're bored: http://www.pikeynet.com Cheers! Ben (aka Pikey)

Welcome Ben........obviously you have great taste in colors......Atlas is THE best Porsche color.......but then again I might just be alittle biased. What color interior? Sounds like you have chosen the Cayman for all the right reasons and look to have a nicely optioned version. Now the wait begins!

Welcome! Love your pics! You obviously travel a fair bit. How do you rate the Tom Tom 700 btw? What is the difference between that and the 500?

Thanks First of all, 'colour' has a 'u' in it! Not sure what happened when the dictionary first passed over the pond - the u must have fallen out, but it is there - honest!! I did like the darkcolours and particularly the black, but I felta slight tint to it really rounded it off and made it look more special. They had a 997 in the showroom in that colourso I've a pretty good idea what its going to look like. The interior is all black. I've got it in my S2000 (had it 3 years from new) and still like it as much as when it went in - so thought it was wise to stick with it. I've not got any additional leather trim bits as I thought standard was great... and anyway that option list can almost double the price of the car, so one has to be careful TOMTOM G0 700 - I'm going to do a review on my site sometime, but in a nutshell, it's AMAZING! It knows absolutely EVERY road in the whole of Europe without any hitch , configuration option or hestitation. It knows where I live as well as a tiny dirt track in deepest Tuscany esactly the same and although a computer should be able to do that easily - its amazing to see it in effect. Regarding the use, my friend's 1 year old 911 has the Porsche Sat Nav and its more difficult to use, less easy to follow, not as accurate and near useless in Europe without spending more money on maps. Also,did you note when I broke down and was on way to a dealer on the back of a truck in an unscheduled city (Rome) and the driver didn't know the way through the city, I turned TomTom onto Italian, punched in the address and stuffed it on the dashboard?! Later we got a hire car from the other side of Rome and had to navigate out and into Tuscany, then a tiny farmhouse down a dirt road in Siena at 11o'clock at night, tired and p*ssed off. An absolute godsend! If I ever lost or broke my GO700, I would immediately purchase another. No question. Also my girlfriend and I no longer argue. She's cr*p at mapreading and if she ever doubts that point, I threaten to leave it at home next time we go somewhere.... she immediately admits that she is cr*p

I agree wholeheartedly with Pikey. TomTom saved my marriage! My wife gets car sick and can't read maps, and neither can I very effectively while driving... I specified the uber- PCM option, but can see myself bringing along the TomTom for backup. I can't see how a top-down display will work very well compared to the TomTom 's 3D view. But I MUST have integrated computer gadgetry! Maybe the PCM software people will issue an upgrade, but most likely not.

can someone tell me the difference between the different Tom Tom models? 300, 700, etc?

Pikey, Welcome! I know exactly how you feel! You photo gallery isfantastic! Can't wait to spend mor time studying the photos. Aloha Russ

In the UK, TomTom 300: Standard version, UK maps TomTom 500: Adds bluetooth to talk to your mobile and give hands free, possibly a few more European maps TomTom 700: Adds internal hard drive with Europe maps (I think) You can download a John Cleese voice for it from their website too, well worth it.

Pretty close: 300: Basic unit, loaded with UK maps and major European roads (motorways mainly). Can buy other maps About 300GBP 500: same as above, plus remote control and bluetooth handsfree kit About 440GBP 700: same as above PLUS EVERY MAP IN THE WHOLE OF EUROPE - right down to footpaths! It even has Pompeii in it!!! About 500GBP PS. I've downloaded Sylvia... she's a *****... but my girlfriend's jealously is going down - she's into Sylvia too

Thanks! Put a lot of time to one side then, there are about 60,000 pictures at the last count !! They try and tell a story rather than just being a load of pics - Enjoy. (The index link is near the bottom of the page. The front page only shows the last 9 groups of pics) PS. Be sure to check out the sailing pictures (bottom right). I'm quite proud of those!

Congrats on the car.

Pikey, I have thousands of pics as well, but I am afraid your gallery puts mine to shame. I got a Canon 20D and I have to photograph everything. It is so much fun when the camera makes your photos look good without really knowing what you are doing. I will check out your other galleries tonight! Thanks for sharing. Russ

Pikey Nice colo'u'r combo, man! and nice pics on the website as well. Member with great taste in cars and has solid experience... Welcome!

Welcome, Pikey. A nice co(u)lo(u)r combination. I agree that the Porsche Nav system doesn't measure up to, say, Acura /Honda, but it will add to the value of your car when you sell it.