My first test drive in singapore!

Just finished test drive in Singapore and impressions follow in no particular order...just writing as I think. Arctic Silver with 18inch std wheels, tiptronic with sports chrono, sports seats, Bose and all the luxury goodies. No PASM. First of all I am 6ft4 and no issues with head height or seating...excellent. It was mid afternoon at 33 degrees (I think about 90ish for the americans) and sunny and AC worked exceptionally well with no noticeable heat in cabin. I am not a fan of tiptronic but it worked well BUT when turn on sport on sports chrono then the tiptronic program changes noticeably for the better and holds gears better and much more suited to the sports car feel. I Would absolutely recommendsports chrono if going tiptronic. The interior exhaust and engine noise was fantastically balanced. reasonably subdued at idle and slow takeoff but quite gruff if pushed - I like a loud car but this seemed like a great compromise and will please all but the biggest booners out there. I think sounded better than 997 911 but thats subjective. Definitely great engine noises right behind your head. The ride was firm as expected but just right. The cornering ability was extreme...like I mean unbelievably good. (as a bit of background I was a 2003 state motorkana champ for a car club in Australia driving a 5.7litre GM car so have a little driving exp to validate these comments). Dont get hung up on options...if you want them, get them but the driving experience is overwhelmingly the bulk of the car. Felt like it had plenty of torque and it had a nice little extra surge over 5500rpm. Bottom line...Bloody fantastic and cant wait to get delivery of my manual, silver 19inch sportsdesign and I will be lowering by about 20-25mm just for looks. Any questions...hapy to answer

PS. Drove a 997 911 tiptronic yesterday and again people get hung up on 0-100km times and the diff is I think 0.4 seconds. Seat of the pants test...Cayman tiptronic felt just as quick (although maybe a fraction less responsive off the lights in tiptronic but that could be because cayman had 800km on board and 911 was looser at circa 20000km) and in my humble view you would really need a stopwatch to tell the difference.

Thanks for sharing, especially about lack of cabin heat. For perspective, can you say whether you are in anyway affiliated with Porsche/dealer? My asking is not meant to question your credibility, but rather to set the record in case anyone is doubting the Cayman's ability for lack of 'independent' driver feedback. Yours might be the first, so congratulations! I have high expectations for the Cayman S and I have much experience with mid-engined cars, but I have little doubt the car will meet if not exceed my expectations.

IF HE WAS A DEALER HE WOULD NOT HAVE SAID 'DON'T GET HUNG UP ON OPTIONS'

Philip, I was pleased to hear that you had room because I am 6'3'. I am too tight in the Boxter and I was concerned about leg room. The leg room was fine for you? Mike -Chevy pick up -Triumph 955 Daytona -Waiting for Cayman to complete the package

Thanks, Philip. Your focused comments go a long way toward removing some of the paranoia that's crept into the Cayman Club group while we've been waiting.

Hmm, anyone jumping from a Holden into a Cayman would certainly think it is great! /fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/tounge_smile.gif Just joking Philip. Thanks for the review. Motorkhana in a Cayman sounds like it could be a fun thing to do, but I am more of a track sort of guy. Maybe I will see you in Targa Tasmania one day in the Cayman S! /fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/thumbsup.gif

How was the fit and finish of the car ? I have not seen any articles that talk about it, so I can only assume no problems ;-)

How long was the test drive? Thanks for the good feedback.

SCHAO...No not inked to Porsche in any way at all. TEAM256...Leg room no problems. Both head and leg room totally different to a boxter and similar to 997 911. The tested car had sports seats which dealer told be didnt go back as far as standard seats since bigger backpiece so if you are freakishly long legs go for standard seats but realistically cant see ths being a problem for anyone. Also sports seats felt great but would be careful with this option if one was either very large or very broad shoulders due to bolstering. WAY...thanks for Holden comment! I suppose it was there for the taking and i know it was a joke but I must say there is a high level of pleasure with 5.7 litres of V8 muscle chanelled through a chassis that is not really up to it! Makes for lots of fun. Thecayman is scalpel sharp in comparison. Current car is volvo S60R. EUROBOY...Didnt really focus on fit and finish but this car was fully decked out and I thought looked well finished. Sorry cant be more help but nothing came to my attention to indicate any issues. Go look at a 997 911 and they are similar internal quality. Did followthe next test driver for a while and I did notice the exhaust move vertically quite a lot upon acceleration. It ddnt float about as if loose, just went down probably about a 2 inches upon acceleration. Test drive was about 15 minutes but if this is a heat related Q then car had been on string of tests before meand was stting outside before drive. Also notebeing on equator, humiditity is high in singapore making cooling more difficult and whilst a/c dial was on 16 degrees I actually commented to dealer that it got a bit cool in the car. Hope this helps

Thank you Phillip for the posting. Sure answered some of my questions as well. I am hoping that the seats work out. I tried them in a 997 and they felt very comfortable for me, although I may be on the large/broad shoulder side lol.

Thank you, Philip.You answered the ?about leg room, which wasmy only concern about the purchase. I did choose the standard seats for that very reason. I fit fine in a 997 so we are good to go and ready to launch! (January 15th) Mike

Test drove the same car Philip was in twice a week apart. He's spot on observation wise. Just to add on the interior, there were no rattles or squeaks as far as I could pick out. Tried the Bose system and the high radio static is surprising. They shifted the sub to behind the center console passenger side vs the boxster which isin between theseats- didn't try the cd thou...

Philip - I come to Singapore about once a year and have always been (negatively) impressed by the degree of control there, including traffic. Do you have to have one of those lights on the roof that tells how fast you're going, or is that just some cars? And where do you find to drive in such a small city-state?