981 - Long journeys - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

I've started looking for a 981 and considering which spec to look for. Since the start of Covid I've been working from home, but my work could send my anywhere in the country. As this will be my only car I'd need to be able to use it to commute potentially long distances if needed. How suitable is a 981 for this and would PASM be considered essential? Most cars don't seem to have it, and also seem to have 20" wheels. I'll also probably put winter tyres on it. Is it right unless it has the 18" wheels I would need another set of wheels to swap onto the winters?

Mine couldn’t be more suitable. Long legged and refined.

I had a 981 GTS with PASM and the ride was superb. I'd quite happily do long journeys in it. I'm not sure how supple the other suspension options are, hopefully someone else can advise. If it was me, I'd get a 20" wheel can with PASM and fit PS4Ss. No need for winters then unless you live somewhere really rural. We run our Focus RS on PS4Ss all year round and they're mega. I also use them between October and April on my GT4.

Billy_Whizzzz said: Mine couldn’t be more suitable. Long legged and refined. Thanks. Is that with or without PASM?

They are a bit noisier than is ideal for long motorway journeys, not a dealbreaker but if you are used to a Golf or similar you will notice the extra noise.

We've driven all over Europe in Boxsters and Caymans with no issues at all. The twin boots are surprisingly capacious and overall comfort levels have been excellent on wheels ranging from 18" on a 987 to 20" on 718s so unless you have any significant back issues you should be fine.

981 Boxster S with PASM here. Picked it up from seller and immediately did a 650 mile return journey over 12 hours. No issues at all.

Browter said: Billy_Whizzzz said: Mine couldn’t be more suitable. Long legged and refined. Thanks. Is that with or without PASM? Without as is a Spyder and thus has fixed sports suspension

The only downside of using Caymans over long distances is the road noise, which can be wearing. I’ve put 60k on mine from new, I will say the pdk 7th gear is very efficient and I certainly can’t fault the fuel economy on the 718: PASM can be slightly more comfortable over poor road surfaces and probably makes sense for larger wheel sizes. That said after 7 years without it I’d say it’s a nice to have rather than an essential.

The only thing I'd add is to make sure you get a PDK car. My Boxster S is manual and therefore lacks the very long 7th gear that the PDK car has. Which means that engine RPMs can be surprisingly high at motorways speeds, which does affect noise and economy. Having said that, I did a 2230-mile road trip in mine last summer down to northern Spain and back via the Pyrenees and it was perfectly doable over about 10 days. Some days had lots of driving and other none, and there were a few times I wished I could pull up in an autoroute Aire and recline the seat fully like I would in a four-seater or 2+2. But then it's not a cruiser and it's not a GT. As a sports car, it's surprisingly practical and capable and comfortable.

paralla said: They are a bit noisier than is ideal for long motorway journeys, not a dealbreaker but if you are used to a Golf or similar you will notice the extra noise. Agree with this. When on it the 981 is a joy but long distance commuting just sat on a motorway is way too loud for me, i think 45 mins is enough without ear plugs, otherwise i get head booming, yet on a hoon up and down the revs for 200 miles around Scotland was fine! Maybe I'm overly sensitive to it as I had the same problem in a 458 when doing 650KM in a day, yet the R8 was fine.

Had a 981 CS for 6yrs/40k miles and found it very usable for long distances. They’re never going to be as hushed inside as your average 3 series/C Class on the motorway but I was a comfortable place to be and conversations could easily be held with the sports exhaust off. The only noise issue I had was tyre roar on concrete motorway sections, like on the bottom side of the M25… awful tyre noice. Mine was on 20’s/PASM and had no right to be as comfortable as it rode on those big wheels. With front and rear boots plus space on the engine cover there more than enough room for 2 hand luggage cases and squashy bags.

I'm on my second 981, both had 20's on neither had/has pasm. Rides really well, better than a 987 with pasm with 18"s on!!

I have a 981 GTS. Long journeys are a pleasure in France etc. Pretty good in the UK as well, despite the fact the UK is full of numpties which sort of spoil driving pleasure. My wife and I did 2 decent trips last year, one to the Dordogne and one to a track day at Spa. Car was brilliant, comfy and capable. I had a 981 S previously and that was similarly pleasurable. Of course the GTS is a bit nicer spec, but the basic S is still fab and much better overall then the two 987's I owned previously.

Browter said: I've started looking for a 981 and considering which spec to look for. Since the start of Covid I've been working from home, but my work could send my anywhere in the country. As this will be my only car I'd need to be able to use it to commute potentially long distances if needed. How suitable is a 981 for this and would PASM be considered essential? Most cars don't seem to have it, and also seem to have 20" wheels. I'll also probably put winter tyres on it. Is it right unless it has the 18" wheels I would need another set of wheels to swap onto the winters? Boxster or Cayman?

981S with pasm, pse , 20s ps4s etc and its really one of the most comfortable long distance cars I've owned. I do agree with the comments about the road noise but it's not overly intrusive. I have the 14 way memory seats and i do feel they make a difference as i have a setting for cruising and a more focused driver setting. The long 7th works really well for just sitting cruising along also.

bennno said: Boxster or Cayman? Cayman

I have a cayman with 20 inch wheels and no pasm and regularly do a 50 mile each way commute and I would echo previous comments. Tyre noise is quite loud but generally car is comfortable. Ride is firm but I would say it is quite supple with it. It’s not very crashy which I think helps overall. I used 18 inch standard cayman wheels with winter tyres over winter and I would say whilst not essential, they help on very wet roads when there is standing water when my summers would have usually aquaplaned. Overall it is quite practical with the 2 boots as well.

Is the aquaplaning really a concern? genuine question? Ive been in some seriously heavy rain, standing water and even sleet/snow. Also ive done this with the previous pirelli N rated and now with PS4S and ive never had an issue!! Yet!!!!. I would be travelling at national speed limit and the car feels no worse that any other and better than many. Now ive seen the video of the crazy guy doing 100mph+ in the pissing rain and bouncing of the armco but he wasnt being sensible and the video didnt catch what he was doing prior to sliding down the road. Also i saw the pics of the poor guy on here that had an issue with the black boxster 981 but i thought that was the rear arm cracking and was a recall issue. many cars have much wider tyres including my previous one so i cant get away with that as a reason.

Anything can aquaplane but mid engined cars can be more susceptible I believe based on their weight distribution and wider tyres. Just need to keep the speed down I guess? https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Not in my experience, however its why you don't wear tyres down to the legal minimum.....

Browter said: I've started looking for a 981 and considering which spec to look for. Since the start of Covid I've been working from home, but my work could send my anywhere in the country. As this will be my only car I'd need to be able to use it to commute potentially long distances if needed. How suitable is a 981 for this and would PASM be considered essential? Most cars don't seem to have it, and also seem to have 20" wheels. I'll also probably put winter tyres on it. Is it right unless it has the 18" wheels I would need another set of wheels to swap onto the winters? Mine's a GTS, so it has PASM. The ride is firm, but fine for motorways, and its notoriously long gearing also helps in that regard. I think 70mph is barely over 2000rpm in 7th. Also very practical with the boot and froot. The major issue with the 981 is tyre roar and engine drone. On, for example, an uphill stretch of poorly surfaced motorway the combination of tyre noise and engine drone borderlines on atrocious. Overall noise in the cabin is worse than my girlfriend's ND MX-5 on occasions. However, throw it into some B-road bends in 2nd gear and boot it full bore through a tunnel with the window down and you won't give a monkey's toss about the noisy cabin neil jdmr said: Is the aquaplaning really a concern? genuine question? Ive been in some seriously heavy rain, standing water and even sleet/snow. Also ive done this with the previous pirelli N rated and now with PS4S and ive never had an issue!! Yet!!!!. I would be travelling at national speed limit and the car feels no worse that any other and better than many. Now ive seen the video of the crazy guy doing 100mph+ in the pissing rain and bouncing of the armco but he wasnt being sensible and the video didnt catch what he was doing prior to sliding down the road. Also i saw the pics of the poor guy on here that had an issue with the black boxster 981 but i thought that was the rear arm cracking and was a recall issue. many cars have much wider tyres including my previous one so i cant get away with that as a reason. Any mid-engined car will be more susceptible due to relatively wide tyres and relatively low weight over the front end. However, run it on good tyres, ease off when there's large amounts of standing water and you'll be fine. Edited by rawenghey on Monday 20th February 15:22

Yes, get PDK for the overdrive 7th. If you're doing big journeys the roads are likely to be good, so 20s without PASM won't be a problem, I'd say. PASM comes into its own on crap road surfaces, as are to be found on many B and other secondary roads. But a car on 19s without PASM is likely to ride pretty well. As you say, OP, most cars have 20s and are lacking PASM, so it would seem that plenty of people get by without it. I had a 981 CGTS with PASM and an S similarly equipped, and on 20s, before that. Both PDK. Have done plenty of long trips, including in Europe. As others have pointed out, tyre noise is an issue (as in all Porsche sportscars) but it's easy to put up with in such an otherwise great car.

981 GTS with X73 sport suspension, little harsh for longer journeys but smoother motorway surfaces (outside the s te M25) it's fine.

Avoid the concrete section on the south/south west side of the M25 and you will be fine!