981 Cayman 2.7 PDK - Page 5 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

I've got one of these at the moment whilst mine is with the dealer. I just wanted to say what a great car it is! Had a lot of fun in it this weekend. It feels so solid, goes well, brakes are superb, sounds great (even without PSE), and I forgot just how awesome the PDK gearbox is. Very very impressed. You wouldn't actually need the S for daily road driving. This would be more than sufficient. My good friend is so impressed with it, he's spoken to Porsche and is trying to get a deal on this exact car. I think it's got a GTS style kit on it too?

Have you got a picture of the front by any chance? Be good to see the GTS front bumper on a 2.7......could be tempted to replace mine now it has 50,000 miles and loads of chips!!!

here is an example of a 2.7 with it http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

I have also had one as a loan car. Fantastic piece of kit. I'm not a particular fan of PDK but the way it shuffles gears to keep the car moving along is truly astounding!

FrankCayman said: Have you got a picture of the front by any chance? Be good to see the GTS front bumper on a 2.7......could be tempted to replace mine now it has 50,000 miles and loads of chips!!! I don't know if this is even the GTS body kit? It was just an assumption, same smoked rear lights, twin exhaust pipes, same wheels etc. Here's the front though..

Ozzie Osmond said: I have also had one as a loan car. Fantastic piece of kit. I'm not a particular fan of PDK but the way it shuffles gears to keep the car moving along is truly astounding! I'd always go for the manual myself, but this box is very very impressive.

I picked up my new car at the weekend - almost identical apart from the colour. It's a fantastic car!

V800MJH said: FrankCayman said: Have you got a picture of the front by any chance? Be good to see the GTS front bumper on a 2.7......could be tempted to replace mine now it has 50,000 miles and loads of chips!!! I don't know if this is even the GTS body kit? It was just an assumption, same smoked rear lights, twin exhaust pipes, same wheels etc. Here's the front though.. This hasn't got the GTS body. The front bumber (i.e. DLR's) are the same. Look at the example I posted. This has it. Also the tailpipes aren't black and a few other bits and bobs..

danm89 said: I picked up my new car at the weekend - almost identical apart from the colour. It's a fantastic car! congrats lovely car!

V800MJH said: I've got one of these at the moment whilst mine is with the dealer. I just wanted to say what a great car it is! Had a lot of fun in it this weekend. It feels so solid, goes well, brakes are superb, sounds great (even without PSE), and I forgot just how awesome the PDK gearbox is. Very very impressed. You wouldn't actually need the S for daily road driving. This would be more than sufficient. My good friend is so impressed with it, he's spoken to Porsche and is trying to get a deal on this exact car. I think it's got a GTS style kit on it too? I felt the reverse and hated the car, thought it was the worse car In the range. Hated the gear box, seems to take 20 seconds to get though any gear, felt lifeless and was a dull drive was happy to give it back.

V800MJH said: I'd always go for the manual myself, but this box is very very impressive. Mine is a manual....I did have a PDK out as a loaner some months ago which was interesting at first, but soon became annoying...all or nothing...I feel the PDK may be better suited to the S as they have more torque? I don't know....I always have manuals after I learnt my lesson with a Audi TT 3.2 DSG I had which I soon tired of.

danm89 said: I picked up my new car at the weekend - almost identical apart from the colour. It's a fantastic car! Congrats. Mine is black, but I was nearly going to go for Guards....but my 987.2 C 2.9 was guards so fancied a change. Enjoy!!

danm89 said: I picked up my new car at the weekend - almost identical apart from the colour. It's a fantastic car! That is stunning, congrats.

Trotmant said: This hasn't got the GTS body. The front bumber (i.e. DLR's) are the same. Look at the example I posted. This has it. Also the tailpipes aren't black and a few other bits and bobs.. I didn't say it did by the way Just that I thought it might... Does have the same wheels and smoked real lights though? Also the exhaust tips are twin and black.

PorscheGT4 said: I felt the reverse and hated the car, thought it was the worse car In the range. Hated the gear box, seems to take 20 seconds to get though any gear, felt lifeless and was a dull drive was happy to give it back. I wasn't expecting much at all though so was pleasantly surprised. Obviously not a touch on the CR.

FrankCayman said: Mine is a manual....I did have a PDK out as a loaner some months ago which was interesting at first, but soon became annoying...all or nothing...I feel the PDK may be better suited to the S as they have more torque? I don't know....I always have manuals after I learnt my lesson with a Audi TT 3.2 DSG I had which I soon tired of. Funny you should say that. I also have a DSG 3.2 TT. Nice car to cruise around in on a-b journeys. But no fun to drive at all. Plus the s t box broke last year and cost us a fortune to fix!

Thanks all - very happy with it! I had a BMW M135i before hand, which I loved, the engine was superb and the gearbox (8 speed ZF) was great. The Porsche PDK is better though - upshifts are similar but downshifts much quicker, and the blips, arghhh, the blips! Much more of an event than the M135. I love it. I'm still pre-1000 miles so haven't had a chance to stretch its legs. Can't wait though as it sounds brilliant (even below 3k revs).

V800MJH said: I wasn't expecting much at all though so was pleasantly surprised. Obviously not a touch on the CR. I think the PDK does go better with the S and the manual with the 2.7 But yes getting out an R into the PDK 2.7 is not a nice thing to do, rather have a Golf R than these base Automatic Porkers or the new M2 BMW, or a Audi TTS, in fact most other things over it lol you have to go in thinking a BASE PDK Cayman with PCM and leather is £50k so I would expect a LOT for my £50k, it's not a £50k car imo

V800MJH said: FrankCayman said: Mine is a manual....I did have a PDK out as a loaner some months ago which was interesting at first, but soon became annoying...all or nothing...I feel the PDK may be better suited to the S as they have more torque? I don't know....I always have manuals after I learnt my lesson with a Audi TT 3.2 DSG I had which I soon tired of. Funny you should say that. I also have a DSG 3.2 TT. Nice car to cruise around in on a-b journeys. But no fun to drive at all. Plus the s t box broke last year and cost us a fortune to fix! I bought my 3.2 TT dsg brand new back in 2004...I was seduced by the sound and the new tech....but soon wished I'd bought the manual 225 1.8T instead, which was the better car...looked better too as it sat lower ....I had the TT for two years and 60K...test drove a Boxster 987.2.7 manual and said out loud 10 minutes into the loand period 'this is what I want'....ordered a brand new one and have been with Porsche ever since. The top of the range/biggest engine isn't always the best car.

PorscheGT4 said: I think the PDK does go better with the S and the manual with the 2.7 But yes getting out an R into the PDK 2.7 is not a nice thing to do, rather have a Golf R than these base Automatic Porkers or the new M2 BMW, or a Audi TTS, in fact most other things over it lol you have to go in thinking a BASE PDK Cayman with PCM and leather is £50k so I would expect a LOT for my £50k, it's not a £50k car imo Yep, with a manual 2.7 you learn what gear to be in over time and it becomes a lot of fun...lovely revvy engine...yet can be driven economically too. The PDK is either flat and no power or just revving the nuts off...which feels mechanically unsympathetic!! If I were to have a Golf, I'd have a GTi....BMW's and TT's just leave me cold....mate has the M235i....fast but terribly boring and uninvolving compared to a manual 2,7...all in my opinion of course!

PorscheGT4 said: Hated the gear box, seems to take 20 seconds to get though any gear, What on earth do you mean?

PorscheGT4 said: I felt the reverse and hated the car, thought it was the worse car In the range. Hated the gear box, seems to take 20 seconds to get though any gear, felt lifeless and was a dull drive was happy to give it back. I am no fan of PDK, but what it definitely isnt is slow!

I have a 981 2.7 PDK - I'm very happy with it. It took me a while to adjust from my 987 3.4 manual, but I do enjoy the paddle shifts and the high revving engine makes me nostalgic for the sort of motorbikes I grew up with. I don't think having one as a loaner is long enough to form an accurate opinion.

bcr5784 said: What on earth do you mean? ok not 20 seconds lol, but board me to death, not a nice car to drive imo, just Transport with a nice badge.

mollytherocker said: I am no fan of PDK, but what it definitely isnt is slow! depends what you call slow, a £50k sports car taking 13 seconds to do the ton in my eyes is slow. A plastic pig Elise is 11.2 to a ton, the Golf R again 11.2, the crappy BMW 123i 11.9 so yes 13 seconds to a ton for £50k is slow, it feels slow and it's slow though the gears the 213lb/ft does not seem able to pull the car though the gears, change into 2nd you can count to 10 before you need 3rd. In fact any new Hot hatch walks all over the Porsche to a ton. Edited by PorscheGT4 on Thursday 23 July 00:04

PorscheGT4 said: bcr5784 said: What on earth do you mean? ok not 20 seconds lol, but board me to death, not a nice car to drive imo, just Transport with a nice badge. Quality trolling. Even though I'd had a very tiring and busy day, I still took mine out for a blast this evening. I was not 'board' (sic). Maybe you're not a good enough driver to appreciate the subtle nuances of the car.

pete.g said: Quality trolling. Even though I'd had a very tiring and busy day, I still took mine out for a blast this evening. I was not 'board' (sic). Maybe you're not a good enough driver to appreciate the subtle nuances of the car. maybe, my driving standard are quite poor.

The linear power delivery coupled with too high gearing can make them feel flat, you really do have to keep them on the boil. I used 1st in lots of slow corners (pdk) to keep it lively (alps mainly) and found you can make properly rapid progress on the road. I felt the pdk suited the engine really well, you need to change gear an awful lot and quickly- something pdk is brilliant at. It will get blown away by hot hatches and big oil burners on straights- depends if that bothers you or not. I liked the fact it could be caned without getting you into serious trouble. Reminded me a bit of my e30 m3 in many ways. Get one in off the peg spec and they're an absolute bargain. Are they soulful? Not so sure but modern cars generally aren't.

PorscheGT4 said: depends what you call slow, a £50k sports car taking 13 seconds to do the ton in my eyes is slow. A plastic pig Elise is 11.2 to a ton, the Golf R again 11.2, the crappy BMW 123i 11.9 so yes 13 seconds to a ton for £50k is slow, it feels slow and it's slow though the gears the 213lb/ft does not seem able to pull the car though the gears, change into 2nd you can count to 10 before you need 3rd. In fact any new Hot hatch walks all over the Porsche to a ton. Edited by PorscheGT4 on Thursday 23 July 00:04 It's not a £50K sports car...it's £40K, which is around the same price as a Audi/BMW rep car.... If you judge a car purchase purely on it's performance figures, that's your choice...but I would rather own a 986 Boxster 2.5 than some of the 'Hot Hatches' or super quick turbo BMW's and Audis kicking about at the moment. What I love about the 2.7 is it takes time to learn how to drive it....just to go out in a loaner with the preconceived idea it's going to be rubbish is probably not the best way to approach any car!! Edited by FrankCayman on Thursday 23 July 07:28

I'm a manual man, but this PDK is still awesome, certainly isn't slow. The car doesn't feel slow to me either. Would much rather have this over any hot hatch or similarly priced car to be honest. Every morning I leave for work, I keep looking back at it. It looks so so good. Looking forward to taking it on a good run this weekend!

truck71 said: too high gearing I really think that's rubbish. With so many gears in the box and a computer to shuffle rapidly between them it makes no sense at all to say the gearing is too high. It's just one of those internet myths. Or is there some gear in particular which was causing you concern?

Ozzie Osmond said: I really think that's rubbish. With so many gears in the box and a computer to shuffle rapidly between them it makes no sense at all to say the gearing is too high. It's just one of those internet myths. Or is there some gear in particular which was causing you concern? some people like it some don't, I cannot stand the car, that is imo, some love it. the above posted his in his opinion, some people will have to live with others opinions lol end of it :-p

PorscheGT4 said: depends what you call slow, a £50k sports car taking 13 seconds to do the ton in my eyes is slow. A plastic pig Elise is 11.2 to a ton, the Golf R again 11.2, the crappy BMW 123i 11.9 so yes 13 seconds to a ton for £50k is slow, it feels slow and it's slow though the gears the 213lb/ft does not seem able to pull the car though the gears, change into 2nd you can count to 10 before you need 3rd. In fact any new Hot hatch walks all over the Porsche to a ton. Edited by PorscheGT4 on Thursday 23 July 00:04 To be fair it's just a gearing issue - the manual is about 20% too long and PDK about 10%. There's no way I could live with a manual in 981 (GT)S, let alone the 2.7 version, without changing the final drive

PorscheGT4 said: In fact any new Hot hatch walks all over the Porsche to a ton. You seem far more concerned with macho statistics and pointless 0-100 times than the sublime balance of 981s mid-engined chassis. As such you are a million miles away from understanding the brilliance of the car.

Ozzie Osmond said: You seem far more concerned with macho statistics and pointless 0-100 times than the sublime balance of 981s mid-engined chassis. As such you are a million miles away from understanding the brilliance of the car. yep, if that's what you want to think, that's great ! I think it's dull as F4ck. each to their own I guess. 0-100 is just one tiny stat, My Fiesta ST3 is 1/3 of the price , a tad slower but 10 times the fun and has a great chassis, no "macho statistics " there !!! most new cars have good chassis , it's a moot point these days. I can see why people buy fast cars which can be a bit dull, due to the speed or slower cars which you can dance with which are great fun, but the 981 2.7 PDK is dull and slow, it's offers really nothing bar a nice car with a nice badge. Edited by PorscheGT4 on Thursday 23 July 13:13

Ozzie Osmond said: truck71 said: too high gearing I really think that's rubbish. With so many gears in the box and a computer to shuffle rapidly between them it makes no sense at all to say the gearing is too high. It's just one of those internet myths. Or is there some gear in particular which was causing you concern? Not an internet myth, my experience as an owner over 24,000 miles. The PDK is slightly better than the manual in this respect but in both cases they're stacked too high for UK road use. To suggest this makes no sense is a bit inflammatory - it's a valid opinion and one that's held by more than me. Several road testers have made reference to on it on release (even the much lauded CH) as well as other owners.

PorscheGT4 said: My Fiesta ST3 is 1/3 of the price , a tad slower but 10 times the fun and has a great chassis Any one of my small fleet Transit Vans is great fun to drive....and can carry large 'things' too....your opinion is of great value AND thought provoking for me too...that stupid crappy Porsche 981 with it's crappy engine, long gearing, silly electric handbrake and vague steering really isn't a patch on it. Think I will sell the Porsche and sort out the Geo on the Transit....pop a spoiler on the back to give it more downforce....fit some bucket seats...THEN I should have the perfect vehicle. Keep on posting your opinions, David....I think you're great entertainment.....

PorscheGT4 said: Ozzie Osmond said: You seem far more concerned with macho statistics and pointless 0-100 times than the sublime balance of 981s mid-engined chassis. As such you are a million miles away from understanding the brilliance of the car. yep, if that's what you want to think, that's great ! I think it's dull as F4ck. each to their own I guess. 0-100 is just one tiny stat, My Fiesta ST3 is 1/3 of the price , a tad slower but 10 times the fun and has a great chassis, no "macho statistics " there !!! most new cars have good chassis , it's a moot point these days. I can see why people buy fast cars which can be a bit dull, due to the speed or slower cars which you can dance with which are great fun, but the 981 2.7 PDK is dull and slow, it's offers really nothing bar a nice car with a nice badge. Edited by PorscheGT4 on Thursday 23 July 13:13 Three times the price of a Fiesta ST2 would buy you a Cayman GTS. Slightly more will buy a Cayman GT4, which you can have painted in a lurid colour, in case anyone doesn't notice the huge rear wing, which provides essential down-force as you heel and toe your way to Tesco, wearing your little racing boots and imagining you are Derek Bell, when in fact you are Derek Bell-End. Just my opinion . . .

FrankCayman said: Any one of my small fleet Transit Vans is great fun to drive....and can carry large 'things' too....your opinion is of great value AND thought provoking for me too...that stupid crappy Porsche 981 with it's crappy engine, long gearing, silly electric handbrake and vague steering really isn't a patch on it. Think I will sell the Porsche and sort out the Geo on the Transit....pop a spoiler on the back to give it more downforce....fit some bucket seats...THEN I should have the perfect vehicle. Keep on posting your opinions, David....I think you're great entertainment..... While Dissing Mr D certainly has appeal, I wouldn't be inclined to do so if there was more balance in his pronouncements. I can certainly image a combination of mood and road which WOULD make an ST3 more enjoyable than a 981 - there certainly are occasions when I find my other half's Suzuki Swift Sport more enjoyable to drive than my CS. There are quite a few occasions where a Caterham would knock either into a cocked hat for enjoyment. But no car is most enjoyable for all circumstances - and a 981 is an all-rounder, jack of all trades, master of none, but with few really weak points. Is that really so boring (boaring)?

truck71 said: Several road testers have made reference to on it on release. European Car Of The Year 2015, "The Passat’s win was a pretty clear one, with a majority of the 58 jurors from across Europe giving it the nod. It took 340 points. The rest of the shortlist came home like this: Citröen C4 Cactus (248), Mercedes C-class (221), Ford Mondeo (203), Nissan Qashqai (160), BMW 2-series Active Tourer (154) and Renault Twingo (124). "The jury are all motoring journalists......." Darn. I'd better get down to the VW dealership and trade in my underpowered, overpriced and poorly geared Boxster!

bcr5784 said: FrankCayman said: Any one of my small fleet Transit Vans is great fun to drive....and can carry large 'things' too....your opinion is of great value AND thought provoking for me too...that stupid crappy Porsche 981 with it's crappy engine, long gearing, silly electric handbrake and vague steering really isn't a patch on it. Think I will sell the Porsche and sort out the Geo on the Transit....pop a spoiler on the back to give it more downforce....fit some bucket seats...THEN I should have the perfect vehicle. Keep on posting your opinions, David....I think you're great entertainment..... While Dissing Mr D certainly has appeal, I wouldn't be inclined to do so if there was more balance in his pronouncements. I can certainly image a combination of mood and road which WOULD make an ST3 more enjoyable than a 981 - there certainly are occasions when I find my other half's Suzuki Swift Sport more enjoyable to drive than my CS. There are quite a few occasions where a Caterham would knock either into a cocked hat for enjoyment. But no car is most enjoyable for all circumstances - and a 981 is an all-rounder, jack of all trades, master of none, but with few really weak points. Is that really so boring (boaring)? I do actually love driving the transit vans - they offer great fun as an alternative...I love driving all types of vehicles.. but your mate Demon said his Fiesta was 10 times more fun than the 981...full stop, in his usual blunt 'troll like' fashion....I can simply not agree with that.

FrankCayman said: I do actually love driving the transit vans - they offer great fun as an alternative...I love driving all types of vehicles.. but your mate Demon said his Fiesta was 10 times more fun than the 981...full stop, in his usual blunt 'troll like' fashion....I can simply not agree with that. He's certainly not my mate - I too have enjoyed driving Transits, motorbike and sidecars, and even Reliant 3 wheelers! My issue with Mr D is that everything is black and white, great or rubbish.

bcr5784 said: He's certainly not my mate - I too have enjoyed driving Transits, motorbike and sidecars, and even Reliant 3 wheelers! My issue with Mr D is that everything is black and white, great or rubbish. I agree with all of that!

Ozzie Osmond said: truck71 said: Several road testers have made reference to on it on release. European Car Of The Year 2015, "The Passat’s win was a pretty clear one, with a majority of the 58 jurors from across Europe giving it the nod. It took 340 points. The rest of the shortlist came home like this: Citröen C4 Cactus (248), Mercedes C-class (221), Ford Mondeo (203), Nissan Qashqai (160), BMW 2-series Active Tourer (154) and Renault Twingo (124). "The jury are all motoring journalists......." Darn. I'd better get down to the VW dealership and trade in my underpowered, overpriced and poorly geared Boxster! Lol, come on. Even you must realise that's a tenuous response. Edited by truck71 on Friday 24th July 07:37

bcr5784 said: He's certainly not my mate - I too have enjoyed driving Transits, motorbike and sidecars, and even Reliant 3 wheelers! My issue with Mr D is that everything is black and white, great or rubbish. I said it was a nice car for transport not aimed at me. I only buy great cars at the top of there game. Exige, CSL, Noble, TTRS, GT3, M3 competition, Cayman R , Spyder, GT4, these are my past few cars, they all have something about them which invokes driver appeal if you LOVE cars, the 2.7 PDK 981 has nothing about it to drive vs any of the cars I have owned the last 10 years, and to add to that to buy a new one cost more than I paid for any of the above by some margin. (bar the GT4 of course) Sport auto the people who really test the cars as they should, always the best reviews imo said about the engine. "The box engine of the Cayman can only counter this by means of its direct response and lust for revs. Or is it a duty to produce high rev speeds? For below 4,000 rpm there is little thrust. Generally speaking, the 2.7-litre box engine is disappointing, with restrained power output. Like last time, it remains below the factory specification in the 0 to 100 sprint – in spite of the intentionally shifting PDK dual clutch transmission" the performance for people who think it's a fast car here in black and white ! a 14 seconds 100mph car ! I know it's NOT about straight line speed, just annoying people are saying it's a fast car on here, as we know a car does not need to be fast to be fun, but please don't say it's a fast car because it's not. I would not like to see the manual times in the real world these are the PDK ones as tested. 0-80 km/h 4.3 s 0-100 km/h 6.1 s 0-120 km/h 8.2 s 0-130 km/h 9.5 s 0-160 km/h 14 s 0-180 km/h 18 s 0-200 km/h 23.4 s todays bench mark is the 0-200 km/h as cars are so fast today a Super car is doing that in 7.7 seconds, I thought the GT4 was a bit slow at 14.5 to 124mph lol (was expecting it to be a bit faster) 23.5 seconds ffs for a £50k sports car !!! it's pain full even if it were fun to drive it's still s t slow lol I am used to 10 seconds 100 mph cars for my Sports cars, I have had some do it in the 8's and the R prob the slowest in the 11's, you DO really notice the drop off when you drive 14 seconds 100mph cars esp non turbo ones. again just like the GT3 was NOT fun, the 981 2.7 was not fun either no B road is long enough to either ring the neck out on a Gt3 or get any performance out the 981. So poor as you cannot access the power in one and poor because the other had none for the good chassis but long ratio's it has. It's a fine line finding a great car esp for UK roads hence why I have been though 50+ cars and have driven most things. I am not sure what people are driving for fun, but it's clearly NOT what I am looking for in a car, people need to respect my opinion on the car. I DO wonder what some one who drove my Spyder and then drove their own 981 PDK 2.7 would say to me in real life if we went for a blat back to back in both cars. I doubt I would get the normal "you cannot drive" s t I get on here, I might even open people eyes to what makes a car feel exciting to drive over just owning a nice car to drive to work and back. same for the other end of the scale with GT3 owners, I would love to do back to backs with these guys on B roads and see how they get the best from a GT3 on B roads and find that rewarding. Edited by PorscheGT4 on Friday 24th July 10:28

I've got one of these at the moment whilst mine is with the dealer. I just wanted to say what a great car it is! Had a lot of fun in it this weekend. It feels so solid, goes well, brakes are superb, sounds great (even without PSE), and I forgot just how awesome the PDK gearbox is. Very very impressed. You wouldn't actually need the S for daily road driving. This would be more than sufficient. My good friend is so impressed with it, he's spoken to Porsche and is trying to get a deal on this exact car. I think it's got a GTS style kit on it too? Mean while back to the original posting its a cracking car compared to its peer group and I would love to own one

PorscheGT4 said: I doubt I would get the normal "you cannot drive" s t I get on here, I might even open people eyes to what makes a car feel exciting to drive over just owning a nice car to drive to work and back. same for the other end of the scale with GT3 owners, I would love to do back to backs with these guys on B roads and see how they get the best from a GT3 on B roads and find that rewarding. You can't even get close to the proper GT3 experience on a UK road unless a) you're willing to take ridiculous risks with your licence or b) you go to great lengths to find roads in the middle of nowhere where plod is not around ....and you'd have to be a nutter in either case. I drive mine on the road occasionally, it's fun, and I like the feel of it, but you can't use the engine in any meaningful way (gearing), so it gets frustrating after a while, but I didn't buy it for that anyway. You can only get the proper GT3 experience on track, which is fine by me. If anyone hasn't had theirs on track, they're either missing out big time, or are complete mentalists on the road.

Mario149 said: You can't even get close to the proper GT3 experience on a UK road unless a) you're willing to take ridiculous risks with your licence or b) you go to great lengths to find roads in the middle of nowhere where plod is not around ....and you'd have to be a nutter in either case. I drive mine on the road occasionally, it's fun, and I like the feel of it, but you can't use the engine in any meaningful way (gearing), so it gets frustrating after a while, but I didn't buy it for that anyway. You can only get the proper GT3 experience on track, which is fine by me. If anyone hasn't had theirs on track, they're either missing out big time, or are complete mentalists on the road. Have to agree there are plenty of times when driving a slow(ish) car is far less frustrating (and more fun) than driving a fast car which can feel like a caged animal for much of the time.

Mario149 said: PorscheGT4 said: I doubt I would get the normal "you cannot drive" s t I get on here, I might even open people eyes to what makes a car feel exciting to drive over just owning a nice car to drive to work and back. same for the other end of the scale with GT3 owners, I would love to do back to backs with these guys on B roads and see how they get the best from a GT3 on B roads and find that rewarding. You can't even get close to the proper GT3 experience on a UK road unless a) you're willing to take ridiculous risks with your licence or b) you go to great lengths to find roads in the middle of nowhere where plod is not around ....and you'd have to be a nutter in either case. I drive mine on the road occasionally, it's fun, and I like the feel of it, but you can't use the engine in any meaningful way (gearing), so it gets frustrating after a while, but I didn't buy it for that anyway. You can only get the proper GT3 experience on track, which is fine by me. If anyone hasn't had theirs on track, they're either missing out big time, or are complete mentalists on the road. How has this thread gone from appreciating the 2.7 981 Cayman to discussing the GT3.... AGAIN?! Such a shame...there are lots of threads on GTS/GT4/GT3/ Spyder...but hardly any on the entry level model. I only want one car...I've tried running two over a decade ago with a brand new e46 BMW 330ci MSport for business and a 3 year old Lotus Elise for pleasure....I didn't like having two cars...pain in the arse. My 2.7/2.9 987's and my latest 981 offer me fantastic fuel economy, wonderful handling and a sweet engine....I drive approx. 40K a year in the car I want to be in all the time. I don't want to spend 90% of my life in a bloody Fiesta and have a Spyder in dry dock in the garage. David, I do take on board you opinions....and fair enough, you can't understand why I would buy a brand new 2.7 c 981 for £45K when you would buy a 987 Cayman R.... but we are all different and have different needs from our cars. I am 6ft 2" and always found the 987 cabin very tight...also the weird acoustics and buffeting design flaw of the 987 Cayman cabin always annoyed me...having to put acoustic weights in the rear hatch seemed a bit of a bodge job by Porsche....I also prefer the look of the 981....in fact.... I love the look of the 981...your opinion will not change that. Nobody in this thread is saying the 2.7 has super car performance or is the best car in the world....but there really is no need to waste any more of your time trying to convince me that I've made the wrong choice. Please, David...don't worry yourself anymore.

FrankCayman said: How has this thread gone from appreciating the 2.7 981 Cayman to discussing the GT3.... AGAIN?! Sorry, my bad!

Mario149 said: Sorry, my bad! Ha ha...no probs! I shall go OT now quickly too...just to say...love the Red Roof/Blue Paint colour combo on your GTS...looks gorgeous. Top choice in wheel design too! (see my profile pic!).

Popped into the local OPC today and they have several brand new 2.9 PDKs in there waiting for buyers. Clearly it's a package which works well for customers. They also had a very nice new 911 targa. Looked a wonderful car IMO, albeit at a very substantial price.

FrankCayman said: Ha ha...no probs! I shall go OT now quickly too...just to say...love the Red Roof/Blue Paint colour combo on your GTS...looks gorgeous. Always nice to converse with a fellow man of distinguished taste..... FrankCayman said: Top choice in wheel design too! (see my profile pic!). Have you also noticed how they don't show brake dust as the matt grey on the inside of the wheel is basically perfect the right colour to hide it?!

Mario149 said: Have you also noticed how they don't show brake dust as the matt grey on the inside of the wheel is basically perfect the right colour to hide it?! Yep...they are also the easiest wheels to clean I've ever had on a car!

Ozzie Osmond said: Popped into the local OPC today and they have several brand new 2.9 PDKs in there waiting for buyers. Clearly it's a package which works well for customers. good entry level snob value ;-) although you will find they are 2.7L again showing people don't even know what engine is in the cars ! I doubt anyone will adjust the oem geo so they are not the same type of driver as I am. I also doubt the people owning them here have changed the setup of the car either, last time I asked the reply was "Porsche know best" o hum.

PorscheGT4 said: Ozzie Osmond said: Popped into the local OPC today and they have several brand new 2.9 PDKs in there waiting for buyers. Clearly it's a package which works well for customers. good entry level snob value ;-) although you will find they are 2.7L again showing people don't even know what engine is in the cars ! I doubt anyone will adjust the oem geo so they are not the same type of driver as I am. I also doubt the people owning them here have changed the setup of the car either, last time I asked the reply was "Porsche know best" o hum. Apart from a few people on here I doubt most people who buy them are that bothered.

PorscheGT4 said: I am used to 10 seconds 100 mph cars for my Sports cars, I have had some do it in the 8's and the R prob the slowest in the 11's, you DO really notice the drop off when you drive 14 seconds 100mph cars esp non turbo ones. Edited by PorscheGT4 on Friday 24th July 10:28 For goodness sake this is about bar bragging rights. Any sports bike will easily blow such "slugs" away without breaking sweat - but it is completely irrelevant!! Even on a bike (and you can use far more performance on the road on a bike than you can in a car) you can't seriously use 0-100 in 8 (which any sports bike will do) on the road for more than a tiny fraction of the time.

PorscheGT4 said: good entry level snob value ;-) although you will find they are 2.7L again showing people don't even know what engine is in the cars ! I doubt anyone will adjust the oem geo so they are not the same type of driver as I am. I also doubt the people owning them here have changed the setup of the car either, last time I asked the reply was "Porsche know best" o hum. Can you come back to the Spyder thread please and tell us how crap the 981 spyder will be. We've missed you. Lay off the base 2.7 for a bit please and let them enjoy it. We require our dose of abuse.

PorscheGT4 said: you will find they are 2.7L again showing people don't even know what engine is in the cars ! Oops, silly me. And I'd better apologise profusely for driving a hairdresser's car as well.... Feeling better now?

The gears are obviously too long, Ozzie! Are you seriously saying that you wouldn't prefer shorter gears? We all probably attach different amounts of significance to the issue - for example, it might just about stop me buying a manual 991, but we shall see; whereas others aren't very bothered by it. But we would all prefer more sensible ratios so that we could rev a bit higher in 3rd and 4th, right? The 2.7 could also do with shorter gears (probably just the final drive) to put the engine in the power band more of the time, because it is down on torque and so a bit lethargic at some speeds.

I think GT4 (aka MrDemon) is autistic or, at the very least, somewhere on the spectrum. I am not being unpleasant and do not mean any offence. He genuinely does not think his posts are offensive, patronising or belittling, so he feels affronted when people respond in kind. It's best to either ignore his posts or try to disregard the tone and style (because he means nothing by it) and focus on what little objective content there is. His posts on this thread read, in summary, as follow:- the 2.7 is slow; anyone buying it does so only for the badge; I drive the best cars and use the best geo because, in short, I drive flat out.

ORD said: The 2.7 is a gorgeous engine. The car isn't fast by any modern sports/performance car standards. But that really isn't the point. It is still too fast to be driven properly hard in public roads, so a taste for a faster car is just that. No reasons why the slower car cannot be as much fun! Agreed and this is why my wife has ordered one which is expected in September. For the life of me I can't understand why when someone says they like or enjoyed a particular car the "knowledgeable experts" feel the need to then quote lots of irrelevant drivel on why they shouldn't like it at all.

Mja300 said: This is my 2.7. Picked it up at the end of June and so far it's exceeded all my expectations. I came from a 987.1 Cayman S. The PDK suits my driving for a greater percentage of the time. It just does everything so well. Looks great. Love the new way in which Porsche now leave the front rad grills black on the 2.7 rather than painted....looks alot more aggressive.

ORD said: I think GT4 (aka MrDemon) is autistic or, at the very least, somewhere on the spectrum. I am not being unpleasant and do not mean any offence. He genuinely does not think his posts are offensive, patronising or belittling, so he feels affronted when people respond in kind. It's best to either ignore his posts or try to disregard the tone and style (because he means nothing by it) and focus on what little objective content there is. His posts on this thread read, in summary, as follow:- the 2.7 is slow; anyone buying it does so only for the badge; I drive the best cars and use the best geo because, in short, I drive flat out. All the above is spot on.

Due you know I hadn't thought of that, he may well be suffering from learning difficulties, if that is the case it does explain some of the style & content of his posts thanks for bringing that to my attention ORD.

I have just spent several days using a 63-plate 2.7 PDK model and my basic thoughts are these:- Lovely car, beautifully put together and great looking and sounding. It has a terrific gearbox but the gears ARE too tall for the nature of the engine. Honda geared their S2000 very low in the first 3 gears because of the lack of torque and Porsche should have done the same. Whether it's for emissions/noise statistics i don't know, but they have geared the cammy 2.7 too tall for absolute certain. Is the older 2.9 any better in this respect, i e low down power? Overall a fantastic buy for £40,000. My neighbour's A45AMG cost more than that and it's not in the same league as the 2.7 other than acceleration statistics. Sounds crap, rides crap, horrible turbo lag and looks crap. I wonder if the cheapest way to lower the gearing would be a change to 18s from the stock 19s? But keep the tyre profile the same? After all, outright top speed is irrelevant to 99.9% of people 99.9% of the time.

CorvetteConvert said: I have just spent several days using a 63-plate 2.7 PDK model and my basic thoughts are these:- Lovely car, beautifully put together and great looking and sounding. It has a terrific gearbox but the gears ARE too tall for the nature of the engine. Honda geared their S2000 very low in the first 3 gears because of the lack of torque and Porsche should have done the same. Whether it's for emissions/noise statistics i don't know, but they have geared the cammy 2.7 too tall for absolute certain. Is the older 2.9 any better in this respect, i e low down power? Overall a fantastic buy for £40,000. My neighbour's A45AMG cost more than that and it's not in the same league as the 2.7 other than acceleration statistics. Sounds crap, rides crap, horrible turbo lag and looks crap. I wonder if the cheapest way to lower the gearing would be a change to 18s from the stock 19s? But keep the tyre profile the same? After all, outright top speed is irrelevant to 99.9% of people 99.9% of the time. I suppose it would help a bit. Someone on here will give a rough percentage improvement (shortening). It's massively overtyred in any event. It would handle way better with less grip. Agreed re the AMG - never driven one, but they are about as attractive to me as any other turbo shopping car with a farty exhaust.

The car has 265/40 x 19 rear tyres as standard. A change to say, 255/40 x 18 would mean a 5% drop in gearing. That is a decent amount. You could keep the wheels/tyres for resale time or just sell them for a lot of money. I have driven the A45AMG albeit only for 30 miles or so and when driving it hard it's seriously impressive/fast for 1991cc. But they really need the facelift version that is soon out. Better looking, 25 bhp more, but with lower gearing to masque the lack of low end grunt.

Looking on PH and elsewhere it does appear that most people feel the 2.7 is too weak for a modern sports car and i suppose when many hot hatches have more power they may have a point. Maybe it's that, it's the comparison to humble hatchbacks which make the Porsche seem slow.

CorvetteConvert said: Looking on PH and elsewhere it does appear that most people feel the 2.7 is too weak for a modern sports car and i suppose when many hot hatches have more power they may have a point. Maybe it's that, it's the comparison to humble hatchbacks which make the Porsche seem slow. I think it will feel very slow to people used to cars with turbos. It has little torque at low revs, which most people would find very surprising. I love the engine. The idea that the car is 'too slow' is pretty silly, really. It just needs to be kept on the boil. It is slightly harder to overtake than in the 3.4, but the performance is more than adequate in light of our low speed limits. It's plenty fast if you can drive properly, to be blunt about it.

CorvetteConvert said: Looking on PH and elsewhere it does appear that most people feel the 2.7 is too weak for a modern sports car and i suppose when many hot hatches have more power they may have a point. Maybe it's that, it's the comparison to humble hatchbacks which make the Porsche seem slow. What many forget is that when the 1st hot hatches came out the entry level Porsche was slower. Compare acceleration of a 924 to that of a Golf GTi Mk1.

ORD said: I love the engine. It just needs to be kept on the boil. I think that's right - and the PDK is very good at achieving this.

Ozzie Osmond said: I think that's right - and the PDK is very good at achieving this. While that's perfectly true, if the car is used as a DD, some (including me) would prefer not to have to do it ALL the time.

bcr5784 said: While that's perfectly true, if the car is used as a DD, some (including me) would prefer not to have to do it ALL the time. It's not an easy car to drive in traffic, that's for sure. I think the 3.4 is more appropriate as a DD, but the 2.7 may be the better engine for a weekend car.

ORD said: It's not an easy car to drive in traffic, that's for sure. I think the 3.4 is more appropriate as a DD, but the 2.7 may be the better engine for a weekend car. Wouldn't argue - but I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue if the gearing was more sensible. I've certainly ridden and owned (two stroke) bikes with far far more peaky power delivery and although getting off the mark WAS a big issue, once on the move it wasn't - because the gearing made more sense. Emissions, on the other hand....

ORD said: The 2.7 is a gorgeous engine. The car isn't fast by any modern sports/performance car standards. But that really isn't the point. It is still too fast to be driven properly hard in public roads, so a taste for a faster car is just that. No reasons why the slower car cannot be as much fun! Lets be honest, in the rights hands the 2.7 or street or track could be driven quicker than a 3.4 in most peoples hands. So its just about ego, knowing you have the best engine defined by power. If the 2.7 is right for you, I agree there is nothing to be little. Its like PDK vs Manual. Its a choice.

ORD said: It's not an easy car to drive in traffic, that's for sure. I've never heard of an automatic that's hard to drive in traffic. I've driven a 2.7 PDK in traffic - it was excellent.

bcr5784 said: wouldn't be an issue if the gearing was more sensible. That's a new one on me - a 7-speed automatic gearbox which has the wrong gears for driving in town!

ORD said: It's not an easy car to drive in traffic, that's for sure. I think the 3.4 is more appropriate as a DD, but the 2.7 may be the better engine for a weekend car. I dont understand this at all. Whats hard about it?

how is a 3.4 better than the 2.7 when both are pdk when in traffic?

The 2.7 has so little torque and such long gears that you spend most of your time in town in 1st and 2nd gears and with your foot on the mat just to make reasonable progress. I was quite surprised at how ill-suited it is to the task. There are plenty of very good reasons to prefer the 3.4, including that it is a lot faster. I am hardly obsessed with speed, but it would be a factor to me that the 2.7 would not facilitate some overtakes that are easy with the bigger engine. I have only driven a manual 2.7. But the PDK ratios aren't hugely different.

Ozzie Osmond said: That's a new one on me - a 7-speed automatic gearbox which has the wrong gears for driving in town! I wasn't referring to driving in town. It's the gap between 2nd and 3rd AND the hole in the torque between 2000 and 4000 that is the issue (for me) even on the S. At 50 - (less than 4k and a very typical speed to have to overtake from ) you either use 2nd and scream it or use 3rd and find the initial response is somewhat lacking until the revs get to 4500. And that's with PDK gearing.

ORD said: The 2.7 has so little torque and such long gears that you spend most of your time in town in 1st and 2nd gears and with your foot on the mat just to make reasonable progress. I was quite surprised at how ill-suited it is to the task. There are plenty of very good reasons to prefer the 3.4, including that it is a lot faster. I am hardly obsessed with speed, but it would be a factor to me that the 2.7 would not facilitate some overtakes that are easy with the bigger engine. I have only driven a manual 2.7. But the PDK ratios aren't hugely different. Don't think that makes much sense. In town you let the gearbox do the work, you don't have your foot on the floor because it's well, in town. As such you're driving appropriately for the environment. PDK works brilliantly in town, you use hardly any of the engines potential and it cruises around like a limo (albeit a firmly sprung one). To get a bigger engine for town driving is ridiculous; overtakes agreed.

truck71 said: Don't think that makes much sense. In town you let the gearbox do the work, you don't have your foot on the floor because it's well, in town. As such you're driving appropriately for the environment. PDK works brilliantly in town, you use hardly any of the engines potential and it cruises around like a limo (albeit a firmly sprung one). To get a bigger engine for town driving is ridiculous; overtakes agreed. We are obviously very different drivers. I have a PDK car and never let the 'box choose the gears (as it is terrible at it). It sounds to me like you are 'driving on the torque', which I would never do with a Porsche engine - see what Hartech say about the effect on our lovely chocolate engines Pulling off from lights in a 2.7 does require a lot of throttle! I don't know how anyone can disagree with that. 'Foot to the floor' is an exaggeration, of course, but it's not a car that will pull without a lot of throttle. It's more like driving an NA hatchback from back in the day than any other car I have driven recently. I like it a lot, but it isn't what most people are used to these days. I expect the average porsche buyer would think it very slow.

ORD said: The 2.7 has so little torque and such long gears that you spend most of your time in town in 1st and 2nd gears and with your foot on the mat just to make reasonable progress. Are you serious? Admittedly, I haven't driven a 2.7 981 (mine is a 2.9 987), but "foot on the floor" to "make reasonable progress" seems a touch hyperbolic. It may not be particularly fast, but you're still talking about a car that develops 220nm of torque at 1500 rpm. The gears would have to be titanically long to make it so slow you couldn't make reasonable progress in town. Maybe you don't push down enough. You know, with your right foot. k

ORD said: We are obviously very different drivers. I have a PDK car and never let the 'box choose the gears (as it is terrible at it). It sounds to me like you are 'driving on the torque', which I would never do with a Porsche engine - see what Hartech say about the effect on our lovely chocolate engines Pulling off from lights in a 2.7 does require a lot of throttle! I don't know how anyone can disagree with that. 'Foot to the floor' is an exaggeration, of course, but it's not a car that will pull without a lot of throttle. It's more like driving an NA hatchback from back in the day than any other car I have driven recently. I like it a lot, but it isn't what most people are used to these days. I expect the average porsche buyer would think it very slow. I think you might need to get your PDK software looked at, mine changed gears exactly as I would want it to in town- a gentle prod of gas would see it pull away fine (need to get the stop/start function default changed though). It's why I went PDK to let it take the stress from commuting. When you're in the mood, shift the lever left and play tunes with the flat six.

I have a 2.7 manual which a bought new in March. My wife has a Kia Proceed GT with just over 200bhp and with the turbo delivery, I must admit that it can feel quicker than the Porsche in normal use. Looking at the 0-60 times (5.5 v 7.1) the Porsche is obviously quicker, but without getting bogged down on the gearing issue, it does feel like that part of the car could be improved. However once the cars are up to speed and the Porsche is in the sweet spot, then the whole experience changes. Personally I love the car. It's not perfect and coming from a 997 Carrera S with a decent amount of torque, I've had to adjust my driving style a bit, which is exactly what EVO Magazine were saying in a recent review where initially they said it felt slower than most of the other cars in the test (RCZ R, TTS, Exige, 370Z Nismo) and then went on to set a faster lap time than all of them!!

truck71 said: I think you might need to get your PDK software looked at, mine changed gears exactly as I would want it to in town- a gentle prod of gas would see it pull away fine (need to get the stop/start function default changed though). It's why I went PDK to let it take the stress from commuting. When you're in the mood, shift the lever left and play tunes with the flat six. As I say, we are different drivers. I would never let the engine labour, and PDK allows plenty of labouring. Check what speed it drops into 1st from 2nd. It's about 6mph under light throttle pressure. That's ridiculous - it well below 1000 revs. Similarly, it will happily pootle along at 28mph in 6th gear. That's insane. It will take 7th at 48 mph. Bonkers. Nobody would drive a manual car like that. This is standard PDK software. I have asked and had it checked.

ORD said: As I say, we are different drivers. I would never let the engine labour, and PDK allows plenty of labouring. Check what speed it drops into 1st from 2nd. It's about 6mph under light throttle pressure. That's ridiculous - it well below 1000 revs. Similarly, it will happily pootle along at 28mph in 6th gear. That's insane. It will take 7th at 48 mph. Bonkers. Nobody would drive a manual car like that. This is standard PDK software. I have asked and had it checked. I never really checked the road speed vs ratio selected but your info would sound about right. Never worried me about the engine running low revs, it was smooth enough. It would happily kick down when needed so I never really found it an issue- not often required in urban environments as I cruised about (doesn't sound very good does it) rather than roared about.

truck71 said: I never really checked the road speed vs ratio selected but your info would sound about right. Never worried me about the engine running low revs, it was smooth enough. It would happily kick down when needed so I never really found it an issue- not often required in urban environments as I cruised about (doesn't sound very good does it) rather than roared about. Listen and feel for the engine labouring. It's really annoying once you notice it. Sure, it'll pull through because it's a strong engine, but it cannot be good for long term reliability.

ORD said: As I say, we are different drivers. I would never let the engine labour, and PDK allows plenty of labouring. Check what speed it drops into 1st from 2nd. It's about 6mph under light throttle pressure. That's ridiculous - it well below 1000 revs. Similarly, it will happily pootle along at 28mph in 6th gear. That's insane. It will take 7th at 48 mph. Bonkers. Nobody would drive a manual car like that. This is standard PDK software. I have asked and had it checked. My 997 4S with PDK is also pretty lethargic in standard auto mode, pretty much as you describe above, but not so in sport mode and certainly not in sport + mode! I drive it in manual most of the time, but when I use auto I normally use sport mode. Sport + is too far the other way for general road use, revs the nuts off it. But sport mode gives pretty sensible upshifts for day-to-day driving. I'm sure it would be the same with the Cayman software too. So basically you do have a choice. Plus if you drive more aggressively in standard mode it adapts to your driving style anyway after a while. Or you can just drive it in manual mode of course, which I think works best too.

uktrailmonster said: My 997 4S with PDK is also pretty lethargic in standard auto mode, pretty much as you describe above, but not so in sport mode and certainly not in sport + mode! I drive it in manual most of the time, but when I use auto I normally use sport mode. Sport + is too far the other way for general road use, revs the nuts off it. But sport mode gives pretty sensible upshifts for day-to-day driving. I'm sure it would be the same with the Cayman software too. So basically you do have a choice. Plus if you drive more aggressively in standard mode it adapts to your driving style anyway after a while. Or you can just drive it in manual mode of course, which I think works best too. Not keen on Sport mode - it gets overexcited - works ok on twisty B roads but often hangs on to the lower gears too long on mixed going. I'm not keen on the boy-racer overblips on down changes either. ORD is right though it is just a bit too keen to change up in standard. Manual is the only real solution.

+1. I never, ever, use standard auto mode - feels as if something's wrong with the car, very lethargic. Edited by nsm3 on Monday 3rd August 16:15

For me: Heavy London traffic / queuing traffic = normal mode w/ stop start and auto and PSE off as I'm only ever tickling the throttle to move a few metres Regular driving = sport mode, PSE on, auto, and stop-start off as the gearbox holds gears how I would in manual anyway....I occasionally flick a paddle to downshift a bit early when coming slowing as I like the sound Motorway driving = normal mode with PSE off and auto, but with quite a lot of manual override as I find that the 'box doesn't kick down as quickly as I'd like Hooning = Sport or Sport+, always manual mode, PSE on, suspension setting dependent on road quality

uktrailmonster said: My 997 4S with PDK is also pretty lethargic in standard auto mode, pretty much as you describe above, but not so in sport mode and certainly not in sport + mode! I drive it in manual most of the time, but when I use auto I normally use sport mode. Sport + is too far the other way for general road use, revs the nuts off it. But sport mode gives pretty sensible upshifts for day-to-day driving. I'm sure it would be the same with the Cayman software too. So basically you do have a choice. Plus if you drive more aggressively in standard mode it adapts to your driving style anyway after a while. Or you can just drive it in manual mode of course, which I think works best too. The 'learning' is extremely crude and practically pointless. I drove it for a while in normal mode and the 'box never stopped doing the things I have described - as soon as you are gentle with the throttle, it sticks you in an absurdly high gear and then needs a big prod before changing down (and even then it lets you labour the engine for half a second first). It really is an 'eco' setting with all that comes with that!

ORD said: The 'learning' is extremely crude and practically pointless. I drove it for a while in normal mode and the 'box never stopped doing the things I have described - as soon as you are gentle with the throttle, it sticks you in an absurdly high gear and then needs a big prod before changing down (and even then it lets you labour the engine for half a second first). It really is an 'eco' setting with all that comes with that! Sure, but you have other auto modes to choose from - that was my point. But I find mine does adapt fairly quickly if you put your foot down a few times (actually I think it just switches to sport mode rather than truly adapts). But anyway the buttons are there to choose whatever mode you like. Standard is very much an "eco" mode as you suggest, sport is fairly sporty and sport + is very aggressive. Manual is manual.

bcr5784 said: Not keen on Sport mode - it gets overexcited - works ok on twisty B roads but often hangs on to the lower gears too long on mixed going. I'm not keen on the boy-racer overblips on down changes either. ORD is right though it is just a bit too keen to change up in standard. Manual is the only real solution. Luckily the 997 software doesn't do all the boy-racer over blips in any mode. I borrowed a 991 GTS recently and it was just like you describe!

uktrailmonster said: Sure, but you have other auto modes to choose from - that was my point. But I find mine does adapt fairly quickly if you put your foot down a few times (actually I think it just switches to sport mode rather than truly adapts). But anyway the buttons are there to choose whatever mode you like. Standard is very much an "eco" mode as you suggest, sport is fairly sporty and sport + is very aggressive. Manual is manual. Yep. And manual is the only decent option for me. I don't see the point in 'Sport' and 'Sport Plus' except for track driving - if you're driving for pleasure, why would you let the box choose the gears? And they are both far to rev-happy for sedate driving.

ORD said: Yep. And manual is the only decent option for me. I don't see the point in 'Sport' and 'Sport Plus' except for track driving - if you're driving for pleasure, why would you let the box choose the gears? And they are both far to rev-happy for sedate driving. Manual is my preference too for driving pleasure, but I don't actually find Sport auto to be overly aggressive (not on my 997 anyway, maybe the Caymen settings are different). I never use Sport + auto mode for road driving though and to be fair the user manual describes it as a setting specifically for track use - although I'm not sure why you would do a track day in auto!

uktrailmonster said: I never use Sport + auto mode for road driving though and to be fair the user manual describes it as a setting specifically for track use! I pushed the Sport+ button in my 2.7 PDK loan car. It was hilarious - setting minimum rpm at about 5,000! Useful? No.

uktrailmonster said: Manual is my preference too for driving pleasure, but I don't actually find Sport auto to be overly aggressive (not on my 997 anyway, maybe the Caymen settings are different). I never use Sport + auto mode for road driving though and to be fair the user manual describes it as a setting specifically for track use - although I'm not sure why you would do a track day in auto! So you can focus on braking, steering and timing of throttle inputs, I think. Not for me, but a lot of people sing its praises for track driving.

Ozzie Osmond said: I pushed the Sport+ button in my 2.7 PDK loan car. It was hilarious - setting minimum rpm at about 5,000! Useful? No. Yeah it just uses the lowest gear possible at pretty much all times to maximise performance. That's the idea for track use. Pointless for general road driving.

Ozzie Osmond said: I pushed the Sport+ button in my 2.7 PDK loan car. It was hilarious - setting minimum rpm at about 5,000! Useful? No. Really? You dont like to push your car?

My 981 C 2.7 manual is my daily...most of the time I drive it sensibly, doing the daily commute along with client visits etc....but then the odd drive home or blast during the day on an empty B road reveals all its unique qualities...the noise...the high revving engine..sublime handling.....I've covered nearly 50K in mine....I can assure you, I would not swap this for any BMW M/Audi RS....there's something about this car.. has hidden depths you can't discover on a 1 hour test drive thrash. I concur that the high gearing is a result of meeting emission targets....but like any car I've ever owned, you learn to know what gears you need to be in....that's part of getting to know any car I buy. Luckily, I can adapt to a car quicker than most as I use mine everyday rather than the occasional weekend. I bought mine for £45K brand new....there is no car in this price range - let alone £15K more, that I would rather have.

FrankCayman said: My 981 C 2.7 manual is my daily...most of the time I drive it sensibly, doing the daily commute along with client visits etc....but then the odd drive home or blast during the day on an empty B road reveals all its unique qualities...the noise...the high revving engine..sublime handling.....I've covered nearly 50K in mine....I can assure you, I would not swap this for any BMW M/Audi RS....there's something about this car.. has hidden depths you can't discover on a 1 hour test drive thrash. I concur that the high gearing is a result of meeting emission targets....but like any car I've ever owned, you learn to know what gears you need to be in....that's part of getting to know any car I buy. Luckily, I can adapt to a car quicker than most as I use mine everyday rather than the occasional weekend. I bought mine for £45K brand new....there is no car in this price range - let alone £15K more, that I would rather have. Just reading this old thread for the first time... Coming from a high torque TTS to the 2.7 PDK 981 has been great. No more arriving at a corner before I know how to go around it, no more ludicrous turbo peakiness, no more secret 4WD goings on. Loving the noise, and better in manual mode than the manual loan car I had when cruise was fitted to mine. Some people get off on acceleration. 0-60 in 5.5 seconds is fine for me. As a former dragster driver, 0-100mph in 10 seconds would be dull anyhow. For me the looks, poise, comfort, noise, fuel economy, ease of daily driving all make a superb package. On the day I agreed to buy mine, I test drove a better specced "S" UK launch car for the same money. The 2.7 had more appeal due to it's need to be revved and it's slower progress, and not just because the S was brown! It takes all sorts. I would hate an Aventador or Veyron. How could you use one as a DD?