Cayman 2.9 - Initial thoughts and a few questions - Page 1 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

I’ve had my 2.9 Cayman a couple of weeks now. It may be the baby of the range but the engine seems a cracker, it loves to rev, sounds great and feels quicker than I was expecting to be honest. It’s also great to be back in a mid engined car. Still very early days but the handling, steering and general feel of it just feel right. I was not fussed at all about extended leather, but it's definitely a bonus having it, adds a slightly more upmarket feel to the interior. Sports seats also great. Bose seems ok, would never have specced it and probably need a good play with the settings to make it sound right. It's a 2009, with just 18k miles so feels and looks almost new, very happy with the purchase. My first Porsche and already in love with the flat 6 sound, although a Carnewal would make it perfect. Headlight bulbs – no xenons unfortunately, so just the standard projector style headlights. They are ok but certainly lacking compared to the LED headlights on my other car. Has anyone experienced an improvement changing the H7 bulbs, and if so recommendations? Had mixed results changing bulbs before so would be good having any feedback. Steering wheel – I have the standard wheel, which I’m not that keen on from a looks or feel perspective. I like the look of the sports design wheel, but with new airbag I’m looking at £1,500 plus fitting. Given that I have a grey leather interior, can I get this in grey? I suspect black would look ok as well, but nicer if I could make it match up. 19” alloys – The ride is actually not as bad as I was expecting, although you can certainly feel the bumps so I am still tempted to drop the wheel size for improved ride. I like the look of the cayman S 18” alloys but they seem to command reasonable money second hand compared to the standard cayman 17” wheels. The 18’s also seem to be of the same width as the 19”s, so quite like the idea of the slightly narrower 17”s, presumably the narrower tyre would improve steering feel further? How much would I likely get for the 19's with good continental tyres? Cruise control – possible retrofit? And if so how much am I looking at? Door mirrors - can you fold them manually? doesn't look like you can but wanted to check before I put too much force on one. Few pics:-

Hi. Congratulations, the car looks really nice. Cruise control can be retrofit but OPC will rush you £500+ (mine was £493 in 2011). Depending where you live, some independents will charge less or if you search the web you should find a way of doing 95% of the work yourself and buy the parts 2nd hand from eBay. http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_T... Assuming the car is the same as my 2011, the mirrors do fold manually but by so little as to make it worthless. They don't stick out much further than the rear arches anyway.

Nice car. I believe that you can manually fold the door mirrors, push them towards the rear of the car slightly and you'll see a catch to un-hook on the hinge side. In my opinion, having used both sizes, 17" wheels do give a slightly softer and quieter ride, but I think the 19" appearance suits the car better. I've wondered whether 18" would be a good compromise. 17" 19"

Yeah, the mirrors do manually fold back, although as mentioned above, not far enough to bother with. They look like this: My summer wheels are 19s and currently have 18s with winter tyres on. Can't say I notice any difference in terms of steering feel but it certainly smooths out the bumps noticeably (much less crashy over potholes and speed bumps). My car doesn't have PASM, so not sure if that makes any difference.

Thanks all, good to know the mirrors can fold even if it doesn't make a big difference. Getting it in and out of the garage is a bit tight so this may help! Will look into indy prices for the cruise install, not willing to pay £500 for it but at around £200 (if possible) if might be an option. Any views on headlight bulbs?

DarkMatter said: Nice car. I believe that you can manually fold the door mirrors, push them towards the rear of the car slightly and you'll see a catch to un-hook on the hinge side. In my opinion, having used both sizes, 17" wheels do give a slightly softer and quieter ride, but I think the 19" appearance suits the car better. I've wondered whether 18" would be a good compromise. 17" I think they are my favourite 17" wheels, similar in style to the 19's you also have. You say the 17's are slightly softer, so you don't think there is a big difference?

IMO there is a world of difference with PASM when stepping down from the 19s to the 18s in terms of improvement of handling. I would do the swap in a heartbeat.

I completely agree with you regarding the 2.9 litre engine, I love it. I also was surprised with the level of performance. Headlight wise I went for the Philips X-treme Vision bulbs in November. They're expensive but are really good, they are not going to make your headlights as good as xenon lights but are an improvement. As an example I can now easily see the dipped headlight beam pattern when full beam is on so the lights are brighter than before. Because they burn brighter they are meant to have a shorter lifespan, I've not had them long enough to comment on this.

I was quite surprise a couple of years ago when I looked at headlamp bulbs. Whether I was looking at Osram, Bosch, Philips, OEM or Halfords bulbs, they all produced approx the same output in lumens. The colour temp was fairly constant too. This apparently is the EU law that dictates the output of such bulbs (despite reviews by Which?, Autocar, etc). Additionally, as the distance the light is visible is dictated by law and the MOT test - no bulb can illuminate further down the road. The only real difference is in the quality of manufacture and the tolerances which may produce a brighter beam just below the cutoff as the filament is in exactly the best place to get the light as far as is legally allowed. This does not apply to Xenon or LED bulbs as they have different laws governing them.

caymanGR said: I completely agree with you regarding the 2.9 litre engine, I love it. I also was surprised with the level of performance. Headlight wise I went for the Philips X-treme Vision bulbs in November. They're expensive but are really good, they are not going to make your headlights as good as xenon lights but are an improvement. As an example I can now easily see the dipped headlight beam pattern when full beam is on so the lights are brighter than before. Because they burn brighter they are meant to have a shorter lifespan, I've not had them long enough to comment on this. Thanks I'll give those a go, won't expect them to last as long as normal but I won't be doing big miles

anonymous said: [redacted] Thanks for the offer, although I will hopefully be making the switch soon. I think I'll just go for some 17s, a bit more of a Lotus feel to the steering would be a good thing, as would a bit more compliance in the ride. Do you find more understeer with less front grip? Also what tyres are you running with the 17s, I need to keep with N rated so PS2 seem the best option.

anonymous said: [redacted] Yes plenty of character and I enjoy working the gearbox to exploit the revs! I think maybe it's what I'm comparing it against. The 2.9 is supposedly 0-100 in 12 seconds, my old Exige 14s, 350z 13.5s. I guess I was expecting similar pace to those, but it's certainly feels quicker, and on paper it is as well.