Launch Night - Page 3 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

It will be interesting to see if they will fire it up....................

Bennachie said: It will be interesting to see if they will fire it up.................... Haha, I doubt it. I am going on Monday.

I will be wearing my old Suburu rally jacket for a

might just turn up IN the Subaru and it's a full rally rep WRX STi might upset them a bit. Might even get to look at my car - it's been in with the OPC for nearly 5 weeks now for warranty work...

I'm going on Monday, mainly to check out the new dealership and discuss opportunities with the DP, rather than look at the Boxster!

Tea and buns tonight............... I WILL try and start one...........

I am going to the east London one next week , a treat for the kids mainly. Edited by davidc1 on Wednesday 20th April 12:01

Highlight of the night? 918 and a very nice Carerra Targa............. and the tea and buns. oh, the boxster? meah.... No, no sound......... How can a flat four reincarnation be that much heavier than a 981? Someone has been eating all the pies........

Bennachie said: Highlight of the night? 918 and a very nice Carerra Targa............. and the tea and buns. oh, the boxster? meah.... No, no sound......... How can a flat four reincarnation be that much heavier than a 981? Someone has been eating all the pies........ 2 turbos plus all of the plumbing that goes with them....

mollytherocker said: Bennachie said: Highlight of the night? How can a flat four reincarnation be that much heavier than a 981? Someone has been eating all the pies........ 2 turbos plus all of the plumbing that goes with them.... One turbo...

bogopper said: mollytherocker said: Bennachie said: Highlight of the night? How can a flat four reincarnation be that much heavier than a 981? Someone has been eating all the pies........ 2 turbos plus all of the plumbing that goes with them.... One turbo... My mistake, its the 991.2 that has two.

DJMC said: I'm going tomorrow evening, mainly to see if they've improved the protective finish to the front brake caliper pad slider lug bolt heads. ;-) I believe they have yes. However, they have had to sacrifice 2 cylinders to fund it.

mollytherocker said: I believe they have yes. However, they have had to sacrifice 2 cylinders to fund it.

I'm going tomorrow evening, mainly to see if they've improved the protective finish to the front brake caliper pad slider lug bolt heads. Edited by DJMC on Thursday 21st April 16:29

I'm attending one tomorrow night, but never been to one before. What's the general format? Is there someone talking about all the new features and changes, or a prerecorded video played or something? Also how long is the presentation, before, I presume, time to look around the car (and presumably the rest of the showroom)?

StevenRugg said: I'm attending one tomorrow night, but never been to one before. What's the general format? Is there someone talking about all the new features and changes, or a prerecorded video played or something? Also how long is the presentation, before, I presume, time to look around the car (and presumably the rest of the showroom)? You probably had the email... The event will take place at our Porsche Centre, with approximate timings as follows: 7.00pm - Official start for event 7.30pm - Presentation begins 9.30pm - Event closes I'd be a little worried being sat for 2hrs listening/watching! Who's been and can tell us the answer...?

Yeah, I thought two hours was quite long, but noticed the difference in the words 'presentation' and 'event' from that intinerary, which made me curious about what actually happens. Looking forward to it of course, regardless!

DJMC said: StevenRugg said: I'm attending one tomorrow night, but never been to one before. What's the general format? Is there someone talking about all the new features and changes, or a prerecorded video played or something? Also how long is the presentation, before, I presume, time to look around the car (and presumably the rest of the showroom)? You probably had the email... The event will take place at our Porsche Centre, with approximate timings as follows: 7.00pm - Official start for event 7.30pm - Presentation begins 9.30pm - Event closes I'd be a little worried being sat for 2hrs listening/watching! Who's been and can tell us the answer...? General format for these things based on those timings: 7.00pm - stand around, cars are covered, get a drink, and some nice finger food. Listen to a nice, live string quartet (if you're lucky). 7.30pm - very short (5-10 mins tops) introduction by dealer principle or similar, plus a German Porsche dude of some description, followed by a short video. Cars are then 'unveiled', and opened for people to look around, sit in and poke, while nice, leather staining, paint smearing finger food continues to make the rounds. 8.00pm - catch up with friendly faces from OPC, arrange test drive, enter competition, etc. 8.15pm - collect brochure/other give-away stuff and time to go home . Can be hard to get a good view of the car if busy (likewise queue for sitting inside), but if they have three or four cars it doesn't work out too badly if you wait around a while.

PastaSource said: General format for these things based on those timings: 7.00pm - stand around, cars are covered, get a drink, and some nice finger food. Listen to a nice, live string quartet (if you're lucky). 7.30pm - very short (5-10 mins tops) introduction by dealer principle or similar, plus a German Porsche dude of some description, followed by a short video. Cars are then 'unveiled', and opened for people to look around, sit in and poke, while nice, leather staining, paint smearing finger food continues to make the rounds. 8.00pm - catch up with friendly faces from OPC, arrange test drive, enter competition, etc. 8.15pm - collect brochure/other give-away stuff and time to go home . Can be hard to get a good view of the car if busy (likewise queue for sitting inside), but if they have three or four cars it doesn't work out too badly if you wait around a while. Cool, thanks for that. Very useful to know. Cheers.

StevenRugg said: PastaSource said: General format for these things based on those timings: 7.00pm - stand around, cars are covered, get a drink, and some nice finger food. Listen to a nice, live string quartet (if you're lucky). 7.30pm - very short (5-10 mins tops) introduction by dealer principle or similar, plus a German Porsche dude of some description, followed by a short video. Cars are then 'unveiled', and opened for people to look around, sit in and poke, while nice, leather staining, paint smearing finger food continues to make the rounds. 8.00pm - catch up with friendly faces from OPC, arrange test drive, enter competition, etc. 8.15pm - collect brochure/other give-away stuff and time to go home . Can be hard to get a good view of the car if busy (likewise queue for sitting inside), but if they have three or four cars it doesn't work out too badly if you wait around a while. Cool, thanks for that. Very useful to know. Cheers. Went to local launch last night. Exactly as above. Lovely evening so spent a while outside in the car park chatting with other owners who invariably turn up in their tasty toys. OPC also filled up the service bay with some 'approved used' stuff to temp you along with a new GT3RS, GT3, GT4 and a lovely 959 waiting to go to Reading for a fettle.

Hoping for a drive next week will report back.

Went tonight - pretty much as described above. I'd like to get the new PCM with CarPlay upgraded into mine, but not possible apparently. Apart from that, I'm still happy I got my F6 Boxster last month.

Was at Sheffield yesterday, nice food a 959 and not a lot else to recommend. The major plus of the 718 seems to be the new PCM4, everything else is the same or potentially worse - turbo flat 4, sound, torque curve. They referenced the original 718 as a flat four (true) and the 919 as a four cylinder (true, but a v4, not a flat 4) which was a bit naughty. Overall, a nice evening but can't say I was blown away by it. Was offered one for a couple of days so will maybe take up the offer for a weekend away in a non S manual for Mrs Bubbles to replace her Golf Cab.

Bennachie said: It will be interesting to see if they will fire it up.................... Fired up at Leeds tonight, sounded OK, and much better than the subaru paralells some have drawn, but cannot match the six. That said, way things are going with downsizing just have to suck it up. Still nothing else out there comparable (at price point) to boxster/cayman imho, would still have one over other similarly priced rivals even if they had 6 cyls.

Started one up a couple of times at Solihull this evening... hmmm... must mow the lawn... Front end's much the same as the 981. Didn't like the rear. Followed a 981 Boxster out of the car park and thought it looked much simpler/cleaner/refined. Won't be taking a test drive.

DJMC said: Started one up a couple of times at Solihull this evening... hmmm... must mow the lawn... Front end's much the same as the 981. Didn't like the rear. Followed a 981 Boxster out of the car park and thought it looked much simpler/cleaner/refined. Won't be taking a test drive. I'm surprised I didn't get an invite from Solihull but hey ho, was busy last night anyway. I won't go into the turbo F4 point as it's been comprehensively covered on here but I really do agree with your views on the design. I quite like the front wings on the 718 - there's a clear resemblance to the 918. The back, however, is a mess. The accent strip gives a step in the rear deck that it doesn't really need. The 981 was such a lovely design. Clean and cohesive - almost mini-supercar in appearance. The way the rear spoiler integrated into the lights was very clever. I've thought for a while that Porsche seem to add unnecessary details as part of a facelift. Change the lights a little, perhaps put a trim strip around or under the exhausts, maybe some body-colour strakes into air intakes etc. Almost like they are changing things for the sake of it.

DJMC said: Started one up a couple of times at Solihull this evening... hmmm... must mow the lawn... Front end's much the same as the 981. Didn't like the rear. Followed a 981 Boxster out of the car park and thought it looked much simpler/cleaner/refined. Won't be taking a test drive. Never mind the engine, how did the caliper bolts look? Have they change the material?

Went to launch event last night. VERY well attended. Biggest crowd I have seen in one of these events in a long while. Really impressed with 718 - though didn't hear it! LOI in for Spyder and probably get a GTS in the meantime next year!

Impressed that you were allowed to start it. We were kept very firmly away from that 'sort of thing'........

Went to Bolton tonight. I think it looks great and I actually like the new black strip at the back. The presenter directly addressed the 4 cylinder engine with his words if wisdom. In the end, the proof will come from how it drives and yes, sounds.

mollytherocker said: Went to Bolton tonight. I think it looks great and I actually like the new black strip at the back. The presenter directly addressed the 4 cylinder engine with his words if wisdom. In the end, the proof will come from how it drives and yes, sounds. Christ, that's a car at a launch event and they decided on that colour What is it with the use of grey launch cars at the moment? Press shots of the new Audi TTRS had a grey one too Grey, really? Have some imagination please On topic, I passed on launch night - ours is usually very well attended anyhow, but as I have zero interest in the car, it didn't feel right to attend. I've also got an invite to go on a test drive day at the PEC, Silverstone at various dates in May but I doubt I'll take that up either Yeah, yeah go and drive one and you might feel different, but I've got my F6 Boxster. It does everything I need it to and then some, I'm not going to change it for a (IMO) inferior engined new version for the sake of PCM with features I won't use, some extra MPG I don't miss and a few tenths to 60 I'll never need Progression and all that due to stupid rules handed down from the EU, but it's potentially killed one helluva car. I intend to hang on to mine for some time that's for sure

Grey is 'in' I am afraid, like it or not. I actually quite like it. Its like a light slate blue colour and is actually metallic with red an blue flecs in it. However, on a typical dull day it will just look grey! But I still would have it.

There was a yellow one in Cardiff last night.

Trev450 said: There was a yellow one in Cardiff last night. The yellow S with carbon interior trim was really nice, although I don't think I could live with that colour. I thought the steering wheel was a bit odd, maybe just me, but on first glance I thought there was a bit of trim missing on the bottom spoke! Aesthetically, I do like it Did you manage to get one of those passion fruit white chocolate ball dessert things? They were really good!

Jonny08 said: The yellow S with carbon interior trim was really nice, although I don't think I could live with that colour. I thought the steering wheel was a bit odd, maybe just me, but on first glance I thought there was a bit of trim missing on the bottom spoke! Aesthetically, I do like it Did you manage to get one of those passion fruit white chocolate ball dessert things? They were really good! The ham hock cube thingys were delish.

zebra_3 said: Still nothing else out there comparable (at price point) to boxster/cayman imho, would still have one over other similarly priced rivals even if they had 6 cyls. I agree....nothing else better if you buy brand new...I am just keeping my 981C for another year and will see...this is the longest I've owned a car!!

Jonny08 said: Trev450 said: There was a yellow one in Cardiff last night. Did you manage to get one of those passion fruit white chocolate ball dessert things? They were really good! I have to confess to having three of them.

didn't go to the launch, but there was a yellow one being manoeuvred around the showroom in OPC Cambridge yesterday sounded ok to me...

Off to OPC Bournemouth tonight will report back tomorrow on the wine and canapés

Trev450 said: There was a yellow one in Cardiff last night. Looks like an angry jonny 5

chriscoates81 said: Trev450 said: There was a yellow one in Cardiff last night. Looks like an angry jonny 5 There is a certain resemblance.

Well the champagne was very nice and the canapés very delicate and lovely, some of the OPC girls scrubbed up well Three cars on display white/grey/ metallic Grey all looked OK , spoke to many 981 owners who have no intention of changing to one, many people had missed out on the last 6 cyclinder cars and are now looking to change to a 991.2 if they decide to trade up. Very well organised event valet parking and we'll run event with probably 200 people attending well done OPC Bournemoth

Attended Silverstone this evening :-) extremely well laid on event with loads of people there. Also amazing to see so many Porsches parked up in the industrial estate!! Must have been £m's + !! My favorite being the 991 GT3 RS in White in the main car park and the black 991 GT3 out on the road - looked lovely.

Spice_Weasel said: The 981 was such a lovely design. Clean and cohesive - almost mini-supercar in appearance. The way the rear spoiler integrated into the lights was very clever. Very perceptive IMO. Clearly my 6-pot 981 is an instant future classic worth £25k more than I paid for it!

Ozzie Osmond said: Spice_Weasel said: The 981 was such a lovely design. Clean and cohesive - almost mini-supercar in appearance. The way the rear spoiler integrated into the lights was very clever. Very perceptive IMO. Clearly my 6-pot 981 is an instant future classic worth £25k more than I paid for it! Happy to help! Gotta love an investment.

I don't know if this was any indication of the opinions towards the 718, but I felt the place emptied very quickly after the initial presentation, and when I went for a nose in the workshop, there were nearly as many people in there as were left in the showroom. That said, they did have a 918, GT3RS and two GT4's in there.

They did start the S up and I did a short video but have no idea how to upload it. Lovely car but not for me at the moment.

Can't be bothered to go see it at the launch night. Zero atmosphere, usually zero effort by the local garage. And that's normally with something I'm keen on, let alone this 718. Passed up the invite this time around.

Went to the Reading event tonight, very busy, over 300 people so someone told me. They had a gorgeous 718 RSK, 919 Hybrid mock up, 918 Spyder with Martini decals, plus orange, grey and yellow 718's. The car park is always good to wander round, my 964 looked tiny compared to the rest..

Budweiser said: They did start the S up and I did a short video but have no idea how to upload it. Lovely car but not for me at the moment. I was scheduled to go to the Colchester launch event tonight but few things came up, so couldn't make it.