I’ve sold my
Cayman
R, and just bought a
987.2
S to replace it:
Surely a downgrade from the pinnacle of the 987 range? To understand the switch, let me take you back to my first Porsche, a 986 Boxster S:
The 986 was a wonderful example, low mileage and always garaged. Out of the box, it was surprisingly fast on circuit, posting 58 second laps around Brands Hatch. Being able to get the roof down also took the seriousness out of driving - at the flick of a switch, it felt like you were going faster at lower speeds.
However, I’d had a bucket list car in mind for years: a white Cayman R with silver wheels, manual gearbox and carbon-fibre bucket seats. That’s exactly what I bought a few years later:
It was an absolutely epic car: fantastic steering, light on its feet, fast enough to get you into trouble, yet easy enough to drive fast.
But something struck me: it drove so much like the 986 Boxster S, just with 20% ‘more’ everywhere. 20% faster, 20% grippier, 20% more sound. Here’s the kicker - it cost 500% more than the 986.
Amazing as the Cayman R was, for me, it wasn’t the perfect driver’s car. As standard, the brakes felt weak - the discs and calipers were a direct carry over from the 986 S, but they had 70 more bhp to manage, and actually felt worse because Porsche moved to a different master cylinder for the 987. The gearshift was a touch sloppy. The engine - while powerful - had a slightly lazy character, with a linear power curve that started to flatten off after 5500rpm. And finally, there was limited geometry adjustment on the front end, meaning you couldn’t get enough negative camber.
There were all of these weaknesses, but because the car wore Porsche decals, had an aero-kit, pull straps instead of door handles, alcantara trim and carbon-fibre bucket seats, it looked like it belonged on a circuit. That was a slightly frustrating contrast to how it performed out of the box.
Comparing the 986 Boxster S to the Cayman R, pound-for-pound, the value of the 986 was off-the-charts. The Cayman R with better tyres, carrying 120kg less weight (inc. no passenger), and having 70 more bhp, was 2.5 seconds quicker than the 986 around Brands Hatch.
Faster, yes, but worth the 500% premium, given a similar driving experience?
That brings me back to the 987.2 S. It is, in my opinion, the best value Porsche that money can buy right now.
The 986 market has risen since I sold mine: Ashgood in the UK recently sold a very nice 986.2 S with 50,000 miles for close to £20k ($27k).
For little extra money, the engine in the 987.2 moves the game on completely. It has multiple oil scavenge pumps (like the 997 GT3), no IMS, and a more robust air-oil separator. In contrast, Hartech told me that I was playing with fire taking my 986 on circuit.
Values for the 987.2 seem to have bottomed out: mine has 18,000 miles, 2 previous owners, and a full service history. It’s the closest thing I could find to a brand new 987.2, yet it cost barely more than the 50,000 mile 986 mentioned above, and less than half the price of the equivalent Cayman R (or Boxster Spyder).
What does that mean? It means I’m hoping to have my cake and eat it: a car that’s usable with both the roof up and down, with plenty of money left over to address the same platform weaknesses as the Cayman R.
Will it ever match the Cayman R? I’m not sure. But I’m looking forward to sharing the journey with you
Chasing an Alpine A110 S on track a couple of weeks ago. Surprisingly quick car weighing just 1100kg with nearly 300hp!
Congrats on snagging that great looking
Boxster
!
That’s a very sharp car, congratulations. I could have purchased a
Boxster S
in a unique green, it reminded me of British racing green, it was a good looking car and well priced. My
Spyder
wasn’t new, it was the dealer owner’s toy up until 2,200 miles. Only one other time in my life have I purchased exactly what I wanted, I figured two per lifetime was a reasonable number. A lot of people disliked the
Spyder
, it has since grown on people since with so many iterations. I’m glad I did it, drop tops are the old man’s friend. Why? Because you can enter them so much more vertical when the the top is down. If you have a sore spine in old age it’s more comfortable.
I had a guards red
987.1
Boxster S
at the same time as a
Cayman
R, both manual (still have the CR). I bolted the
Cayman
R
x73 suspension
(just the shocks/struts) on the
Boxster
, put an FVD software tune on the car and added an FVD
exhaust
. Honestly the suspension is 90% of the "extra" of a
Cayman
R over any 987 S model. With the little extra driveability of the software +
exhaust
, and the nicer sound, the
Boxster
felt as good as the R. That's the secret, the S version is already an awesomely good drive.
Sweet get. 987.2S is a sweet spot
Spyder is a gorgeous car. That's fun to know about the soft top - I guess it's one way to prolong driving sports cars into old age 👌
I love this 'secret'. Means you can get into some pretty exceptional driver's cars for such little money. Basic Boxsters are really flying under the radar right now.
Upgraded the halogen headlamp bulbs to
LEDs
, as IMO they make the car look a bit dated:
I've done it twice now (first on the Cayman R), and the topic seems to be widely debated. So I created a video to cover:
Brightness comparison halogen vs LED
Fitment including Canbus adapters
Common issues
Retrofitted cruise control recently, and created a how-to guide here:
https://www.planet-9.com/threads/how-to-987-cruise-control-retrofit.259160
Works perfectly - I'm thankful to have cruise control again on long motorway journeys 😄
Anyone know if the CR had any additional changes to the drivetrain? Like lighter flywheel or
exhaust
system?
Don't know but the PET catalog will show you part number variations between the different versions. Then you can check for yourself.
987.2 Cayman PET
@SoCo987.2
I made this post on another forum, hopefully helpful - see the 'Power' section:
I took some time to research the weight, chassis and power changes for the Cayman R.
Compared to a standard 987.2 Boxster/Cayman S, what’s different, and what would it cost to match the R?
1. Weight
Air conditioning & speaker delete (15 kg):
The majority of Cayman R’s were specced with air conditioning and speakers, so we’ll skip this weight saving.
Aluminium doors & panels (15 kg):
Aluminium doors & panels would be totally cost ineffective, but you can save the same 15kg using a lithium battery (see
MotoIQ
). This would also lower the car’s centre of mass. A 60Ah Antigravity battery costs around £1000.
Bucket seats (12 kg):
A pair of Recaro Pole Position or Corbeau GT3 seats will give you the same weight saving as those beautiful carbon-buckets in the Cayman R. I’ve always loved the look of ‘elephant ear’ 996 GT3 seats, so would go with Corbeau seats. Let’s call it £3000 for the carbon-fibre, leather variants with mounts, minus selling the standard 987/997 sport seats for £1500.
Other (8 kg):
Porsche didn’t detail what’s in the ‘other’ category, but it’s probably small details all over the car like the spoiler motor delete, fabric door handles, etc. If you wanted to save 8kg, you could start by removing the rear spoiler motor (-3kg) and NVH foam above the engine (-5kg). There are probably lots of other areas I haven’t thought of. Cost: £0.
Lightweight BBS rims (5 kg):
It’s a little known fact that the Carrera S II alloys are also lightweight rims made by BBS, and weigh near-enough the same as a set of Cayman R rims (see
944Racing
). Cost: £0, since my car already has them.
Weight saving: 40kg
Total cost: £2500
2. Chassis
Limited-slip differential:
The Cayman R LSD has tiny friction plates and zero preload, meaning it’s as close as it gets to being an open differential, while still having ‘LSD’ listed on the spec sheet. Given how quickly Porsche’s street LSDs are known to wear out (as little as 2-3 track days in a 996 GT3, which has 50% larger friction plates), I’m going to make the bold assumption that most Cayman Rs have open differentials by now. So, we’ll skip the LSD - but I would like to fit a proper plated LSD in the future, such as an OS Giken. Interesting reading: Cayman R LSD -
Planet-9
,
PH
| 996 GT3 LSD -
********
,
PH
. Cost: £0.
Springs & dampers (-20 mm):
Brand new Cayman R springs and dampers are available from Porsche for £2200 inc. VAT. Seems like a bargain compared to Ohlins R&T coilovers which get mixed feedback, cost 50% more, and are designed to be serviced after 18,000 miles or 5 track days. Good condition, used springs & dampers sell for around £400.
Rear anti-roll bar:
The Cayman R has a thicker rear anti-roll bar. A brand new one including mounts costs £250 inc. VAT from Porsche.
Total cost: £2050.
3. Power
Using the 987 Boxster & Cayman part catalogues, I asked AI to compare the part numbers for the intake, engine and exhaust between each model: the Boxster S (310 hp), Boxster Spyder (320 hp), Cayman S (320 hp) and Cayman R (330 hp).
Turns out every model shares identical part numbers, with the exception of the Cayman R, which has different exhaust silencers.
Exhaust silencers (10 hp):
The Cayman R silencers have a 55mm inlet instead of the standard 48mm. While many don’t think this adds any power, let’s assume it’s how Porsche managed to get an extra 10hp out of the R, compared to the Boxster Spyder and Cayman S. Instead of the silencers, you could replace an even more restrictive section of the exhaust: the catalytic converters. Carnewal 200-cell cats cost about £1500 delivered.
Engine map (10 hp):
Add £500 for 4 hours of rolling-road mapping at Chipwizards - to remove the artificial 10hp limitation for the Boxster S and fine-tune - and I suspect you’ll have more power than a Cayman R.
Extra power: 20hp
Total cost: £2000
Summary
That’s it. For around £6500 inc. VAT in parts, you’d have a 987.2 that’s as lightweight as the Cayman R, with carbon-fibre bucket seats, brand new springs & dampers, and similar power. Depending how much work you’re doing yourself, you’ll need to add labour costs.
