Cayman S Cabin Heat Question

Hello, I’m a newbie to forums and will be a newbie Porsche Cayman S owner…I think…but I have a very important question I must ask all you current Cayman S owners or anyone else that may have some info for me please. This will be my first Porsche and I’m very excited that after admiring Porsche for many years I was finally able to talk my wife into letting me get one without a divorce. lol. I was reading some articles about the Cayman S and loved everything I read (I love this car) except for the following item noted in 2 different articles: 1) the engine behind you heats up the cabin noticeably http://automobilemag.com/reviews/coupes/0511_porsche_cayman_911/index1.html 2) the mid-mounted engine makes life hard for the air-conditioning; the cabin serves up rump roast over frozen heart as a summer dish http://automobilemag.com/reviews/coupes/0508_porsche_cayman_s/index1.html I hate heat!! To give you an example of how much I hate heat; to say I hate heat would be similar to saying the Cayman S handles just ok. Does anyone have any input as to how bad this cabin heat issue really is? I included the links above to the articles I read. I am (or was) within a couple days of ordering my Cayman S but really must find out if there really is an issue with Cabin heat. I realize it’s Winter here now (San Diego, CA USA) but I was hoping that some of ya’ll might have taken your Cayman S on an extended drive with the windows up, A/C off or on low, and hopefully the outside air temp above 60 deg F. If you have, did you notice any heat entering the cabin from the rear? Thank you in advance for your help. “First Porsche” Man

Boston area here! Still a bitcoldhere, but at 35 degrees ambient in the sun, still have used the heater to remain comfortable. Porsche , has for the past 8 years, done a good job with their A.C. systems, before that they were terriable. Ask your dealer to park car in noon sun, windows closed for a couple hours then sit in it and crank the A.C. to high see if that gives you a better feel. I do not think it will be a problem.

SIXGUN (BTW...nice name) Thank you for your reply. A good A/C is very important to me and I'm glad it works good. I realize you said it's quite cold there now, but have you noticed any heat being generated from behind the seats or from the cargo space under the hatch after an extended drive? I don't mean from the sun coming through the rear window, rather from the heat of the engine. I'm concerned,due to the referenced articles, the cargo space behind the seats may trap engine heat, that normally would go into the air in a Boxster, and funnel it into the cabin area thus heating things up and working against the A/C. Thank you for your help. 'First Porsche' Man

Have you used the 'search' feature? We have talked about this a bunch but until it gets really hot we just have to say we aren't sure yet.

I read the same thing, though it is fairly cold up here (30-60), I expected to notice at least some heat coming from the engine. Even last night when it was cold (40ish), I left the car alone for 45 minutes, came back and it was very cold inside....

So when I was shopping I directly asked the dealer about this issue. he said he had read the articles that said that...they were early drives of preproduction cars (according to him). he said Porsche read them too, got the feedback, and went back and added more insulation to the space between the engine and the passenger compartment. he said that pre- launch , porsche had a bunch of west coast dealers out ot arizona to drive the cars...it was plenty hot, and the cabins were perfectly comfortable (again, according to the salesguy) in the heat. basically he said, yes it was an issue but is resolved in the production cars. I've not driven mine in anything warmer than about 70 F, but it certainly seems comfortable, with no noticable heat from the back...

Just received my Black Cayman this weekend in Houston. It has been about 86 degrees and Sunny and very humid in Houston the last two days. Drove it in the middle of the day. I had to back of to the lowest fan setting with the AC on. I was able to cool of the cabin very quickly in the max mode and found myself setting it rather quickly to the lowest fan setting and still finding it rather cold inside (almost too cold). Houston gets very hot and worse very humid in the summer. I was also very concerned with cabin temp but not any more after driving it. Now I do think that after driving in the middle of summer and parking it in the sun with the windows closed will cause the cabin to get warm but that's the case with any car. I assume there is the potential of it staying warmer in the cabin but any car in Houston after a few hours parked in the sun will get extreamly hot inside. Once you start driving I find with a small pasanger comparment like with the Cayman you can quikly get the hot air out with the windows open for a few seconds. As a result it will cool of faster than most cars. I see no problems with potential heat bild up.

I'd like to thank everyone for their input./fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/thanks.gif This forum is great!! What a vast knowledge base. This newbie is quite impressed and cannow go order his very first Porsche, a Cayman S, with piece of mind regarding the Cabin Heat Question. Now then, off to decide on one more option and call the dealer to place the order... (BTW...I found & tried the 'Search' option....thanks!!) “First Porsche” Man

No problem with A/C in Florida.

Haven't had a problem here in Arizona yet. My old 993 did fine in the summer so I expect there won't be much of a problem. I would suggest a ceramic tint ifyou are concerned. It'snot verydark but really cuts the heat coming through the windows and hatch. No problem with night visibility either.

Got up to 83 F the other day and I was cruising around in a silver/black interior Cayman AC worked fine, was never hot and setting was 3 clicks below middle on both temp and fan speed Parked the car in the sun for about 45min got a smoothie, came back the car was muggy inside but cooled off quickly after opening the windows, and again the AC was fine and cool ride after 2 minutes If you pop the hatch and feel around the oil cap it is warm to the touch, so Im sure some heat is rising up from there, but its not like I ever feel a heater blowing on the back of my neck. The way I see it is the engine heat will fill a stationary car with no AC slowly... so it really doesnt matter if you have a black interior or tan interior it will get hot regardless, and if you parked in the sun... well what do you expect? Edited by - unpollo2 on 03/15/2006 10:29:00 AM