I just had the "first" servicing done on the car and wanted to post this thread to see if anyone else has has had any of the issues listed below.
I've had my Cayman S for about a year now and (as I am sure everyone else will vouch) it has been a great ownership experience, with only a handful of complaints.
If you have any of the following issues, please chime in. I'm interested to hear of any similar experiences.
- 3rd to 2nd downshift issues - This is a troubling one... Ever since I bought the car (brand new, and it is a Tiptronic), I have had intermittent problems with downshifts from 3rd to 2nd gear in Manual ('M') mode.
The chain of events is usually as follows: Thumb down Tiptronic selector switch; gearbox opens clutch (you can feel the drivetrain come off-load); 2 second delay with clutch open ("one Mississippi... two Mississippi...") after which the clutch will re-engage violently. I say violently because the drivetrain goes to full-load with a loud "BANG", and with the rear wheels locking up (depending on the speed).
There doesn't seem to be any particular trigger to this happening (driving style, ambient / drivetrain temperature, lunar phase, etc), and it's one of those gremlins that goes into hiding whenever I try to bring it in to show the dealership.
- Automatic upshifting in M-mode - This seems to only happen when I've been driving the car on the track, or after several hard hours on B-road drives, and I'm convinced that the Tiptronic has a dummy-proof mode where it reverts to full auto mode, even with the transmission in the 'M' position, when the gearbox reaches a certain temperature.
I know it's a safety feature, and the only reason I am complaining about this is because when I am tracking the car and trying to hold 3rd gear on a sweeper at 130kph, the last thing I want is the car to upshift on its own...
Does anyone know what the threshold temperature is, and has anyone tried fitting a gearbox cooler?
Pundits will say "get a manual", but I love my particular car and the dealership didn't see fit to bestow me with a manual tranny allotment when I ordered... so... I'm making the best of it...
- Squealing when turning - For some reason my Cayman makes a high pitched squeal when I make sharp, low-speed turns. I'm not sure if this is related to me having Pagid Yellow pads, but it is pretty annoying. Anyone else had this?
- Brake pedal croak - Very minor issue, but for some reason my brake pedal croaks noticeably when I depress it (we're talking braking for a speed bump, not full-on emergency braking or anything).
- Trunk clunk - Everyone seems to have this, and the mechanic at the local Porsche dealership says that Porsche knows about this, even though they haven't issued an official TSB (I don't think). I forgot to bring this up when my car went in, so it's still clunking.
- Cupholder rattles - I cannot believe this made it past all those hundreds of thousands of R&D miles in the Sahara... My old VW had a better (read: rattle free) cupholder design.
That's about it though. Aside from the above... this car is the greatest thing since sliced bread!
Hi, wunderbar. Check the Articles section for Ranier's procedure for fixing the trunk clunk (aka hatch thunk.) It worked on my CS. Of the issues you listed, only the hatch thunk manifested on my car. My cup holders probably rattle (they did on my Boxster), but I can't remember the last time I used them.
Snaxster
This is something that endemic to automatics - first, there is no clutch, it's an automatic with a torque converter - when you hit the button is signals the converter to unhook from the drive-train change gears and hook back up - there's no clutch to soften the blow, or throttle blip to match the rpm of the two different gears.
I don't think it's a temperature related problem, again, it's an automatic. You don't mention if you have the sport chrono package - supposedly, with the sport mode engaged, in M mode on a Tiptronic, the car is not supposed to up-shift on it's own - but even then, it will depend on how close to the redline you are - from what I understand, the car will not let you over-rev the motor and will shift in that instance.
this has nothing to do with your pagid yellow pads. Lots of people have noticed this. In fact, there are two threads in the complaints forum about this - when you have the wheels turned almost to, or at the steering lock, the power steering pump is exerting all its pressure against the lock - others have called this a thumping noise... either way, it's normal, unwind the wheel a little and give the power steering pump a little breathing room and it will go away. Alto remember that your street tires are probably more sticky than you're used to... when moving the around in my driveway the tires squeal all the time.
Probably a lubrication issue - tell your dealer about it, and they'll probably put some sort of lube on the pedal hinge to fix it.
There is a TSB issued for a certain VIN range of cars to install new rubber bumpers along the hatch rails... the dealer should automatically have this come up on their computer when they plug in your VIN. If not, ask them if there's a fix, or fix it yourself as described above.
brad
"I know it's a safety feature, and the only reason I am complaining about this is because when I am tracking the car and trying to hold 3rd gear on a sweeper at 130kph, the last thing I want is the car to upshift on its own..."
Try turning PSM off, this should keep the car from upshifting even if you don't have sport chrono.
As for you squeeling noise, WTF IS THAT!! i have had it since i got the car, it's not a thump.. it sounds like a metal on metal squeal, it is most noticable when turning to the left on my car (right makes no noise). and i dont have to turn that much. Sometimes my car will make the noise w/o me even turning on the wheel (after i have been driving for some time)
Snaxster - Thanks, but I'm just going to get the dealership to do it. My particular rattling is coming from the cupholder cover. Another Cayman I drove had the matte finish interior trim, and this did not rattle as much... though I think this might be due to the heavier weight of the particular finish.
beez - Thanks for the response and input.
I don't treat the Tiptronic S in my car as a sequential gearbox by any means, however I don't think the torque converter hooking back up with a loud bang and the rear wheels locking up is something that is endemic to automatic gearboxes. Still trying to get the dealership to sort this out without pointing fingers at my mods...
I do have Chrono Sport Pack Plus, and I usually track and drive the car hard with the car in Sport mode. Irrespective of the fact that I have the car in M-mode, there is some threshold where the Tiptronic S will shift up on its own. Again, from experience, I'm convinced it's temperature related. As you correctly put it, the Cayman, like almost any other e-gas equipped car, has a rev limiter... so the car will not allow you to overrev the engine.
Thanks for the tip, I'll look into the other threads on the squealing / thumping... The Pirelli P Zeros on my other cars are a heck of a lot sticker than the Bridgestone Potenza RE05s my Cayman came with... this is definitely not tire squeal...
The rest is in the dealership's hands... will update if they say / solve anything.
jonnydeep - Thanks for the suggestion, I have been tracking with PSM on so far, so I'll see if switching that off makes a difference.
Sounds like we have the same squeal issue, your symptoms sound familiar!
Let me know if you ever find the cause of that squeal.
11000 miles. No problems at all. I had two check engine lights in the first 2500 miles that pretty much resolved to the gas cap. Nothing since.
Best car made IMO.
