Yes, the day has come. I have bought another car, and am prepping my car for sale.

Even though I'm still going to be around on the forum (you can't get rid of me that easily) I still wanted to thank everyone on here for the support and advice given whilst I've had my car on the road, which would have been 4 years come November.

Big thanks to Kayjay/Scooby/Bobbs for the time/effort/sacrifices they have given to make this forum a reality, to all the mod team for the outstanding job they do every day, and to everyone that has helped me out with a spare part, or tech advice, and to Barbz/Rog for the time and effort they put in looking after my car.

This community really gave me the confidence to make that scary decision nearly 4 years back to buy one of these Italian stallions, and it has been one of the best decisions I ever made! I am now returning to the German car fold, and Wellformed is going to hate me forever. I'm sure I'm going to spend the next 4 years trying to convince him that not all Porsche drivers are wbankers.

I already have someone interested in buying my car, so after prepping it for sale, it shouldn't be around for too long I expect.

So all that's left for me to say is, keep destroying Veyrons when you're in 3rd gear, and don't forget to leave your car in gear without the handbrake's on next winter!

S1MMA.

Ahhh bugger, everyone's leaving

Best of luck with the new car S1MMA !!

Which Porker are you going for

I collected it on Saturday mate, it's a 2007 Meteor Grey Cayman S. Will stick some pics up when I have some.

Cayman S. Very nice.

Welcome to world of reliability...

That said, I wonder whether you'll miss the Coupe?

All the best.

Nice one Simma, Review please ASAP

Good stuff - best of luck What are your thoughts on the Porker?

[Homer Simpson voice on]
Cayman Ssssssssssssss
[Homer Simpson voice off]

Best of luck with it, like Cosmograph said, review please

I'm very suprised, I'd have had you down as getting a TVR or something older. However Caymen is very nice, just alot of cash given they arent very old.

Still I'm sure you will enjy it ALOT, basically now you have a car thats still fairly rapid, but also handles well, reliable, good image/badge, well built etc etc.

They are but they all come back in the end.

Good luck with Wolfsburg's finest Simma.

Nice work - sounds like a rather nice thing, with all the lovely virtues set out above

Look forward to the review - really interested to know why you went for the Cayman above all other cars at that price point, and what else was on the shortlist

Soon or later. Nothing is perpetual, sadly, not even 3rd gear.

Cayman S could be interesting meat to bring to a gathering of Coops. Just be prepared for mediocrity and to be munched on...

btw, I think Caymans seem to get missed by bankers. Wannabe bankers tend to only be able to afford Boxsters. A total and utter banker gets a 911 and a Boxster for the missus. So maybe you've just become a mundane everyday banker? You know, the type that only pretends to bank in public because they think it looks good, but always go home early to have a good hard practice at real banking.

I think you'll find they make Porsches in Zuffenhausen (VWs in Wolfsburg)

Enjoy Simma

Right, I'm home now and can actually access the forum (still finding it difficult at work!).

Ok, to start with, here's a few pics:
Cayman S 1

Cayman S 2

Cayman S Wheel/Brakes

Ok, for those of you that have asked, this is the thought process and stages I went through when deciding what to buy:

I've been looking at TVRs and crazy stuff like that for a while now, mostly looking at late TVR T350C's and Tuscans, for between £25k-£30k. I have been trying to convince myself for a long time that the inevitable £6-£7k TVR Power rebuild on the SP6 engine was worth it, and that I could just hold the cash in an account ready for it. I could even get a 4.0L rebuild instead of the 3.6 in the T350C.

So what happened? Well, I thought about it, and I actually started picturing myself in a TVR everyday as I drove the coupe. Went shopping in the coupe, pretended I was in the TVR. Drove around London pretending I was in the TVR. Went over speedbumps, surveyed the quality of the roads and how it felt in the coupe (then considered how much worse it would be in the TVR) and I said to myself: "hang on a minute mate, you don't live in the country any more, and you don't have 2 cars (and don't plan on having 2 cars), actually owning a TVR with my lifestyle and schedule would be suicide. Not to say they're bad cars, but I think that it would pretty much ruin my life if I owned one. I don't have time to mess around with it breaking down all the time, getting it transported around the country to be repaired/rebuilt. Even though I have secure underground parking, I don't have a half workshop where I live to work on it, and would have to travel 40 miles to my parents house to do that. I then started to seriously read through the TVR forums on pistonheads, where they talk about: "don't go above 3000rpm till the oil temp is 87.383474783 degrees, but don't go below 1200rpm because you're loading the engine too much" and "to get it in reverse put it in 5th first, then put it in 1st, then turn the air conditioning on, then put in Michael Jackson Dangerous Album and put track 7 on, then...... and then it'll go in reverse". That was enough for me to think that those cars are that quick and in that price range for a reason and it doesn't fit in with my lifestyle. I do like doing at least a couple of trackdays a year, but at the end of the day the car would be used 99.99% on the road, and a TVR was too uncompromising for me. If you have 2 cars, space, a nice garage, and the time to deal with one, they make perfect sense, but I do not, so the search went on.......

SO, what else could I get for similar money to the TVR + engine rebuild money? I looked at Noble M12 GTO 3R, Lotus Europa, supercharged Exige, Maserati Gransport (yes - really), a number of 996 911's, BMW M3 CSL & M3 CS, BMW Z4 M Coupe, had a brief look at Merc SL55 AMG (then sacked it off after about 10 seconds - nice running costs!), had a look at some other cars also - but didn't take them seriously. And then............. my wife said something to me.

She said: "what about a Porsche Cayman?".

I said: "Errrr? Are you crazy? They're just an underpowered boxster spin off Porsche. A real Porsche has either GT before the 911 badge, or Turbo S after the 911 badge, have you lost it even suggesting it to a power crazed mofo like me??? If it hasn't got 350-400bhp I'm not interested, etc..."

She replied: "Ok, just a suggestion, that's all".

Anyway, after clearing the smoke out of my ears, I logged onto pistonheads, and had a browse in the Cayman section (probably for the first time ever, after practically living in the 996 "for sale" section for 2 years) to prove her suggestion wrong. I had a look around, and saw a few nice examples (Cayman S only) in my price range. So I thought, lets see the specs....

Standard spec:

3.4 litre flat 6, 295bhp, 1350kg, 6 speed, 171mph top speed
0-100mph in 11.6s
1/4 mile in 13.2 @105mph

With induction/exhaust/mapping, you're looking at a 12.8s 1/4 mile.

Hmmmmm. Not too bad, not as quick as a TVR T350C, but 1.6seconds behind at 100mph standard vs standard isn't that bad, what about the handling?

So I read a bunch of reviews, which basically said that the car is a culmination of 40 years of Porsche expertise and experience, and it is the best handling Porsche ever.

Ok. So lets have a look at one. Went to my nearest Porsche dealer (East London). Had a good look around the car, sat in it, had a look at how practical they are (which was better than I thought), and was suitably impressed.

Then I started to substitute it for the coupe, like I did with the TVR. Couldn't see a problem with it coping with all the roads where I live (C Wharf) or where I work (the City). Did I need the back seats of a 911? No. Would I prefer something newer than a 911, with a new updated Porsche interior, and full Porsche warranty outstanding, yes. Ok, so how do they drive?

I went and viewed a fair few of them, seeing the differences in extra's/age/milage/age. Then I considered that I would take it on track, so the most important option was PASM (Porsche active suspension). Car sits 10mm lower with it, and it has 2 settings (normal and sport), normal being softer than standard, and sport being harder (standard cars without PASM are in between sport/normal). I wasn't too bothered about most of the other stuff, because I didn't think I'd keep it for more than 2-3 years, before moving up to a 997 911.

How are they to drive? One word can do it: Amazing.

You drop in to a comfy supportive seat, the interior is modern, everything is within good reach. Start it up, and the bark behind your head as it sputters into life reminds you that it's mid engined. Get comfy, move away, and the steering feels heavy at low speed. Touch the brakes, and they're not over assisted, you need a good prod to slow it down. As you get it up to temp, and the speed builds up, you notice that any small action you make with the steering wheel causes the car to change direction. I know mags use the saying all the time, but it's like there is no slack in the car at all, it's taut and ready.

It's fairly quiet when poodling around, but when you open the throttle for the first time in 2nd gear - you know this thing means business. The quiet low speed nature hides what's lurking in the wings: good clean power, and a great 911 esque bark to go with it. If I'm right on this, the engine is a mixture of 3.6 997 Carerra, and 3.8 997 Carerra S - it has the 911 Carerra block, the Carerra S head and top end, and a completely different crank to give the 3.4l capacity. So the noise is fairly similar, although it's just behind your head instead of hanging out the back!

So, it sounds great, I like the look of it, it holds money well, it's insurable (less than £1.5k for me, group 20 car in London - not too bad, some of the BMWs were £2k+, and the TVR was £2k+), examples that were in my price range had manufacturer Warranty's remaining (2007 cars), it's quick (comparing to a coupe, it would destroy any coupe off the line, and is pretty much similar to a 300bhp coupe in gear, having a 171mph top speed could also be useful on the Autobahn!), great gearchange, well built, and then there's the telepathic handling. With sport mode selected on the PASM, it stiffens up to the point where you'd feel it if you ran over a £1 coin! Perfect for the track, and great for London as I can just switch it off.

My wife actually got it slightly sideways on the test drive in the wet when exiting a roundabout (the dealer let us take it out by ourselves). She intuitively gave it a bit of opposite lock, and it came back in fine. I later found out that Porsche reigned in the PSM (stability management) on the Cayman because it's packaged as a focused drivers Porsche, and they felt it was more controllable beyond the limit when compared to a 911. I've only had it 3 days, so need more experience to confirm this, but the initial signs are great.

So what more to say, I think that anyone that is looking to buy a new car has to consider their circumstances and needs/wants, and choose a car from there. I've always loved Porsche as a brand, so it was good fortune that one of their models fit in with my needs/wants and budget. It does everything I need a car to do, and although I'm sure I'll crave more power in a couple of years after I've tried to master the cars handling, by which time I'll probably get something further up the Porsche range.

So, shabba pretty much had it spot on in his post. Sorry to ramble on!

Bwahahahahaa, I knew I'd get a response from the Porsche hater!

You're right of course, a £50k Porsche Cayman S is mediocre. You know that you're king of the hill in the Coupe.

I'll also make sure I stay away from racing any coupe's I see in Milton K (if for some strange reason I am ever in dull Milton K), and if I do come across a coupe with a video camera in the dashboard, a laptop on the passenger seat, and a dude sweating and salivating over his next target, I'll look straight on when you pull up next to me at the lights! That's what usually happens right, or am I missing something? I don't want to dissapoint you after you rape me in between Sainsburys and one of the 10,000 industrial estates (because I can't drive my superior penis extension)!

All fun and games, but seriously - just rememner that I'd rape you around a track, even though you are a self proclaimed good driver, I'm better and my car's better and faster than yours. So ner ner ner ner ner.

edit: I'll be selling my track rims with semi slick DO1Js when I get a few pics of them (they're beyond mint condition). See if you could stretch to them, they may give you half a fighting chance of being able to keep up with me!

Looks lovely - he's just jealous

thanks Vicks. Like I said in my first post, I've inadvertently declared war on wellformed by purchasing a Porsche! I recon I can take him on though.......

TBH WF might actually have that bit extra on a straight.
From my own blast with a Cayman S my coop was that bit quicker, not by much tho.
Throw some bends in there & the Cayman would show what it's about.
Anyway nice choice of car, wouldn't mind one myself.

Wow good write-up there Simma, I was actually on my way out to start looking for one myself, then I realised I was a peasant

Not a big fan of Porsche`s but I do the Cayman,especially those pics of yours S1mma .

Baz

Out of interest what made you go for the Cayman over the 996 turbo?

Newer? Sharper? Pure eg no turbo/4wd?

Great write up

Class

Thanks for the comments all.

LJW, I did drive a 996 Twin Turbo, and even though it was ballistic in a straight line, on road it lacked the dynamics of the Cayman S by some margin.

After driving it, I would describe the 996TT as more of a cruiser, a GT almost. It's fantastic on the Mway, and its very fast, although if you wanted to go for a blat and take some roundabouts in 2nd gear (which was what I did tonight, and I'm still grinning!) then the Cayman S is a better car for it. The 996TT feels well planted to the road - solid in fact, whereas the Cayman S feels light and lithe. I think you'd have to really drive a 996TT on track to be able to get anywhere near the limits - let alone breach them, although to do so in a Cayman is achievable on the road at more sensible speeds. Does that make sense? At my last trackday at Bedford, there was a chap next to me in a 997 Twin Turbo, and after chatting to him - all he kept going on about was his M3 CSL that he sold for his 997TT. He said the CSL was miles better on track - pretty much for the reasons I've listed above - the CSL is light, RWD and focused, a 997TT is an unbelievably capable car - but it's not pure RWD/lightweight like an M3 or Cayman.

Also, even though late 996s are well specced (talking about alcantara headlining/Bose/Navigation/Xenons etc....) the interiors are very dated, and they look old because of the existance of the 997. If you want a car to tackle big distances, and like to go really quick, then a 996TT is great. If you want to do a lot of trackwork, then go for a 911 GT3. A Cayman is softer than a GT3, and more dynamic than a 996TT, a compromise in the middle somewhere perhaps (although without the monstrous engines (and running costs it must be said) from either!).

Richard, my best mate has a 300bhp coupe with superspool, and I'm sure I'm going to get the chance to compare against him - I will post the results when it happens. I don't expect there to be much in it between 30mph and 120mph in the dry in a straight line - the Coupe's one forte. On track, a 300bhp coupe on road tyres would eat my dust period. I know, because I've compared my 250bhp coupe to many Porsches on track, and know what it's capable of.

Looks very nice and some excellent write ups you've done above

Good luck with it and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it

Yep, round a track the poker will be great fun.
Is it much more to insure compared to a modified coop ?

Porsche has always been a posh VW to me.

Nice write up and the car looks lovely - certainly agree with the thought process.

It's a brave man that goes for a Speed Six-engined TVR as his only car without workshop access and lots of time

I'm only jesting at ya. I'd love a porsche... so I could sell it and get that new Liner GTR instead.

I've already had a play with a Cayman S. They sound like Jet Coops of full tilt. So at leat you're not losing that part of ownership! A side by side play through 2nd gear with my windows down was proof of that. Sadly, I didn't get to hear what 3rd was like as they were behind me shortly after I changed-up. Got a vid somewhere...

First thing I would be doing is booking in a trackday!

btw, I hate all german cars, not just porkers.

Good work Simma, lol @ your WF response comments.

Good choice, nice car. A few bits proper made me laugh, 'power crazed mofo'. Howevr it really is a revelation sometimes driving a car that really handles well.

i used the same method when i was choosing my next car

is it economical?
is it reliable?
cheap to run?
cheap to insure?
cheap to fix?
comfortable over speedbumps and potholes?
easy to work on?

ooops.