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The Zed's Replacement (Porsche content)


jjt

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So as some of you may have noted, a new job prompted me to sell the 350Z for a diesel to commute in. However once the deal had been done, I immediately had a "What the hell are you doing" feeling which nagged away at me for a few days. After a trial run both driving and getting the train, I decided that Merseyrail was the smarter option, and that I should buy one of my dream cars whilst I was in the position to do so...

 

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2006 Porsche Cayman S, 40k miles, colour and wheels I wanted, 2 year warranty with Porsche and high specced. Whilst being very similar to the Zed in many respects, it has a very different character. It has also made me realise just how much of a bargain the Zed is. Shame all the forums I can find regarding Caymans are either very quiet or US based!

 

I know the Cayman is a bit of a marmite car, but so far I am really impressed - I just wish it had an aux input for the stereo!

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Beautiful, big fan of these. You must be made up!

 

Any chance of a big write up after you've owned her for a while? If I can squeeze in one more fun car before going DERV barge these would be on the test drive list.

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Nice. B)

 

Does the back open up? can you see the engine?

 

Currently I'm driving a Porsche Boxster S as a courtesy car but tbh it's got nothing on my Zed imo. Don't get me wrong it's a nice car and the best courtesy car I've ever had but still doesn't feel/sound or go as nicely as my Zed. Not the same as a Cayman S at all though I know. ;)

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Beautiful looking car buddy. Nearly bought a new one last summer before deciding I couldn't afford the new Cayman S in the spec I'd drooled over. Once the Nismo is 3, I'll look at a nearly new/1 year old model.

 

They are the only other car I would have/afford other than my Nismo.

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Thanks for all the kind comments guys :thumbs: Il try and answer a few questions now...

 

Firstly comparing it to the Zed... The two engines have very different characteristics; whereas my (uprev'd) 350 felt like it didn't particularly want me to rev it high and was quite happy using the midrange to make progress, the new car really comes into the power at around 4,000 rpm and encourages you to hang on to each gear, with more and more shove as the engine revs increase. Down low it doesn't feel like it has the shove of the Zed, but has a lot more go top end. The car is riding on 19" wheels with PASM, and compared to the old car it glides along bumpy or rutted roads with a lot more polished ride. If you hit a bump or rut mid corner the Zed required correction, whereas the Porsche is so much more settled. I could never imagine using sport mode for the PASM anywhere other than a racetrack in this country though. The controls are a LOT heavier in the Cayman, i.e. clutch, gearbox and steering, which took me some time to appreciate, but now I wouldn't want to change this. I let my best friend have a drive of it down country roads to get a second opinion as he has driven the old car on several occasions down the same roads, and he confirmed that it felt considerably faster and more special once it was allowed to rev, but also that the handling was in another league to anything he had driven or been in before, bar a Ferrari 458.

With regards to the noise, I think that below 4000rpm the Porsche sounds rather plain compared to the old car, but once past there it has a lovely howl to it that sounds more exotic than the Zed, although I'm sure around town the Zed would turn way more heads by noise alone. The only option it didn't have which I would have wanted ideally is the switchable sports exhaust.

I wanted the warranty just for the piece of mind even though this has the later M97 engine in it, rather than the M96. It was a Porsche Approved car so has been thoroughly checked over recently by them as well.

The boot opens, and is probably slightly more useable than the 350's, but the engine is hidden under a carpet - I have no desire to try and take it off!

Someone correctly identified that this is indeed a weekend toy, so purely for fun.

I am glad I went for the 'S', as I think the non 'S' would probably feel slow after the Zed. Still command quite a premium though.

Hopefully you can tell that I am not taking anything away from the Zed here, as it was the best car I've ever owned, but just highlighting the differences I've picked up on the initial 600 miles of ownership with the new car :)

Hope this helps!

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Good write up jjt. ;)

 

I asked about the rear boot as it does look like it lifts up.

I was surprised when looking around the Porsche Boxster S I'm driving at the moment because me and my Father wanted to see the engine.

 

I opened the rear boot where I thought the engine was, nothing there? My Dad says "must be front engined then", opened the front bonnet and nothing there either! :surrender::lol:

Must be electric powered we joked. :D

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