Thread: Porsche owners
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Old 01-08-2021, 10:40 AM   #8511
PGH'02RS
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Member#: 17975
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Vehicle:
2023 Macan GTS
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack View Post
Help me, oh Porsche faithful.

I'm looking to get into a "fun car" shortly. I've been a 911 fan forever, having come this close (fingers really close) to buying various air cooled ones back when they were just out of reach of a practical engineer. In any case, to me, 911's are out of reach for what I'm willing to pay so I started looking at the Cayman. Yes, I've watched the everyday driver thing and Doug's review and read the motor trend article. I also am a LM fan, having gone to numerous races at Lime Rock and note that the 911 racecars are, in my mind a rebodied Cayman with the engine in front of the axle supposedly for aerodynamics......uh, ok.

A new GT4 is more money than I want to spend. I've owned an Elise, and my son owns an S2000. I'm looking for something more refined and less track oriented. Manual is required or why bother? The 4 turbo vs 6 are questions in my mind. 981 vs 718. Residual value in the future is important as I can't say any car would ever be a forever car for me. So practically, thinking perhaps 981 GTS vs 718 base. This will be a street only car. Maybe a lapping day now and then but not getting back into roadracing.

Are there things I'm overlooking? I have not yet driven a Cayman. Have driven various 911's in the past.
Current 718S owner here. Regarding the 718, from a driving perspective, it's a better car all around than the 981, period. The steering is more refined, chassis feels tighter, and from a performance perspective the power difference is very noticeable. As was mentioned, the big difference is the 6cyl on the 981 vs the T4 on the 718. The 6 cyl is a bit weak down low compared to the 2.5L T4 in the 718S/GTS, but it's the more desirable option in the Porsche community due to the sound (hence Porsche adding the 4.0 6cyl on the new 718 GTS). If you drive both, you'll find the T4 gives you much more power all around with the low RPM torque - with the 981 you really need to ring it out north of 4k to feel the power, so around town it feels like a bit of a dog in comparison. In addition, the 718 will give you the new UI (touch screen, etc).

In driving the two, I preferred the 718S to the 981 GTS for the reasons above, although it's entirely subjective. Since it's a daily driver for me, I wanted more usable power and the newer UI, so the 718 was the winner. If it were a weekend car, I'd likely have gone with the 981 GTS since it would only be going on spirited drives, so I'd be mostly up in the revs/power. Some people love the howl of the 6, and some are fine with the growl on the T4. The bonus of the T4 is you can add a tune and easily get an additional 80-100hp, so if HP is your goal it's a better platform for tuning. Avoid the 718 base, as the 2.0 T4 is a bit anemic compared to the 2.5 IMO. On the 718 I'd recommend the PDK, as it really works in harmony with the Turbos (holding boost when off-throttle on sport and during shifts). For the 981 I prefer the three pedal option, as I think it just fits better with an NA engine.

If you're concerned with residual values, I think the 981 is the better bet, as the T4 in the 718 is relatively unloved in the Porsche community. I don't think the market will be kind to it, and IMO the 981's will do better than the T4 718 in the long run, even though the 718 outperforms the 981. Honestly you can't go wrong with either - drive both a see which one really speaks to you. For me, the 718S is the most fun car I've driven, and I'll likely hold onto it until I find a nice 911 GTS, Turbo or GT3 that I can afford

I'll also point out that in that price range, you're easily in the range of a nice 997 or 991.1 911
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