Aaron Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Hi all I've not been active lately as I've had little to contribute... but I'm back into the swing of it and will have a few posts to throw up over the coming weeks. Anyway, I recently ticked over one year of ownership a few days back and just taking some time to reflect. I've managed to put just shy of 7k on the car daily driving it (my daily commute is 3 miles, so lots of social driving) and it's been an absolute blast. I had an interim niggling fault with Porsche Cardiff buggering up my fuel gauge after fitting cruise but they ended up accidentally fixing it and it's been absolutely fine since. Otherwise, the car's been solid and just sailed through its MOT excluding the perished exhaust clamps which my exhaust specialist will be sorting very soon. Suspension geometry is due a check too, and I'll be giving it a mechanical once over once it's out of hibernation. Also managed to give the CR some enhancements in the past 12 months, those being: IPD plenum and GT3 throttle body GT3 master cylinder Softronic remap Zunsport grill covers Android Auto head unit and reversing camera Complete paint correction and Fireball Dok Do ceramic coating The paint is looking fantastic and I couldn't be happier: https://imgur.com/F5lYpBQ I was on the fence about an exhaust but ended up opting against it due to the car being loud enough as is. There's an open day at a local dyno so I may take the car down for a power run. It's on a Saturday and I may not feel like getting out of bed! It's not my usual dyno but it's 10 minutes away and I can add/remove the Softronic map with ease. The car has been in hiding since mid Nov and I've picked up a 2004 (54) Honda S2000 to daily for the next couple of months until winter is over. It's a fantastic car and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I want to keep it but the missus can't get insurance; so I don't have an easy excuse to donate it to her and keep driving it myself... Picked up an FN2 Civic Type R prior and I lasted ten weeks with it. Absolute shitter of a car. Pardon my French. Never again. Going to the missus' house in South France late March and we'll be taking the scenic route through the east and the Alps. It's been a wonderful 12 months of ownership and I'm hoping for 12 more, that would be brilliant. Happy motoring! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cayman R Paul Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Sounds like an interesting first year with it. I toyed with the idea of cruise control retrofit on mine but my OPC wanted over £700 which seemed excessive, especially as a good chunk of that was for a bit of plastic trim that probably costs about 10p. Any pics of the headunit? Also, I love an S2000 as a winter hack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 Over £700? That's excessive. I paid £500 incl. VAT for my cruise retrofit from Porsche Cardiff. The cost for the four stalk part has gone up substantially - it used to be £130 or so but it's now nearly £300. The ironic thing is that I rarely do motorway cruising so haven't even used it besides a trip to Milton Keynes a few months back. I'll take some pics of the head unit today and post them up. The S2000 has actually taken me by surprise. I thought I'd enjoy it and easily be able to move on but I like the car so much that I can see myself keeping it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidepod Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 3 miles daily commute? Wow! Does the temp gauge move? How do you find the ride? Harsh? My daily trip is 60 miles in my CR. I love it but there is no slow gentle cruise home after a tough day. Has anyone had the dials converted to red? Is it even possible on a 987? Considering this at the next service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 (edited) Nice! Also interested in the head unit. Does this replace the ye-old looking monochrome pcm/radio screen? I wasn't aware we could swap that out but would like to get a more modern head unit in there. I asked the OPC if it was possible to fit a later model cayman PCM but was told its not possible. Did the other mods make any noticeable difference? I usually always mod my cars but haven't touched the CR other than getting Michelin PS4's fitted all round. I too am heading to the south of France late March so give me a wave if you see a Red CR Edited January 16, 2018 by MJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty1 Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Nice update, just curious do you think the engine mods have made much difference ? Also what are your thoughts on the Michelin PS4S tyres ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham.reeds Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 I paid £400 for Revolution Porsche to give my 987.2 cruise control. What is your Android Auto head as the stock head is atrocious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 3 hours ago, Sidepod said: 3 miles daily commute? Wow! Does the temp gauge move? How do you find the ride? Harsh? My daily trip is 60 miles in my CR. I love it but there is no slow gentle cruise home after a tough day. Has anyone had the dials converted to red? Is it even possible on a 987? Considering this at the next service. It gets about 1/4 the way across, I then shut the engine off and hop on the train... I could drive to another station (which is less than 1 mile there and back) but it's in a different zone and costs a tonne more for a season ticket. Don't worry, when she's not going to the train station, she goes to Powys or the Evo triangle for a thorough hoon. 60 miles is a long drive... I was doing that a few years back and vowed to never get another job where I couldn't easily commute after 11 months of it! 3 hours ago, MJ said: Nice! Also interested in the head unit. Does this replace the ye-old looking monochrome pcm/radio screen? I wasn't aware we could swap that out but would like to get a more modern head unit in there. I asked the OPC if it was possible to fit a later model cayman PCM but was told its not possible. Did the other mods make any noticeable difference? I usually always mod my cars but haven't touched the CR other than getting Michelin PS4's fitted all round. I too am heading to the south of France late March so give me a wave if you see a Red CR It does replace it indeed. Gives the interior that modern lift that the PCM system seems to restrict it from. B&B Audio Concepts (who did the install) also supply a fascia for the double din that is pretty much spot on with the interior appearance and gives a factory look. They do an interesting little tweak which I'll take a pic of later. The plenum and TB was 10 WHP pretty much across the rev range, if I remember correctly. I sought to eliminate the flatness in the midrange and it's now clear and progressive after the mods. If I bought another CR, I would definitely do it again to eliminate that midrange bog. As for the remap, I never had another dyno after installing the Softronic map. The map was done to cater for an exhaust manifold should I decide to fit one later in the future and I was waiting to see if I'd take the plunge and never did. 2 hours ago, crafty1 said: Nice update, just curious do you think the engine mods have made much difference ? Also what are your thoughts on the Michelin PS4S tyres ? As above regarding the engine mods. Funny story about PS4s... I was going to fit some myself, but ended up stranded on the side of the road with a nail in my tyre! The only tyre they had in stock was the Goodyear Eagle F1s. I'll be switching to them once these Goodyears wear out. 59 minutes ago, graham.reeds said: I paid £400 for Revolution Porsche to give my 987.2 cruise control. What is your Android Auto head as the stock head is atrocious? I enquired with Revolution Porsche; the price was £399 + VAT (I offered cash but it wasn't accepted) and then, adding on the 400 mile round trip, it just didn't make sense to not use Cardiff. The Android Auto headunit is a Kenwood DMX7017DABS. You can pick one up for ~£400. You can have the high-end model that comes with a CD/DVD player but I didn't have any interest in those features so spent the money on a reversing camera instead. Speaking of which, said reversing camera is fantastic for reversing off sloped drives and the likes - gives you eyes where you simply couldn't have them! --- Good news. My exhaust specialist has checked the clamps and said that, whilst they are indeed corroded, there's nothing wrong with them and they don't need to be changed. It's just the Porsche MOT tester being picky. I'm going to pick the car up shortly and I'll snap those head unit pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s3 akr Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 That paintwork is looking awesome. What sort of money does paint correction of that nature cost ? Do they sort out stone chips etc as part of the package ? Nicely done mods that are pretty sensible too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 Here's a quick snap of the headunit: I took some photos with the interior light on and flash but it's not that great. I'll have to take some on the weekend in the natural light. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham.reeds Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Yeah, you can't see how seamlessly it fits in the dark. Look forward to those photos. Who is your contact at B&B Audio? Wales is a bit too far away so I might just purchase the bits and fit it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 14 hours ago, s3 akr said: That paintwork is looking awesome. What sort of money does paint correction of that nature cost ? Do they sort out stone chips etc as part of the package ? Nicely done mods that are pretty sensible too. Sorry, missed this one. The paint correction and coating was £500 completed by Vivid Car Care in Newport. I had the front end repainted before I took it there so no stone chips to patch up. Ashley is the owner and will suggest a respray over touch up. He took it from swirl city to swirl free in 3 days. It's then £35 for a wash/wax thereafter and, as you can imagine, he won't put any swirl marks back into it. The beading and enhanced paint depth from the coating is worth it alone (coating lasts 5 years). It makes the car look like basalt black on steroids. 1 hour ago, graham.reeds said: Yeah, you can't see how seamlessly it fits in the dark. Look forward to those photos. Who is your contact at B&B Audio? Wales is a bit too far away so I might just purchase the bits and fit it myself. Waz is the owner at B&B. They've been around forever and a day, they really know their stuff. It's £650 to supply and fit the unit I have. When you add on the cost of harnesses, it's only about £150 in labour. They're a 60 second walk from Porsche Cardiff too so the time goes by pretty quickly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porker Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 1 hour ago, Beanoir said: When Paragon changed my exhaust on the CR the bill was just under £500, the vast majority of that was labour (no parts included) associated with drilling/grinding the old bolts off. But, they warned me it could be a hour job if the bolts were ok, or it could be a 4 hour job if not and the difference in cost between the 2 extremes. Have you thought about going to an indy rather than an OPC? Seconded, its not a specialist job, any decent garage should be able to sort. A porsche Indy may be better if the OPC get jumpy about it. The bolts, clamp and gasket were changed before i got mine as part of the dealers routine before they put it up for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 21 hours ago, crafty1 said: Nice update, just curious do you think the engine mods have made much difference ? Also what are your thoughts on the Michelin PS4S tyres ? I think they are pretty ace tyres and a big step up in grip over my previous Eagle F1's. I haven't tried them on track yet but expect they ramp up the grip even more. They are quite sticky to the point that when I rolled up my gravel drive in warm weather my tyres looked like sprinkle doughnuts though that could have been my spirited driving putting some heat cycles into them Liking the idea of the head unit replacement. I thought it couldn't be right that we were unable to update it to something less ancient looking. Do they do a satnav variant of that head unit? would be useful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham.reeds Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 4 hours ago, Aaron said: Waz is the owner at B&B. They've been around forever and a day, they really know their stuff. It's £650 to supply and fit the unit I have. When you add on the cost of harnesses, it's only about £150 in labour. They're a 60 second walk from Porsche Cardiff too so the time goes by pretty quickly... The drive down for me is 6 1/2 hours on roads littered with speed cameras, mostly of the average variety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 2 hours ago, MJ said: Do they do a satnav variant of that head unit? would be useful You use Google Maps or Apple Maps and it casts to the screen. You don't need built-in nav. 40 minutes ago, graham.reeds said: The drive down for me is 6 1/2 hours on roads littered with speed cameras, mostly of the average variety. Ah, I see. That's a long way. Cardiff's roads are also rubbish and littered in speed cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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