New 2.7… Help me fettle (plus, wheel opinions)

[Niall]

Hi all, 

 

I picked up my new cayman at the weekend after a long search and plenty of advice / reading up on this great forum. It’s a 2007 manual 2.7 car in midnight blue and I absolutely love it. With 38k on the dial and 1 owner for all 37.5k of those miles, it appears to be in very well cared for mechanical condition with all service history accounted for at Porsche before switching to the specialist where I purchased it from. In Feb this year, they replaced the AC condensers, cross over pipes and carried out a minor service. Prior to purchase last week, the seller put it through a PPI and the mechanics couldn’t find anything to be worried about or note as “watch outs” which was reassuring. For context, they’re a very well regarded Porsche specialist with heavy presence in Porsche motorsport side of things so I have plenty of trust in them. 
 

I have to say, the car drives amazingly. Better than I had even imagined (and I’d done plenty of that). Being so new to Porsche, I’ve got a few questions that would be great to sense check to see if these are “just the way they are”, things I can DIY or stuff to perhaps get checked out by a different specialist (one nearer home). I’ve also got a few cosmetic related questions which hopefully people can help with: 

 

• I’ve read up about ‘trunk clunk’ and gone through the thorough guide by WindyMillar (thanks!) - when driving over most small bumps and rougher patches road, I can hear a bit of a ‘knock’. It’s nothing particularly worrying sounding but I’m really struggling to pin it down to the front end or back end of the car. Is this more likely to be trunk clunk rather than anything else? Is my best port of call to wind down the bump stops before anything else?

 

• whirring noise at lower revs… I’ve noticed that the engine makes a bit of a whirring (some may call it squeal but that sounds a bit over-dramatic for what it is) when driving usually at lower speeds in 1st 2nd and 3rd and always at lower revs. Is this just belts doing their thing or anything to keep an eye on?

 

• rear wiper removal. Is this easy enough for a fairly un-experienced but keen home DIY? What blanking plug do people recommend and are there any helpful how-to guides?

 

• I’ve got a set of 18” turbo “style” wheels which are - in fairness- very nice but not my cup of tea. They’re on 265/35 rears and 225/40 front tyres - all Continental Sport contact 2’s with very good tread (6mm). If I were to change these to 17” wheels, would I notice a distinct change in ride quality? If I’m honest, the car is a bit on the stiff side for what will be a daily driver. I would really like to swap them for a set of more ‘classic’ styled original Cayman wheels but not sure where to start with this - is anyone here interested in a change? I’d only be willing to exchange for wheels in equally as good condition and with good tyres. 
 

• Head unit: it’s been fitted with a Pioneer unit but it appears to be fairly old (5+ years) and therefore has no Apple Car Play… it’s got a wire for connecting an iPhone in the centre console box but that only appears to help with making phone calls and charging g. I’d really like to have CarPlay - what head units do people recommend? I don’t want to spend an awful lot… given that I’ve already got an aftermarket unit in there, should I be able to switch a new one in myself easily enough?

 

Thanks in advance for any help and looking forward to sharing more as I get to spend more time with the car!

[Niall]

Seems to be the only photo that I can get of the car to be sub 1MB! Will find a way to share more..

 

[Julian987]

Just curious, why do you want to remove the rear wiper?

[and.rs1800]

57 minutes ago, Julian987 said:

Just curious, why do you want to remove the rear wiper?

My guess is for a cleaner look?

  

[and.rs1800]

Kill all wipers should have something suitable if you are determined to delete the rear wiper

[wtaite01]

Welcome Niall,

 

Midnight blue is a lovely colour, looks fantastic 😍

 

Rear wiper - my advice would be to see how you get on with it at first. I was similarly looking at delete options when I first got mine, but I am now very pleased that I have the rear wiper. The rear screen will get wet and blurry, compromising visibility. The rear wiper really helps. I now even wish it had a washer hose! Also, the rear wiper has genuine Porsche heritage: https://petrolicious.com/articles/the-unlikely-story-of-how-porsche-dna-probably-ended-up-on-your-car

 

Wheels - I have a set of 17s and 18s for my 2.9. The 17s do improve the low speed ride a little but it's nothing dramatic, their bigger advantage is the added road feel and suspension responsiveness (they're significantly lighter). There's no doubting the added grip on offer with the 18s though, which is why I tend to use the 18s on track and 17s on road.

 

Hope this helps a little and congrats on the purchase!

Edited April 11, 2022 by wtaite01

[Julian987]

1 hour ago, and.rs1800 said:

My guess is for a cleaner look?

  

 

I don't think he got the memo, all the cool kids have rear wipers 😀

One of my fave features and functions on my R. But really, how the lines of the car suffer with a rear wiper is a something i can't get my head around....but hey each to their own. Silly mod though if you ask me, if you have it, keep it....one will be surprised of the benefit - and cool factor 😉

 

 

 

 

[MartinF6]

Thosde 18-inch 'Turbo' rims will be reps. They were only made in 19-inch. You can tell from the shape they're not genuine Porsche wheels, too. 

 

They will likely be quite heavy, nearly all reps are. You will definitely notice a big improvement in ride and feel on factory 17s.

Edited April 11, 2022 by MartinF6

[Niall]

21 hours ago, MartinF6 said:

Thosde 18-inch 'Turbo' rims will be reps. They were only made in 19-inch. You can tell from the shape they're not genuine Porsche wheels, too. 

 

They will likely be quite heavy, nearly all reps are. You will definitely notice a big improvement in ride and feel on factory 17s.

Thanks, yep - as I mentioned they’re Turbo style alloys so appreciate they’re not genuine Porsche wheels. So yes, keen on something more ‘factory’ looking - 17 or 18 to be honest. Is anyone up for a swap?

[Niall]

Thanks all for the feedback. 
 

I can see the preference to remove the wiper is devisive! I’m just not a fan and would rather it wasn’t there.

 

Any advice on some nice, long-weekend tasks to tackle? I’m keen to get hands on with the car! Was considering DIY painting the callipers - I’ve seen lots of good guides on Rennlist. Has anyone tried this themselves and did you brush or spray?

Edited April 12, 2022 by Niall

[Andrea]

The best task you could tackle is to drive it 😅

[Windymiller]

Re trunk clunk. 
 

yep, try winding out boot lid bump stops first. 👍🏻
 

also, check that the ‘knock’ from the rear isn’t actually a loose coffin arm / drop link. A good way to check this is find a pretty ‘severe’ speed bump (the narrow hard rubber types are better than the broad concrete ones) and drive slowly (<10mph) over it in forwards and reverse gears. If you get the ‘knock’ each time the rear runs over the bump it could be a loose (ie failed bushes) suspension component. 
 

drop links are <£30 (lemforder / MEYLE), coffins arms (lower control arms) are <£150 (MEYLE HD - frazer parts or AUTODOC). 
 

Replacing would require a re-geo set up. 
 

if not a suspension knock, and it is trunk clunk then try the £1 foam sheets before buying the £80 balance weight 👍🏻😉

 

Welcome to the COC and May you have many fun miles of fantastic driving in your new porker. These cars are quite special and reward more with every mile driven 

[Niall]

5 hours ago, Andrea said:

The best task you could tackle is to drive it 😅

There’ll be plenty of that!

[Niall]

4 hours ago, Windymiller said:

Re trunk clunk. 
 

yep, try winding out boot lid bump stops first. 👍🏻
 

also, check that the ‘knock’ from the rear isn’t actually a loose coffin arm / drop link. A good way to check this is find a pretty ‘severe’ speed bump (the narrow hard rubber types are better than the broad concrete ones) and drive slowly (<10mph) over it in forwards and reverse gears. If you get the ‘knock’ each time the rear runs over the bump it could be a loose (ie failed bushes) suspension component. 
 

drop links are <£30 (lemforder / MEYLE), coffins arms (lower control arms) are <£150 (MEYLE HD - frazer parts or AUTODOC). 
 

Replacing would require a re-geo set up. 
 

if not a suspension knock, and it is trunk clunk then try the £1 foam sheets before buying the £80 balance weight 👍🏻😉

 

Welcome to the COC and May you have many fun miles of fantastic driving in your new porker. These cars are quite special and reward more with every mile driven 

Solved! Took it out this morning and wound out the stops a touch (there wasn’t much to go before they became loose) and it seems to be gone. Will try to eliminate the suspension as a cause too but given the place I bought it from put it through a thorough going over in the workshop last week, I can’t imagine my mechanical nouse will be able to diagnose anything they couldn’t!

 

 

[Niall]

Really keen to make a decision on the head unit replacement - does anyone have any recommendations?

 

As mentioned, it’s been fitted with a Pioneer unit but it appears to be fairly old (5+ years) and therefore has no Apple Car Play… it’s got a wire for connecting an iPhone in the centre console box but that only appears to help with making phone calls and charging, not directly mirroring phone apps like Waze etc. I’d really like to have CarPlay - what head units do people recommend?

 

big question I’ve got is around fitment. Am I right to assume that - as it has an aftermarket unit - it should just be a switch of a cable on the back and plugging the new one in?

 

[futureechos]

 

On 12/04/2022 at 21:59, Niall said:

Any advice on some nice, long-weekend tasks to tackle? I’m keen to get hands on with the car! Was considering DIY painting the callipers - I’ve seen lots of good guides on Rennlist. Has anyone tried this themselves and did you brush or spray?

 

Lovely colour car. 🙂  I only got mine in Nov '21 and eager to do stuff. The Front mesh grills are a good idea to protect the condensors, I've done a DIY but Zunsport do a very tidy off the shelt version too.

 

Calipers:

I've just done 2 of the calipers, there is a link in the thread below to a youtube video I based my process on.

Hopefully finish the other 2 this weekend

 

[Julian987]

On 13/04/2022 at 14:06, Niall said:

g

 

On 13/04/2022 at 14:06, Niall said:

Really keen to make a decision on the head unit replacement - does anyone have any recommendations?

 

 

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=230&t=1982427

 

https://www.nmautomotive.co.uk/carplay-androidauto

 

http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?p=1629398