CR man tests 718 Cayman S PDK

[Highland Fling]

For your interest, here are my first impressions of the 718 Cayman S PDK taken over a weekend test of over 280 miles on a few of the Highland's best driving roads.

 

I am very grateful to OPC Aberdeen for granting me the opportunity to enjoy an extended test drive on quiet local rural roads pending the arrival of my new 718 CS PDK next month. The demo car was lightly specced from a keen driver's standpoint, only having PDK, Sport Chrono with mode switch, and sports exhaust. Everything else was pretty much standard.

 

Despite the foul weather in the north of Scotland for the duration of the test, I was still able to gain enough experience on the new 718 CS PDK to form a meaningful first impression on this substantially changed version of the Cayman range.

 

Following 4 years ownership and 30k miles in my previous Cayman R manual, I was not expecting to be overawed by the new 4 pot turbo with PDK. I am a lifetime manual shift exponent, well practised in throttle blipping, heeling and toeing, and gear ratio sense that comes with more than 50 years of motorsport and track day experience. My passion for driving has now reached the point where the latest evolution of Porsche's now revised PDK gearbox, mated with the latest version of Sports Chrono, has now turned my head.

 

The first thing to deal with is the 2.5lt 4 pot turbo. Starting the new car for the first time, after 8 years of flat six Caymans, is a rather disconcerting and unsettling experience. In place of the usual Whrrr! Bark! Vroom! of the flat six, you get a sort of Whrrr! Bark! Brrrr, Burble, Burble, Burble. First thoughts are that two of the flat six cylinders have misfired, such is the culture shock of the new sound. Blipping the throttle from rest does little to improve the impression that something is seriously amiss here. Once underway however, the engine note settles down to a deep base note which actually sounds ok in a Subaru-esque sort of way. Power delivery is smooth, torquey, and revvy with an impressive pull from 4000rpm all the way to the red line at 7400rpm.

 

I didn't experience any noticeable turbo lag with the 718 CS. My daily driver is an Abarth 595 Competizione 180 with a mighty big turbo blowing into it's 1.4lt 4 pot, which results in big dollops of turbo lag should you be a bit lazy with the gearshift. Not so with the 718 CS so long as you plan ahead and select the appropriate gear for the road conditions. I found the best way of driving in built-up areas was to select D, turn the mode switch to Sport, which held the gearbox in 3rd gear. The car then behaved as you would with a manual for 30mph and 40mph zones. Exiting roundabouts in this configuration provided a smooth and effortless pick-up devoid of any turbo lag that I could detect. In fact, being honest, I thought the 718 CS behaved better than the CR manual at exiting 30mph or 40mph roundabouts whereby the "emissions induced flat spot" left the CR feeling a bit breathless unless previously downshifted to 2nd gear. One thing I would unreservedly recommend is the inclusion of Sport Chrono with mode switch together with the PDK option. The two go together extremely well. To spec one without the other would be missing out optimising the 718 driving experience in my opinion. The manual gearbox does not derive the same level of benefits from the Sport Chrono as does the PDK option. The plan is that when I have my new car run-in, I shall comment on the 718 track day driving experience in more detail, where the revised shift pattern of the new PDK selector in manual mode, pushing forward for down shifts, and pulling back on up shifts, mimic a racing sequential gearbox. I'm going to love playing with this on track days when the mood takes me.

 

Unleashed on the quiet, flowing, Highland roads the 718 CS simply flies! Let me be clear, this car is 911 Carrera S quick. I should know, having driven the new twin turbo 3.0 911 CS PDK earlier this year on the same roads. The Sport and Sport Plus revised mappings on the PDK really enhance the driving enjoyment on roads such as I am describing here. The 718 CS is a formidable cross country tool by any standards. I am absolutely convinced that when capable track day owners take their 718's to track days they will not be the only ones hugely impressed. Not only does the 718 handle and steer better than previous Caymans, it also has far superior brakes, suspension tweaks providing even higher levels of body control and composure, and a 10% quicker steering rack which is an absolute peach. The latter making the car noticeably pointier without it feeling nervous. The steering feel of the road on the new EPS system does however fall way short of the "fizz" feedback of the CR's hydraulic steering. I used to joke that that if you rolled over a 50 pence coin with the CR you could tell whether the coin was showing heads or tails. Exaggeration maybe, but not that far off the truth.

 

I'll pass on the 718 cabin comforts and technology in this piece, as that has been adequately covered elsewhere. My lasting impressions of this test drive are that the 718 CS is setting a higher benchmark for the Cayman range despite the motoring press expressing a dislike of the engine noise. Given time, it shall be accepted for the wonderful sports car it truly is. My new 718 CS PDK will never, ever, be a replacement for my sublime CR. Rather it will be for me an enhancement of the now familiar Cayman driving experience for an entirely different purpose in my life.

 

The 718 is here and now. Let's embrace it, accept it, and most of all enjoy it.  Further down the line when the 718 GTS appears, it shall be even stronger and better. 

 

Brian

 

                                       

[Beanoir™]

Spot on I'd say, I wouldn't disagree with any of that from my experience of the same comparison.  

 

I'm wouldnt personally replace my CR with a 718 but then it probably fulfills a different purpose in life for me, however I totally agree that for the right role the 718 does a great job. It really suits the PDK box, in much the same way it does in the M5 actually from what I'm beginnng to learn.  

 

Point to note, the 718S has the Carerra brakes whereas the base 718 doesn't.  I certainly felt they were a big improvement.   

 

Did you notice the larger diameter steering wheel?  It wasn't a bad thing, it reminded me of being in a pre 9x7 car, it a familiar old school Porsche kind of way. 

[Highland Fling]

Thank you for your supportive comments Beanoir.

 

My demo car had the small diameter multi-function steering wheel which I thought was absolutely right with the new quicker ratio steering rack.

 

I have specced my new 718 CS PDK with the optional Alcantara trimmed GT small diameter steering wheel with mode switch. These new optional s/wheels are a worthwhile option to the larger diameter version in my opinion. Together with the quicker rack, this completes the "new" feel of the 718 compared to the 981, for my taste anyway.

 

Brian 

 

   

Edited November 10, 2016 by Highland Fling

[MarkGTS]

I had a drive of one the other day, was surprised just how rapid it was.  It didn't invoke as much excitement as my GTS though and I can't bring myself to make the trade into one.  

 

I agree though with most of your thoughts, to be honest they echo much of what most other reviewers have said.  I think it comes down to what people want in a sports car as to whether they like it or not. 

[Andy]

Excellent rounded write up on the 718, I've read some very one sided reviews lately... I'm glad that our members are keeping open minded about the evolution of the Cayman and what the new ones will bring. 

[Highland Fling]

Thanks to all for your contributions to my thread on my weekend with the 718 CS PDK.

 

Whether my new car turns out to be good, bad or indifferent, I shall report back at a later date with my honest opinions. I'll post some pics when I collect the car next month.

 

Brian