It's pretty much no surprise to anyone that I've always wanted a Porsche so when I finally let go of
Lupa, my 2nd S2000, the replacement had to be a P-car. Anything else would've been an illogical reason to get rid of such a great car in the first place. Although I spent a lot of time kicking tires on a few different models and was all over the place, after annoying friends on a daily basis by sending them ads for all kinds of options, I finally came back to earth to come up with this criteria:
- Porsche
- Manual transmission
- Try not spend too much more than what I got back from selling / parting Lupa (resist the YOLO, be a good boy)
- As close to stock as possible
- Car should be low key and drivable places without attracting too much unwanted attention (no crazy colors)
- Bonus points if classed in a competitive autocross class for SCCA
Well it turns out, with that criteria, the only practical option is an 06-08 Porsche Cayman S (987.1) with Sports Chrono and PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management). It has the better 3.4L engine rated at 295hp and 251ft-lb torque over the 2.7L base model. Sports Chrono adds better throttle response and PASM provides better spring rates and damping for SCCA "street class" and lowers the car about half an inch. Coincidentally I had spotted a well maintained 2007 Atlas Grey Porsche Cayman S with only 30K miles on rennlist with the rare combination of Sports Chrono, PASM and the factory short shifter, just as I was getting ready to sell Lupa. I contacted the seller, Stephen, and was surprised to find out it was a fellow autocrosser from Virginia (though we had never met before) and now fast forward a few weeks to today and my wife and I flew down to Virginia to pick her up and now here she is, meet Kay, my 2007 Porsche Cayman S. What a fun car to drive! I think it's the perfect fit. Just the right amount of power to have fun, understated and more importantly just a solid car overall.
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| Kay - 7-28-2018 |
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| Kay - 7-28-2018 |
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| Baby got back - 7-28-2018 |
I've always loved the first gen Caymans. Being mid-engine, they're really practical having very usable front and rear trunks. The size is just right and the lines on the car are swooping and gorgeous. I think it looks great from all angles. The sound of the 3.4L flat six at full revs is also quite intoxicating.
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| Interior - 7-28-2018 |
She's bone stock except for the FVD Brombacher "cat-back" and Tranzit Blu bluetooth adapter. The headliner was sagging like crazy (common problem on these cars) and Stephen was kind enough to get that sorted out for me before sale. Under today's SCCA street class rules, the exhaust isn't quite legal so I'll have to put in the stock exhaust once I seriously compete with her but I think for now I'm going to keep it as is because it sounds so awesome.
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| Fresh Alcantara headliner - 7-18-2018 |
While I was waiting for the title to get the car registered so I could fly down to pick her up, I finished up my own "build sheet" to prep her for SCCA B-Street and adding a few details to make her my own. The packages trickled in this past week and in the next installment of this blog, we'll see her transformation.
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| Factory build sheet |
For my own records, noting the maintenance history noted here by the previous owner (s):
@ 25,000 miles
Replaced serpentine belt (preventative)
Cabin air filter
Oil change 0w40 Mobil 1
@ 27,858 miles
Replaced Waterpump (preventative)
Replaced Tensioner and pulleys
60/40 water/antifreeze mix went in
@ 28,008 miles
Oil change 0w40 Mobil 1
@ 28,177 miles
Replaced all spark plugs
@ 28,294
New battery
