MR_Y
Well-known member
Hi,
After spending a year with a 2013 Boxster and having some good times with that car (refer: https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=92475), I had the opportunity to upgrade to a 2014 Cayman S recently. The story of why and how I upgraded is explained in my Boxster thread - snippet below:
"I have been looking for the past few months (actually since July 2020) for a 981 Cayman S.
I have seen a few and was disappointed with the spec or the condition.
Some were really well priced and in excellent condition, but I decided to hold on until I found the one with all my spec requirements ticked AND at a decent price AND in decent condition.
After many 'phone calls to guys selling on Gumtree adverts, many hours of online used car searches, many chats with with used car dealers (Porsche and non-Porsche), getting mates to test drive cars in Cape Town and Durban on my behalf, and getting myself properly lost in Pretoria trying to find a unicorn of a car, I finally found "the one" in KZN."
First impressions:
The car was originally registered in mid-January 2014, so it was exactly 7 years old when I took delivery.
The previous owner had the entire car covered in VPS, but the dealer had to remove it before selling it given that there were some marks on the VPS.
I intend on re-applying VPS soon.
The car has just under 31,000km on the clock and it had a garage queen life for these past 7 years.
Everything looks and feels new.
The only negative is a slight crack on the right headlight which the dealer has agreed to replace (the entire headlight unit has to be replaced, since the cover alone cannot be bought).
This car will be my daily driver (the V60 Cross Country still doing the family duties) and I will likely add 10,000-18,000km pa, depending on how working from home pans out post-pandemic.
Options:
Here are the options as fitted, as noted on the original model build sheet. I am including the original option prices here to show you how expensive some of these were back in 2014 (more reason to always buy a car used). My comments in brackets below:
Sapphire Blue Metallic R7,290 (I would say it was worth it - the car looks brilliant when clean)
Partial leather/sports seats in Black R15,540 (This is a rip off. These partial leather seats just have a slightly better covering but are not any different to the bog standard seats. Not electric)
Park assist Front and Rear R12,510 (I think this is reasonable-ish and will help with tight parking spaces)
PDK R0 (Yes, PDK is a free option over the manual gearbox)
PASM - Adaptive Dampers R20,280 (Well worth it. Had it on my Boxster and it rode like a dream. On the Cayman S, it makes riding with the larger rims a pleasant experience)
Sport Chrono R28,740 (A must for any Porsche. I did not have it on my base Boxster, but it is a must on any S level car or above. Shaves off 2-tenths on sprint times and adds other performance goodies, as well as bragging rights, and that stopwatch clock looks the business)
Sports Exhaust System R30,740 (A must have. If you try to get one retrofitted at a dealer, you are looking at R65k with labour currently. Makes the 3.4 motor sound properly fantastic)
20-inch Carrera Classic wheels R35,500 (A bit heavy for 2014 prices, but worth it for the looks alone. Must have PASM fitted to make the ride comfortable)
Tyre Pressure Monitoring R8,780 (This is not bad for an active TPMS - there are sensors in each wheel to give pressure readings per wheel. However, quite stingy to not have this as standard on a R900k+ car, when it was new in 2014)
Sport Design Steering Wheel R5,910 (A must have. Brings proper metal paddle shifters too. The standard wheel has rocker switches instead of paddles and looks and feels awful)
Bluetooth R9,290 (Daylight robbery! I feel so sorry for the initial owner having to fork out almost R10k to get Bluetooth. At least it includes audio streaming, which some VAG cars of that era did not automatically include with the Bluetooth option)
CDR Plus Audio R21,950 (Wow. This is pretty steep for an audio system which only has USB, CD, AUX, and 9 speakers. This is the 3rd from the top line system. The top system option being Burmester and then Bose. To add further insult, this R22k does not include a Nav system - that is another extra).
The options above (R196k worth) do not add substantially to the used price, especially after 7 years. I spotted cars with less spec for marginally less money on the used market. Better spec increases the popularity of the car and the likelihood of that car being sold quickly. Well specced cars (like mine) sell within a day of being listed - I was fortunate enough to buy the car before it could be officially listed. If you are buying an S spec Porsche car on the used market, never settle for poor spec. If you stick to your guns, you will (like I did) find the right specced car at the right price, but you have to act quickly when that opportunity arises.
The drive:
Compared to my 2.7 Boxster the 3.4 Cayman S certainly feels meatier in the lower rev range. While it does enjoy screaming, it can still make decent and swift progress in the low revs.
I would still say that the acceleration, especially at Highveld altitude, is not as effortless and quick as (say) a TT-S or Golf R, but there is certainly more drama (the sound and feel of the car make you feel faster than the speed you are actually doing). However, the 3.4 feels like less of a chore to drive compared to the 2.7 - that extra torque does help - in stop/go traffic situations.
I still need to prep for a nice long road trip and will give feedback thereafter.
After spending a year with a 2013 Boxster and having some good times with that car (refer: https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=92475), I had the opportunity to upgrade to a 2014 Cayman S recently. The story of why and how I upgraded is explained in my Boxster thread - snippet below:
"I have been looking for the past few months (actually since July 2020) for a 981 Cayman S.
I have seen a few and was disappointed with the spec or the condition.
Some were really well priced and in excellent condition, but I decided to hold on until I found the one with all my spec requirements ticked AND at a decent price AND in decent condition.
After many 'phone calls to guys selling on Gumtree adverts, many hours of online used car searches, many chats with with used car dealers (Porsche and non-Porsche), getting mates to test drive cars in Cape Town and Durban on my behalf, and getting myself properly lost in Pretoria trying to find a unicorn of a car, I finally found "the one" in KZN."
First impressions:
The car was originally registered in mid-January 2014, so it was exactly 7 years old when I took delivery.
The previous owner had the entire car covered in VPS, but the dealer had to remove it before selling it given that there were some marks on the VPS.
I intend on re-applying VPS soon.
The car has just under 31,000km on the clock and it had a garage queen life for these past 7 years.
Everything looks and feels new.
The only negative is a slight crack on the right headlight which the dealer has agreed to replace (the entire headlight unit has to be replaced, since the cover alone cannot be bought).
This car will be my daily driver (the V60 Cross Country still doing the family duties) and I will likely add 10,000-18,000km pa, depending on how working from home pans out post-pandemic.
Options:
Here are the options as fitted, as noted on the original model build sheet. I am including the original option prices here to show you how expensive some of these were back in 2014 (more reason to always buy a car used). My comments in brackets below:
Sapphire Blue Metallic R7,290 (I would say it was worth it - the car looks brilliant when clean)
Partial leather/sports seats in Black R15,540 (This is a rip off. These partial leather seats just have a slightly better covering but are not any different to the bog standard seats. Not electric)
Park assist Front and Rear R12,510 (I think this is reasonable-ish and will help with tight parking spaces)
PDK R0 (Yes, PDK is a free option over the manual gearbox)
PASM - Adaptive Dampers R20,280 (Well worth it. Had it on my Boxster and it rode like a dream. On the Cayman S, it makes riding with the larger rims a pleasant experience)
Sport Chrono R28,740 (A must for any Porsche. I did not have it on my base Boxster, but it is a must on any S level car or above. Shaves off 2-tenths on sprint times and adds other performance goodies, as well as bragging rights, and that stopwatch clock looks the business)
Sports Exhaust System R30,740 (A must have. If you try to get one retrofitted at a dealer, you are looking at R65k with labour currently. Makes the 3.4 motor sound properly fantastic)
20-inch Carrera Classic wheels R35,500 (A bit heavy for 2014 prices, but worth it for the looks alone. Must have PASM fitted to make the ride comfortable)
Tyre Pressure Monitoring R8,780 (This is not bad for an active TPMS - there are sensors in each wheel to give pressure readings per wheel. However, quite stingy to not have this as standard on a R900k+ car, when it was new in 2014)
Sport Design Steering Wheel R5,910 (A must have. Brings proper metal paddle shifters too. The standard wheel has rocker switches instead of paddles and looks and feels awful)
Bluetooth R9,290 (Daylight robbery! I feel so sorry for the initial owner having to fork out almost R10k to get Bluetooth. At least it includes audio streaming, which some VAG cars of that era did not automatically include with the Bluetooth option)
CDR Plus Audio R21,950 (Wow. This is pretty steep for an audio system which only has USB, CD, AUX, and 9 speakers. This is the 3rd from the top line system. The top system option being Burmester and then Bose. To add further insult, this R22k does not include a Nav system - that is another extra).
The options above (R196k worth) do not add substantially to the used price, especially after 7 years. I spotted cars with less spec for marginally less money on the used market. Better spec increases the popularity of the car and the likelihood of that car being sold quickly. Well specced cars (like mine) sell within a day of being listed - I was fortunate enough to buy the car before it could be officially listed. If you are buying an S spec Porsche car on the used market, never settle for poor spec. If you stick to your guns, you will (like I did) find the right specced car at the right price, but you have to act quickly when that opportunity arises.
The drive:
Compared to my 2.7 Boxster the 3.4 Cayman S certainly feels meatier in the lower rev range. While it does enjoy screaming, it can still make decent and swift progress in the low revs.
I would still say that the acceleration, especially at Highveld altitude, is not as effortless and quick as (say) a TT-S or Golf R, but there is certainly more drama (the sound and feel of the car make you feel faster than the speed you are actually doing). However, the 3.4 feels like less of a chore to drive compared to the 2.7 - that extra torque does help - in stop/go traffic situations.
I still need to prep for a nice long road trip and will give feedback thereafter.
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