I've been thinking about what I might get next if and when I upgrade from my manual 986 2.7. The plan is maybe a 987.2 S, or possibly a 981 base boxster. Anyway, apart from Porsche's costing way too much in Australia, the other problem is rarity of newer manual cars, the vast majority are PDK. So I thought what the hell, I'll test drive a PDK just to see if I might like it. I visited my local Porsche dealer to explain what I'm looking and organised a test drive in a base 718 Cayman PDK. I think the dealer was maybe hoping I'd like the car enough to consider the stretch for a new car. The cheapest base Cayman costs $128K AUD, so you can see we're not as lucky as you guys in the rest of the world.
But if I'd really loved it there might have been a chance.
So, the test drive.
The good. The car I have to say, looks great. The interior is a million miles ahead of the 986 in terms of quality and gadgets, but I think the 986 still holds up reasonably well all things considered. Mine still doesn't have any rattles or squeaks so I can't complain. I expected the Cayman to feel like a bigger car than the 986, but I didn't really notice any difference with the external dimensions. I've not driven a 981, but I really felt right at home in the 718 straight away. The handling is great as you'd expect, and it felt instantly familiar chucking it round a few bends. The ride and handling is very similar to the 986, but with a bit less body roll. I expect the ultimate cornering speeds would be higher, but on the road it all felt very similar. Performance wise, it's obviously a bit of a step up but not so much that you feel it's chalk and cheese. I was sort of expecting to be blown away but wasn't. However, on the road it's all you'd ever need, probably the 718 S is a bit of a waste of time. They've done a good job of making the turbo in the 718 feel more linear and progressive than turbos do usually. There's more torque lower down, but not so much that you really think oh yeah this is a turbo.
Next, the bad.
The engine. It pulls well, but good grief the sound sucks big time. It sounds like it's straining, it's got a sort worn out Beetle undertone to it. My wife asked it had enough oil in it. It's at it's best when cruising along slowly where you don't hear it. It really discourages you from getting revs up, because it sounds so harsh. I don't know if it's just the clash with the rest of the car and expectation, but I actually think it's one of the worst sounding 4 cylinder engines I've ever heard, a lot worse than my wife's Polo GTi for example. It's worse than I was expecting, and for me really detracts from the experience. Maybe the sports exhaust would help, but I doubt it.
The PDK. I'm so glad I tried this gearbox, because it means I don't need to waste my time looking at PDK boxsters from now on. The gear changes are stupidly fast, so that acceleration really is a constant thing rather than the series of surges you get in a manual. in auto mode I was a bit surprised about the lag before kick down if you suddenly accelerated, but it changes very smoothly otherwise. For me, the paddles are a bit of a waste of time. The worst thing is that they are quite small so if you are changing gear while going round a tight bend the paddle can be in the wrong place compared to your hands and you have to look for them. Very annoying. You wouldn't want to be change gear going fast round bends but in normal driving I found it a problem. If I had a PDK, I'd probably just leave it in auto mode, which is a lot less involving to drive than a manual. Maybe if it was a daily driver and you had heavy traffic to negotiate it might be good, but for me, it's a definite no.
So to summarise, for me the 718 is a potentially great car spoilt by the engine. The manual gearbox is an option, and I'd definitely have that if forced to buy a 718, but I'm absolutely sure I never will. Ideally I'll be able to find a manual 981S that I can afford and keep it forever, or until Porsche come to their senses
