Dino Scuderia
09-25-2006, 05:58 AM
Had a bunch of friends over Saturday one of which is the owner of one of the first 500 Cayman's made. It's white with dark blue interior, sport seats and steering wheel, 19 rims, close ratio shifter, and Chronos Sports Package.
The car is amazing in so many ways..from it's looks to it's rock solid feel. I'm 6' 2" tall so ingress and egress is a bit of a chore as the car sits very low. Once in you immediately notice how compact it is...and not just because of my size. It isn't claustrophobic at all...it gives you a very good field of vision and plenty of head room.
The sport seats and the whole cockpit fit like a glove giving the feeling of a car you wear instead of merely being in. The footbox is very tight and the pedals are close of course for heel/toe shifting. The shifting is precise and requires very little movement of the stick.
The key goes in the ignition left of the wheel and with a slight turn the engine fires. The sound took me by surprise...there was a whirring noise I could hear over the other mechanical sounds which was turbine like. Underway the car is plenty quite for conversation at normal levels but the engine sound was nicely in the background.
I live where the roads are curvy and hilly, the next best thing to being in the mountains! The suspension felt supple but certainly not washy and the steering tight and precise, the car is solid as an Abrams. The gauges are a nice mix of traditional needles and LCD information inserts.
After a short drive in regular mode I pulled into a parking lot and my pal was telling me about the Chronos. On the left of the steering wheel is a lever much like a turn signal stalk...he told me to push it forward...I did and the LCD panel revealed that the first stage of the Chronos was on.
The Chronos mode changes the engine mapping and firms the suspension..I could immediately tell the engine was more aggresive as soon as I let out the clutch. He said push the lever again...I did and the mapping changed again and the suspension stiffened more and lowered. Also a chronograph up on the center of the dash began to time the trip..of course that's really for using on track days.
Even in Chronos stage two the ride isn't terrible on normal roads. The engine was very responsive, it took less throttle to get more out of the engine...which has plenty of torque. I only ran it up to 75mph(in a 55mph speed zone) and of course it reached that speed in a flash. I can't even explain how the car feels in the turns, it has characteristics engineered into it that you can only experience in cars like that.
The drive was only a few miles and I didn't get anywhere near the cars limits...and I probably shoudn't not being the owner...but I did get to press it a bit thanks to my pal being a very generous person. The Cayman to my view is one of the best packages available...Porsche quality, 27mpg on the road, comfortable on long trips and stellar performance when you want it.
The car is amazing in so many ways..from it's looks to it's rock solid feel. I'm 6' 2" tall so ingress and egress is a bit of a chore as the car sits very low. Once in you immediately notice how compact it is...and not just because of my size. It isn't claustrophobic at all...it gives you a very good field of vision and plenty of head room.
The sport seats and the whole cockpit fit like a glove giving the feeling of a car you wear instead of merely being in. The footbox is very tight and the pedals are close of course for heel/toe shifting. The shifting is precise and requires very little movement of the stick.
The key goes in the ignition left of the wheel and with a slight turn the engine fires. The sound took me by surprise...there was a whirring noise I could hear over the other mechanical sounds which was turbine like. Underway the car is plenty quite for conversation at normal levels but the engine sound was nicely in the background.
I live where the roads are curvy and hilly, the next best thing to being in the mountains! The suspension felt supple but certainly not washy and the steering tight and precise, the car is solid as an Abrams. The gauges are a nice mix of traditional needles and LCD information inserts.
After a short drive in regular mode I pulled into a parking lot and my pal was telling me about the Chronos. On the left of the steering wheel is a lever much like a turn signal stalk...he told me to push it forward...I did and the LCD panel revealed that the first stage of the Chronos was on.
The Chronos mode changes the engine mapping and firms the suspension..I could immediately tell the engine was more aggresive as soon as I let out the clutch. He said push the lever again...I did and the mapping changed again and the suspension stiffened more and lowered. Also a chronograph up on the center of the dash began to time the trip..of course that's really for using on track days.
Even in Chronos stage two the ride isn't terrible on normal roads. The engine was very responsive, it took less throttle to get more out of the engine...which has plenty of torque. I only ran it up to 75mph(in a 55mph speed zone) and of course it reached that speed in a flash. I can't even explain how the car feels in the turns, it has characteristics engineered into it that you can only experience in cars like that.
The drive was only a few miles and I didn't get anywhere near the cars limits...and I probably shoudn't not being the owner...but I did get to press it a bit thanks to my pal being a very generous person. The Cayman to my view is one of the best packages available...Porsche quality, 27mpg on the road, comfortable on long trips and stellar performance when you want it.