VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Got the Porsche bug...

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 59 Posts
A

Amiroquai

· Registered
Joined
·
164 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
A little conflicted and need your feedback.

My 2017 Golf R 6MT was my first performance oriented vehicle purchase after a long time owning nothing but Japanese sedans and SUVs, mostly for reliability reasons. The R was an exciting change coming from a Mazda CX-9, but I feel like it has made me want even more.

I am not into specs and speed as much as I am into driving involvement and experience, which is why I chose the 6MT over the DSG, as lacking as the shifting experience in this car may be. I purchased the bleeder block, solid shifter bracket bushings, OEM short shifter, and Raceseng shift knob. Out of all those, I've only gotten around to install the shift knob. The car is garaged for the winter and working on it in the cold is a big turn off for me, especially since I won't be driving it until its warmer anyway. While there is improvement in the shifting feel with the Raceseng, I have little faith that the other upgrades will make a significant enough difference for me.

Circling back to the title of this post, I have always wanted a 911, since I was kid (I'm 36 now). However, I could not convince myself to get a used 997 for the same price I could get a brand new R, and the venturing into German automobile territory was jarring alone that I wanted to play it safer with a vehicle that would be cheaper to maintain and repair.

Recently, the Porsche bug came back, and doing some research got me very interested in the manual transmission Cayman S 987, which is arguably a little more practical than the 911. I haven't been finding many reliability issues with this car in my research and it seems like it can be a pretty affordable ownership, especially if you perform regular maintenance yourself, which I would be.

Loss of practicality, going from the R to the Cayman S, is not a deal breaker as I would probably get a more practical cheaper car to serve as my alternative daily/winter vehicle.

While I am leaning towards the Cayman S, I have not ruled out the 997 S, as long as I am getting the 6MT RWD fix.

Looking for a better driving experience and more "passion" out of the car, I would be interested to hear your thoughts about this potential switch.

Input from current/previous Porsche owners would be tremendously appreciated! Putting speed and tweakability aside, driving which car puts a bigger smile on your face?
 
#2 ·
Amiroquai said:
A little conflicted and need your feedback.

My 2017 Golf R 6MT was my first performance oriented vehicle purchase after a long time owning nothing but Japanese sedans and SUVs, mostly for reliability reasons. The R was an exciting change coming from a Mazda CX-9, but I feel like it has made me want even more.

I am not into specs and speed as much as I am into driving involvement and experience, which is why I chose the 6MT over the DSG, as lacking as the shifting experience in this car may be. I purchased the bleeder block, solid shifter bracket bushings, OEM short shifter, and Raceseng shift knob. Out of all those, I've only gotten around to install the shift knob. The car is garaged for the winter and working on it in the cold is a big turn off for me, especially since I won't be driving it until its warmer anyway. While there is improvement in the shifting feel with the Raceseng, I have little faith that the other upgrades will make a significant enough difference for me.

Circling back to the title of this post, I have always wanted a 911, since I was kid (I'm 36 now). However, I could not convince myself to get a used 997 for the same price I could get a brand new R, and the venturing into German automobile territory was jarring alone that I wanted to play it safer with a vehicle that would be cheaper to maintain and repair.

Recently, the Porsche bug came back, and doing some research got me very interested in the manual transmission Cayman S 987, which is arguably a little more practical than the 911. I haven't been finding many reliability issues with this car in my research and it seems like it can be a pretty affordable ownership, especially if you perform regular maintenance yourself, which I would be.

Loss of practicality, going from the R to the Cayman S, is not a deal breaker as I would probably get a more practical cheaper car to serve as my alternative daily/winter vehicle.

While I am leaning towards the Cayman S, I have not ruled out the 997 S, as long as I am getting the 6MT RWD fix.

Looking for a better driving experience and more "passion" out of the car, I would be interested to hear your thoughts about this potential switch.

Input from current/previous Porsche owners would be tremendously appreciated! Putting speed and tweakability aside, driving which car puts a bigger smile on your face?
Click to expand...
Don't write off the shifter mods, I did all the ones you listed (minus the knob) and it does make a significant difference.

As for P-car ownership, I owned a 2001 Boxster for a bit. While it's not in the same league as the stuff you're talking about buying, that thing was a ton of fun as a weekend car. The Golf I owned at the time was faster in a straight line, but the Boxster was far an away the more fun car to drive. Part of that is convertible, but mid-engine rear wheel drive is a whole different game compared to a Golf. The steering was much more communicative, and you had all the RWD shenanigans to get into.

I say go for it, if the money isn't an issue you'll have more fun in a Cayman or 911 than you will in a Golf R. The R is a wonderful daily driver, but as a weekend "fun" car there are way better things out there.
 
#3 ·
I am a lucky bastard, and own both mk7 golf r dsg and 2007 cayman s manual. They both create a big smile. They are different cars for sure. The cayman is more raw, but extremely refined, if that makes sense. :) The golf r feels more like a video game, in a good way. And is a much better daily driver.
The cayman is affordable if you do your own maintenance. And is fairly easy to work on.
I track the cayman 4 times a year. I have not tracked the golf r yet, but I expect it will not be as fun as the cayman.

You are fortunate to have this decision. Good luck and enjoy!
 
#4 ·
Same issue here. I've ordered an E-Golf to replace my R. Electricity is really cheap here in Quebec and gas is over 5$/gallon for me with 94octane.
I can save over 4K/year just by switching my daily to an electric car. 90% of my time in the R I'm in bumper to bumper traffic anyway.

With those savings, I could afford a 997.2 S in about 24 months.
 
#5 ·
Not what you want to hear, but I traded a 991 S 7MT for my R. I find the R much more fun and exciting to drive. The gearing on Porsches suck, 80 MPH in 2nd means spirited drives require no shifting. I found the Porsche to be sterile and boring. The only thing I miss is the shifter feel. The thing I miss the least is the Kool-Aid drinking Porsche culture.
 
#6 ·
I'm no expert, but I read an article from a car broker who steered people away from the Cayman into the 911. His reasoning was "The Cayman is *a* Porsche, but the 911 is *the* Porsche". lol

I aspire to have your decision someday. :)
 
#7 ·
You will certainly get more looks from the ladies. However, the Porsche driving experience ended in 1998 in my opinion. Belt the way, I have. 77 911s with a 3.0 in it. That’s the experience you want my friend. Is it fast, not really. Does it handle well, meh. Are you connected to the vehicle through an IV? Yes. Also, it’s not going down in value. That’s nice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#8 ·
6mt 16 r owner. I full spulen shift kit and all the bushings and definitely feels better than oem in my buddy car who only has raceseng shift knob. as for moving on to Porsche I'm actually looking at the panameras. I like the look of em especially lowered. already own a 08 Miata FBO and tune which is already a blast to drive.
 
#11 ·
I'm sure they are still great cars but once the 911 became water cooled I lost interest in them. IMO that engine is what defined the 911, and apparently a lot of other people think so too (judging by the prices they fetch now). For what it's worth I'd trade my R for my old 911 Targa any day!

If you can afford a Cayman + a winter beater then go for it.
 
#12 ·
Former '99 996 owner. Even back then, I'd say it was somewhere between Grand Tourer and true sports car. I can tell you that My '12 Audi S4 outperformed the Porsche in every way except for having the higher center of gravity (the Audi corners flatter, but 'cause you are significantly higher it didn't "feel" much better than the 996). That speaks to how technology flows downmarket over the years. I'm sure a '12 911 would outperform my Audi.

I'd immediately go for the Cayman S. Better looking than the Boxster. Mid-engine balance. And $30,000 + cheaper than the 911. More than that, over the years the 911 has moved too far towards having a GT character. Unless you move up the scale to the GT3's etc. If I wanted the sporty'est experience, the Cayman would be my choice.

I admit I'm speaking from reviews of the cars. But I will tell you that if you look at 4 major mag reviews of each of the cars you'll see what I mean. Read "between the lines" and you'll see what I mean. One reviewer might be more explicit than another, but the character of the content is the key. They'll use like "sharp" to describe handling in the Cayman, and terms like precise for the 911. Both carry positive connotations. The former implies that slight extra edge over the latter.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#13 ·
Obakong said:
An R at stage 2 with coil overs and sway bars will eat Porsches alive in the canyons all day.
Click to expand...
Even if that were true, you'd still be in a Golf that is a complete snoozefest to drive...
 
#16 ·
GT350

I was in the same predicament with my R as you are now.
The R felt numb and became quite boring, especially with it's lack of anything visceral.
I was toying with the idea of Porsches, hoping to find that raw feeling the R was lacking. Sadly, even the Porsche felt too refined. (This obviously is not the case if you were to jump into a GT3, but that's a different story.)
After reading way to much Rennlist at night, I started noticing a few Porsche owners talking about their GT350, and the grin they would get after taking their car out for a spin.

If you're looking for something raw and visceral, with great handling characteristics and very comfortable seats, check out a GT350.
Yeah, the interior is all plastic, but so is a base Porsche.
 
#17 ·
gwmermel! said:
Former '99 996 owner. Even back then, I'd say it was somewhere between Grand Tourer and true sports car. I can tell you that My '12 Audi S4 outperformed the Porsche in every way except for having the higher center of gravity (the Audi corners flatter, but 'cause you are significantly higher it didn't "feel" much better than the 996). That speaks to how technology flows downmarket over the years. I'm sure a '12 911 would outperform my Audi.

I'd immediately go for the Cayman S. Better looking than the Boxster. Mid-engine balance. And $30,000 + cheaper than the 911. More than that, over the years the 911 has moved too far towards having a GT character. Unless you move up the scale to the GT3's etc. If I wanted the sporty'est experience, the Cayman would be my choice.

I admit I'm speaking from reviews of the cars. But I will tell you that if you look at 4 major mag reviews of each of the cars you'll see what I mean. Read "between the lines" and you'll see what I mean. One reviewer might be more explicit than another, but the character of the content is the key. They'll use like "sharp" to describe handling in the Cayman, and terms like precise for the 911. Both carry positive connotations. The former implies that slight extra edge over the latter.
Click to expand...
Problems with reviews is that they tell you one side of the story. I think a 997 looks way better. With a fixed wing like the turbo, it's what I dreamed when I was a kid.
Never dreamed about a Golf or a Cayman...
 
#18 ·
rickandshana said:
And no again bud. Not a “snoozefest”. How bout I take you for a ride and see if you fall asleep?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Disregard, he's a self-hating fanboy, they exist in every forum I've ever belonged to. I've never quite understood that style of slant, pretending your car is worse than it is to praise whatever is unrealistically perceived as ideal. Fact is that the R will hang with a 897 Cayman S without sacrificing cargo space, which is pretty amazing by most standards. The R's handling isn't dramatic on the throttle, massive amounts of predictable grip will do that, but I fail to see how it is boring. If you want something dramatic, go buy a mustang and wreck into a median at cars and coffee.
 
#20 ·
rickandshana said:
Simply no. Maybe a Panamera, but not a Cayman.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Better tell that to the guys at my local autocross. 4 Caymans ran (2 in BS with me and 2 in expert class). I was faster than three of them (one expert finished less than 0.2 seconds ahead of me). Here is a summary of me versus the Porsches.

My stock Golf R 58.186
Cayman 59.745
Cayman 62.449
Cayman S 57.992
Cayman S 58.802
Carrera 59.853
Carrera 63.748
Carrera 64.697
GT3 65.056
Boxster 63.490
 
1 - 20 of 59 Posts
About this Discussion
58 Replies
32 Participants
Last post:
Chris from Cali
VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum
posts
85M
members
1.5M
Since
2001
A forum community dedicated to all Volkswagen owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, builds, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, new releases, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
The Car Lounge Golf IV & Jetta IV Golf III & Jetta III Golf II & Jetta II Golf IV/Jetta IV Parts