Considering getting a 981 Cayman S

[Casa de Mesa]

Wow man, what an absolutely gorgeous car. I'm a sucker for bright blue cars! Ha! That's pretty incredible looking - congrats!

Is that Sapphire Blue? I fell in love with that car when the seller 911r (you're probably familiar...) put this car through auction: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...cayman-gts-16/

How the hell do you embed photos on this site lol

LOL!!

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I absolutely love mine. At this point, I can't ever see selling it. I bought it with 24k miles and now have 28k miles. I've done two rallies and three track events with it. It's very, very clean (interior is absolutely mint) but is also a driver. It would be a complete shame not to drive one of these - I just don't understand the people that get them and then store them. Good on them, I just don't have the amount of self restraint!!

It has several mods that the previous owner had done to the car - AP Racing brakes, Numeric shifter/cables, exhaust, intake plenum, GT3 throttle body, etc. All the typical bolt-on engine parts. It also has a full Elephant Racing suspension (all of their control arms, coffin arm, etc.). The previous owner spared no expenses building it (all done at a very reputable Porsche shop), did a few track events with it, then unloaded it for a GT3. It sat for sale for several months, as people were scared of all the parts on it. So I picked it up for pretty good price, as 100% of what's been done to it is reversible. That said, outside of the exterior bits, I'm leaving it with all the go-fast parts on it. It's just an immensely capable and enjoyable machine.

[simon_c]

Wow yours has all the good parts on it. Is it a manual and/or does it gave bucket seats? You got a keeper for sure.

Yeah mine is Sapphire Blue and was pretty much only looking for that color since I’ve only really had white cars (including the current E46M) and SBM is such a great blue. I have exactly 28K miles on mine as well with the “enthusiast” spec so manual, X73, PSE, manual 2 way seats, no sport chrono (which I actually would’ve preferred since I would like the auto rev match cause I’m lazy). Would’ve loved a 981 GTS but this is spec is every bit as good from a drivers point of view but love the front bumper and interior touches of the GTS.

[Casa de Mesa]

Mine is also a manual transaxle with manual sport seats. Which, I actually really love the sport seats - they are so much more supportive than you would think based on looks alone. I know the LWB (lightweight buckets) are all the rage especially for the cars and coffee flex and they do look spectacular, but they aren't that lightweight when you compare them to something like a standard fiberglass bucket / race seat. Heck, even the more street focused Cobra Nogaros are a lot lighter and more supportive than the LWBs. So for street use, I'll take the sport seats over the LWBs all day long. For track use, I swap in the Nogaros from the M3 and 6-point harnesses.

I think you nailed it with that spec of car. The GTS is nice, but for the money, the spec you landed on is just so good. You likely already knew this, but I *think* you can add the auto-rev match if you really miss that. A good set of pedals with the extension on the gas pedal (e.g., Rennline) has made toe-heel downshifting really nice on mine, for what it's worth.

What part of the country are you in? I'm in NC.

Congrats again on that car. Love the color. Love the spec.

[Cronenberged]

Wow man, what an absolutely gorgeous car. I'm a sucker for bright blue cars! Ha!

We would have never guessed 🙃

[heinzboehmer]

I know the LWB (lightweight buckets) are all the rage especially for the cars and coffee flex and they do look spectacular, but they aren't that lightweight when you compare them to something like a standard fiberglass bucket / race seat.

Really? I was under the impression that the weight was comparable to a Pole Position/Nogaro.

[Lavatoad]

The price on genuine Porsche buckets is insane. I eventually want buckets on my 987 so I can run harnesses on track (with appropriate rollover protection). The 2nd hand price for real seats is almost what I paid for the car.

[Casa de Mesa]

We would have never guessed 🙃

LOL! At least I'm self aware.

Really? I was under the impression that the weight was comparable to a Pole Position/Nogaro.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying they are heavy, but their weight savings is blown out of proportion a tad at times.

The "Sport Bucket Seats" (or sometimes LWB on forums) that Porsche offered are in fact carbon fiber and lighter than the standard sport seats. However, they have integrated thorax airbags and a tilting mechanism, plus the mounting hardware. All in, I *think* they're around 40 lbs per seat, give or take a few pounds. Compare that to a Nogaro on manual sliders and you're probably 30lbs per seat. And if you direct mount the seat to the car, even less.

For the 987.2 Cayman R, Porsche stated that optioning their Sport Bucket Seats resulted in a total weight savings of 26 lbs (12 kg) for the pair compared to the standard manual sport seats.

Also... given that you can't touch the LWBs for less than $13-15k for a used pair, even the $5k carbon Nogaros feel like a bargain.

[Casa de Mesa]

The price on genuine Porsche buckets is insane. I eventually want buckets on my 987 so I can run harnesses on track (with appropriate rollover protection). The 2nd hand price for real seats is almost what I paid for the car.

Ha! I posted my reply, then edited it to add this exact thing. It's just stoopid money.

[heinzboehmer]

The "Sport Bucket Seats" (or sometimes LWB on forums) that Porsche offered are in fact carbon fiber and lighter than the standard sport seats. However, they have integrated thorax airbags and a tilting mechanism, plus the mounting hardware. All in, I *think* they're around 40 lbs per seat, give or take a few pounds. Compare that to a Nogaro on manual sliders and you're probably 30lbs per seat. And if you direct mount the seat to the car, even less.

That's good to know! I've been wanting a pair for the M3 for a while, since they fit me so much better than the Nogaros (and no Recaro seat has harness holes high enough for me). If they go into the M3, the airbag would come out, so they should be a little lighter.

Buuut, like you and others have said, the prices are just nuts. Hard to justify paying almost more than what the car is worth for a pair of seats. One day I'll figure out how to talk myself into it...

[Casa de Mesa]

Still not loving the Nogaros? Bummer. I'm about 6' average build and they fit great. But I have had some passengers in the car that were of the same general proportions and they looked "less than comfy".

Do you have any race shops near you (Sonoma?) that have a lot of seats to try? HMS Motorsports is about 30 min from me and on my way to work so it's nice...

[heinzboehmer]

Still not loving the Nogaros? Bummer. I'm about 6' average build and they fit great. But I have had some passengers in the car that were of the same general proportions and they looked "less than comfy".

Do you have any race shops near you (Sonoma?) that have a lot of seats to try? HMS Motorsports is about 30 min from me and on my way to work so it's nice...

They're fine with the extra padding I made for them, but still not the most comfortable.

I've sat in some comfy buckets at race shops, but, as vain as it might sound, I don't love how they look in the car. I would go back to stock and swap seats before track days, but I enjoy the weight savings too much for that.

Sooo I've put myself in a spot where all I can do is complain or spend a bunch of money on some Porsche buckets

[Cronenberged]

heinzboehmer I had a Cobra Suzuka GT it’s one of the widest fixed seats and supper comfy. Had it customized with extra cushion and daily drove it. It’s not as street friendly getting in and out of as a Nogaro, but didn’t bother me that much and after a while hardly noticed it.

[simon_c]

Mine is also a manual transaxle with manual sport seats. Which, I actually really love the sport seats - they are so much more supportive than you would think based on looks alone. I know the LWB (lightweight buckets) are all the rage especially for the cars and coffee flex and they do look spectacular, but they aren't that lightweight when you compare them to something like a standard fiberglass bucket / race seat. Heck, even the more street focused Cobra Nogaros are a lot lighter and more supportive than the LWBs. So for street use, I'll take the sport seats over the LWBs all day long. For track use, I swap in the Nogaros from the M3 and 6-point harnesses.

I think you nailed it with that spec of car. The GTS is nice, but for the money, the spec you landed on is just so good. You likely already knew this, but I *think* you can add the auto-rev match if you really miss that. A good set of pedals with the extension on the gas pedal (e.g., Rennline) has made toe-heel downshifting really nice on mine, for what it's worth.

What part of the country are you in? I'm in NC.

Congrats again on that car. Love the color. Love the spec.

Agreed LWB's are really for the flex and pretty damn uncomfortable (do look great though). Auto rev match is tricky to do on this car (can't just enable sport plus in PIWIS for example and requires hardware). I'm not too concerned about it so going to leave it alone. I'm in the Bay Area / Northern California so lots of great driving roads and weather around here. Really appreciate it and love your spec as well 👍

[Obioban]

Agreed LWB's are really for the flex and pretty damn uncomfortable (do look great though). Auto rev match is tricky to do on this car (can't just enable sport plus in PIWIS for example and requires hardware). I'm not too concerned about it so going to leave it alone. I'm in the Bay Area / Northern California so lots of great driving roads and weather around here. Really appreciate it and love your spec as well 👍

While I agree the LWBs are uncomfortable for me, I think there's really just a ton of person to person variance with bucket seats. (nearly) unadjustable seat means you really need it matched to your body.

I find the Nogaros as comfortable as the stock seats, but certainly routinely see people on here (including earlier this thread) that do not.

I'm kind of surprise there's no company that makes a streetable custom seat. As in, go sit in a puddle of foam and have the seat molded to your body. These things are low volume enough that that feels like it should be doable.

[ljmartyre]

For the 987.2 Cayman R, Porsche stated that optioning their Sport Bucket Seats resulted in a total weight savings of 26 lbs (12 kg) for the pair compared to the standard manual sport seats.
Also... given that you can't touch the LWBs for less than $13-15k for a used pair, even the $5k carbon Nogaros feel like a bargain.

I believe this would be in reference to the folding buckets. LWB never came in a 987.2
I didn't personally like the LWBs. They leave too much thigh room. I intentionally got my GT4 without them for that reason.

However, the 997/ 987 ( and 991 Euro) gen folding buckets are some of the best seats ever made imo.
In my 997 GT3- I went from the 997 GT2 variant, to Pole Positions, to a bnib 991/RoW variant because they have the built in heat. Did maybe 20k miles in those seats, and they are unmatched.
At the time, like...2021 I bought the set new from Carnewal for like $8k. Apparently it was the last set before going NLA.
If they were still that price, I would no question pay that for them again. But the prices they go for now are absurd.