Casa de Mesa’s M3 color change from blue to blue

[Casa de Mesa]

Lol. Some days I go in the garage and think the same. Other days I go in and think it looks so boring. Topaz is such a polarizing color.

Car looks great man! Hope you're enjoying it.

Yeah I am, thank you. Work and life has been pretty busy this year, but enjoying the car whenever I'm able!

Sidebar: Your build thread is incredible Heinz. It has to be one of the most comprehensive/most documented builds out there. Love reading and following along on all of your updates

[heinzboehmer]

Yeah I am, thank you. Work and life has been pretty busy this year, but enjoying the car whenever I'm able!

Sidebar: Your build thread is incredible Heinz. It has to be one of the most comprehensive/most documented builds out there. Love reading and following along on all of your updates

Thanks man! I really appreciate that.

[Casa de Mesa]

Picked up another dream car of mine. A 2012 Cayman R. I posted elsewhere about this briefly, but now that I've had if for a few months I can say I absolutely love this thing. It's different enough from the M3 that it offers a pretty unique driving experience. I was looking at M2 Comps, e92 M3s, etc. but having been a front-engine, rear-drive guy my whole life, it's nice to try something mid-engine.

The car had 24k miles on it when I bought it (now 25k+), a lot of fantastic upgrades for the track, and was maintained by a Porsche race shop outside Elkhart Lake/Road America. The workmanship on the undercarriage is amazing - several aftermarket fasteners are safety wire tied, paint marked and it's CLEAN. It's in remarkably good condition on the exterior for a car that's been on track.

I'm slowly starting to collect take-off parts from eBay so I can convert it back to stock aesthetics. I'm pretty sure the rear wing and front splitter deterred a lot of buyers, along with the bolt-in roll bar. Nothing done to this car was irreversible though, so I'm hoping with some free labor (my time), I'll have equity in the car. I'm not sure what my long term plans are for it yet other than driving and enjoying it. I've already done a 1,000 mile rally with it and it was an absolute blast to drive.

Some impressions:

1. It turns directions very rapidly, whether that's due to input on the steering wheel or mid-corner throttle lift off. It definitely has trailing throttle oversteer! Love it.
2. The steering feel is incredibly good. One of the last Porsches with hydraulic steering.
3. It's much more functional than I expected. The frunk is huge and the trunk is pretty big too.
4. The stock, manual sport seats are fantastic. I cannot see "upgrading" these for carbon buckets that a lot of people lust after. And in the Porsche world, the buckets are $10-14k... yikes.
5. The Porsche tax is real on certain parts. The Cayman R only shift knob and boot replacement is $1400. What?
6. The radio is the worst radio in any vehicle I've ever owned. Except for the '85 CJ-7. I didn't buy it for the radio though.
7. The fabric door pulls are pretty cool, but sorta clumsy to use. It takes both arms to open the door.
8. The AP Racing brakes are fantastic and the braking system as a whole has incredible feedback/feel and perfect heel-toe placement.
9. The cable actuated shifter took me some time to get used to it but I absolutely love it now.

Some pics below.

First wash after getting it.













Whoever installed the roll bar knew what they were doing. There is literaly like a 1mm clearance on these interior panels, perfectly around this tubing.



The undercarriage is immaculate for 24k miles. Do not think it's seen much rain. Also, some nice go-fast parts on it.





My pups:



Aligned it. No matter what I do to this photo, I can't seem to get it to face up:



Took it on a rally:

[robgill]

Great addition! Recently drove a Cayman R in an endurance race and it was one of the best cars I've ever driven on track.

[nahvkolaj]

Wow what an awesome combo. I was cross-shopping the 987.1 Cayman S when I got my M3, but the market was thin. In the end, for me, there could only be one.

[Casa de Mesa]

Great addition! Recently drove a Cayman R in an endurance race and it was one of the best cars I've ever driven on track.

Thanks Rob! That endurance race sounds like absolute bliss with one of these. On which track did you run it?

Wow what an awesome combo. I was cross-shopping the 987.1 Cayman S when I got my M3, but the market was thin. In the end, for me, there could only be one.

The 987.1s are nice. I think the IMS bearing and bore scoring issues are a bit overinflated. So long as you do your homework (a PPI) before leaping into a given car, that chassis is probably one of the best values out there right now.

I've had my M3 since 2012 so adding another to garage felt like about the right time. I could not have done 2 until recently.

[bigjae46]

Nice! I was seriously considering a Cayman S vs my 2011 E90 M3 back around 2010. I went with the M3 since it was more practical. I've always wondered what the Cayman would have been like!

[Bry5on]

Rad! I miss my 981 GTS. The caymans really are surprisingly practical and all around fantastic cars. Congrats on the R, that’s a special car.

practicality in action:

[Casa de Mesa]

Nice! I was seriously considering a Cayman S vs my 2011 E90 M3 back around 2010. I went with the M3 since it was more practical. I've always wondered what the Cayman would have been like!

They are fun! I thought the "Porsche magic" was just a whole bunch of people drinking the P-car marketing Kool-Aid. It may very well still be the case, but there is something special about this mid-engine platform.

Rad! I miss my 981 GTS. The caymans really are surprisingly practical and all around fantastic cars. Congrats on the R, that’s a special car.

practicality in action:

Ha! I love it!! They are much more practical than I thought. The frunk is HUGE and the amount of open space in the rear is impressive as hell.

I was also looking at 981 GTS cars. Super cool trim option.

[mtpktz]

I saw these posted today on RL - https://rennlist.com/forums/market/1356513

Casa de Mesa just in case you have a change of heart.

[Casa de Mesa]

I saw these posted today on RL - https://rennlist.com/forums/market/1356513

Casa de Mesa just in case you have a change of heart.

Ha, thank you for sending this my way. Funny when these come up for sale within spitting distance from me how attractive these look all of a sudden!

Beautiful seats...

[usdmej]

beautiful addition! would you say they're different enough cars to warrant keeping both? i've been in the market for a 981 GTS as a replacement for the E46 M3 myself. an s2000 shared the garage with the M3 for a couple years but they felt too similar to each other imo so i sold it

+1 on the porsche tax, there was a time when suncoast was having trouble selling a pair of the carbon buckets for $6k, now everything porsche related has speculators hoarding

[Sharocks]

I'm only here to say that the Ridgebacks are gorgeous.

Was in a 718 GT4 last week on track and now I'm thinking about consolidating LOL.

[Phoenix///M3]

Nice pickup! How's the leg and head room in the Cayman? Greater than or less than E46?


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[Casa de Mesa]

beautiful addition! would you say they're different enough cars to warrant keeping both? i've been in the market for a 981 GTS as a replacement for the E46 M3 myself. an s2000 shared the garage with the M3 for a couple years but they felt too similar to each other imo so i sold it

+1 on the porsche tax, there was a time when suncoast was having trouble selling a pair of the carbon buckets for $6k, now everything porsche related has speculators hoarding

Yeah, IMHO they are pretty unique experiences which is exactly why I opted for a mid-engine layout over another front engine. I was cross shopping Caymans with Lotus Evora 400s/410/GTs. I really wanted a different experience.

I totally get where you're coming from with the S2000. In the Cayman, everything happens quicker, especially trailing throttle oversteer and turn in. When you lift off the throttle mid-corner in the M3, you notice the weight transfer, but not like in the Cayman. It immediately starts to rotate. Some of it may be the alignment I have on the car (still pretty aggressive for the street) but it's not THAT aggressive so any impact would be negligible. Also, I really didn't anticipate how loud and utterly aural the intake howl would be sitting directly behind your head. The car has an IPD intake plenum/manifold, GT3 throttle body, and cold air intake which contributes to increased volume, but man the intake just absolutely roars! It's so cool.

If you're considering them, I'd say hop in one and drive it for yourself. I lucked out with a heavily modded R that scared lots of people away and a dealer that wanted it gone, but even "just a 987.2 Cayman S" is such an amazing car. You hear it from some of the Porsche-philes that are honest, but man, I can't imagine the 911 experience is worth the price increase over the Cayman. They are total bargains in the used sports car market. I know there are exceptions in the 911 family (GT3...), but again, $$$.

I'm only here to say that the Ridgebacks are gorgeous.

Was in a 718 GT4 last week on track and now I'm thinking about consolidating LOL.

Man thank you! We picked up the girl, Mesa (the one on the left), in 2019 right about the time this forum was coming alive. I used to go by my first and last name on forums but wanted some anonymity at this stage of life/career, so rolled with Casa de Mesa...

I think my Cayman R the way it's setup is likely on par with a 981 GT4. It rips!! I can't wait to get this car on track.

Nice pickup! How's the leg and head room in the Cayman? Greater than or less than E46?

I'm pretty sure the legroom and head room would be on par with the M3 stock-for-stock. I'm 6-foot dead on, 32" inseam. In the Cayman and for the street, with the combo of how far back the seat base is combined with the recline position, I can't tilt the seat as far back as I'd like due to the roll bar. The seat upper back interferes with the roll bar. For spirited driving, it's perfect as I like to sit a bit more upright when hammering it. But for longer road trips, I'd argue a bit more recline would be nice.