Ears ‘pop’ in Cayman - normal?

[Tricuspid]

I’m on the point of buying a 987 Cayman, driven two of them and in both I found my ears popping for the first few miles. My wife went out in the car with the owner driving and noticed the same. Anyone else had this experience? There’s not much online that I can find, just a few people saying it’s related to the rear hatch being too tight which stops the air pressure equalising. Does it help if you have the window open before you shut the door maybe (which would be a bit of a pain).

[anonymous-user]

How much altitude did you gain / lose during the test drive?

[Slippydiff]

Yes, it's a cabin air pressure issue that some are more sensitive to than others.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/boxster-cayman...

https://rennlist.com/forums/987-forum/834001-2009-...

https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=8878...

There was another longer thread on Rennlist about the issue, but I'm afraid I can't find it.

I find it better with the drivers window dropped 10-15mm, I prefer the wind noise to the internal drumming you get from within the cabin.

[anonymous-user]

Fascinating, slippy knows his stuff. Never had an issue myself, hence ignore my rather flippant reply earlier!

[Slippydiff]

Schmed said:

Fascinating, slippy knows his stuff. Never had an issue myself, hence ignore my rather flippant reply earlier!

Plenty aren’t aware of it, purely because it doesn’t affect them. Lucky them I say

[gsewell]

Only when doing alpine passes in Switzerland. A price worth paying....

[hueyhoolihan]

don't have the problem myself, but the rear hatch doesn't close as easily as one might think it would.

my family's only car in 1962 was a VW beetle. now THAT car would pop your ears when closing the door. no question. and yes, cracking a window, though inconvenient should help.

[delays]

Personally, I didn’t have this problem with my Cayman but some of my friends did with theirs. They described it as feeling like having the windows were open a little.

It turns out, this can be an issue and it’s due to the hatch causing reverb. There is an oscillating weight on the 987 Cayman that is designed to act as a damper and sometimes gets stuck. It can be accessed by removing the trim panels on the hatch.

The same weight can also cause rattles.

[roscopervis]

My weight is rattling, not popping.