New (To Me) 981 Cayman S - Poor Handling

[SE24]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for all the help in my other post. I have recently purchased a 981 Cayman S with 40k miles and whilst the car is amazing (sound, engine, gearbox!) I am finding that the car feels quite unsettled at speed, especially on B roads and seems to be particularly bad when pasm is on

The issue is hard to describe, but the car feels like it is wandering left to right, "un-settled" in the corners and the steering wheel has more twitchy movements than I would expect for this sort of car (for reference previous cars are E46 M3, F87 M2, V8 Vantage)

My current thoughts are that is can only really be alignment, tyres, suspension, or worst case, accident damage. My plan is to work through the most likely (and cost effective) options first, starting with an alignment

I have experimented with tyre pressures (not extensivley yet) and this dosn't seem to have helped. When I picked the car up, all pressures were set at 35, I have reduced fronts to 33 and rears to 34.5, but no noticeable difference

The car is on p-zero's all round, the rears are brand new, however the fronts only have 2-3mm on them and crucially were manufactured in the middle of 2016 so it's possible that this could be an issue - would appreiciate thoughts

My first steps are probably to

a) replace front tyres (I would like to go michelin PS4, but not sure if I should run PS4 on the front and P-Zero rear)
b) get an alignment done
c) get the suspension inspected by a decent porsche indy who knows what to look for

Would appreciate thoughts / advice on the tyres and the issue in general!

Thanks

[rev-erend]

Sounds like some new tyres like ps4 or new conti sport 7 and a hunter 4 wheel alignment should sort the problem.

[Twinfan]

I'd get the alignment checked first, at somewhere who specialises in getting it spot on. That's your cheapest and most likely culprit I think.

They should also be able to check the major suspension and steering components at the same time...

[Twinfan]

Oh, and PASM is always "on". Pressing the button puts it in sport mode, which is firmer, so not the best choice for a bumpy UK B road.

[dans160]

I had issues with my 981s when I first had it but mine had brand new PZeros all round. I set the pressures to 33 all round, it seemed to like that. I also had an alignment done at JZM which really, really helped. After that the car was superb. I'd set the pressures, new fronts (I was fine with N spec PZeros but I appreciate many do not like them) and get the alignment done.

Just to add mine suffered from the following:

Vague turn in
The back end was skittish under hard braking
The front would go very light (excessively so I thought) in off camber corners and high speed corners

Dan

Edited by dans160 on Sunday 5th June 14:29

[TC121]

I swapped my V8V for a 981 cayman S last year and have personally found the handling of the porsche to be a big step up!

I have PS4S on the the cayman so would recommend changing the tyres. From what you're describing checking the alignment would be worthwhile too

[SE24]

Thanks for all the replies so far, I am going to start with alignment and get some PS4 on the front and go from there! I will report back here once they are done

[Cabsi]

As Twinfan said PASM is always 'on'. By pressing the button (and illuminating the light) you are putting the dampers into their stiffest setting. I hardly ever use that setting as it can make the car a little skittish on anything other than pristine tarmac.

I'd recommend any new Boxster or Cayman owner gets the alignment checked by a specialist as it can make an enormous difference to the way the car handles. Just be careful who you choose to do it.

I ditched my P Zeros as they were terrible in anything other than 20 deg C plus temperatures. I went with Goodyears.

[julian987R]

SE24 said:

…..but not sure if I should run PS4 on the front and P-Zero rear

That does not seem like a sensible thing to do to. Better to write off the rears and get PS4’s all the way around

[andygo]

I'd also look at your suspension links - coffin arms and tuning forks especially. They seem to be a wear and tear item and if you can verify they are all ok then you have taken a big possible variable out of your equation. Swap first if needed and go to alignment afterwards.

My 981CS with similar mileage is a different car after that process. I changed front tuning forks and rear coffin arms with poly bushes from Spyder Performance. https://www.spyderperformance.co.uk/shop/suspensio... Car is a lot quieter now as well.

Edited by andygo on Monday 6th June 12:35

Edited by andygo on Monday 6th June 12:36

[Boardingnath]

If you can I’d highly recommend a booking at Centre Gravity. Do a search here and you will see nothing but positive reviews. I took my 997 there as I had similar issues at higher than average speeds and they completely changed the feeling of the car. I took my 991 there the other week and didn’t think I’d see much improvement as I was pretty happy with it but they worked their magic and improved what I didn’t think could be improved.

If you can’t get to them look for a specialist near you. The key here is that it needs to be a 4 wheel alignment. I’d be surprised if this doesn’t solve all your issues.

[andygo]

Boardingnath said:

If you can I’d highly recommend a booking at Centre Gravity. Do a search here and you will see nothing but positive reviews. I took my 997 there as I had similar issues at higher than average speeds and they completely changed the feeling of the car. I took my 991 there the other week and didn’t think I’d see much improvement as I was pretty happy with it but they worked their magic and improved what I didn’t think could be improved.

If you can’t get to them look for a specialist near you. The key here is that it needs to be a 4 wheel alignment. I’d be surprised if this doesn’t solve all your issues.

You still need to ensure all your suspension bushings etc are in tip top shape though otherwise setting the geo up is a bit pointless. At 40,000 miles there is likely to be some significant wear on them so checking and replacing now is only pre empting what will need replacing bits sooner rather than later anyway.

[testdrive]

OP, good advice above, check suspension components, alignment and get some PS4s tyres on as soon as possible. P Zeros are vague in comparison.

[Qwerty911]

Before you spend any cash, allow for the possibility that there is nothing wrong with the car. I don’t know about the AM, but the Cayman is a very different car to drive than your BMW Ms. If not long bought you may still be transitioning!

[Galahad]

My 997 GT3 didn't handle as well as I'd expected when I first got it. Took it to Center Gravity for a check and geo and it's transformed! If you don't fancy travelling as far, I cam also highly recommend Matt at Porschecare in Stevenage. Deffo worth getting some who knows the cars to give it a once over, as a 981 Cayman should be one of the best handling cars out there.

[jamie w]

andygo said:

Boardingnath said:

If you can I’d highly recommend a booking at Centre Gravity. Do a search here and you will see nothing but positive reviews. I took my 997 there as I had similar issues at higher than average speeds and they completely changed the feeling of the car. I took my 991 there the other week and didn’t think I’d see much improvement as I was pretty happy with it but they worked their magic and improved what I didn’t think could be improved.

If you can’t get to them look for a specialist near you. The key here is that it needs to be a 4 wheel alignment. I’d be surprised if this doesn’t solve all your issues.

You still need to ensure all your suspension bushings etc are in tip top shape though otherwise setting the geo up is a bit pointless. At 40,000 miles there is likely to be some significant wear on them so checking and replacing now is only pre empting what will need replacing bits sooner rather than later anyway.

+1 for Center Gravity, transformed a 986 for me. They will recommend replacement of any worn items that will prevent the required set up and carry out such replacement if instructed.

[Royal Jelly]

Those symptoms certainly sound like geo rather than worn components to me..

[Wollemi]

I would start with those front tyres. There are getting to the upper limit of what Porsche recommend, ie Max 6 years old.

But I wouldn't mis match your tyres. The safest thing is to have the same tyres all round.

Are your new rear P-Zeros N1 spec tyres, or are they the generic version? ( or worse news , a P-Zero for a different car altogether - I had terrible handling on my e46 M3 when the tyre place fitted Audi spec PS2s instead of Star spec for BMW. )

If they are the N1 version of P-Zero then get some fronts to match and you will have matching tyres all round. The current spec P-Zeros are much much better than previous versions so do not be put of. Yes, I would prefer Michelin PS4S tyres (not the PS4 by the way) but its not a big difference now. matching tyres would still be better.

Get a proper alignment done at the same time and hopefully all will be well.

[SE24]

Thanks for all the replies and advice so far!

By way of update, I have ordered a full set of PS4s and booked into Hendy Performance (local to me and also decent, have used them before) for an alignment. Depending on the alignment results I will work out my next steps. If it requires a lot of adjustment, then tyres and adjusting might be enough. If not, I will proceed to go to a porsche specialist and ask them to look over the suspension. Centre gravity defo a future option, but about 3 hrs drive for me.

Alignmment is booked for Tuesday morning (a week today) so I will keep everyone updated!

Ps. If anyone can recommend the best place to sell a pair of 365/35/20 P-Zero's (N1) which have done about 200 miles, that would be great

Edited by SE24 on Tuesday 7th June 19:54

[julian987R]

SE24 said:

Thanks for all the replies and advice so far!

By way of update, I have ordered a full set of PS4s and booked into Hendy Performance for an alignment. Depending on the alignment results I will work out my next steps. If it requires a lot of adjustment, then tyres and adjusting might be enough. If not, I will proceed to go to a porsche specialist and ask them to look over the suspension.

Alignmenment is booked for Tuesday morning (a week today) so I will keep everyone updated!

Ps. If anyone can recommend the best place to sell a pair of 365/35/20 P-Zero's (N1) which have done about 200 miles, that would be great

Is that wise? going to a place which is not either a renowned Porsche Indie that offers top notch wheel alignment, or Center Gravity. I would rethink it otherwise the paperwork won't look great (should you ever come to sell).