A little update after a month of ownership, hoping if any other new/would be owners stumble across this thread.
The Technicals:
- The flat tyre turned out to be a shard of innocuous looking glass. Bit the bullet and put some new recently 'N rated' Super Sports on the back axle. Came in around £460 fitted from BlackCircles. Worth noting that the 19" 265mm rears are available as 'N0' rated. But same can't be said for the fronts.
- Recently found out the 'Sound Package Plus' amp made by ASK hasn't been powering up the 8" subs in the doors. Explaining why the sound is so tinny even with the bass turned up to full. Amp is whipped out and will be sent to Norway as per this thread:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1234814
- MPG when compared to the mkIV R32 seems better on long mixed road type journeys. Shorter trips to work (should I not cycle) or supermarket runs is worse. When I picked the car up I thought I got 27mpg on the way home, but it turns out unlike on the R, the indicated mpg does not reset every trip. Needs to be reset using the stalk every trip should you wish to view the mpg for that journey.
- The car had some hideously useless Phillips H7 Halogen bulbs designed to give an HID/Xenon look. Was literally scared the first time I used the car in the dark. Whacked some trusty Osram Nightbreakers in to tide me over until some HID kits were delivered.
Had pondered what the 'Design 911' HID kits at £250 afforded you over a cheaper set, so rang them up expecting a little bit of salesman spiel. The staff member had no information as to why their items were worth such a premium, in fact, the only explanation he offered me was incorrect. It ended with him actually hanging up on me. So wasn't a great first impression of their store.
Ended up getting a set from 'HIDS4U' after reading some good reviews. I must say the customer service was EXCELLENT in comparison, a member of staff took ownership of the transaction and went out of his way to keep me updated as to the progress as the items had been on pre-order. He went out of his way to get the kits sent to me before I broke from work for my Christmas break. So I fitted them the other day, simplicity in itself, took no more than 30 mins. No drilling required as there is so much space in the light assemblies for the kit.
The results are excellent, the light is now on a par if not better than the standard HIDs on the R32. I went for 5000k as I am after useable light and they are spot on IMO for how white they look to other road users. I had uprated to LED sidelights and they looked much closer to the 'Xenon look' halogens dips. But now, even though the HIDs are 5000k, they now don't look white enough. So may have to replace the sides as I am not a fan of the 'Mini Look' at night.
I had been worried about beam alignment as I don't want to annoy other drivers. But by my rough measurements and not having received any flashes. I believe I am not causing anyone any worry with my retro-fit. I think the fact the Cayman has 'Projector' lenses in the assembly makes retro-fitting HIDs a decent mod.
Link below, Cayman 987.1 runs H7 and you need the 'Projector version':
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h7-xenon-hid-conversion-kits/
Plan to do a specific thread for all the lighting upgrades I am doing at some point. Incidentally, the 'Front headlight removal tool' actually failed when I was swapping the Osrams in. Had to buy a new one from here unfortunately:
https://www.porscheshop.co.uk/headlight-removal-tool-997-cayman-boxster-987.html
Thanks to OPC Cambridge for lending me one outside the front so I could just finish the job having swapped one out before the tool broke.
- Wheel protection for winter use as I don't have winter wheels. Read on here about washing the wheels once a week if you are going to use the car when the roads are salted and grimey. Read good reviews about 'Chemical Guys Wheel Guard:
http://www.chemicalguysuk.com/Chemical_Guys_Wheel_Guard_p/whegrd.htm
Have been washing the wheels once a week and they come up like new after the slightest of effort.