New ride... not a MINI

My iphone camera is worse than I thought! eep! Hopefully the v6 phone will be out soon.

Here are some better photos after a wash.

 

I had my eye on a 2006 Cayman S in St. Louis... Black with a ton of cool, track oriented options and the rare sport seats. I got a price negotiated then went to my credit union only to find out that they (and many other banks) refuse to make loans to CA residents on out of state cars. Apparently the emissions regs are so strict that people have imported cars and then not been able to get them running to pass the smog. My local credit union stopped making those loans when a customer imported a car from New Jersey and after 2 months, couldn't get it to pass smog. He drove the car to the bank, parked it in the lot and put the keys through the mail slot. The bank had to ship it back to New Jersey so it could be resold. (Really? I thought we covered this with the housing bubble collapse... If you make stupid decisions you can't blame the bank for lending you the money to do it and then make it their problem... oh well)

It worked out nicely... Porsche is running good money factors on Boxter/Cayman leases and the new 2014 model fits me much better. They made the car a bit longer and a bit wider, while pushing the wheels farther out to the corners. Handling is better on the new model with more interior room. It did move to an electrical assist power steering, but in my 500 miles I haven't ever noticed a moment where I didn't know exactly what the front wheels were doing via the wheel. I can't wait to test it out at speed (in a controlled environment, of course).

I've gotta say that I would have gotten a manual if there had been a brown one in CA, but I love the PDK. It's a double-clutch arrangement and you barely even feel the shifts.

 

You know... I still think that the R53 with a few basic mods (pulley, air intake, better brake pads and a rear swaybar) is one of the best budget driver cars available today. The $ per smile ratio is off the charts. I just wanted something that was a bit sexier with a bit more power and a bit more build quality. If a new MINI had appealed to me, I might have gone that way (if the coupe had fit me, that really would have been an option but I'm too tall). I thought that I might like a Paceman, but I just wasn't wowed when I got into it and it seemed like I was getting away from why I love a car... for street handling and occasional track/Auto-X fun. MINI just wasn't a right fit for me right now... despite how much I like the community. I thought hard about a BMW 135, an M3 or even a 550 (if I wanted to go full on luxury with huge V8 power), but they didn't leave me drooling like the Cayman.

When I look at the Cayman, I feel the same way as I did when I first looked at the R53... I knew that some day I had to own one. I'm lucky that my life (and Wife) and circumstances let me make it happen.

 

I went around a highway on-ramp yesterday... a 270 degree decreasing radius turn that I found after I sold my MINI. It always made me think 'I bet Jango would have LOVED this turn!'

I went out wide, dove to the apex and planted my foot on the accelerator. No drama... no wiggle... no loss of control... no slip at all! I just looked where I wanted to go and the car took me there. Silly amounts of traction.

I've got to find my helmet today to see if I can get it on while in the car. I seriously need to get this thing out to an Auto-X (once I'm past break-in).

 

I've heard that these cars have great balance (mid-mount engine) and have lots of stick in the tires... until they don't anymore and the back end comes around fast. They supposedly communicate very well through the seat so that you know it is coming.

I need to get some professional training again and re-read my speed driving books. All of my track time / Auto-X / learning was done in the front wheel drive MINI. If the back end starts coming around and I reach for the gas to solve the problem, it might not go well as it did in the MINI.