981…Waiting in anticipation – Running Report page 14

Gutley – Posted August 1, 2016

Is there maybe something sharp where it goes into the pillar. Might explain it. If so you could trump them with such proof

M12MTR – Posted August 1, 2016

This is incredulous. …. how can Porsche not honour this obviously valid claim???

Sad that they would try IMO.

Good luck in your claim.

Boxstercol – Posted August 1, 2016

Keep on at them, I’m sure they will see some sense.

Ringer250 – Posted August 1, 2016

Perhaps typical of Porsche GB, deny all in the first place. Do as Matt suggested and look where the belt enters the pillar. Slowly unwind the belt and then retract slowly to feel any obstruction to free movement. Hope it gets sorted to your satisfaction better than the roof episode.

Stuart21UK – Posted August 1, 2016

On 8/1/2016 at 9:08 PM, Ringer250 said:
Perhaps typical of Porsche GB, deny all in the first place. Do as Matt suggested and look where the belt enters the pillar. Slowly unwind the belt and then retract slowly to feel any obstruction to free movement. Hope it gets sorted to your satisfaction better than the roof episode.

On 8/1/2016 at 8:00 PM, Gutley said:
Is there maybe something sharp where it goes into the pillar. Might explain it. If so you could trump them with such proof

Thanks for the replies and suggestions but this is isolated in an area about 10 cms or so, that happens to be at the point the seat belt sits on my chest..

Also if there was a catch somewhere it would be along more of the belt, as the belt moves in and out 2 feet plus when you put it on or retract it, thus I dont believe it is that.

I think it’s simply been rubbing against my chest…and I dont wear anything other than ‘smart/cas’ so the belt must have an allergy to a smartly dressed man!

On a plus point at least I’m not getting ‘they all do that sir’ like with the roof issue..

I think they must think I have abused it somehow.

Like I said, the email response I gave is a good one, but I dont think it would be wise to post it as yet…as an update I have had a ‘holding’ email from the Aftersales Manager who was passed my response by the girl at the OPC who had been dealing….we will see how it pans out but I am not letting this one go…they can hardly expect me to pay £1651 for a 2 year warranty extension if they wont cover this..that is due to them in early September so they have 5 weeks.

Another interesting point is that it’s in for its first MOT at the same time, I’ll bet its a possible MOT failure too.

Stuart21UK – Posted August 3, 2016

update on the seat belt…OPC are proposing a ‘solution’ to the Warranty Dept at Porsche….so still in process

the Warranty inspection is being done 2 weeks earlier otherwise with the car going off for the insurance work (tow bar damage) there is a possibility that the car wont be available for the inspection prior to the existing warranty running out (which would cause issues with continuity of cover etc). He told me that they take a ‘sensible’ approach to aftermarket addons for a warranty claim issue for a seat not affecting say a new exhaust tail pipe etc) BUT any grills on a car i.e. Zunsport’s should be taken off the car before submitting for the inspection.(of course I dont have any of them so it wont affect me :D)

Stuart21UK – Posted August 23, 2016

Updates

1) Seat belt is apparently being covered by Porsche GB (Reading) as Porsche Warranty (also Reading?) wont cover the seatbelt…so it will be replaced when the car goes back to the OPC for the MOT in early September :bana:

2) I took the car into Silverstone OPC for the 111 point warranty inspection, having removed the Zunsport’s on the front (they needed to come off due to the car going onwards to Elite Bodyshop for the insurance work anyway). Almost 2 hours and £1561 later the car now has a further 2 years warranty and Porsche Assistance too. Also to note the car has done almost 27500 miles and is still on the original discs and brake pads (5mm left by all accounts). There were no requirements to be attended too to allow the extension either.

NB I am surprised about the dics pads, I seem to remember getting through a set every 12-15000 miles on the 987!

3) I then drove the 981 onto Elite in Northampton to drop it off for the insurance work as a result of the guy reversing into me with his towbar/Freelander 2. I now have a Silver 981 Cayman S on the drive as a courtesy car. I already miss the drop top roof on mine, the car doesn’t seem as special in its silver/black combo and god what a dull drive home with the PDK box…even with liberal experimentation of the Sport and Sportplus buttons and PASM/PSE…long standing members will know I’m not a fan of PDK (I accept it is an excellent Auto, just not that it gives the response or dynamics of a manual car). Anyway I’ll be stuck with it for at least a week (maybe up to 3) so I’ll either ‘gell’ with it or hate it even more…

poor quality pics

4) Oh and also having taken the Zunsport’s off mine I can report next to no debris in the radiator scoops so they are clearly doing their job!

Ringer250 – Posted August 23, 2016

Good result on the seatbelt. Your next task is to clean the exhaust tips on the Cayman;)

Toeside – Posted August 23, 2016

😀

Has he cleaned the Boxsters exhaust tips yet? 😉

Nice looking Cayman but I love the rag top too.

Jon61 – Posted August 24, 2016

On 8/23/2016 at 8:52 PM, boxsternoob56 said:
and god what a dull drive home with the PDK box…even with liberal experimentation of the Sport and Sportplus buttons and PASM/PSE…long standing members will know I’m not a fan of PDK (I accept it is an excellent Auto, just not that it gives the response or dynamics of a manual car). Anyway I’ll be stuck with it for at least a week (maybe up to 3) so I’ll either ‘gell’ with it or hate it even more…

If you have the Sport Design steering wheel, have you tried driving it in manual mode with the paddles?

I drove mine in Auto today for the longest I’ve ever done so in one go – prob about 30 miles. While in ordinary (traffic) driving it does an OK job of choosing gears (though until I put my foot down it is usually about 2 gears higher than I would be), I still don’t like the way in more spirited driving I don’t know exactly when it’s going to change gear.

It may seem pointless to buy a PDK and drive it in manual but it’s not – it’s different to both an auto and a normal manual box. Not everyone’s cup of tea, possibly – it is a bit video-game-ish – but great fun nevertheless. But I think you need the paddles to get the best from this way of driving.

Toeside – Posted August 24, 2016

Yes use the paddles to shift down ahead of acceleration just like you would with a manual by using the stick 😉 It will only allow you to shift down to point where the rev’s are suitable. This will be higher (revs) in Sport and Sport + mode. It also auto ‘blips’ the throttle to match the revs as you shift down.

Its ‘epic’ withe PSE 😀

Try the manual stick option works the same and is more inline with a manual operation. Sorry (you probably knew all that) but having had 4 days with the new PDK I am loving it!:)

Stuart21UK – Posted August 24, 2016

On 8/24/2016 at 1:30 AM, Jon61 said:
If you have the Sport Design steering wheel, have you tried driving it in manual mode with the paddles?

I drove mine in Auto today for the longest I’ve ever done so in one go – prob about 30 miles. While in ordinary (traffic) driving it does an OK job of choosing gears (though until I put my foot down it is usually about 2 gears higher than I would be), I still don’t like the way in more spirited driving I don’t know exactly when it’s going to change gear.

It may seem pointless to buy a PDK and drive it in manual but it’s not – it’s different to both an auto and a normal manual box. Not everyone’s cup of tea, possibly – it is a bit video-game-ish – but great fun nevertheless. But I think you need the paddles to get the best from this way of driving.

On 8/24/2016 at 6:38 AM, Toeside said:
Yes use the paddles to shift down ahead of acceleration just like you would with a manual by using the stick 😉 It will only allow you to shift down to point where the rev’s are suitable. This will be higher (revs) in Sport and Sport + mode. It also auto ‘blips’ the throttle to match the revs as you shift down.

Its ‘epic’ withe PSE  😀

will give it a go with the paddles again…and report back but I think you are correct the full auto mode runs like a normal auto…that delay when you accelerate which you dont have with a manual transmission is what annoys me most…

PSE is not nearly as audible with a roof than it is on the Boxster with the roof down…also you cant ‘provoke’ it as much (sitting at lights etc) with PDK

(…or can you 🙂

spyderman8 – Posted August 24, 2016 (edited)

Does the PDK stick manual shift still work the “wrong” way?

RBD914 v2 – Posted August 24, 2016

On 8/24/2016 at 8:15 PM, spyderman8 said:
Does the PDK stick manual shift still work the “wrong” way?

No, I believe they reversed the pattern from push to pull to change up.

Jon61 – Posted August 24, 2016

On 8/24/2016 at 8:15 PM, spyderman8 said:
Does the PDK stick manual shift still work the “wrong” way?

On 8/24/2016 at 8:57 PM, RBD914 v2 said:
No, I believe they reversed the pattern from push to pull to change up.

Not sure whether the question was directed at Stuart re his courtesy 2014 Cayman, but that change was only made when they introduced the 718. 2015 and earlier Boxsters/Caymans still had the push-to-change-up stick arrangement.

Toeside – Posted August 24, 2016

Push up …… Pull down on mine confirmed………… Its not necessarily the “wrong” way ……………other manufacturers have that arrangement 😉

Jon61 – Posted August 24, 2016

This article says that the other manufacturers copied Porsche! And the logic it sets out for ‘pull-up push-down’ makes sense too. I definitely think it would feel more natural than mine.

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/street-smarts/porsche-shifts-shifting-gears-article-1.2428386

topradio – Posted August 24, 2016

Stuart, that car must be a fairly high specification as they have managed to fill most of the switch blanks in the centre console.

Also was it originally supplied by Colchester OPC? as it has the reg EU14 WTY and mine was originally EU14 WTJ before I changed it.

Stuart21UK – Posted August 25, 2016

On 8/24/2016 at 11:21 PM, topradio said:
Stuart, that car must be a fairly high specification as they have managed to fill most of the switch blanks in the centre console.

Also was it originally supplied by Colchester OPC? as it has the reg EU14 WTY and mine was originally EU14 WTJ before I changed it.

It has 34k on it too and red seat belts that aren’t frayed!

weird thing about Sport/Sportplus

Sport button switches the engine map/throttle, blips on downshift and switches on PSE

Sportplus does all that PLUS PASM sport setting comes on…

question is why wouldn’t you want PASM in the Sport mode too?! You have to manually select it if in just Sport mode…

CliveH – Posted August 26, 2016

I’m with you there, I don’t get Sport Plus, it seems pointless

Stuart21UK – Posted September 30, 2016 (edited)

So several things to update…

firstly the car has been back with me for a couple of weeks now…the car was left at the OPC (by the body shop) for me to pick up as it needed to go for its first MOT.

The MOT passed fine with no comments whatsoever.

BUT on inspecting the car the bodyshop (for clarity this was one approved to deal with Porsche, and was arranged by the insurer…the OPC had nothing to do with it) had presumably missed the fact that the bumper was not properly fitted and also that the vents on both sides of the bumper had been left as dirty as the day they took the car in almost 3 weeks before. This for a company who made reference to ‘the car hopefully being back with my by ‘x’ date assuming ti got through their final quality control’!

After a shyatety email and a call back from a sheepish workshop manager (they initially said they would come collect the car and then let me know how long they needed it to correct things so I had the worry of losing the car for another week), a rearranged appointment later, the chief tech came out and in 10 minutes he had pushed back the protruding bumper parts and cleaned the vents too.

So the final thing (almost) to sort out was to get the Gtechniq C1 re-applied to the bumper…that was done on Wednesday at a cost of £200 (I paid a bit more and he re-applied it to the whole car and he even cleaned my exhaust tips too!) and I am waiting for reimbursement from the insurer now.

The very last thing to do is refit the Zunsport’s which I will not get around to until late Sunday…

It’s sooo nice to have my car back…so much more pleasure to drive manual again…and to be able to put the roof down 😀

edit added pic of vents incorrectly refitted by bodyshop

Stuart21UK – Posted September 30, 2016

some pictures of her all nice and pretty

T24RES – Posted September 30, 2016

Nice, very nice. Do you not have the zunsports in the front?

Stuart21UK – Posted September 30, 2016

PDK epiphany

Driving the PDK Cayman (courtesy car)and slapping it into manual mode (pushing gear stick to the left), then using the paddles is the only way to drive one of these gearboxes with some degree of ‘manual control’.

I found that using the paddles in full ‘Auto’ mode was pointless as although you could control the gear changes, the PDK box took back over control far too soon (you could change down and accelerate and a moments hesitation in acceleration and the box’ would change up in its ‘trying to be fuel efficient manner’.

Whereas pushing the stick into ‘manual’ meant that you really were more in control of when it changed up or down…sure it will self protect but you could drive it a bit more like a manual…I still cant see the point of Sports Plus mind.

All that said I still prefer the full manual, with the full mechanical connection of changing gear, with a manual box…

…important to note that whilst I still wouldn’t swap my 6MT for a PDK I do understand now a way to drive the PDK with a bit more control and a bit less frustration…it’s only taken probably a dozen or more test/courtesy/experience centre jollies in a variety of the full Porsche model range to finally get there!

Stuart21UK – Posted September 30, 2016

On 9/30/2016 at 6:57 PM, T24RES said:
Nice, very nice. Do you not have the zunsports in the front?

yes, I took them off before it went to the bodyshop, also the car was at the OPC for warranty renewal so thought best that they came off to not cause issues with warranty and/or the bodyshop losing or damaging them…need ot find time at the w/e to put them back on