Chris' Cayman

Yeah oil checking was the one place I liked my 986 over the 981. Still had a physical dipstick, and the electronic check is done cold. Not sure if the 987.2 is the exact same as the 981, but on the 981 the official method is to drive for at least half an hour, park, wait 1-5 minutes then turn the key on and check the level. On the 981, the ok range is 1.8 quarts, and is divided into quarters. I aim for full but don't feel bad if it occasionally reads one bar low. Mine always seems to take slightly more than the listed change volume, but the change volume is less than the total capacity.

Sounds like you have a bad sensor, there's no way it's reading high if you put in the proper amount of oil to begin with and have taken so much out.  At this point I'd be putting some back in.

I wish my car had a regular dipstick.  The early 2001 turbos came with everything installed but the dipstick, all you had to do was add it.  My 2003 is missing the guide tube and some other parts that are a real PITA to install unless the motor is out.  My plan is to add it when the motor eventually comes out but for now I just deal with the electronic gauge.

CAinCA said:

preach (dudeist priest) said:

Please just drive it stock first, then decide what you need. They are amazing stock and so much better when you put what your style needs.

Definitely. I'm going to track it a couple times and see how the tires wear. I'll only add the camber if it's really necessary.

From what I've been reading -2 to -2.5 in the front and -1.5 to -2.0 in the rear is a good compromise set up. I think you can only get about -1 in the front with the stock adjustments.

Sound like the numbers you shoot for in the Answer

Oh yeah, in stock trim that is way more  car than you are a driver.

Yes, the car is capable of driving much faster than I'm comfortable with on the street. I only did the LCAs to keep from ruining tires on the track.

docwyte said:

Sounds like you have a bad sensor, there's no way it's reading high if you put in the proper amount of oil to begin with and have taken so much out.  At this point I'd be putting some back in.

I wish my car had a regular dipstick.  The early 2001 turbos came with everything installed but the dipstick, all you had to do was add it.  My 2003 is missing the guide tube and some other parts that are a real PITA to install unless the motor is out.  My plan is to add it when the motor eventually comes out but for now I just deal with the electronic gauge.

I haven't gotten the oil level warning since Saturday. This morning I took the car for a drive and then checked the oil level. There are three thick solid bars and then one empty row of pixels above that. The oil is right at the top of the acceptable range. 

Next time I change the oil I'll add 5 quarts, let it warm up and then sneak up on the correct fill. I'll write that number in the owners manual so I have it for the future.

I really wish it had a dipstick just so I could take a look at the oil in between changes. The computer is set up for 12mo/12k miles. I should probably change mine every 6k with the way I drive it. Next time I'll get a sample and send it in.

I never have understood why they eliminated dipsticks in modern vehicles.  Always struck me as a stupid idea.

In reply to CAinCA :

I put 8.5 quarts in my 996 turbo.  That puts it on the 2nd bar from the top when it's warm enough for the sensor to work.  Since it does that consistently, I don't even bother to check it anymore, just put in 8.5 quarts and call it good.

The brake pedal on the 987 Boxster and Cayman is a bit soft from the factory. This was by design since these weren't supposed to be as performance focused as the 911s. The stock master cylinder has a 23.8mm bore. Thanks to Porsche's Lego mentality though the GT3 master cylinder bolts right up and has a 27mm bore. It increases the pedal pressure by 29% and reduces the pedal travel by the same amount. I found the 27mm MC for a good price at FVD Brombacher last week so I ordered one and received it on Friday. I also ordered a couple quarts of Castrol SRF brake fluid via Amazon.

I installed the new master on Saturday morning. The installation itself was an easy but slightly messy job. I bled the brakes with my Schwaben pressure bleeder at 18 psi. I flushed plenty of air and roughly 3/4L of fluid through the lines, put the wheels back on and took it for a test drive. I was pretty disappointed as the pedal felt softer than the original setup. I did some research and found that you should use a scan tool to activate the ABS pump to properly bleed the brakes after a MC swap. I went back out to the shop and hooked up my Schwaben Porsche scanner (Foxwell NT510) and found the correct section for the automated Bleed process (OBD scan -> PSM -> Functions -> Bleed?). You're also suppose to use 2 Bar (28psi) of pressure in the bleeder. I went through the automated process and was immediately rewarded with a nice firm pedal. 

On Sunday I rolled over 10k miles since I purchased the Cayman back in May, six months to the day since I bought it. I'd say at least 90% of those miles have been on fun drives. I've only put 150 miles on it driving in to the office.

I signed up for a HDPE at Thunderhill East Bypass this coming Saturday. I can't wait it's been a few months since my last track day.

I had a good day at Thunderhill on Saturday. I only got 3 laps in the first session and 2 laps in the third session before someone wetted the track down.   In the second session I started to get a feel for the track and my best laps were in the 2:13 range. In the forth session I had a friend who is an instructor ride along with me and then I rode along with him in his modded 987.2 Cayman S. That opened my eyes to how much I was leaving on the table. In the 5th session I got down to a 2:08.62. My Point By group wound up getting the bonus session combined with Open. I got stuck behind a couple open drivers who were faster on the straights but slower in the turns. my times weren't as fast but it was fun chasing them down.

I was happy with the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 220TW tires. They had good traction and were consistent throughout the sessions. I wasn't very impressed with the Porterfield R4 and R4E pads though. They just don't seem to had the bite I'm looking for. I honestly think my GTI with the front BBK braked harder with the same pads. I think I'll be moving to Ferodo DS1.11 pads eventually.

You may want to check out pelicanparts forum about brake pad choices.  When you said you were not happy with the Porterfields I was thinking Ferodo and so were you

That master cylinder deal is the same in 914s too, 17 mm vs 19 mm for the 911

You do not want to know what a rear brake caliper for a 914-6 costs

I've found that when bleeding my 987.2 brakes, you can flush with the Motive pressure bleeder, but you'll still have to do the old fashioned two person method to get a firm pedal. It's the rears calipers that need the extra bleeding, not the front. I've never used my Foxwell to activate the ABS pump, the pump and bleed method always works fine. That goes for regular bleeding as well as MC replacement.

Looking back at my notes:

The tires looked good. 32/33 PSI hot. 6-10F spread over each tire's face. Wear over the entire face but not onto the edge of the treadblocks.

I was really happy with the setup of the car. It never felt out of shape even under heavy braking or kicking down a gear coming out of corners.

Toebra said:

You may want to check out pelicanparts forum about brake pad choices.  When you said you were not happy with the Porterfields I was thinking Ferodo and so were you

I've been reading up. There are a bunch of better choices. Raybestos ST-43, PFC 08, PFC 11, Ferodo DS1.11, Ferodo DS3.12 to name a few. I just need to make a choice and plunk down the cash. I'm leaning towards the DS 1.11 or ST-43s

CAinCA said:

Toebra said:

You may want to check out pelicanparts forum about brake pad choices.  When you said you were not happy with the Porterfields I was thinking Ferodo and so were you

I've been reading up. There are a bunch of better choices. Raybestos ST-43, PFC 08, PFC 11, Ferodo DS1.11, Ferodo DS3.12 to name a few. I just need to make a choice and plunk down the cash. I'm leaning towards the DS 1.11 or ST-43s

I have a front set of ST43s if you want them.

I run PFC08/11's and have been really happy with them.  Just spend the money and get them.  I also haven't had any issues with brake pedal feel and exclusively bleed using the Motive....

In reply to docwyte :

Are you running staggered pads or have you just run both types? I had a set of the PFC 10 (aggressive street) pads on my GTI and really liked them.

FWIW: I have had a couple experienced friends and a ton of forum posts giving recommendations. So far, Ferodo is the most recommended, then PFC, then the Raybestos.

I run staggered pads, 08F, 11R.   I've run Ferodo DS2500's about 20 years ago on my M3, they did ok, but weren't track pads, I've never run their track pads.  I've run Hawk DTC70's a lot but prefer the PFC's.  Never run Raybestos.

I run PFC 08's on all four corners, and am very happy with them. Expensive, but they work great.

Yesterday I cleaned my street wheels (19" OZ Ultraleggera HLT in Matte Black). I'm not sure when they were cleaned last but they had a lot of brake dust caked on them. I bought a 26" diameter hot water heater drip pan at Home Depot and set up a wheel cleaning station on a folding table in my garage. First, I removed the old wheel weight adhesive with Goof Off. Then I removed the brake dust with Griot's Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner and a small nylon brush. I gave each wheel a coat of Griot's Ceramic 3-in-1 Wax so that hopefully it won't be as big of a project next time. I finished up with a coat of Black Shine on the tires.

This morning I replaced the frunk lift struts. The old one's weren't horrible but once in a while a gust of wind would blow it down, usually when I had my head underneath. The new one's are noticeably stronger.

In reply to CAinCA :

That Griot's 3-in-1 ceramic wax is magic stuff.

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to CAinCA :

That Griot's 3-in-1 ceramic wax is magic stuff.

That's good to hear. I've been really happy with their other products but I'm pretty new to the detailing game.

Over the weekend I put the street tires and pads back on the car.

Notes mainly for my records. I wound up putting 900 miles on the track parts.

Tread wear:

Start, Finish, Total Wear 

F .282" - .250" = .032"

R .250" - .185" = .065"

It looks like I can get about 8 days out of a set of fronts but only 4 days out of a set of rears.

A few more thoughts from the track day at Thunderhill. I ran the tires at 32.5F/33R PSI HOT. The temperature spread on the tires looked pretty good. The rears could probably go down .5 - 1 PSI.  The track has 9 LH corners and 5 RH corners. The LH tires were hotter than the RH tires. All four tires were hotter on the RH edge. 

Tire temps. I always took them RF, RR, LR, LF and inside to outside. I should have retaken the RF to see how quickly the temperatures were dropping. 

F 139, 142, 146 | 157, 160, 163   -2.4 degrees camber

R 140, 152, 153 | 156, 162, 160  -1.8 degrees camber

The car was pretty solid everywhere. It looks like I could use a little more camber on the RH side, but that would be track dependent. If I could make one change I'd like to loosen up the rear a little. The only adjustments I can make are camber or tire pressures though. I should probably just leave it alone and work on my driving. 

I've been super busy at work for over a month and haven't had much time to play lately. I’m heading to Thunderhill West for the first time tomorrow. I swapped out the track tires, wheels and brakes last night. I think I set a personal record. It was less than 45 minutes total. 

There’s been a rattle in the back of my car for a while. Sometimes it rattles. Sometimes it sounds springy like a diving board. I was loading up the trunk this afternoon and I realized that the twist fastener that holds the cover for the taillight is completely loose. It was a nice quiet ride tonight.