I've seen how this has helped others, I need opinions. Just FYI, this is primarily going to be my track car, my A8 has all the "bells, gongs, and whistles":

Both have Sport Chrono, PASM, heated seats, Bi-Xenons, Bose, Preferred Package

Differences are:

Car 1 ------------------Car 2
Arctic ------------------GT Silver
Black Standard ---------Cocoa Leather
Leather Sport seats-----Power seats (lumbar support is important)
18" Standard wheels----19" Sport Designs

Car 1 Only
Sports Steering Wheel
Sports Shifter
Auto Climate
Gear shift in Al
Rear console in Al

I wouldn't order the Al interior stuff. I also see the Leather and GT Silver as extraneous too. But here's the kicker: I can get them for about the SAME price. See my problem? They're from different dealers. Car 2 retails for 5K more, as I'm sure you figured out pretty quick.

My concerns:
Is the lumbar support good in the non-power seats? (I have no dealer close to check)
I didn't think Auto climate was a big deal, but some people here obviously do.
The cocoa interior is not red at all, is it? You know how pics are.
The Aluminum look things are very extraneous to me.
I'm not sure that the sports wheel is a deal breaker, and I can get the sport shifter switched pretty easily I believe.

This is my first P-Car, so I really don't have many preconceived expectations (well, I guess I do).

I need to decide rather quickly, thanks for the thoughts.

John

With all due respect to Arctic silver / black owners, I think GT SIlver with Cocoa looks fantastic and would take that combo in a heartbeat. It also has power seats or power sport seats? (Adaptive is what they are called). There is a difference between the two. 19" SD's look nice but are a pain to keep clean vs. the standard 18" wheels. You can add sport shifter pretty easily and other interior goodies later if you want, very hard to paint a car or swap the interior.

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K-Man S

I have AS with Cocoa. The Cocoa varies by car due to the leather used but is not red. It has more black than red in it. There are so many of us with AS I'd go with the GT Silver to be different if nothing else. The combo, as K-Man said is striking.

Thanks guys-

Auto climate not a deal breaker obviously. I don't mind hard to clean wheels, my Dad has those on his C2S, I really like them, and wasn't planning on them due to redundancy, but if I don't have a choice........

The seats are Power, non-sport (I assume) and not the adaptive ones. I'm going off the dealer's online listing (for the options), not what they have sent me.

John

Another vote for Car #2. GT Silver/Cocoa is a striking combination and probably rather uncommon as both the paint color and interior leather are expensive options. The power seat offers the lumbar support you desire and, as you noted, the sport shifter can be added. I agree that the interior aluminum bits don't add much to the car in appeal, I'd much rather have the full cocoa leather interior and nicer wheels.

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I think the GT Silver and Cocoa (which I have seen in person and is striking -looks like a rich chocolate color) with the SD wheels is terrific. I don't have power seats but I would get them if nothing but for the memory settings.

nd - Both sound like good cars, and the options that they have in common - Sport Chrono, PASM, heated seats, Bi-Xenons, Bose, Preferred Package - those are all the must-haves, in my book. Arctic and GT silver - I've seen them side-by-side, and have a hard time seeing the difference, but they are different. The biggest difference I see in the cars is the full leather on car #2. Personally, I think the full leather transcends the standard leather interior by two miles, and the two cocoa interiors I've seen were just to die for - like SF said, not red at all - beautiful dark brown leather. I like the auto climate control on my car a bunch, but not a deal breaker to get a car off the lot. I also have the 19" sport designs - they're really not that hard to clean - use a good wheel cleaner like P21S and use wheel wax or Rejex on them - the only time I've had to really get down there and work on them was after a couple of very long (over 2,000 mile) road trips through some nasty weather each time. If the lumbar is important, the standard power seats will be great - they actually offer lots of support. I had standard seats in my 996 turbo and tracked and autocrossed the car extensively without feeling like I was flying around the interior. If you're not going to do a lot of competitive events, it's a moot point. The sports wheel is better, imo, but not that much better really, and the sport shifter is a quick dealer installed option - they can do it before you pick up the car...

brad

ND:

You can opt for the 18" wheels if you want. Dealers regularly make swaps. Several of the cars I was look at had 19" wheels and the dealers would swap them for the 18" ones and reduce the MSRP by the $1,980 the SD's cost.

That's been my experience.

Hope it helps.

Ole Joe

Damn - just saw I spelled the title wrong (choose, not chose). In a rush, obviously.

Thanks for the comments, its really helpful. Its hard to buy a vehicle sight-unseen, and I have only seen 3 Caymans in my life, only sat in 2, drove 1.

I don't mind paying for certain things (leather, color, wheels), but I didn't really want to fork out the cash for the interior aluminum-look stuff on car #1. Just me, I guess. The fact that I can get a deal on the more expensive one, but not the other complicates it, in a good way you could argue.

I'm going to buy a set of 18's for snow and track tires, but its SO much cheaper to get the OEM wheels on the vehicle than buy later. I don't think the sport wheel will make that much difference to me, seats either.

Remember, my previous 3 track days were in my A8L - this thing's gonna be a rocket by comparison.

#2 has my vote. GT silver is an expensive option but well worth it. The premium colors are less common in the street because a lot of Cayman owners prefer to load up on other options instead. I follow the road less traveled.