Osie’s brand new Porsche Cayman GT4 makes its way to crankandpiston.com’s Journals. Well, after a quick pitstop…
[Not a valid template]| Driver's Log | |
|---|---|
| Date acquired: | March 2016 |
| Total kilometres: | 1940 |
| Kilometres this month: | N/A |
| Costs this month: | $4700 |
| L/100km this month: | N/A |
The biggest problem with my previous 2012 Cayman R was what to replace it with. The biggest problem with the new Cayman GT4 was that they were all sold out. Game over. But where there is a will there’s a way and thankfully great mate Daniel (he of C&P Journals 997 GT3) gave me a tip off on a cancelled GT4 order in Ali & Sons, Abu Dhabi.
The car had the right spec and most importantly had the 918 carbon bucket seats. At ‘list price’, well spec’d GT4s are unicorn-rare. No time to explain or think twice. Just buy it, throwing my well-worn Cayman R in as part exchange. My poor old Cayman R had done 80,000 hard worn kilometres over the three years I had it, meaning the whole front end, wing mirrors, side spats and windscreen had been completely obliterated with stone chips and general Dubai wear and tear. So with my factory fresh GT4, the first step was to safeguard the car with paint film protection.
Interestingly, everyone has an opinion on paint protection film but unfortunately none are particularly robust. Much WhatsApp chats with fellow fast car owners ensued trying to figure out the best stuff to get and the place to get it done. Two things became clear: Xpel is the best product by far out there for our climate and conditions, but most importantly, it’s who fits it that makes the difference. With my Porsche Cayman GT4 having such a huge front spoiler and aggressive air dams, no way was I going to skimp. Tradex Middle East are the official Xpel approved and trained Xpel fitters in the region, so after much shopping about and getting good word of mouth feedback from friends who’d used the service, I left my GT4 with Wayne there.
Ironically the Cayman GT4 comes with absolutely no protection from the Porsche factory, which is bizarre considering what the car is designed for and that the rear wheels sit so clear of the rear arches: with the roads I travel and those bespoke Michelin Pilot Cup 2s, the paint would surely be obliterated before the first 15,000 service. So Wayne walked me through what other GT4 owners had done to their cars with Xpel. I went for the full package. No point letting other parts of the car get wrecked whilst the rest remained pristine. That meant front bumper, hood, front fenders, light, roof, rear wheel impact area, handles and mirrors were all beautifully done. Even the little ‘GT4’ logo on the side air vents had its own design in the Design Assess Program, which is Xpel’s computer software that allows the plotter to cut out every panel of my car perfectly.
The level of micro detail on the lines and precision is incredible and surely adds to the life span of the film given that there are no nasty hand-cut edges or poorly measured panels. Ten year warranty too. Honestly the overall results are jaw dropping and actually exceeded my expectations when looked upon closely. But there is something else. Knowing the car is fully protected from new means I can enjoy the car even more. Take my way home from Trade X, for instance. The place is littered with flood damaged serviced roads, with rocks and grit everywhere. A large truck rolls by and shoots shrapnel in my direction. I grimace but smile knowing my GT4 is properly protected.
Plans for this month now involve less parking and more driving.
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