We will very likely get the 981. Pity, as there is so much right with the 718 and we like new car smell ;)

It’s a shame that Audi (part of the same company) can put a 5-potter in the TT that makes it sound like you’re doing an 80’s Group-B rally stage on full attack... :(

This, this right here.

I had a 718 Cayman S "extended test drive" of sorts about a year ago, when I had my 981 BGTS in for service. They couldn't finish my car that day so they let me keep it over the weekend. I really, really loved the 718, far more than I expected, to the point where I was almost sad when it was time to pick up my car and was almost starting to consider if I made the wrong call on choosing a 981.

All the way up until I sat in my car and turned the ignition. All doubt was completely erased by the time I turned out of the dealership parking lot.

The only thing this actually proves is that whichever car you choose, just avoid driving the other one.

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

I must be an outlier. Admittedly I've only driven a 981-generation S model once (took it on a very spirited test drive.) Yes, the engine melody above 4,000 rpm was quite inspiring. But the car just felt significantly slower than my 718, especially at lower RPMs (unsurprisingly.) I couldn't quite fathom the idea of driving around town with the revs way up just to keep a feeling of power and speed.

Don't get me wrong; the 981 sounded great. But only when I really stepped on it, which you get to do -- what -- 5% of the time you're actually driving the car on most trips?

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...e2f2c7a22d.gif


They're both great cars. Some prefer one over the other, but that doesn't make them wrong vs. right. This discussion about sound vs. torque, 6-cyl vs. 4-cyl, NA vs. turbo, etc. is soooooooo tired. Can we have a pact where we all agree to like the car we bought and appreciate whatever choice others made?

I'll go further. Back in early 2012, when I test drove a 2012 Audi S5 (with V8) and a 2012 Cayman back-to-back, I came away impressed with the Audi S5. I bought the Audi, and a big reason was the Audi V8 sounded great at ALL speeds. What I missed during my Cayman test drive was all-out acceleration in the higher RPM band. So I did miss the big plus (of that wail) that the 2012 Cayman had to offer.

The straight 5 is a gem of an engine. It’s the only thing about my TT RS that I miss. Too bad it can’t be laid flat and stuffed into a 718.

We came very close to buying an S5 or RS3 last month, instead of the 718 Cayman S we ended up getting (in addition to our base 718 Boxster). They are great cars. But I wasn't a fan of the RS3 interior, and the S5 just felt too large on both our test drives. Still, they are very impressive cars...

I still have my Audi B7 RS4 that I have had since 2008. People rave about the 6MT and roar of the V8. Me, personally, I'm not so impressed. It's alright but I don't go gaga over the sound and I certainly enjoy my 718 GTS as much, if not more, than my RS4. It certainly doesn't have the driving dynamics of the 718 and the interior is a bit bland. I think the only reason I keep it is that every time I go out somebody approaches me and starts raving about the car... non owners, no doubt. LOL. ( by the way I really liked the RS3 interior)

On the other hand, I pretty much also get a compliment every time I take out my Cayman, mostly because it is racing yellow.

In the end, I've never found a car that hits all my buttons 100%. Mostly they are all 90% but a different 90%. ( and I currently have 5 cars, three of them are Porsches)

I love that Racing Yellow. However I got outvoted by the wifey. I would have spec'd everything else in black (model designation, etc) and just called the car 'Bumblebee' 👍

Keeping the wife happy is always a good thing. I wanted purple, the wife wanted orange. We settled on yellow because we could both agree that free is better.

Next time I think I am going for purple. I'll order when the wife is out of town and claim that I asked but didn't hear a response. When she complains she wasn't even home when I asked I'll just give her my usual dumb, confused look. Works like a charm.

Picking up my racing yellow bgts tomorrow. First yellow car ever. Having always wanted yellow but for whatever reason it never happened. Not a lot of yellow sports cars. Yellow vettes maybe Camara and mustang. Mclaren u can get yellow and Ferrari. Yellow seems like a very rare car color.

I thought about this when I was considering 718 vs 981. Honestly, I think that the 718 with PSE actually sounds BETTER at cruising speeds, putting around town. Yeah, I said it.

But I think it's worth mentioning, I was coming from an M4. If you think the 718 has pretty good torque, you'd love the M4- I made the connection almost immediately that it feels like a German muscle car (that is also excellent on a road course). I did love that, but actually wanted something new. The "drive a slow car fast" thing ended up winning out for me. And since pulling the trigger on the 981, I find excuses to wind it out more. The powerband is almost like a sport bike; it REALLY comes in hard once you get it above 4-5k rpm. There's just something about that experience that can't be duplicated by the 718, which I will agree with others who say the 4 cylinder feels "rough" when you wind it out, which to me at least actively discouraged me from wanting to. I'm sure I'd get used to it over time though, and as many have mentioned, both cars have their own distinct advantages.

Great gif, but if you came into this thread thinking you wouldn't get what you got... I don't really know what to tell you. We all come to this forum for different reasons, and apparently many of us like saying the same things over and over again.

Yeah that Audi V8 is amazing. Sound and low-end torque. I've always wanted an RS4...

I'm actually jealous. I think an RS4 and a Cayman would be a fantastic garage. I would actually prefer an RS4 over my Macan S, but there's no way I could convince the wife that made any sense at all. That doesn't rule out me just outright buying one down the line though. So yeah I would definitely be one of those guys who would rave about your car.

How is maintenance/reliability on the RS4? Assuming you have some miles on it. That's the one thing that's always scared me away from Audis- as I understand it, they're worse than BMW for out-of-warranty ownership. As wonderful as that engine is, I have to assume it's like the S65 and ridiculously overengineered, and outrageously expensive to replace if anything goes tragically wrong.

I've had the car since it was a few months old. I was the third owner and it had 4000 miles on it. I have put on another 31,000 miles. I don't get a lot of miles on most of my cars since much of the time I am driving the SUV and hauling crap or going to Home Depot. Four of my cars get lightly used but I still enjoy them.

Nothing about RS4 maintenance has been all that alarming to me yet. Routine maintenance I do myself since I have the time, equipment and space. Aside from a couple recall issues like airbag and shocks (IIRC, from years ago). Not many problems ( knock on wood). I've had a coil go bad and replaced the eight. Costs was uneventful. When I replaced my front rotors, the price on those was a bit eye watering. [from memory] OEM rotors were about $1200 just for the fronts, I found some Brembo direct replacements online for about $1000. I went to my local guy down the street( not a specialty shop) and he got me the Brembo replacements for $500 ( I though that was a steal. Should have ordered a lifetime supply!) Dodged that bullet. OEM (TRW) pads were nothing special regarding price but I put on EBC pads.

I don't baby the car and have even taken it to autoX but it is a bit big and heavy for that. I run it at high rpm's pretty frequently and haven't perceived any issue with carbon buildup. ( my usual Italian tuneup) Maybe some time in the next 5000 miles I might do a carbon cleaning but so far it seems fine.

I have aftermarket rims and snow tires for the car since it is primarily a winter car for me.

I do think Audi charged me about $470 for my first oil change back in 2008/09 and that was the last time I took it to a dealer for anything I had to pay out of pocket.

Yeah that's actually still pretty low miles. About par for the course for high end car maintenance- was wondering if there was anything catastrophic I should watch out for (e.g, IMS for 986/7s) but I'll do more due diligence later.

I did a quick glance on autotrader and most ones for sale were in the 90k+ range ($20-30k). There was one with 15k on it but they wanted nearly $55k for it. Similarly priced to an E46 M3, but I'd get all wheel drive and an extra set of doors... but to your point I don't think I'd spend much time with it on track. Still, worth looking into.