higlesias

I'd like to add, I love the car when driven to the limit. The fact that people say it's a handful makes me love it even more. It can bite you, and hard, at any moment, which I adore about it.
Anywho, I look forward to owning the Cayman, I think it will be a different type of enjoyment, at least I hope so. I hear so many positive things about it and that excites me.

Until I get it, the only analogy I can think of is with street bikes. I own a 600cc R6 and a 1000cc S1000R. One is a razorblade and one is a hammer, albeit a well mannered hammer, but the power is phenomenal.

kiznarsh

Did you buy it without ever having driven one?

higlesias

The only one I drove was a 987.2 Base. for about an hour in SF on a rainy day a week ago. I drove it up to twin peaks for a couple curves and that was it. Sadly, not enough to really learn the car. I didn't like the lack of power. I also didn't like how obtrusive the PSM was even after being switched off. I gotta find a way to truly turn it off.

This style of decision making is not the best, admittedly. However, my S1000R, R1200GS and M4 were all bought sight unseen as they were new and none were available to proper test drives.
I love all of those machines as if they were my children and fit me like a glove. But we'll see. If I hate it, well, I'll take a loss and sell it.

manifold danger

I'd have to think the power difference between a base and an S would be substantial. That said, I have a 981 GTS (Boxster so it's supposedly down about 10 hp to the CGTS) and can tell you firsthand that it's not the same experience as an M4. For better or for worse. It can feel sluggish until about 4500 rpm and then, there's no problem. You just have to adapt to driving it that way... and to be honest, it's part of the charm. There's not a better noise than a flat 6 this side of a Ferrari, so getting to those upper revs doesn't really get old (especially if you have the Porsche Sport Exhaust- most would probably consider the factory option PSE better than any aftermarket exhaust unless you just want volume).

Also FWIW, these cars don't have LSD unless you get the Porsche Torque Vectoring option. Big reason for that is that they're engineered for balance; it's not easy/desirable to get them sideways so the lack of LSD isn't as noticeable as you'd think. I've only had mine out to a couple autocross events so I haven't noticed the intrusiveness of the PSM; either that or it's easier to turn off in the 981? Haven't done it since the summer so I might not be recalling correctly but I just put mine in Sport+ and hold the traction button until it turns off... seems ok to me for the low limits required for autocross. Still, PTV is a preferred option for most "driver's car" builds. It's the only option mine doesn't have, but I can't say I miss it for what I've used it for so far. This may not become a track **** like I originally thought anyway, but I still don't think I'll ever part with it.

Still curious to see what you think, as it seems that people defending the M4 are in the minority and I just don't understand why. Some folks make it a point to comment on how terrible they think the M4 is at every opportunity. Worst case if you hate the Cayman, you probably won't take much of a loss as the 6 cylinder cars seem to be holding their value extremely well.