RJ80

I bought my 987.2 last October and with just over 36k miles, well-optioned, and in immaculate condition, I'll admit that I've been having a hard time using the car properly.

That said, I just returned from a 500-mile roundtrip to go driving with some friends in a neighboring state. Through both relentlessly pouring rain and brightly shining sun, I had an absolute blast.

Our cars were a '06 Lotus Elise, '76 Porsche 911S and my '10 Cayman, and we had a great time swapping between the three and noting our impressions on some of the best local driving roads. Swap-over points were sometimes at muddy, gravelly campground and hiking trail parking lots. I winced at first, then I loosened up.

I went down to the garage tonight to have a look at the car. It was dirty, with streaks tracing the airflow of rain and dirt along the car's curves and surfaces -- almost like a wind tunnel model. Regardless, it was really none the worse for the wear. Tomorrow I'll wash it, including the wheel wells and underbody, and it will be ready for the next drive, which will come sooner than later.

I'm suddenly determined to start driving the car whenever the mood strikes me. It's a sports car after all, and a well-built one at that. I spent a year searching for this car and have no plans of selling in the next decade, why save all the fun for the next owner? I think the "Be Glad" radio song title randomly displayed on my dash is most apt!

Let this serve as a thread for random pictures of forum members using our 987s, both Boxster and Cayman are welcome here. Please post your most recent drive photos!

Spyder_2011

Beautiful example and nice to see it used for its intended purpose. Would love to get your impressions of the other two cars vs the Cayman.

Here are a couple of pictures of mine after a canyon run about 3 weeks ago. I’ve been traveling so I haven’t been able to take it out since and I also have to share some driving time with the other fun cars.

Ric In RVA

I’d love to hear the driving impressions of the group.

was there a favorite?

great selection of cars and pics!

RJ80

Different cars seemed better suited towards certain purposes, but it's tough to directly compare since they are all so different. All the 911 controls besides the gearchange were fairly heavy, including the steering, surprisingly. Everything in the 911 feels pretty antiquated, of course -- you don't think about things like tiny 1970s climate control vents and the myriad ***** and switches needed to operate the system until you're actually using a car like this. The car felt pretty planted on twisty roads, but had that vintage 911 steering on the highway that demands a little attention to keep going straight ahead. There is a good amount of torque, especially considering this car is from a dark period in Porsche history with regard to U.S. output and emissions controls.

The Elise was was really light in its controls and extremely direct and full of feel. The brakes were also really sharp, but easy to modulate. There's plenty of mechanical noise and road noise, given the relative lack of sound deadening and all the hard surfaces in the cabin that sound bounces around on. I'm a little beyond wanting an Elise as a road car, as amazing as it was on the right roads. Getting in and out with the roof on is a chore and there is obviously little by the way of comfort if you wanted to use the car for more than backroads blasts. It's a track car for the road, for better or worse.

The Cayman was in between the others in many regards. Sharper overall and far quicker than the 911, but feels like a bigger and somewhat duller car after getting out of the Elise. It's also torquier than the Elise, but I'd bet they are both similar overall with regard to acceleration. The Cayman felt like a far more usable car than the others, as far as being you'd want to drive day after day in a variety of conditions.

Ric In RVA

Great feedback.

I have a friend with an Elise and he said I can drive it.....I think a friend with an Elise is probably the best way to experience one....They do look like a riot though.

The Cayman/boxster chassis is just such a versatile car....hard to beat.

RJ80

I agree on both counts.

andy7777

That looks like a great ride.

Coincidentally, I've owned both a Lotus Elise and an early short-hood 911, a 1974 Targa. That was back in the 90s and early 2000s, and the Elise a few years ago. I think your comparison is spot-on for both the cars. What's pretty amazing to me is that an early 911 can still be a quick and fun track car today, you just have to be prepared for it getting out of hand a bit unless you know how to drive it well.

As between the Elise and a Cayman (I have the Cayman R), I find I can drive the R faster on a track than the Elise, mostly because the early Elise without any kind of traction control is much more twitchy. I had a number of spins in that car on inputs that don't faze the Porsche. I know it's more a sign as to my ability as a driver than anything else but I feel more confident in the Cayman at speed than I did in the Elise (which I tracked for 6 years).

On the road there isn't much comparison between the two. The Elise is a great fair weather, 2-hours or less fun car. The Cayman is something you can drive all day. One of my favorite tracks is about 2.5 hours away, and it is really nice to spend 2 or 3 days getting up to speed, then putting the car back together and turning on the A/C and cruising back comfortably on the interstate. One of the scariest rides of my life was in the same circumstance in the Lotus, when I had to drive it back in a heavy rain on worn track tires. It would hydroplane over 45MPH, I had to get off the interstate and take side roads just so I wouldnt end up in a ditch or worse.

The Porsche is a tough car, you shouldn't have any concerns about driving it. My R has done many track days and I use it for going to Costco too sometimes, and the only mechanical issue I've had with it in 7 years is a leaky shock.

Thanks for posting your story!

RJ80

That's really interesting perspective, thanks for sharing. The R is an amazing car, congrats. I drove one up and back to Laguna Seca from Los Angeles when they first came out around 2010. Only trouble was the a/c delete in the midst of a California summer!

sasilverbullet

A/C delete? The R's have no A/C? I've seen R's down here in south Texas with their windows rolled up on a hot day.

Spyder_2011

It was available as an option but you had to pay for it, same as Spyder.

Cayman292

Camp 18 has great food and fun back roads through Jewel.