Brent 89-GT

According to C&D this is going to be a $70k hardtop Boxster. It is supposed to fall between the 911 and 911S models for price. I guess for me that makes buying a 911 a no-brainer. The Cayman might be faster but the new 911 is so much more car, and not exactly slow.

Seems like an odd marketing strategy to me, I was hoping for a $50k hardtop Boxster. How do they expect it to compete at 911 prices?

MikeN

I saw this short article and think C&D is just flat out wrong or mis-informed.....can't believe they actually published it. However if on an outside chance they are correct I won't even be thinking
about a Cayman anymore......way too overpriced.

I too was hoping for a great 3.2L 280hp low $50k coupe......which is what it should have been all along.....maybe the non-S version will fall into this catagory. If the S version comes in right at $60K I might still spring for it, but its getting frustrating to see the amount of profit Porsche wants from their cars lately.

Baron009

Why can't they make a 240hp coupe? Heck even 200hp flat would be fine with me.. I just want the Porsche handling and quality - all for a reasonble price.

Brent 89-GT

Well....I have 20 years worth of C&D issues on a bookshelf, they aren't THAT far off too often. Hopefully you are right and they just had some bad info.

When you consider though that they are talking about a 300 hp 3.4L, which is close to the original 996 engine, in a lighter car.... The performance, by comparison to the 911 models, might dictate such a price.

The mark-up kills me as well. Having bought a new Cayenne S, and knowing the invoice price via the internet, makes buying anything new from them painful. No other major automaker is able to consistently get a $10k per vehicle profit at the dealer. Of course, nobody else is selling Porsches

hly

sorry for the noob question, but can someone explain to me why the "911 is so much more car" than a Cayman S? is it because of the two small extra seats in the back, or the prestigious 911 name, or the rear-weight handling characteristic? Thanks

gtdrei

I'll take a shot, but be warned, there may not be much logic here. First , some background. I've owned 5 911's, going back to an '82, and included two TT's ( a 993 and a 500hp 996)and currently, a GT3, which is highly suspension tweaked. I've also owned one 944, a 1983. Why do I prefer the 911 ? Simple, power, more power, and yes, braking The fastest Porsche has always been a 911.

(CGT doesn't count, I can't afford a Le Mans racer)

Porsche's 'other ' cars, specifically, the 914's, 944, and variants, and now the Boxsters and variants, including the upcoming Cayman, have always outhandled the 911's, in that they have all, because of their more balanced weighting , been easier cars to drive, and easier to drive faster. Certainly they have ALL been easier cars for any driver to learn to drive fast properly at DE's and track days.

Some, including the 994 Turbo and the 968's, still routinely terrorize 911's at the PCA races, and track days. PAG has always delivered these 'other' cars with less pure HP than the 911's, and always, cheaper than the 911's, helping to reinforce the image.

Porsche's marketing has always positioned the 911 as the ultimate Porsche, and has always spent the most marketing $ and Motorsport $ behind the 911, therefore, we perceive the 911's to be the 'Ultimate Porsche', and 'so much more car' than ...'

A lightweight 300 HP Cayman Coupe is a serious threat to that concept, especially if PAG goes the extra mile and develops a Clubsport or 'GT' class model.

Perhaps, PAG is seeing the end of the road for the rear engined car, or at least hedging their bets.

Robin

nyca

perhaps they do see the end of the line on the rear engine cars - but still, they have to sell BOTH this car and the 911 - which means the Cayman has to be priced to sell, and at $70K (plus options?), I don't see it.

Paul Marangoni

The Cayman will be priced below the 911. Not much, below, but below none the less.

Viken

BINGO!

Viken

It's mainly because it's a *911*. There is no denying the fact that the Cayman will be a better balance and more exciting car to drive. Heck, the Boxster as it is now is that already.

Cupcar

I beg to differ that the fastest Porsche has been a rear engined car.

Perhaps the fastest "street" 911 has been the fastest in a straight line by virtue of power but NONE of the prototype racing cars, save the 935, have ever been rear engined. The 935 was built to exploit FIA regulations, not because it was the best solution to the problem of building a racing car from the standpoint of physics.

Porsche #1 was mid-engined, every prototype racing car Porsche has ever built has been mid-engined from the 550 to the GT1 which was a 911 forward cowl with a tube chassis behind and an engine in the middle. If the regulations allowed it the race cars were mid-engined.

Porsche has marketed the 911 as the top model by overcoming physics with horsepower and I am hopeful the Caymen is the beginning of the end of this.

Viken

That's exactly what is going to happen. Watch for two distinctly different cars to replace the rear engine.

Riad

From what I've read it's supposed to be priced higher than the Boxster S and just below the base 911... now that doesn't leave much room.

I stated this in another thread but I really don't see the marketing strategy here.

Paul Marangoni

They figure that the Cayman is only going to appeal to a certain group of individuals. They're not marketing it to people who gauge the car's value based on the sticker price. But they also realize that if they price it too low, there will be the perception that there's something 'wrong' with it.

At the focus group, they would show us 4 or 5 cars on a page, with varying prices and we would pick which one we would buy. Then they would show the same cars with DIFFERENT prices to see if the price affected our decision. This would go on for about 10 screens and in that time the Cayman's price fluctuated wildly. On one screen it would be $55,000, then on another it would be $38,000 and then on another it would be $85,000 (I can't remember the numbers exactly, but you get the point). Being an application developer myself, I found this exercise very interesting and it took me three screens to figure out what they were actually testing.

Porsche knows how our minds work, and it's sad to say that many of us will pay more for a car because we feel it must be a better car if it costs more. Look at the Turbo. Is it really THAT much more of a car to cost THAT much more? No.

jonboy

This whole Cayman option has thrown me into terrible indecision.

My reference point is an E46 M3.

Test drove a 997s and felt it significantly upped the game from the M3 both in terms of power and handling.

Then the Cayman question arises, better handling?
Easier to drive fast?
As quick/quicker round the 'ring

I have never owner a Porsche and am really looking for the full caffeine Porsche experience. If I am looking for a sharp tool for road use, I'm not going to be tracking, with 0-100 in around 10-12secs and decent ride quaility over rough surfaces which do you think would be the better deal?

jonboy