LastGT3

Yep - CaymanS - no LSD, no tires - QED
I think if someone's wishes come through, a Cayman will eventually come out to take out the 911 with the stuff we want.

chimmay

its not that 500hp is hard to attain anymore its the fact that the Z06 is doing it cheap and lightweight...the only 500hp m car i know of right now is the 5-series and that thing is fat and expensive...its really a matter of gettin what you pay for...when you have a motor producing that much power for a reasonable price, you're gonna loose out somewhere...ex: evo...cheap/fast/handling...but when you really drive/feel the car it feels like its made of tinfoil

LastGT3

You are absolutely correct - we are expecting more in our sports cars as the standards for performance have risen in the past 10 years. It just not competitive to have sub-300hp and handling - we need both to be truly a player with whats now offered with 500hp and handling.
Fit and finish was a criterion but now is a given thanks to the civic.
I think this better for all of us and just makes us very luck to have access (or potential access) to a lot really great cars).
It used to be there really was only porsche, but the other (read GM) is now in the show..and now they have to perform at the track - I cannot wait to see how well they do first hand. If they are as good as they should be, it definitely will put pressure on all PAG cars re US pricing, and may in fact take away sales that are attributable to enthusiasts vs image-poseurs. The new 997GT3 better not get passed by a Z06-lackey...I am sure PAG has already accounted for this.

m3bs

This one got my attention. I've been contemplating both the Cayman and the Lotus recently, and the C&D article about convinced me to stick with my M3 (on R compounds), which is several seconds faster at Road Atlanta than C&D clocked in either car.

I'd love to see more market focus on the dedicated track cars, not high powered (and high $) street cars. I've had the hots for a GT3, but the thought of balling up a car in that price range scares me away. If Porsche could build a stripper version of the Cayman with the emphasis on light weight, minimal creature comforts and low cost I'd jump all over it.

I got a call from a friend recently raving about how a new car he had just driven was more fun than any Porsche, Ferrari, or any other car he had ever driven. Lotus Elise.

Maybe it's the old age talking, but there's nowhere to use 500 HP on the street. Give me a toy that's fun and competitive on the track, and I'll be content to drive my tow vehicle on the street!

gabbagabbahey

Does it really matter if you are a couple seconds slower on a track in an Elise if you have a big driving it ?

The Cayman is fantastic from my brief test drive, but for 65K, I'd rather have an Elise and the new 2.0T VW GTI for every day street driving. Of course an Elise or Exige and a Cayman would be even better if I had the $.

pstoppani

m3bs - A word of caution, don't drive the Elise unless you are ready to give up the M3 because once you've driven an Elise, especially on a track, you will find that most all other cars seem/feel like a mini-van. That is how my '05 M3 started to feel... it is gone now... I traded it for the Cayman so I could have a less-mini-van-like daily driver

For me, the Elise is easily the funnest track car that I've driven... However, I enjoy the Cayman off the track more. I'll find out in about a week how much I like the Cayman on the track. I'm expecting it will be very fun since I had a Boxster S for a couple of years and it was the funnest on track until I got the Elise.

Realise that the Cayman was on street tires in that test; on R-compounds it would be considerably faster (closer if not faster than your M3) and a hoot to drive

mooty

[QUOTE=pstoppani]m3bs - A word of caution, don't drive the Elise unless you are ready to give up the M3 because once you've driven an Elise, especially on a track, you will find that most all other cars seem/feel like a mini-van. That is how my '05 M3 started to feel... it is gone now... I traded it for the Cayman so I could have a less-mini-van-like daily driver

other than e30m3, the other two always felt like mini van, even the one i gutted and installed moton on. ok, it's a faster mini van.