Many posts have covered the basics, and some are hard to deny: buck-for-buck the C7 is a far better deal, the Cayman is more refined, the C7 has better acceleration, the Cayman will be more reliable, etc., etc. All that's true.

That said, however, there are a couple of differences that haven't been mentioned that I think favor the Cayman.

First, unlike a Vette (or a 911), the engine is in the right place. Every race car in the last half century has the motor in the middle for obvious reasons.

Second, the Corvette answers most questions with cubic inches. Does it not embarrass anyone that there's one camshaft, it's in the block, there are push rods, there's one intake valve and one exhaust valve in each cylinder, etc.? This ancient technology was abandoned by most cars (including most really cheap cars) many years ago. This bothers me even though, yes, I know it goes faster.

The styling is SO polar opposite in these 2 cars--one big, heavy, brash, in-your-face overtly American muscle car, while the other is sophisticated, subtle, & understate. I know some people do indeed prefer the former (though obviously I'm not among them). It would seem that that one factor alone might push lots of people into one camp or the other, all other issues aside. As another post stated, these cars are for very different people.

 

Push rods, single cams and no four valve heads don't bother me at all if the power, torque and weight objectives are met. The 454 in my Searay was primitive too, a carberated giant V8, nothing sounded cooler wide open and it ran like an atomic clock every day I owned it.

 

Perhaps I'm in the minority, but cannot imagine cross-shopping these cars.

 

Great succinct post. You've written a virtual book in one sentence. . . and thus you may not be in a minority.

 

Agree the feel and attachment to a Cayman or 911 is like none other.

 

Actually I bet many Vette owners are very attached to their cars--but it's hard to imagine there is much overlap between those folks and people who love Porsches, as the two cars are so extremely different and appear to be catering to vastly different audiences.

There's a place on earth for a scalpel and arguably an equally legitimate place for a sledge hammer. It's just hard to understand how someone would scratch their head wondering, "Should I purchase a sledge hammer or a scalpel?" To be fair, before we write the "sledge hammer" off, it is indeed a better deal and it does accelerate faster. It just ain't for me (or apparently you, or so I gather).

That said, I agree with you--many Porsche people seem to be way more attached to their cars than most folks, and it is a somewhat unique attachment that, despite what some predicted, did not diminish when Porsche went away from air-cooled engines or making only cars with the engines behind the rear axle.

 

One of my neighbors just picked up a C7 Z51 and it's pretty nice. I wouldn't buy it but it definitely is a big step up from previous Corvettes. One thing that surprised me was its size, the back seems unnecessarily large.

 

I went to a recent Corvette roadshow out here in LA. It prompted me to hit the Chevy website and build a C7. That prompted me to think about owning a Corvette. And that prompted me to go get a Cayman.

C7 is the new GT-R (2009 model) in terms of bang for the buck. Alas, I'm a P car guy. So, while in the minority, I did cross shop them and couldn't be happier with my decision. It's the best usuable drivers car (and Porsche) I've ever driven or owned. I put usuable in there cause I owned a 4.0 which was not.

 

Interesting. I recently drove a '14' Cayman S with sport suspension, torque vectoring and PDK. It was a blast to drive. I found no faults with the car. In fact I almost ordered the new Cayman GTS but ended up finding a pristine low mileage 2010 GT3.