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Both look like a high-buck sportscar, which engenders the same typical resentment and negativity in most people, whether they openly admit it to you or not.
You got to be joking. Almost every time I have my car out at least one other driver pulls some sort of aggressive move on my car.
OP - drive whatever makes you happy, as others have stated.
Personally I have to focus on making more time to drive the 911 this year. Time is becoming an ever so precious commodity....
I know that I'm late on this thread. But, having had a number of sports cars during the past 50+ years, I was looking to replace my 993 Targa and had focused on a "to-order" 718 Cayman or Cayman S. The stiffer ride and lack of flat-6 sound was a small drawback. But, the thing that pushed us into a 991 S was the claustrophobic feeling of the Cayman. And, since my track days are either past or limited, I settled (?) on a 991 coupe.
I know this will be considered sacrilege and/or asinine by some, but I have decided to switch from a 2017 911 Carrera S to a 2018 Cayman GTS.
Put in the order last week. Specs of both are below, and I've tried to attach pictures of the Cayman build. Love my 911, but test drove a Cayman S, and couldn’t believe how much fun it was , and how different the mid-engine felt (balance, etc.). So fun that I started to think about the relative cost of building a Cayman GTS to my preferred specs relative to the trade in value of the 911 (which I bought at a significant discount from my local dealer) – the 911 is very nice, but not to my preferred spec (was missing MT) and colour scheme. Turned out to be a pretty even deal.
Some other considerations:
- The loss of the backseat (only used for storing bags in the 911 anyway);
- Moving from a 6-cyl to 4-cyl… yes, there is a difference in sound, but not a deal breaker for me, and the fun factor more than compensates;
- Loss of the “911 prestige factor”, i.e. that the 718 is "an entry level sports car", the 911 more refined. In some ways I suppose this has some truth to it, but the 718 is not a “lesser car”, just fundamentally different. Must be driven to be understood.
I’d be interested in the views of the Rennlist community on the switch… from what I’ve read, there are those that just won’t ever entertain a 4-pot over a 6, and I get that. I guess in the end we all buy the cars that speak to us…
Outgoing 2017 911 Carrera S
Guards Red
Power Sport Seats (14-way) with Memory Package
Seat belts in Guards Red
Sport Chrono Package
Sport Exhaust System
Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
Premium Package Plus i.c.w. Power Sport Seats (14-way)
Luggage net in passenger footwell
Smoking package
Porsche Crest on headrests
SportDesign exterior mirrors
Wheel center caps with colored Porsche Crest
Multifunction and Heated Steering Wheel
20" RS Spyder Design Wheels
Electric Slide/Tilt Sunroof in Glass
Power Steering Plus
BOSE® Surround Sound-System
SportDesign Exterior Mirrors (Lower Trim) Painted in High Gloss Black
PORSCHE Logo and Model Designation Painted
Bi-Xenon™ headlights with four-point LED daytime running lights and dynamic headlight leveling
Incoming 2018 718 Cayman GTS
Night Blue Metallic (interior: TG Leather Interior with Sport-Tex Seat Centers in Graphite Blue/Chalk)
Premium Package Plus (Adaptive Sport Seats Plus, 18-way) - Porsche Entry & Drive; Automatically Dimming Mirrors with Integrated Rain Sensor; Light Design Package; 2-Zone Automatic Climate Control; Seat Heating
Deletion of Model Designation on Doors
Window Surround and Window Triangle Painted in High-Gloss Black
Bi-Xenon main headlights in Black including Porsche Dynamic Light System (PDLS)
SportDesign Package Painted in Black (high-gloss)
Rear side air intake grilles painted
Performance 480 6-speed Manual Transmission
Power Steering Plus
20" 911 Turbo wheels
GT Sport Steering Wheel (Heated, Multifunction)
Deletion of Alcantara®
Adaptive Sport Seats Plus (18-way) withMemory Package
Smoking Package
Luggage Net in Passenger Footwell
Instrument dials in White
Sport Chrono stopwatch instrument dial in White
Seat Belts in Silver Grey
Porsche Crest on Headrests
Navigation Module for Porsche
Communication Management (PCM)
Burmester® High-End Surround Sound System
Connect Plus
I meant to provide feedback before now, but have been busy with a big move to another city… real estate is time-consuming!
The following are the major impressions of the 718 Cayman GTS (Lucille), bearing in mind I moved from a 991.2 911 S (Stella):
- Mid-engine is sublime. As I’ve suggested in my previous posts, I wouldn’t say Lucille is more fun than Stella, just different. The handling, particularly on corners, is addictive.
- Transmission – I have missed rowing through the gears with PDK (Stella). That said, MT can get tedious in stop-and-go city driving, but of course that is not specific to Lucille. If you are opting for MT, I don’t think you can do much better than the 6-speed on the 718.
- This car is fast. Feels not too far behind Stella off the line… but really, both have more power than you can realistically use on city streets.
- Highway driving has been a pleasant surprise. I was expecting Lucille to feel less “planted” than Stella given her smaller size – not so. She was a beast on the highway… even did a couple of canyon passes through the Alberta badlands, and I found myself grinning.
- Burmester sound system – most definitely better clarity than the Bose system, particularly at volume… volume that you need occasionally to compensate for the louder engine noise in the cockpit. For the money though, I am still debating whether I would order it again.
- Lucille is definitely less flamboyant that Stella – Stella was Guards Red, and the 911 just seemed to turn heads more often. That’s just fine with me, as I didn’t get either of them to solicit attention. Lucille is just more understated in both colour and design… perhaps a better fit for my personality. Not sure.
- Interior space has been a small consideration… particularly with larger items such as golf clubs. A little bit of packing ingenuity goes a long way. As a side note, I had the rock guard installed on the spoiler at the back, to fend against paint scratches from loading/unloading the trunk.
- Engine note – not an issue for me. I loved Stella’s six cylinder “howl”, but honestly it’s not a issue for me. I only mention it because it seems to factor in so heavily on these forums. It is worth noting that the GTS seems to have more of a “growl” than the 718 Cayman S I test drove though… it seems the engineers at Porsche did something to address the perceived quality of the engine note.
- Love the Sportex interior, particularly in this colour combination. It seems durable, though it is too early to tell, and the 18-way seats are far more comfortable to me than the 14-way seats in Stella.
Look forward to hearing hearing some other perspectives, particularly those who have made the switch from a 911.
I am thinking of a switch to a Boxster, so these insights are really valuable to me. I am also interested in the sport tex seats versus the ventilated 14-ways.
I've just traded my beautiful 718S Boxster for a 991.2 Cab 2S. The 718 looks and handles better but the engine I'm afraid caused me to move up. If that car had the 981S Boxster engine (my previous), even though not as powerful, I'd have kept it. It's not so much the sound, although it's not good out of Sport mode, as the vibration throughout the car making all sorts of jittering noises, mainly in the soft top mechanisms. I have to say the 991 is in a different league, much smoother on long runs. But it isn't a 'roadster, more a 'grand tourer'.
I've just traded my beautiful 718S Boxster for a 991.2 Cab 2S. The 718 looks and handles better but the engine I'm afraid caused me to move up. If that car had the 981S Boxster engine (my previous), even though not as powerful, I'd have kept it. It's not so much the sound, although it's not good out of Sport mode, as the vibration throughout the car making all sorts of jittering noises, mainly in the soft top mechanisms. I have to say the 991 is in a different league, much smoother on long runs. But it isn't a 'roadster, more a 'grand tourer'.
If you had a 718 with a GT3 engine would you feel differently (as in 718 Spyder)?
Nice to hear your thoughts OP. I personally own a 991.2 and a 981 GTS, and I agree with much of what you've said. Friends often ask which I'd keep if I could only have one...the Cayman is always the immediate answer. I love my 911, but now that I've tracked it, I feel like I will likely go to a PDK 718S for a daily driver/track use car after my lease ends...the Cayman chassis with turbo torque and a PDK just sounds like the perfect recipe (for me) on track!
Nice write up...I had a 981S Cayman which I really liked. It was super even on the highway long distance...but I must say my current 991.1S is a little better dynamically and power wise and is the all around athlete and pro-bowl champ vs the rookie 1st round pick the Cayman was.
03-04-2018, 10:31 AM
