thomnellie

I had actually been thinking of selling my 987 Boxster S because it just didn't make sense where I lived. The Boxster is at its best on twisties, and we have very little of that in Delaware. There is a lot of straight highway driving to get to interesting roads, and the Boxster is not even remotely fun there. Plus, visibility is not good in our frequent rainstorms. I had the PDK without chrono sport and its limited torque below 3k rpm was a problem in cut and thrust urban driving.

I subsequently took the one day driving course at Porsche's Birmingham facility where I had the chance to drive the Boxster GTS and the 911S back to back on the track. For all the students, the 911 was the clear track winner. The Boxster was great fun, but the 911 was the more serious track vehicle with better torque and power and outstanding stability. Most important of all was that it was a more organic driving experience than the Boxster, with wonderful feedback. On the other hand the Boxster was an absolute blast on the autocross circuit.

I saw images of the 991 T4S and fell in love. Like many here have said, its appearance relative to the Boxster is a plus. I subsequently ordered a T4S and love driving it whenever and wherever. It's great in traffic, comfortable on interstates, is a superb driving experience rain or snow and is scarily fast and capable on the twisties. It makes me smile whenever I drive it. Plus, it has room for my wife's purse.

MKW

LOL...my wife hates driving the Boxster if we are both in it because I insist that her ginormous purse be placed in the trunk in order to have any foot room ....she does not like the resultant smell and condition of roasted leather and the various " sundries " within it !

kinimod

100% agree with this. Carrera feels very heavy, large and slow in stop and go. Also the interior is not as tight, rattles here and there, so subjectively it can contribute to feeling more "loose".

However, once you're on a wide enough, smooth and twisty road (or a track) and keeping it in high RPMs, it comes alive and the size of it adds to the feeling of confidence, with the ridiculous rear axle traction.

991 needs the right road to enjoy, but when you get to one, it's intoxicating.

981 is more enjoyable generally anywhere, BUT once you're on a road I'm describing above, you wish you had the 991 instead.

Valkuri

There are, of course steps in between: Some of us are Joe Wanted-a-911-forever-and-like-to-drive-briskly-but-not-race.

thomnellie

Disagree 100%. To me, it's the Boxster that feels sluggish in stop and go, the consequence of lower torque.

Dude174

+1 also when you discuss cars with people, everyone knows what a 911 is/looks like, etc. When I was looking at caymans, my friends would be like why do you want that suv? Duh that's the cay-ENNE.

Archimedes

While I think the 981 is pretty squirt in traffic, the Carrera has more torque, at lower RPMs, a shorter wheelbase than the Cayman and the weight difference is only about 200lbs. I find the Carrera the peppier car everywhere.

997s07

The wheelbase is about one inch shorter. That won't add much. The weight difference is significant especially when the engine pivot point is in the middle of the car verses the end. I don't find the Carrera more nimble in slower traffic. The Cayman feels a lot lighter on its feet.

997s07

And another point, if the Cayman actually had the same exact engine power output as the Carrera, we would not be talking performance differences in the 911s favor - especially if the Cayman acquired a real rear suspension.

If we are talking performance why don't we give them both the same engine and suspension and see what happens? We shouldn't ignore the way Porsche has clipped the Cayman, the GT4 is still not a full potential Cayman. There is a reason F1 cars are mid-engined.

eonflux

I'll start by stating that a mid-engine layout makes the most sense, and no doubt Porsche agrees, with the Carrera GT and 918 as evidence.

But I'm surprised by the Nurburgring lap times for the GT4 vs C2S
http://fastestlaps.com/tracks/nordschleife

C2S (1415 kg, 400 hp) = 7:37.90
GT4 (1340 kg, 385 hp) = 7.42.00

If the weights are accurate and I did the math correctly, the GT4 has a better kg/hp ratio (3.48 vs 3.58)

Perhaps on such a long track, 4.1 sec is a basically a tie, especially with different drivers.
But I would have expected the GT4 to not only have beaten a C2S, but to post a significantly better time.

Fasttoys1

When comparing the Nurburgring lap times Cayman S (981) verse 911 (991) I was surprised.


Porsche Cayman S (981) Walter Rohrl 7:55.00 325 / 1320 Porsche 911 Carrera (991) Dag Johnsen 8:02.00 350 / 1400 Porsche Boxster S (981) Horst von Saurma 8:04.00 315 / 1320

eonflux

The kg/hp ratios don't correlate with lap times:
Cayman S = 4.06
991 = 4.00
Boxster S = 4.19

Or perhaps +/- 4-7 sec (or even more), particularly with different drivers, doesn't matter?

MKW

love you avatar and board handle

the Mach 3 NAA XB-70 Valkyrie, developed in the late 1950s / early '60s.....the most beautiful flying machine of all time ...nothing even remotely close to it

back then the smartest techies produced stuff like this ...today ...they code apps to deliver a better dry cleaning " user experience " and are paid $$$ for doing so ...roll eyes

997s07

Power to weight ratios doesn't matter much on tracks with not much elevation change. Power to drag ratios are far more important.

The Cayman has a flimsy rear suspension that flexes when the power is being applied. When the 987 was first being studied on tracks it was beating the 997. Even with less power. So Porsche made "adjustments."

I have a 991. It's a great car and I prefer it now over a Cayman, it has seats, is roomier, but it doesn't feel like a sports car until you hit illegal speeds and 90 degree turns. Even so, the 991 has its engine closer to the middle than any other 911 before it.

MKW

for me , in the most positive way with regards to their seat of the pants driving " sweet spots " :

98X , Porsche's best fun toy , developed in the 1990s , so it is optimized for today's reality of population growth / congested roads and resultant speeds below 90 mph

99X , Porsche's best fun tool , optimized and evolved over the past 50 + years for speeds above 90 mph attained in the past on autobahns and now mostly on race tracks

so on the same road, I have to be going 20 mph faster in the 911 to get the same " thrill ride " vs the Boxster