13mit

Good to hear your assessment. A lot of guys over on P-9 have complained about the cabin noise inside the Caymans as well.

fast1

Did the Cayman you drove have sports suspension? I suppose every one has their version of a stiff ride, but the normal suspension in a Cayman is not stiff.

Archimedes

Yeah, my wife doesn't really care for the ride or noise in the Cayman S either. I love the car, but it is a stiff ride and the noise level in the cabin is pretty excessive. I read somewhere that it's has one of the top 10 loudest cabins of any car sold today.

BTW, it's not the PSE, you can turn that off and the noise is still excessive. It's the intake noise resonating in the cabin.

Tpup

I have driven the Cayman S and a 991S, both PDK, at the limit on the same track, same conditions etc. I have never owned a Cayman or Boxster but I have been driving 911's since 88.

My first comment is that the newer cars are so fast, and so quiet, the they are a bit boring on the road imo. If you do anything that starts to get you near the limit, you are going to jail. I enjoyed driving my Lotus Exige for that reason, it's so loud, so raw, that you feel like you are going fast even if you are just cornering at 30mph. if I try to replicate that "fun factor" in my 991 it's going really, really fast. My first point is that the Boxster may be more fun because you can get closer to the limits in it on a public road without ending up in jail.

In tracking both cars, and perhaps because I'm used to 911's, I preferred the 991S over the Cayman S. The Cayman had a tendency, when I first started lapping, to have the rear start to "oversteer" on me. The nice thing about the car is it was very easy to correct, just lift your foot a bit and it would get back in line. I found I could get on the power quicker in the 991 and had to hold back longer in the Cayman. I also am used to using the weight in the rear of the 991 to get it to change directions by "wagging" the tail. I did not do that with the Cayman as there was not as much "weight" back there. For me, at the track, at the limit, I prefer the 991. That said it is a bit boring on the road imo (unless I want to go to jail...).

DNorby

The 991S is far from boring to me, but it is my first 911. I test drove a base Boxter and found that boring and a bit whimpy. I have a 350Z Roadster and it feels much more powerful. I think the Spider would be nice if I had money to burn. I don't know of many cars like the 911S that can excite and be driven everyday, if fact, it is in a league of its own. A beautiful, fast, well handling car that can be driven everyday. Where I live there are very few cars on the road that can go 190 mph. In California it may be a bit more average.

ftunagur

Just to be accurate, weight distribution of the boxster and cayman is not 50-50. It is a mid-engine layout, but the weight distribution for the 981 is 46-54 front to rear. It is important to note that 50-50 is actually not that ideal, and some rear bias based on the specific application seems to be much better. For the record, although I am not sure from the top of my head, 997 and 991's weight is distributed 38-62 front to rear. I am not an expert at all regarding vehicle dynamics, but it seems like with modern suspension geometry, engine placement in the car is not the sole defining factor of handling.

997s07

I agree. My 991 doesn't really feel like much until around 80 MPH. Then I can start shifting the weight around and have some fun, but on public roads this is silly and only possible late nights when no one is around and the conditions are good. Otherwise, it is a fun little coupe with a calm and underwhelming feeling. I fun as my Cayman was, I don't miss it - I am starting to like this dual personality of the 991.

Trying pushing the car, it won't bite, then you will have much more fun.

The Cayman has a terrible rear suspension, this makes a difference. Otherwise, the mid engine set up is much more preferred when one looks at the pivot point in race cars and inertia changes of long objects. The reason F1 cars, the CGT, and now the 918 are all mid engined - is agility. The 911 still has the "fish tailing" frequencies when driving hard on unequal surfaces, albeit it is much more mitigated now in the 991.

Overall, I think the 991 feels a lot more mid engined than the 997 and all the 911s before it. "Loading the suspension" for turn ins and apex-ing with full throttle is still a 911 trait that the 991 has not lost - a good Jekyl and Hyde car. My 997 GT3 would still beat the base 991 on a track but they are getting closer and closer. The 991 has become very easy to drive, the values of the longer wheelbase and the better suspension compared to the 997 are looming large for mistakes that would send the 997 into the wall. The 991 does better than the 981 and the 997 in denying understeer - just a tad left to be desired. Porsche can make the 981 a better car than the 991, any classical physics book will read the same, however, there are emotions and money at play.

fast1

The Cayman has a terrible rear suspension, this makes a difference

Let's not get carried away. No one is going to argue that a 981's strut suspension is the equivalent of a 911's multi-link, but the strut is not a bad design. It is cost effective, compact, and it's incredible what Porsche has managed to do with it. They've also done an equally impressive job with overcoming the shortcomings of having the engine in the rear in a 911.

Drifting

Agree. The Boxster/Cayman rear suspension is still a good one, it's just not incredible like the rear suspension of the 911.

Noah Fect

It's a comparison between apples and bulldozers. The 911's rear suspension has to be exotic to keep from killing the customer. A mid-engine car doesn't need anything that fancy.

squid42

Well random BMWs have the same multi-link in the rear and struct in front. Many Audis have multi-link in front, presumably to control the front weight of the engine and transmission mount. As I elaborated recently I had the opportunity to take an e60 and a C6 both with v8s through some corners with good compression in front, back to back, and the BMW pretty much sucked. And the e60 is a good car otherwise, when it runs.

The Boxster vs 911 track video passed around also look to me like the 911 can control its rear much better and recovers with more tire contact to the road quicker after raiding the curbs in the quick corners.

fast1

The Boxster vs 911 track video passed around also look to me like the 911 can control its rear much better and recovers with more tire contact to the road quicker after raiding the curbs in the quick corners.

That's true but only in the hands of an experienced driver. Just a WAG on my part, but I wouldn't be surprised if a 1st time driver of a base 991 and 981S would run a faster lap in the 981S.

997s07

I drove a GT4 that I was interested in buying and found the rear twitchy in corners, not only that, I found the rear a bit unsettling under hard braking, especially trail braking.

The 981 tail is harder to kick out but that's not due to the rear tires sticking.