Saw this over on the Cayman S board.

http://www.latimes.com/classified/au...autos-highway1

Good read - in short says Cayman S engine placement is superior to 911.

I have a 977s coming but it did cross my mind to get a cayman S instead because of the handling differences I felt in the boxster S.

Having sat in a cayman S back in April of last year [I was in a Porsche review group] I just felt too cramped with no rear seats.

I just wonder what is going to happen in the future. Will the 911 be replaced by a bigger, more powerful version of the Cayman S ?

 

thanks for the article..thecayman will not replace the 911, it sells too well and makes too much money...the cayman is still a basically a boxster coupe, and i while i love the handling of the boxster s and own one, the 911s is still more fun to drive as an everyday car and better looking...as for looks, i am not crazy about the cayman in person...it just doesnt have that expensvie elegant look of the 911.....it will be interesting to see how the cayman s sells vs the boxster...already several auto writers have wondered why someone would pay extra for a coupe version of a car when it is usally less....

 

The whole hatchback thing bothers me on a sports car. I mean, what are they trying to do?.. bring back the hatchback?

 

i like that ...."bring back the hatchback"...what a slogan!!! ..pure genius!!!!

 

I think this is really a preconceived notion based on your knowledge of where the cars fit into Porsche's marketing and pricing strategy. I have closely studied a silver on black Carrera 4 sitting next to a silver on black Cayman S and if you knew nothing about the cars or the motors that were in them you would probably view one as a sports car and the other as a 2+2 GT. You would be hard pressed to tell which was more expensive since the leather, plastic, steering wheels, seats, consoles, shifters, paint, trim, overall finish, etc. appear to be the same. If you view the Carrera as being the more elegant and expensive car then Porsche's strategy to limit the Cayman's power is paying the dividend they hoped for. How would you feel about a 3.8 motor and full leather interior in a Cayman versus the standard motor and vinyl interior in a Carrera? Porsche can play with our perceptions all they want. There is no doubt that the Carrera has more of the "I have arrived" factor than the Cayman but this is really just our perception of what we believe others will think of us. I tried to minimize this other-directed thinking when I drove the cars since I am primarily interested in which is the most fun to drive. I found the overall feel and gestalt of all the Porsches to be remarkably similar until you floor a 997S and realize its greater power or hit some corners hard and realize a 987S handles better. At more moderate speeds, the differences aren't quite so noticeable to me. For an expensive elegant look the Aston Martin V8 Vantage has more than any other car I considered but I would rather drive a Porsche. While the magazines like to compare the Cayman and 911, I think Porsche should be concerned about protecting the 911 from the Vantage and let the Cayman be all it can be.

Alan

 

Hi Alan,

very well put, you should forward this to PCNA

 

Bleh, the Vantage is no 911 competitor despite what AM wanted all of us to believe. It is less than the sum of its parts and even the Brits who desperately want the Vantage to be the better car, still give the nod to 911. For giggles, check out the Vantage/997S/M6 review from Fifth Gear.

As for the Cayman, I think its a great car. If it had a 3.8L X51 option, it would be in my driveway today. Knowing that acceleration won't be *that* different from the Boxster S to the Cayman, I hopped out of my GT3 and put a Boxster through its paces. Despite the handling, its hard to go that far backwards in power so the Cayman just wouldn't be satisfying for me. The only option for me is RUF, but damn, you end up with a 110k Cayman, which is just nuts.

 

I just wonder what is going to happen in the future. Will the 911 be replaced by a bigger, more powerful version of the Cayman S ?

Not a chance, at least not in the foreseeable future. Rear engined 911s are what Porsche is. A decently equipped Cayman will sticker for over $70K and my bet is that the maket for the Cayman won't be that large.
When I look to the Cayman's competition, I see the 400 HP C6 vette. GM must be offering Dealer rebates on the C6 because I see lots of ads offering new '05 C6s for $45K.

 

While this is probably the case for the driving enthusiasts on Rennlist, there are still many people who buy Porsches for status and the Vantage will certainly get their attention.

Alan

 

BiggerTwin how did you get to drive the Cayman , I was told no one could test drive it till the 14th not even the Porsche sales people .

 

Tweek the original question just a bit and you get: "Will the rear-engined 911 someday be replaced by a mid-engined 911?" That may be the question PAG is considering by offering the Cayman S.

 

Last spring I was in a Porsche sponsored focus group that addresses some of the concerns Porsche has with the Cayman.

There were many questions regarding "How much performance can the Cayman have before you will not consider the base 911 anymore".

A lot of the questions were cost based too. "If the Cayman cost X amount would you still pay Y amount MORE than X to get a 911?"

They knew the Cayman S would post better lap times at that point too.

I actually think the Cayman will develop its own loyal and devoted fan base and they will be pushing for non RUF upgrade options from porsche.

I think for the time being, 911s will stay as they are and the BASE 911 sales will suffer, but the Cayman sales will more than make up for it.

Long term - They have to do something for the 911. I just dont know what.

Greg

 

HP ... should have made the 997S power standard on the 997 and the X51 power option standard on the 997S that would have been a good start still would have been a big gap for the 997TT .

 

For just the "look" point of view. What do you think they can do with the styling of the Cayman 4 or 5 years from now?

 

I said 987S not 987/120. When I ordered the car the closest I could come to driving one was the Boxster S. The cars will be shipped to dealers on January 4 and from what I understand once those arrive they can be driven. The PCNA display cars can't be touched until the 14th.

Alan