Man, there are some pompous jerks on this board. Ahh, the venerable 997...so easily passed by my cheap and wanting Cayman S. Come on guys, put your little units back in your 911's and play like nice kids.
Cayman's sell because they are a good deal for what you get: a fantastic track tool, more space than a 911 and a good looking car. Obviously I'm about to get flammed and called gay and all that nonsense but I don;t care since most of the poseur's writing in this thread never go to the track so If they look at my with the stink-eye at the light, i could care less.
Enjoy!!

 

HEY HEY STRANGER!!

Well my friend that Cayman is being driven like the Porsche was designed to be driven!!

What I'm observing @ our little abode is that the people 'more then likely' to purchase the Cayman/Cayman S are the people that seem to be most affected by the state of the economy- which has NOTHING to do with the 911. Not at all. Infact, I'd say I've observed more people going towards the Cayman/Cayman S and NOT seeing the value in spending an extra 20-30++ grand on the grand daddy 911.

Watch the economy go on the upswing and you'll start seeing the cayman/cayman s flying down the road more.

The Cayman/Cayman S are the most understated Porsche out there. I shove anyone in one those things and they ALWAYS come back with a smile.

Did I mention we're blowing Cayman/CaymanS out?? he he he....*hint*

 

Come back when you move up the food chain...
All in good humor...have a nice day

 

Chris - you're a quality dealer that knows how to move cars and satisfy customers - there are plenty of Porsche dealers that don't seem to have a clue. I agree that if you drive the CaymanS, you like it. And as someone above posted, it is a great track car. Once you've driven the CaymanS, you have to really want the 911 to justify the added cost (just like you have to rationalize a GT3 or turbo vs the "base" 911).

It wouldn't surprise me to see Porsche move the 911 more toward GT (touring, comfort, "features" etc) and move the Cayman more onto the track. Demographics, costs, balance, etc favor the Cayman for track development and the more pure sports car. There is a long future with a lot of performance to be wrung out of the Cayman. Just my opinion, of course.

Now Chris, if you would just open a service department a bit closer to my home...

p-cardriver

 

Guys first off the Panamera will be produced in in next to the Cayenne in Leipzig. Since it will share it's driveline.

The reason why you see more Cayman S at dealers on ground is because they are allocated to dealers separatly. One sale of a Cayman or Boxster earns a Cayman or Boxster. One sale of a 911 earns said dealer a 911. This can mean one of two things either your dealer does not sell a lot of 911's or that they are good at presaling these vehicle before they arrive. Also the Ratio of Cayman to 911 that are produced is greater than three to one. Porsche also feels the Cayman and Cayman S to be a model that should be more readily available to a younger buyer whom is more impulsive with his or her purchase. Not having an available vehicle could lose a sale to a competative brand. No negatives here. Myth Busted!

 

I'm wondering if many of you who are bashing the Cayman have actually driven one.

 

I went from a Boxster to a 997. Didn't even bother to drive a Cayman because of the price and no sunroof. I suspect it is the same for many other Boxster owners moving to a coupe. Also, I got a C2 with lite options for not much more than a Cayman S would cost.

 

The posts in this thread remind me of my experience at PDE a few years back. They Cayman wasn't out yet, so they used Boxsters for the autocross exercises. Now just about everyone in the class was a chest-thumping 911 owner of one vintage or another. And there were smiles on faces after getting out of the 997s on the track. But universally, every single one of these guys get out of the Boxster and went HOLY **** why didn't anyone tell me about that thing?

Porsche isn't stupid, they know what sells their cars and why. They're going to keep the 911 at the top of the heap for absolutely as long as they can. But as much as I like it, there's a reason my avatar is my Boxster and not my Carrera.

 

Granted, I'm a little biased since I'm a big mid-engined car guy... but having spent several thousand miles behind the wheel of a 2006 Cayman S, I respectfully wonder if you guys bashing the snot out of that little car have actually driven one.

I'm contemplating selling my NSX and replacing it with a 997S but I'll be honest... the Cayman S makes a very compelling case. It's a wonderfully balanced, comfortable, sexy car. I know my limits and it's damn near as much car as I could ever safely use on the streets.

So why am I leaning towards the more expensive 997S? 1) I prefer the look. 2) I prefer the additional flexibility of the vestigal rear seats and 3) I've always wanted a 911.

 

In all fairness, most -- if not all -- of the Cayman/Cayman S bashing in this thread has nothing to do with its driving dynamics. I think we all agree the Cayman/Cayman S is a tremendous driver with great track potential. Rightly or wrongly, it has to do with the styling, price point, marketing, etc. The criticisms most certainly stem from the 911 snobbery.

 

I could not agree more Ucube, hence my desire to acquire a pre-owned Cayman S for track use. The car is truly brilliant on the track.

 

The Cayman S is fantastic. That said, I actually like the feel of my C4 better. I test drove the Cayman S twice versus the C4 to ensure that I wasn't being too biased towards the 911.

I prefer the looks of the 911, but really wish they would morph the 2 cars. I want a mid engine 911. I want a hatchback, 2 seater, mid engine car that looks like a 911, and has an option of 4 wheel drive, and turbo, or GT3 engine.

Let them keep building the Pepper for the SUV crowd, and then the new Panamerica for the 4 door types. Seems to me, they kill the Cayman S with the weaker engines. Let the Croc snap with the bigger engines. This of course would kill the 911, hence, just merge the two. Give us a 911 Croc.

It won't happen, but I wish it would.

 

Porsche Reports Second-Best November Sales
Monday December 3, 11:41 am ET
Cayenne Sales Up 62 Percent

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), importer and distributor of Porsche sports cars and Cayenne SUVs in the United States and Canada, today announced November sales of 2,662 units in the United States, representing the second-best November results in the U.S. and an increase of two percent over the same period last year when sales were 2,611. Year-to-date sales for Porsche in the U.S. are now 31,802, which is one percent ahead of 2006's record-breaking pace of 31,377.
Sales were led by the continuing retail momentum of Porsche's new-generation Cayenne SUV, which achieved sales of 1,232 units, representing a significant increase of 62 percent over last November sales of 762 units. Year-to-date, there were 11,293 Cayennes sold, up 17 percent over November 2006 sales of 9,631.

In addition, dealers sold 587 Porsche Approved Certified Pre-Owned cars in November vs. 485 for the same period last year.

Model Month to Date Year to Date
Current Year Prior Year
Current Year
Prior Year
Boxster 152 136 2,172 2722
Boxster S 77 98 1,205 1520
Cayman 158 194 2,431 929
Cayman S 193 358 3,042 5573
ALL BOXSTER/CAYMAN 580 786 8850 10744

911 Carrera Coupe 77 101 1067 1082
911 Carrera S 112 170 1,441 2005
Carrera Cabriolet 47 95 697 1246
Carrera S Cabriolet 106 145 1,272 2083
Carrera 4 Coupe 9 30 156 455
Turbo Coupe 95 220 2,681 931
Carrera 4S Coupe 78 77 888 934
911 Targa 4 14 26 203 26
911 Targa 4S 32 39 385 39
Carrera 4 Cabriolet 13 24 200 620
Carrera C4S Cabriolet 78 81 1001 1430
Turbo Cabriolet 148 0 572 0
911 GT3 24 53 737 54
911 GT3 RS 16 0 352 0
All Carrera models (996) 1 0 3 15
ALL 911 850 1061 11655 10920

Cayenne Tiptronic 582 252 4,053 3597
Cayenne 11 3 47 59
Cayenne S 470 87 3,946 3498
Cayenne Turbo 169 12 1,539 477
Cayenne Turbo S 0 83 384 844
Cayenne Titanium 0 325 1,324 1156
ALL CAYENNE 1232 762 11293 9631

CARRERA GT 0 2 4 82


GRAND TOTALS 2662 2611 31802 31377

 

I prefer the looks of the 911, but really wish they would morph the 2 cars. I want a mid engine 911. I want a hatchback, 2 seater, mid engine car that looks like a 911, and has an option of 4 wheel drive, and turbo, or GT3 engine.

I too prefer the looks of the 997 over the CS, especially from certain angles. What you propose is very unlikely since a rear engined 911 is ingrained in the minds of most 911 owners as being the essence of a pure 911.

I part ways with you on the handling of the two cars, since I prefer the handling of the CS over the 997.

 

I couldn't agree more with you. The Boxster is Porsche's best kept secret. If you are a good negotiator you can buy a new lightly optioned Boxster for around $45K, and there is no other car in that price range that can come close to the Boxster in terms of handling, appearance, and build quality.