cvtbenhogan

New cayman is gorgeous and impressive. It is also too small, too loud, too cramped, too anti doggie and too little 911.

I like my ponderous and boot heavy 997 GT.

SToronto

All this commentary is making me want to go out and drive the Cayman and Boxster.

Not to get rid of the 911 of course.

bmw_e30

If you drive a Cayman (987 or 981) you will buy one.....

hakaida702

I test drove a cayman s last year during my midlife crisis car search and my girlfriend wanted me to buy it so badly. She still thinks I should've bought it. It was cheaper, more exotic looking to her, and in her mind faster because it was louder. She also got to drive it and said it was much more easy to drive. But if I were to get a cayman, it would have to be the R model and I found some online that did look good.

But in the end I found a killer deal on a carrera GTS that I could not pass up and the rest is history. I could have ended up with a cayman R that I had an eye on.

I love the new cayman, but if porsche were to say that they would swap it with my car with any options I could choose, I'd have to pass. The cayman is a great car and could use a little more power but the problem for me is that they depreciate so fast. If I had a financial emergency 5 years from now, I would surely be able to make more on the sale of my gts over a cayman s. I just wish I could own both and a RS 4.0 and a panamera gts. lol.

MagnusB

Obviously we bought the 911 for the women.
Now where's the problem with that??

911Steve

I have a carrera s cab which I really like, I also owned before the 911 a cayman s that I also liked. I constantly get asked which car handles better. I have to admit the mid engine cayman s is as others mentioned more nimble and planted in the corners. City driving the cayman wins over the 911, but being 6'2 I had problems with my right leg resting up against the console giving me sore spots in my ****. The 911 to my frame fits me so much better. The 911 when you are getting up in the higher rpm's is where it's at. I can drIve now without stopping to stretch as I did in the cayman. I also had on the back of my mind I should have bought a 911, your right it is an emotional thing and I now have the porsche I have always lusted after as a young boy!

sandwedge

I've driven both and won't buy one. Not because I don't like the cars but because I'm 6'3" and don't fit in them.

mdrobc1213

Well not necessarily but you WILL think long and hard about it. Drove a 2013 Boxster S last summer and was amazed at how much better it was than my old 2009 987 model. It was powerful, engine sounded glorious, nimble, fast, and even the Panamera-ish interior well fit the car nicely. I was definitely surprised by that one! Wifey has a Panamera-6 so maybe it was because I was used to it. However it did give me a few second thoughts on my 997.2 C4S!

The new Cayman more so..looks gorgeous and side by side with the 991 and a 997.2 makes you wonder about the possibilities. However I think I'll pickup a CPO 981 Boxster S in a few years to go along with my 997.2 and keep them both for the best of both worlds cause even after driving the new 991...I still can't let me 997.2 go just yet. It just does everything well and is classic. A real keeper at least to me!

cash-man

I agree with the others. Try and you will (want to) buy! I was fortunate enough to attend a pre-release track day, and WOW. What a car.

My track day review: https://rennlist.com/forums/10402763-post36.html

Also, I am 6'-4" and had absolutely no issue with the size of the cabin.

stumil

I agree with you mdrobc1213! I really like my 997.2, and am nowhere near ready to adopt the 991 platform. I think the concept of a used Boxster with PDK in a couple of years as a way to appease my wife's desire for a convertible and my wish for a car to thrash around on the track is very appealing.

I also want to amend my earlier post when I said that if I was going to buy a dedicated track car, it would be a 2014 Cayman with PDK. Instead, I'd buy an Ariel Atom (unless of course it was raining, in which case I would buy the Cayman).

Did I mention that I really like my 997.2?

yemenmocha

+1

I've test driven them a couple times on Porsche track events and I'm always blown away by how much the car just does not go when you step on the throttle. Believe me, I want to like the car to the point of buying one but the power issue is a deal breaker. And, I might add, in my opinion Carreras are underpowered as it is (and I own one)... so I'm already sympathetic to owning an underpowered car for other reasons, but with the Cayman/Boxster it's just sooo bad. Even if you point to some good numbers on paper now, it's somewhat spoiled because a good part of those nice 0-60 numbers are due to launch control and fast PDK shifting. You're not being thrown back into your seat with acceleration, and it's no fun.

This also matters so much because unlike handling around corners when you're near 10/10 of the car's abilities, you can utilize all of the power when accelerating onto the highway and such. In real world driving you get to enjoy the power, but if you're taking the car to its limits around turns on public roads then maybe one's license should be revoked. In real world spirited driving in the twisties, the Cayman/Boxster's is not going to leave a Carrera behind.

Lastly, it really sucks being cockblocked in traffic by other vehicles such as many pickup trucks with a chip, stock BMW 335's, etc. that have superior torque. Maybe it's just the pathetic people here in AZ but it's quite often that someone in one of those vehicles or other will try and gun it so you can't pass them (and this is not a plain appeal to street racing either, so don't read me wrong). One of the essential, really really essential parts of owning a sports car is that you can be in front of other traffic in some cases if you want to.

yemenmocha

Agree with others that the new one has a lot more headroom.

hakaida702

I did a build a cayman S last night and it was just about 93k! That's probably a bit more than my GTS with less than 5,000 miles on it. I think if the S had 375 hp it would outsell the regular 991 carrera by a lot. Who knows, it might come close to selling a lot more of them this time around. Thank goodness I don't have to make such a decision.

yemenmocha

Agree with almost everything you've said in this entire thread.

However, I think a plausible solution isn't so unrealistic. They need to just do exactly what BMW has done with the M5 vs. M3 dilemma. The M5 will always have the larger engine and better quarter mile times, much more hp, etc. but yet the M3 will be faster around almost any track, including higher speed ones like the Nurburgring. Let the M5 owner have his highway victories, but make no mistake that the M3 is just as fast down low, and clearly faster when it comes to overall performance. Let the 911 bloat, give it more room, cushy seats, and an even bigger engine. Then let the Cayman/Boxster models have the power they deserve and rightfully be regarded as the flagship sports car.

sandwedge

All good and well but my issue is that the seats don't slide far enough back. I don't like to drive with the steering wheel in my face. How someone 6'4" fits comfortably in the Boxster and Cayman I'll never know.