tcsracing1

^
if you have the few extra bucks, go for the S. If you will be spending alot of time in this vehicle, you will enjoy having the S.
You will also see some of the money back on a S during resale and trade-in time anyhow.

The only time one would not buy the S in a carrera, boxster, Cayenne, Panamera, turbo or cayman would have to be price point and monthly payment budget.

JSF101

1. no
2. no it's an option on the configurator, ask your dealer
3. full leather is nice
4. depends on what you like

others have reported the new 2.7 Cayman is lacking in "get up and go"
drive one, then drive an S
I have a 2.9 Cayman (it's a 2010 PDK with 89,xxx miles), had an S before that
if you're not gonna track it, I don't see a need to get an S
I track and autocross mine regularly, and it's plenty fun
plus 32 mpg on the highway (but an extra 50 hp makes an obvious difference)
if you "like the look," then get it, same goes with wheels
my Cayman is minimally equipped, essentially PDK, Sport Chrono and LSD
wish I had the options that I had on my Cayman S (auto mirrors, bi-xenon, full leather, etc --these are things that make it a great DD) but that will wait until my next one

rjdoc74

All great advice! I appreciate it!

Cuda911

I have an '03 996 and an '07 Cayman. They are both fantastic cars. The Cayman is great, but the 996 gives a lot more kick for "fun" driving.

My Cayman is Speed Yellow... it gets WAY more looks and comments that the 996 (Lapis Blue). Much more unique looking I think.

If you don't mind the additional cost, Cayman S would be a great choice, but you will be happy with either. I don't know the difference in MPG between the two.

I've had my eye on this one on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331064076250...84.m1423.l2649

If you can get it for a slight bit less than their "Buy it now" price, you will have a fantastic deal, IMO.

sdj

A search of the internet revealed the following:

http://leith.porschedealer.com/new/P...01446/info.php

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-Caym...US_Cars_Trucks

These are 2014 Caymans, S model, in white, with black/dark grey wheels. I am not sure if it was custom ordered or not. You might call them and inquire.

Good luck.

CosmosMpower

Wife daily drives hers and has no problems. But we've daily driven cars that were more raw like the S2000.

David Schacht

My DD is a 2006 Cayman S six speed. Bought it 2 years ago with 5k on the clock. 30k miles and no issues, great commuter car. The one required option for me was bi-xenon. My view on the S or not is that more power is always more desirable.

cb4

I have an 08 S with 19 inch wheels and no PASM. I love the car. Great on the track and awesome weekend car. I commute with this car a couple of times per year and it's not a great experience.

I commute to Boston and the roads are quite dreadful.

You should consider the conditions of the roads in your area. I would also strongly suggest PASM and 18 inch wheels if you plan on making this your daily driver, especially if the roads are anything like Boston.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Coincident

Since acceleration and quick response is important to me, the S would be a must. If budget is the issue, I would forego any cosmetic upgrades in order to get the S. My significant other had a 2011 Boxster and while the chassis and handling was superb, the lack of power and the need to constantly push and work the throttle was very unsatisfying. The S changed everything. Now the engine matched the chassis and transformed a frustrating to drive vehicle to a very satisfying one. I personally find both the base Cayman and Boxster woefully underpowered.

sdj

A little playing with the porsche build configuration tool reveals that you can indeed have your wheels in black: http://www.porsche-code.com/PEJRPS55

Plug in that code, and off you go.

Good luck.

msos

Just got a 14 Cayman (not S), and here was my thought process:

1- coming from a 997 (not S) I found both base and S Cayman underpowered! But as a DD who cares, it's still got enough power for anybody. Yes it lack the immediate get up and go, but you can easily get a car with your options in the $60-$65k range vs. $80k for most S versions as they put a lot of unnecessary options on the S for a DD.

2- Even as a track car, I have had many base 944's amd even Mini's go by me on the track as it comes down to the driver NOT the power on the track!

3- As only occassionally you will be pushing the car enough during DD to know the difference, at all other times it will not be missed and lets not forget with PDK 5.3 seconds 0-60 is still no slouch! Only 10 years ago this was M3 and 996 territory! We are all so spoiled now with 4.5 second expectations for 0-60 but 99% of your driving time is not doing that!

I agree that the best options are: upgraded exhaust (sounds better than my 2011 997 ever did) and the upgrades sport seats and stereo (I got the Bose)! My dealer took $5k off the sticker price so I got a $66k car for $61k. If you intend to do 20k per year I would def go the CPO route used if you can find the right car as 100k warranty would give great piece of mind! Another advantage of older Cayman is that most independent P specialists can do routine service whereas they cannot on 2014 cars so that would save you on routine service costs! Good luck and best of luck in your search.

rjdoc74

Thank you so much for your responses! This is really really helpful.

Quick question for you. If I buy a 2 year old Cayman at an auction, can I purchase Porsche extended warranty through the dealer (similar to CPO)? I am a BMW guy and you can do this with BMWs all day long as long as the car is still under manufacturers warranty. Thanks!

Vampyre

I don't think you are crazy for using a Porsche as DD.
I daily drive a bunch of cars and love the feel of my Porsche's for daily driving.

For ride quality look into getting PASM on the Cayman. (http://www.planet-9.com/faq.php?faq=...index#faq_pasm )

I have 19" Carrera S rims and my ride feel is perfect around town or on a spirited drive, Just switch the PASM setting and you can feel the difference.

welles

A few observations based on my current ownership of an '08 Cayman S:

- As others have noted, you should drive as many new and used Caymans as you can - 987 and 981, S and non-S, loaded, stripped, etc. This will give you the best sense of what you want or don't want.
- The CPO warranty is nice but you will pay a premium buying used from a Porsche dealer. Aftermarket warranties are generally not worth their cost. Unbiased sources (CR, TrueDelta) indicate that the Cayman is very reliable. My previous experience with an '04 Boxster supports this (only failure in 18 months and 10k miles was the gas cap tether).
- In spite of Porsche's extensive a la carte option menu, most used Caymans are similarly (lightly) equipped, with slight variations. If you require a specific set of options, or an unusual one (I wanted sport seats, for example), expect your search to take months not weeks.
- The 19" wheels on the 987 make for a stiff ride - though this is subjective, my advice for a daily driver would be to stick with 18s.
- The Bose stereo is underwhelming, but aftermarket options for this car are limited and expensive.
- Your mention of 30 mpg on the highway for an S is not realistic in my experience. 19 around town and low to mid 20s on the highway is closer. Again, this is of course dependent on driving style.

RaceCarDriver

it can easily be a daily driver. I use mine as a weekend car because I have two young kids. If you dont need a back seat its the perfect daily driver, very practical with 2 trunks.