I hear you about handling. My last car that I did track days with was an 06 Exige (the none FI slow one) and while it was fun in the turns, I got tired of being passed on the straights.

 

Which is why if the Cayman doesn't shape up, my sights are set on something like this:




I know there is no bright future for this specific plan, but I can still hope. Even if the actual model comes anywhere close to this - I'm buying.

 

^ The new Exige S got a great review in Evo.

 

Chris Harris just fell in love with the new Cayman
In corners he said;

"That is a great essence of a great mid-engined car and it is why the Cayman always has the slightly advantage over the 911"

.

 

I like how Harris loads the cayman weight thru the turns.

No PDCC there.

He also likes the cabin noise and unfortunately has to mention the electronic steering.

 

Yeah, even though the 911 was faster in the comparison, every compliment for the 911 - was actually a compliment on the mid-engine layout on the Cayman.

You can hear them:

#1 On paper, the Cayman should be faster, etc... Why? What paper is he using that Porsche isn't?

#2 Despite the engine placement of the 911, etc... Why?

 

On paper the 911 should be able to brake harder into the turn, have more traction coming out of the turn and have better traction accelerating and front engine cars like the GTR should be a dog. So much for paper.

 

While I may agree with your premise, I think the GT-R is a perfect example of taking something on paper, and then spend countless hours of engineering trying to make it do something different. Sure the GT-R is an engineering marvel, just like the 911. But it still is designed to act like a balanced machine. How much better would the GT-R if it wasn't designed to be a daily driver?

Obviously there is always compromises, with every car. Always trade-offs. To me, Porsche has designed a near perfect car with the Cayman, and they have spent decades trying to make the 911 perform the same as a car just like it. What would have happened if they started there, and improved on that?

What if the Cayman had an AWD Turbo version?

Obviously, purists may prefer to keep their Caymans light for handling purposes, so perhaps just the Turbo, and no AWD drive.

 

If the 991 was not going to be my DD(all 4 season), didn't need to put my 2 year old in the back seat....then the new Cayman would be hard to pass up to be honest.

As a second car that will see 10-14 track days a year, it would be fantastic.

 

No need for a turbo, I think that would actually take away from the car. The GT3 RS 4.0 engine would be my dream for the Cayman. You would never need to buy another Porsche after that car. Gee I wonder why they don't do it

 

Looks like Porsche has really hit the mark with the new Cayman. It's going to be a fantastic sports car. And those like me that found the old Boxster and Cayman a little small on the inside, can now fit.

 

There's a few old timer Porsche owners in my local pca chapter who had 911s in the 70's and 80's and stopped buying them and came back to Porsche when the cayman came around several years ago. These guys are in their 70's. They probably have the money to buy any porsche they want as I've seen their homes. They are good guys. I'm just glad to have them in the club whatever they drive.

 

I joined PCA 40 years ago this week! I turn 70 in April.

I was the founder and first president of Canada West Region. I'm back active again and am currently Vice-President and Treasurer of CWR.

I have had at least 1 and generally 2 911's in my Garage from 1972 to 2008 when I sold both for an '04 996 TT Cab. Now I'm anxiously waiting (about 2 1/2 more weeks) for a very special ordered 991S X51 Cab to be delivered. Ordered last October 1 as garage mate to the Turbo. I have had, a couple of times, non 911's but always returned to the 911.

We seem to be wanting to recycle the old "farts" up here in the Frozen/soggy north.

John in Vancouver

 

Because then you'd have an R8 priced car.

 

Well, what do you know....an even handed 2013/4 Cayman review!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...an-review.html