For a pure track car, likely yes.

For a street car, never. I use the rear seats often with my kids, and enjoy the extra cabin roominess as well. And I like the uniqueness of having the rear engine. Plus, I grew up dreaming of a 911.

 

Doesn't this depend on price?

 

I would certainly give it a try, live with it and figure it out.
Still, without any kind of snobbery, the 911 will always have more charm, history and provide a different driving experience.

 

Yes... The two back seats come in handy for storage on trips as well as for occasional young passengers... My 997.2 Targa 4S had more headroom in the back than my current 991 SC due to sunroof design...

 

If I got the Cayman I'd have to get the world's biggest can opener to make it into an open car (Cabriolet). I'm old school. A sportscar has to be an open car.

 

Whilst a mid-engine setup has its obvious benefits as in a Cayman, even with the technical enhancements to tone down unpredictability, the characteristics of a rear engined Carrera will always offer a unique driving experience. That is probably why neither HP nor speed has swayed most 911 owners away. I would expect the same even if a more powerful Cayman were available.

 

Would certainly have to spend quality seat time with a 400 hp Cayman. I'm open minded....let the chips fall where they may.

 

You said two very different things... The title of the post was if it had 400HP but the text of the post if the cayman and 911 had comparable performance...

I would never buy a car strickly on specs.. I see people on these forums endlessly complaining about this car has 40 more HP and Porsche should blah blah blah.. If I wanted to buy a car just on pure spec's there are other cars to buy.. And the fact is I'll probably never even come close to pushing the vehicle to it's limits.. so arguing HP to me is just another form of mine's bigger than yours... If I tracked maybe it would mean a little more to me.

And it is more that strictly performance.. There are esthetics and all the other things that make up a legendary vehicle. And to me those are very important.. One of the reasons that I've never been all that gaga over BMW's and Mercedes.. I like the brand they have, but their cars leave me uninspired usually..

Porsche on the other hand... I feel about the same way brand wise as the BMW or Merc, but car wise the 911 I love for a multitude of performance and non performance reasons.

I considered a Cayman S, and quite honestly it's a nice car.. But it didn't inspire me all that much... I do like the looks, (although I think without the aerokit the tail always has a funny sloped off look from directly behind.. Kinda wimpy is always my thought).. But the profile of the car is nice..

So for me, give it 400HP including comparable performance even at a cheaper price.. And I'd pass. I'd probably rather have a used 997 before I'd buy the cayman..

If you asked me if I were to buy a "new" car and had to pick, but couldn't afford a base 991, yeah maybe I'd pick the Cayman..

Don't get me wrong, performance is important to me, I decided to go with an "S" over base just because I didn't want to be disappointed with a 911.. In reality though the base 911 and the use of sport mode would have been fine.. But my point is that I don't want an underpowered car, but at some point unless you race you have more than enough and it becomes nothing more than mine is bigger argument..

 

I have no interest in the Cayman. I'm not a fan of how it looks and it only has two seats. Extra HP in the Cayman would not change a thing for me.

 

IMO the 911 of any generation is the quintessential Porsche. When i drive around with my 14 year old son and he points out a Boxter, Cayman, Cayenne, Panamera etc and says "Hey dad there is a Porsche", I was always let him know there is only one Porsche. That is a 911 period. There are only two kinds of Porsche owners in this world. 911 owners and Porsche owners that wish they owned a 911.

 

You can easily tell the 911 owners, they're the ones with the huge smile on their face when driving their Toy. I especially had that about a week or go when I accelerated my 991S X51 onto the freeway and the PSE opened up as the car got into the "power" band. I had a huge grin for the next 5 minutes.

 

Checklist:
S? Yes.
X51? Yes.
PSE? Yes.

Well said and well done.

 

A few guys have already mentioned the "rear-engine character" of the 911. Do you guys really feel that in street driving? To me, the 991's feels quite mid-engined and I only get a rear sensation when driving near the limit on a track...

 

Agree completely with both comments ^^.

 

would still go 911 for the 2+2 seats. If the kids were out of home, it would be a tougher call...