Help me out here, guys. I have driven both the base Carrera and a Cayman S and I am thinking that for a few grand I can get LSD and match the Carrera HP in the Cayman S and have a much better handling car. More a of a sports car than a "GT" car. The Cayman seems like a more modern version of the 911s I grew up dreaming about. Where am I wrong here?

Any thoughts?

 

The Carrera is far from a GT. A GT would be a M6 or a 928.

A Cayman is a more balanced car being mid engine, but it is not a Carrera. I rented a Cayman S in Germany in May and I enjoyed it but, I would not trade my Carrera for it. Farnbacher Loles did a Cayman with a X51 3.8 Engine installed (as well as other mods) and it was more money then the 997GT3 but no faster then the 997C2S X51 in a side by side test.

I for one have never looked at a Cayman and said, I wish I bought one of those. How many times do Cayman owners look at the Carrera and say that?

Also check Porsche Sales for the Carrera versus that 987 (Cayman and Boxster) sales, not even close.

 

Apparently Porsche will be offering LSD as an option on the new Cayman S. I would say if pure performance is what you're after the Cayman S will run a base Carrera very close on some tracks. If you;re after a more rounded ownership experience then the Carrera with all of its history is probably the way to go.

 

+1 Carrera

 

not much to add to the replies, the lineage and history and resale is in the Carrera, not the Cayman. The Cayman S is the 914-6 of our time, as good and sometimes better in most "measurements" then a Carrera, but at the end of the day, it's not a 911 and never will be.

 

Carrera all the way!

 

The Cayman S is a great mid-engine sports car but it is not better (or worse) than a 911. A 911 is a unique all-in-the-rear design. You may prefer a 50/50 balanced car, but you should not say that that is better than the unique 911 pendulum. Balance is nice but it's not the only way to go.

 

The fact that you posted in the 997 forum implies that the car you "always dreamt of" was the Carrera. I don't usually refer to Top Gear but I feel that Clarkson makes a great point aboit the cayman S when he states (paraphrasing) that he couldn't live with a car that has an engine built less than what it could have been . He can't buy a car that's built to "fill a gap in the market" .

Here's the review. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zP7dvcmsnI

I think what you really are after is the C2S . It is priced higher but you have waited and if this is your first Porsche be sure you get the right car .

 

yrralis, Clarkson also hates Porsche's.

 

He did not hate the Cayman S . I did say that I don't usually refer to him but his point is valid He felt that because the base 997 exists Porsche could not justify placing more Hp into a Cayman S . As a result the Cayman S is a great car but not the best car it could have been . It bothers him . It would bother me too.

 

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I have to say that I had the chance to experience two "levels of driving heaven". One was the absolutely neutral handling of the Cayman, and the other was the beauty of throttle steering the Carrera. Both at Laguna Seca. Some day I think I would like a C2S for the road and a Cayman stripped down for the track.

 

Do a GT3 for the track! It is the ultimate weapon!

 

As Jeremy Clarkson from TopGear says if you buy a Cayman or a Boxster is sit outside your house reminding you that you couldn't quite afford a 911.

 

More argument for the Cayman - this from an offshoot of EVO magazine

http://issue.imotormag.co.uk/1J49350...23.cde/page/16

 

He makes two flawed assumptions:

1. That the better car is the more expensive car.

2. That you can't afford more.

Both of which in many cases is simply not true.

If you choose to believe Clarkson, just be aware of his flawed thinking...