i think the cayman is superior in handling with its mid-engine setup. and it archieved similar times to the 911 carrera. i just hope that the next 911 generation will put a big edge on the next cayman to differentiate the next 911 gen. bigger in performance and handling to the cayman.

what are youre thoughts.?

 

The cayman will never overlap the 911. It was built to fill a certain market, end of story. The 911 is Porsche's flagship and the cayman could never be because it doesnt have the versatility (I.E. rear seats for a Turbo). Then the boxster might as well move up too and replace the 911/Turbo cabs as well. Never going to happen.

There could be another mid engine car, but it will be like a CGT, NOT a cayman.

Besides, that's a good market that would be left vacated were the Cayman to move up in status (which means up in price).

 

This is an interesting article I saw over from CaymanClub—done by Chris Harris to Porsche engineers. There's a few interesting tidbits about Porsche's stance on the Cayman.

http://www.drivers-republic.com/firs...1412c7eb72f2dc

 

The Cayman already does cannibalize (overlap) the 911. I bought one instead of getting another 911.

 

The new '09 Cayman S is performance-wise on par w/ the '09 Carrera. The Cayman S has a 25HP deficit but it is also lighter.

 

Good info, KelvinC, thanks.

This topic has been ongoing since the Cayman was first introduced and was a discussion point with some of the German Porsche people at Rennsport III 17 months ago, particularly with the advent of the CaymanS. Porsche is well aware of their "problem" -- keeping the 911 worth 20k more for comparable models. Thoughts/speculation on the "998" from the more sophisticated automobile designers/writers focus on different front & rear bumpers, suspension improvements, 10% power increase through better intake and exhaust, and a significant weight reduction. Porsche has already stated that the PDK life will extend to 2017 but I'll bet that we see tweaking every year or two (and change the paddle system !).

My gut feeling with our current economic turmoil is that this will be MY 2012 at the earliest.

 

I had intended to replace my 06 Cayman S tip w/ a PDK version until I drove the 09 PDK Carrera S. The standard Carrera doesn't have anything over the Cayman S unless you absolutely need the back shelf/"seats". However, the new 3.8 engine in the S w/ the PDK is another story altogether. The engine is incredibly strong and w/ PDK the flexibility is unbeatable. If you just want to putter around, get through traffic, or flog it down an empty country road it will accommodate any mood you're in. I've driven all the S 911s since my 99 986 Boxster (dealer encouragement) and this is the first one that really impressed me. No doubt a Cayman w/ that 3.8 and PDK will give the 997 GT3 a run for the money, and while I'm sure somebody is going to do it soon, Porsche isn't.

 

what does it mean? that porsche is going to stay with the PDK to 2017 and then change it in favour of another transmission?

 

"what does it mean? that porsche is going to stay with the PDK to 2017 and then change it in favour of another transmission? " (quote)

until 2017 are Porsche's word, not mine. The first pdk was used in the early 80's in the 956 and 962 racing cars - and it took Porsche until now to incorporate it, vastly changed of course, in production cars. Porsche is getting close on a LMP1 car for Le Mans and ALMS; perhaps a variant of that transmission will be the replacement, perhaps something else. Remember that the tiptronic's life span was over ten years even though it was already getting stale (but still quicker than the manual) by 2005; 8 -10 years for the pdk is not unreasonable.

 

Never say never.