The Carrera grows and grows and now it is a huge heavy car, driving from every 2nd housewive in stuttgart.

The Cayman is a small race car. Fast and exspecially the Cayman R is faster than a normal 911 Carrera.

So is the Cayman the new 911?!

 

Cayman is a great car and very true to what a Porsche should be, but a 911 is a rear engine car that sets itself apart for all other Porsche's.

 

Everything is relative. All cars are getting bigger, look at the BMW 3 series for example. To keep up with new safety regulations and improved technology, all cars are getting bigger and unfortunately heavier. A 911 will always be rear engine, although they continue to push that weight towards the middle of the car, it's will always be rear engine. The Cayman as great as it is (i own and regularly track one), it will never replace the 911. How lucky we are that we can choose or possibly own both!

 

Safety isn't the reason they are getting bigger and heavier. Cars are actually lighter and smaller than they have been historically... yet they are safer now than they have ever been. Modern automobiles are designed to sacrifice the vehicle to save the contents.

 

I don't know where you are getting that information from... but cars are not historically lighter. A 2011 911 weighs 3550 to 3700 lbs, 10 years ago, that car weighed 3070, 20 years ago 2244. Yes, cars are designed to save the contents, things like air bags, more structural support all add weight. Things like ABS, AWD, PSM all add weight. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it's the truth. Thats why people that convert to race cars take all this stuff out. There's guys out there running older 911's weighing in the low 2000 lb range, and we can't even get a Cayman down to 2500 lbs completely gutted.

 

So you're really just talking about Porsches then. Your earlier statement made a broad generalization that all cars are bigger and heavier because of safety requirements. Body-on-frame vehicles from the 60's and 70's were far heavier than today's unitized body with crumple zones. We know which design is safer without even taking passive restraint systems into consideration.

 

I stand corrected on that then. Yes, I was referring to Porsches, and BMWs and GTR's/Skylines etc... which was in reference to the OP's comparison of 911's to Caymans.

 

Actually you're wrong on this. Cars today are far heavier, or should I say "denser". Gross vehicles weights have gotten bigger and bigger with every passing decade, from every category due to all of the equipment, safety or otherwise.

 

I am part of the club that went in to buy a 911 but ended up buying a Cayman .

I saw the lines and it had a mid engine ! so much fresher looking then the 911 and after driving the 2 cars it just seemed like a no brainer ,the future 911 IMO .The 911 is looking a tad dated .Only a GT-3 Rs could sway me from my Cayman .
The cayman IS the new and improved 911

 

Thats right.

Today a 911 GT 3 (RS) or a 911 GT 2 (RS) is a real 911!!!

 

If I could have my GT3 and a Cayman, I would. I test drove the Cayman R and loved it on the autocross track. The car has great balance and feel. I would love to take a 2006 .1 Cayman and do the TPC turbo mod as well. It is an exciting car, but the 911 will always be the flagship IMHO.

 

Interesting poll:

20 % think that the Cayman is the new 911.

 

According to sales figures.....
Porsche sold more boxsters than caymans
More 911's were sold than boxsters

 

The only reason I voted 'no' to this question is that no matter how good the Cayman is at the end of the day it's a business and Porsche has spent millions on advertising and marketing and they are not going to mess around with the 911 brand.

That being said I walked into the local Porsche dealer looking for a 911 and after taking the Cayman S out for a spin I was sold ... the Cayman was 10K less and much more functional with the extra trunk space!

 

There are so many exciting cars on today's market. Why have 2 porsches when there are other exciting offering from Audi Nissan BMW Ferrari lotus Lamborghini . Currently own a boxster nsx exige. If I can only keep one sports car. It would definitely be a 997s or gt3. But I would not get rid of 3 fun and different sportscar for one Porsche. Variety is more fun than having one car that can do it all.