Autocar eulogy for Cayman S...

[richardheeley]

From AUTOCAR:

Top Ten Best New Cars That You Can Currently Buy:
Porsche Cayman S

"There are many reasons why you might buy a Cayenne (though I'm struggling to think of one), while someone might buy a Boxster to drive or to pose (or most likely both). Even the 911 cannot escape the fact that a sizeable chunk of customers buy it not for its abilities, but as a symbol of achievement.

By rather stark contrast, there is only one reason to buy a Cayman. It's closed and ugly, so it has no pose appeal, and status seekers will see it only as a poor man's 911 and therefore quite beyond the pale. Its only appeal is to proper enthusiasts, to whom how a car feels as it goes from one place to the next is their overwhelming (and, indeed, only) priority. See a 911, Boxster or Cayenne driving along the street and you can reach any number of conclusions about its driver. See a Cayman S and there is but one: 'Proper person passing.' "

Andrew Frankel
Autocar
7 January 2009


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[tscaptain]

Ah, bless you "proper person" you.[] No doubt it is getting rave reviews. Mit PDK oder nicht, do you think?

 

[Mark_Bennett]

It's closed and ugly Andrew Frankel

That's strange, I think the Cayman is rather beautiful... [&:]

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

It's closed and ugly Andrew Frankel

That's strange, I think the Cayman is rather beautiful... [&:]

Are we about to lose a long time poser to the ugly brigade or what!![]

 

[Mark_Bennett]

No! I enjoy touring The Alps with the top down far too much [8D] No posing here, I still can't get used to people looking at the Porsche whilst we're driving - "What are they looking at? - Oh. right..." /embarrassed

 

[John H]

Frankly I am (yet again) getting really hacked off with motoring journalists. Over the last few weeks I have read glowing report after glowing report about the new revised Cayman, and they are all so similar a cynic might suggest they copy one another (or at best are afraid to contradict one another). Sound familiar? When the various versions of the Cayman were launched 2/3 years ago, it was the same story, only this time very, very few of them actually came out with unreserved paraise for the car (Stand up Chris Harris, the exception to the rule). In particular they whinged endlessly about the pricing, and the positioning in the range, and the lack of an LSD (only really relevant to journos playing hooligan, imho []). I cannot help but think that this has been instrumental in the unusually savage depreciation that has been visted upon the early Caymen. Said journos are now rubbing salt in it by proclaiming the first Caymen as the bargain of the decade (GT PP this issue, for one) and writing about a situation they partly helped to create. This may be great for people picking up bargains now, but it is at the expense of owners like myself who have had to watch the residual value of their pride and joy decimated, to the point where it uneconomic to consider trading up to one of these supposedly vastly improved gen 2 versions. BAHH. Journos ... sheep the lot of them! [] (Apart form Chris Harris, the bearer of the LJKS standard!)

 

[richardheeley]

Well the good news John is that Autocar were talking about their Top Ten cars for sale TODAY, therefore they were talking about the Cayman mk1 NOT the Gen 2. The mk1 is clearly featured on the cover of the magazine. []

 

[Dylan1]

i think its been well covered now that most of us bought our caymans because of their sublime driving capabalities rather than "pose"factor-many of us have already owned 911`s or other exotica and were attracted to the cayman because of its brilliant handling,balance etc which make it the most fun car i`ve driven to date.whilst it might be nice to trade up to the gen2 the fundamental attraction of the mk1 we have remains and i certainly have no intention of "upgrading"mine at huge financial loss!!its only done 15k miles and is now properly run in.i will only get the gen 2 when my sons insurance makes it viable for him to take over my gen 1(2-3 yrs time)meanwhile i shall continue to enjoy "the best porsche currently available"[]

 

[baxster]

ORIGINAL: John H Frankly I am (yet again) getting really hacked off with motoring journalists. Over the last few weeks I have read glowing report after glowing report about the new revised Cayman, and they are all so similar a cynic might suggest they copy one another (or at best are afraid to contradict one another). Sound familiar? When the various versions of the Cayman were launched 2/3 years ago, it was the same story, only this time very, very few of them actually came out with unreserved paraise for the car (Stand up Chris Harris, the exception to the rule). In particular they whinged endlessly about the pricing, and the positioning in the range, and the lack of an LSD (only really relevant to journos playing hooligan, imho []). I cannot help but think that this has been instrumental in the unusually savage depreciation that has been visted upon the early Caymen. Said journos are now rubbing salt in it by proclaiming the first Caymen as the bargain of the decade (GT PP this issue, for one) and writing about a situation they partly helped to create. This may be great for people picking up bargains now, but it is at the expense of owners like myself who have had to watch the residual value of their pride and joy decimated, to the point where it uneconomic to consider trading up to one of these supposedly vastly improved gen 2 versions. BAHH. Journos ... sheep the lot of them! [] (Apart form Chris Harris, the bearer of the LJKS standard!)

Most of the write ups hailed the cayman when it came out so I dont know which mags you were reading. The only critisim most had was the daft pricing compared with the same engined boxster, Porsche must have had some stick for this which is why the gen 2 s has more bhp so justifying the extra cost. I love the look of the Cayman and prefer it looks wise to the boxster. I do however prefer the looks of a 911, no other car looks like it, apart from the Cayman.[]

 

[uknick]

Having read numerous posts on this site and others, am I the only one bought a Cayman because I wanted a new hard top Porsche and could not stretch to a 911? Having said that, I am more than happy with my purchase; plenty of performance for the open road, handling that means my nerve loses traction well before the car does and ownership of a car that has more than an element of exclusivity.

 

[Dylan1]

am I the only one bought a Cayman because I wanted a new hard top Porsche and could not stretch to a 911?

i dont think so ,but a lot of us here have already had 911`s and just wanted the caymans great driver appeal ,not because we could not have another 911.i believe many trade up from a boxster to a 911 ,but fewer from a cayman to a 911(tho some obviously do),some,like derek go from a boxster to a 997 then to a cayman and then back to a 997!![] in other words all options happen!!

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: dyllan i dont think so ,but a lot of us here have already had 911`s and just wanted the caymans great driver appeal ,not because we could not have another 911.i believe many trade up from a boxster to a 911 ,but fewer from a cayman to a 911(tho some obviously do),some,like derek go from a boxster to a 997 then to a cayman and then back to a 997!![] in other words all options happen!!

Where does that leave me [&o] I went from 20 years of 911's x 5 to so far 11years of Boxsters x 5 [8D] Have driven several 911's in between and still prefer the Boxster for my dry weekend top down motoring needs [8D]

 

[Dylan1]

Where does that leave me ?? robert,leaves you firmly in the "all options possible"bracket []in other words you drive what you like!!

 

[baxster]

I think the old cliche of people only buy boxsters and caymans because they cannot afford 911s is a myth nowadays and I dont think anyone actually beleives it any more. The only reason id buy a 911 over a cayman is because of the possibility of getting a baby seat in the back of a 911. Love the look of the gen 2 cayman.

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: dyllan robert,leaves you firmly in the "all options possible"bracket []in other words you drive what you like!!

and subject to Brown & Co not bankrupting us all as well as UK plc []