John H
New member
I spent an hour or so and 50 miles alone in a Gen 2 Cayman S yesterday. It was a clear dry sunny day, and I had the back roads of rural East Lothian outside Edinburgh all to myself. The car was a fairly simply specced manual car, with no PASM, no LSD, 19" star shaped wheels and Michelin tyres.
Thank you Edinburgh OPC ... it was a brilliant test drive, a real eye opener.
The first thing I noticed was the improvement in ride. Gone is that sharp edged jiggle over broken urban roads that afflicts my 17" shod 2.7 car. It felt MUCH more supple, and indeed almost changes the nature of the car, in that it now feels more sophisticated and grown up. Nor has this been at the expense of handling, as the steering is as good as ever, and somehow it seems to suit the bigger wheels and tyres better than it used to. This is harder to explain, but I never liked the gen 1 cars with the larger wheels, it was as if they "swamped" the chassis feel for me, but in this car it all feels more integrated. At speed, on give and take roads, this is the most trustable, benign chassis I have ever driven. I drove a gen 2 997 Carrera S with PDK down these same roads last year, and the Cayman is just streets ahead in overall feel.
The second thing is the engine ... it is astonishing. Quiet and docile and very easy to drive around town, lovely linear throttle response, and it absolutely spears for the horizon when you open the taps, and it sounds every bit as good as my sweet little 2.7. It is hard to imagine ever needing more pace in a road car than this delivers. I did an overtake in 3rd gear at one point and I was amazed at how quickly it picked up and shot past the slower car. I have ridden motorbikes that would have been slower. Sure you can never have enough power on the track, but I think there is a point at which too much power in a road car just unbalances the equation. I drove a friends 997 GT3 last year, and I felt it was too fast, too manic for road use, not to mention the chassis was a real handfull on bumpy roads. This new Cayman S is superbly balanced; power, grip, brakes, etc are beautifully matched to make a true pocket rocket.
The changes may well be subtle, but they seem to add up to more than the sum of their parts, and I was surprised at just how different the car felt. The "pre-fill" brake system is brilliant, the revised touch screen sat nav and mapping is the first factory fit item I've tried that I would consider paying money for, I much prefer the black finish centre console, the new 19" star shaped wheels are the best new design in ages, and the build quality seems to improved a bit. Now that I think about it, I do not recall hearing the dreaded "trunk clunk" (as the Colonials call it) either.
I would go so far as to say this is the best car I have ever driven ... period!
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PS ... just a shame that depreciation on my 2 year old Cayman has been so Draconian that contemplating an upgrade is out of the question. []
Thank you Edinburgh OPC ... it was a brilliant test drive, a real eye opener.
The first thing I noticed was the improvement in ride. Gone is that sharp edged jiggle over broken urban roads that afflicts my 17" shod 2.7 car. It felt MUCH more supple, and indeed almost changes the nature of the car, in that it now feels more sophisticated and grown up. Nor has this been at the expense of handling, as the steering is as good as ever, and somehow it seems to suit the bigger wheels and tyres better than it used to. This is harder to explain, but I never liked the gen 1 cars with the larger wheels, it was as if they "swamped" the chassis feel for me, but in this car it all feels more integrated. At speed, on give and take roads, this is the most trustable, benign chassis I have ever driven. I drove a gen 2 997 Carrera S with PDK down these same roads last year, and the Cayman is just streets ahead in overall feel.
The second thing is the engine ... it is astonishing. Quiet and docile and very easy to drive around town, lovely linear throttle response, and it absolutely spears for the horizon when you open the taps, and it sounds every bit as good as my sweet little 2.7. It is hard to imagine ever needing more pace in a road car than this delivers. I did an overtake in 3rd gear at one point and I was amazed at how quickly it picked up and shot past the slower car. I have ridden motorbikes that would have been slower. Sure you can never have enough power on the track, but I think there is a point at which too much power in a road car just unbalances the equation. I drove a friends 997 GT3 last year, and I felt it was too fast, too manic for road use, not to mention the chassis was a real handfull on bumpy roads. This new Cayman S is superbly balanced; power, grip, brakes, etc are beautifully matched to make a true pocket rocket.
The changes may well be subtle, but they seem to add up to more than the sum of their parts, and I was surprised at just how different the car felt. The "pre-fill" brake system is brilliant, the revised touch screen sat nav and mapping is the first factory fit item I've tried that I would consider paying money for, I much prefer the black finish centre console, the new 19" star shaped wheels are the best new design in ages, and the build quality seems to improved a bit. Now that I think about it, I do not recall hearing the dreaded "trunk clunk" (as the Colonials call it) either.
I would go so far as to say this is the best car I have ever driven ... period!
[
]PS ... just a shame that depreciation on my 2 year old Cayman has been so Draconian that contemplating an upgrade is out of the question. [
]
