Sold the Cayman
- Thread starter bajers
- Start date
Sorry to hear that. What is it that you prefer? I had a similar feeling when I had my gen 1 Cayman S and drove a Carrera GTS for a week. When I got back in the Cayman I immediately felt that I preferred it as the car felt more 'around me', the mid-engined layout giving a more sweeter handling. HOWEVER, get yourself down to the Porsche Experience Centre and push hard in a 997 on their handling circuit. It is truly confidence inspiring because despite the rear weight bias and more pronounced weight distribution under braking, the 911 has immense grip. You'll soon be chucking it about as perhaps you did your Cayman. Having a Cayman before a 911 gets us used to a different type of driving feel I think. A 911 then takes a bit more getting used to.
Caymans are exceptional cars for our everyday roads and cope with all round driving no matter what it is.Touring, Track, Town, and Fun drives. The Cayman R is probably as good as it gets really.Guess what my next Porsche will be when prices have settled down.The R has gone up in price over the last couple of months so not a good time to buy. If you dont need the back seats there is no better. Porsche best kept secret until people have driven them. Chin up and get back into a Cayman. Cliff
I think from a practical point of view, for me at least, the Cayman scores over the 911. I now don't need rear seats, so the rear hatch was great. No messing about with the front lid for day to day small stuff. Even though it only had the standard exhaust, I prefer the Cayman exhaust note over the 911 sports exhaust system. Thats disapointing as well. Above 4000 rpm, as I am sure you are all aware, the Cayman has a magical 'howl'. Sounded louder too, but probably because the engine is closer to you than the 911. Although I am no expert by any means, the handling on the Cayman felt so 'compact' (if that's a recognisable term). Just felt so right, even though steering, gears, clutch, brakes, felt heavier than the 911 and needed more effort, they just felt so right. Not done a lot of miles in the 911 yet, and it might be my imagination, but it feels like you can really feel that weight at the back end with a light front end. Very different to the Cayman. Just needs getting used to and adapting to I suppose. Definetly on for a Porsche experience day. That's on the top of my list. Thanks for the advice on that one! I am looking forward to the new Cayman coming out though, see whats that like and in a couple of years time, maybe time for a change again! Thanks for the sympathy guys and enjoy your steeds!
Matt Seabrook
New member
Your experience is interesting as at some stage I fancy going from my Cayman to a 997 Turbo. But I admit to finding it difficult to getting my head round the rear engine layout and just how well the Cayman performs on the road. The 911 was a dream car when I was a boy an I may just have to scratch the itch but I may well be like you and think twice if I do it. . Give your self some time and you may grove to love you 911 as much as your Cayman
I miss the hatch on the Cayman too. I was able to carry more things and treat it more as an every day car. I could even fold out my son's car seat and fit it in the rear if I needed to carry an adult and hadn't planned to take the car seat out. Not so in the Spyder. You're not imagining the difference in the weight distribution. After a trip to PEC you will be driving it like you stole it[
] Tell the instructor you want to spend more time on the handling circuit than the kick plate and ice hill, but still fit those in [] I too am looking forward to the 981 Cayman. May just be the best all round Porsche. However, I will need to move to a 911 in the future as I need rear seats so as to carry the wife and son at the same time. I hate driving the wife's car after being in the Porsche - anything else feels so sloppy in comparison, so i'll need my next Porsche to be more of an all rounder. If I do move to a 911 it'll have to be a 'hot' one, to replace some of the wow factor (both handling and looks) i'll miss out on from the Spyder. Preferably a 997 turbo but if not i'm thinking it would at least be an AWD version, to give some front end traction to compensate for the rear weight bias when pushing on in poor conditions. Having said that, that's probably just for piece of mind. I doubt i'd unstick a RWD 911 with my driving capabilities [] Would like a turbo though for the thrill of that immense power and torque. Anything less and I think i'd be wanting my Spyder back.Exactly where I was at with the 911 Matt. Saw my first one and fell in love with it when I was 14 and on holiday in London with my parents. Throughout my working life I promised myself one by the time I was 40 but an expensive divorce delayed that. Hope fully will be retiring in a couple of years so had to do it before then due to financial constraints, so it was very much a case of scratching an itch. Don't want to be sat in a nursing home dribbling, watching cash in the attic, wishing that I had had done!! Mind you, by the time I am at that stage I will have probably forgot what it was that I wanted to do in the first place! [] I think maybe sometimes the journey can be better than the destination, but I am warming to the car and there are certainly worse things in life than being mildly disappointed with a 911!! The turbo sounds just fantastic, but out of my price bracket unfortunately and I will definetly spend the majority of the time on the handling circuit. Good advice flat6. Best regards guys and enjoy driving/haven driven Porches best kept secret.[]
] I think maybe sometimes the journey can be better than the destination, but I am warming to the car and there are certainly worse things in life than being mildly disappointed with a 911!! The turbo sounds just fantastic, but out of my price bracket unfortunately and I will definetly spend the majority of the time on the handling circuit. Good advice flat6. Best regards guys and enjoy driving/haven driven Porches best kept secret.[]
Interesting thoughts Barry - and very resonant with me as I'm about to get my first state pension cheque in a couple of months.! After driving both, I actually purchased my fully-spec'd Cayman S in preference to a 997, despite the fact that I could have probably haggled a decent price for a very basic 997. A bit of a surprise to me - as I had always considered myself as a 911 fan - but I just preferred the handling balance of the Cayman and the performance of the two cars is so close as to make no practical difference. Plus, you get two proper "boots" (the rear with an opening hatch) rather than one "boot" and two seats suitable only for legless dwarfs which can be converted into a storage area with awkward access. I've never had any cause to regret my decision. I think that the only 911 I would now consider would be a classic air-cooled car or a water-cooled Turbo or a GT3, but we're talking serious money for the those. Whatever, just enjoy the car - I'm sure that eventually you'll get to like it's unique driving characteristics. Jeff
I have a theory that Porsche will eventually remove the Carrera and the base 911 will be the Carrera S. I don't expect they will want any perception that the cars overlap in performance when one costs considerably more than the other. With the 981 Cayman S, the gap will be even closer. They won't want people walking into show rooms saying "Why is that Carrera £25,000 more than that Cayman S? Both 3.4, yes. It says few bhp and Nm more on the Carrera, hmmm. Felt about the same when I drove them both but the Cayman handled much sweeter. Don't see the point in that Carrera." They should be saying "The Carrera S, well, that blew me away, definitely a big difference between the Carrera S and Cayman S. I'll definitely work my way up to one of those 911's some day."
Agree and I wonder why they stopped Cayman production in January but havent announced the new 981 Cayman yet, only rumours it might be by launched end of this year according to OPC's. They dont want it to interfere with potential sales of the non-S 991. I was told they had to detune the new 981 S and soften up the handling as it was too close to the 981S around the "Ring". Unfortunately when it does come out its will knock down the value of the Gen II cars as they cant afford to price it too close to the non S 991 either.
I think we had this conversation some time ago Chris and came to the conclusion that the 981 Cayman would be announced at the LA Auto Show in November this year, meaning that we won't be seeing it here until the new year, a year after 987 Cayman production ceased. Incidentally, looking at the latest spy pics I have a feeling that the new car won't have the Boxster's scalloped doors (maybe they'll use the 991 doors), allowing them to use them on the rumoured mid-engined supercar. Also, the roof looks flatter and the rear hatch higher, perhaps allowing a sunroof option. Quite agree too with flat6. Jeff
I haven't seen any spy pictures since those of the black car near Stuttgart, care to say where you found them? I cant see them changing anything at this stage, just waiting for the Nov., launch. This is so obviously beÃng driven by the marketing boys, as the GT3 is supposed to be launched then too, so they up the 991 game again.
Jeff, Yes that looks like the same video that appears on various sites. Being black its difficult to see all detail but I doubt anything major will differ from the Boxster for cost reasons. In order to be launched in November its got to start production in Stuttgart in September (no more Finnish produced cars) after the summer break so we may have to wait until then to see more shots. At least until end of the year Caymans will hold their value better!
Yes Chris, the car must be production-ready by now for November release. I'm surprised that there haven't been more spy shots - without camouflage - by now. Pity they're not manufacturing in Finland any more; something to do with Piech having a past grievance with Valmet I believe. I thought that Steyr had got the contract for 981 Boxster/Cayman manufacture, but that appears to have fallen through, so that all sportscar manufacture is now concentrated in Stuttgart. Incidentally, I've heard that the Stuttgart build on some Cayman R's has been a little bit suspect at times, with one chap - a Brit I believe - reporting on Planet9 that his was delivered with part of the plastic trim surrounding the rear hatch window missing..! Even worse, the OPC didn't pick it up on the PDI. Jeff
Yes, I'm also surprised there are no new spy shots on the net for at least a month. When the GenII came out I recall there were leaked photos and specs out in June 08 for 09 production. I didn't know the reasons why they are not using Valmet. All I do know is their build quality was top-notch. Perhaps one of the reasons for the delay could be they dont have sufficient production capacity on the 991/981 line at the moment but the few Caymans produced should not affect it that much. I think it's delayed for marketing reasons.
Back to the OP, enjoy your day at Silverstone, but IMO by far the best way to get to know your car is to go on one of Gary's drives with the 997 register. That way you'll definitely learn what it is that sets the 911 apart. Hooning around the track is great fun, but real world capabilities are amply demonstrated in the company of others on great driving roads. You'll meet another great bunch of people too[]
]
Posts made and opinions expressed are those of the individual forum members
Use of the Forum is subject to the Terms and Conditions
