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Is a 991 £37k better than a Cayman?

T8

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I had an excellent day at the Silverstone Porsche Experience Centre yesterday driving a 991.2S. In addition to getting some invaluable driver training nearly 2 hours in the driving seat gave me a great chance to thoroughly assess what I had thought would be my next 911 and the 150 mile drive each way in my current car proved to be a useful back-to-back comparison session.

I chose to forego the 0-60 and back to 0 opportunity that many experienced and spent extra time on the superb handling circuit, kick-plate and ice-hill. The opportunity to find how what happens to a 911 on black ice - with and without the different levels of PSM - was incredible and this bit, more than any other, I'd seriously recommend to anyone planning to drive their car all year round.

On the short test track where maximum speeds attainable are only c80 mph the car itself didn't feel any different to the 991.1S I'd driven previously. The power delivery was so linear that I certainly wouldn't have realised I was driving a Turbo and the interior was so similar to every 981/991 I'd driven before that I could have been driving any of them.

I've always been a great fan of the 981 Cayman and in all honesty can't see why anyone looking primarily for a Porsche badge would spend an extra £37K for 2 child sized seats if they didn't need them.

Whilst typing this I've just realised that it's the above fact that will be my over-riding thought from the day! All notions I had of spending £55k on my next 'previously owned' Porsche will be seriously reconsidered in light of the fact that I could get a considerably newer and better spec'd Cayman for that same money. The whole 'great car but it isn't a 911' argument is getting thinner every day.

In fact, that realisation dawning has thrown me to such an extent that I'm going to stop now, change the thread title and leave this as 'food for thought'.
 
The gap is closing. I saw a Cayman GT4 close up on the weekend and would seriously consider one of those at some point. It looked so mean but I was surprised that's it still less BHP than the stock 911S, albeit not by much.

Caymans are fantastic cars, I had one for 4 years but the 911 is 10 times better. Perhaps a very high spec Cayman S would match a mid spec 911 non S. There's a reason why the 911 is more expensive, everything is a little bit better.
 
Intersting comparison, thanks Terry.

I wanted a 911 (because I wanted to have had one at least once in my life) and I wanted the child seats (which I use every week) so my car was a good fit for what I want right now.

However without those 2 constraints and looking for a pure sports car I would be seriously gravitating towards a top end Cayman.

Cheers
Mark
 
Emotion plays a disproportionate role in buying decisions.
Logic tends to be over-ridden by emotion.

Everything stated fits the logic side of the decision. But the emotional pull can be significant before and after the purchase.
 
My cousin worked at Porsche as a salesman for a couple of years.

When the new Boxster came out he got one for the weekend because it was his birthday.

He said if it was his money, he would take the Boxster over a 911 any day and save the extra cash.

But as Cheshire says, however thin the argument, it's not a 911.
 
Absolutely! You got it in one. When you go for a drive with a load of other Porsche drivers and you're all there in the car park, you look at the iconic 911 and look at yours and those thoughts flash past you:
"yes its great car and I don't need two extra seats for £37k, BUT its not a 911!" Damn....
 
T8 said:
I chose to forego the 0-60 and back to 0 opportunity that many experienced and spent extra time on the superb handling circuit, kick-plate and ice-hill. The opportunity to find how what happens to a 911 on black ice - with and without the different levels of PSM - was incredible and this bit, more than any other, I'd seriously recommend to anyone planning to drive their car all year round.

The fact I had done a wet grip session at Rockingham, kick-plate included, is what probably saved me when I hit fresh snow on the M6 at around 80ish..and somehow caught it.. :eek:

I've had similar thoughts after spending time with various courtesy cars, including Boxsters and a 911C2. Both great cars, I actually ended up thinking do I need a Turbo over the C2, rather than a Boxster/Cayman over the 911, although I still have the need for the extra seats.

While I found the Boxster great fun to drive quickly and very chuckable, the 911 was just more fun down one of my favourite roads as I could push it more than the Turbo..

I'd stick with a 911 of some description, but also have one of the other - if I could afford it of course.. :lol:
 
Great insights Terry :thumb: and thanks for sharing your experiences on the Porsche Experience trip. Can I ask which version of the experience you picked as seriously looking at booking a session as I need to know more about my cars handling, in a safe place?

As had been said emotions can crowd ones judgement, I did consider a cayman, however for a daily driver and for road trips I thought the 911 was more practical. Now that's a statement you don't often hear in the same sentence as 911. :D
I decided not to drive a cayman and focus on 911 as I really needed two seats for the munchins. If I got a cayman I would need a second car and that then means difference in costs would not be that great.
 
Have been on a number of events at Silverstone and when the PEC bring their whole fleet of cars/drivers over to Northern Ireland for 3 or 4 days of madness on a local race track. 8)

Got to say, that on the smaller circuits of about a mile in length, there is very little noticeable difference between the Cayman and a 911. Only time a difference is really seen is when the 911 stretches its legs down a long straight. And on real roads, this is also probably the only discernible difference when the 911 will go by the Cayman on autobahns/motorways or on longer track circuits.

So, because of the confines of normal UK roads, would say that the two cars will be close together for 99% of the time. So is an extra 1% worth £37K :?:
Probably, in my mind at least, due to the 911 heritage, and maybe more so now that the Boxster/Cayman will move to 4-cylinder engines.
 
I've got two children so I've no choice ,,

(Tounge in cheek ) -
But even if I didn't I'd still go 911 as would feel like a failure at the traffic lights if one pulled up at the side of me and I was in a Cayman :grin:

But I've heard as a car been better eg on track the Cayman could be better !

Edit- a review I watch by a racing driver said if Porsche put the 991S engine in the Cayman it would be the best car in the world :bandit:
 
Cayman the first Porsche I drove fantastic car BUT a very thin its not a 911 :dont know:
 
mzmini said:
Cayman the first Porsche I drove fantastic car BUT a very thin its not a 911 :dont know:

I have seen 2 GT4s this week both sounded stunning as they went past me, the exhaust note is spot on. I have kids so need the plus 2 Whether the cayman will become the Porsche of choice in the future as the new 991.2 is not as loved as previous 911s .I think the huge change to 3ltr twin turbo has put many off it and time will tell if it becomes considered not a true 911.
Having said that the air coolers didn't stop us buying 996 and 997s.
 
Terry, my advice is buy a Cayman/Boxster.

If one has done the 911 thing then the box is ticked and you get the emotion out of the way letting common sense prevail. Money no object is a different discussion.

If you are new to Porsche then absolutely, 1000%, you must get to the top of the Porsche icon mountain before you can back into a Cayman/ Boxster and be totally comfy with it.

I hope that doesn't come accross as some patronising bollox but what i mean is if you haven't got there you need to get there, once you have got there you can go anywhere 😀
 

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