RE: New Porsche Cayman R Revealed

[Mr Whippy]

Marf said:

Should have been there from the beginning. Sports car without an LSD

Exactly.

When I read this version had an LSD, I suddenly thought, did the Cayman not have one already!

Pretty crappy really for ANY Porsche, even a Boxster imo.

Dave

[vintageracer01]

M666 EVO said:

Very pretty car. Hope you get to choose a different colour though

Edited by M666 EVO on Wednesday 17th November 10:34

What?
Taste can be quite different. Luckily...

It's a nice colour combo, I think. Something different that suits the shape.

I wish, people would be more daring.
Black, grey and silver, THIS is extremely boring!!! Or "pimp my ride" white or flat black.

Where is your immagination, PEOPLE ???

In the seventies, cars were orange, yellow, lime green, bright red, electric blue ...
What vivid days gone by...

These days, you hardly see a dark green or dark blue not to mention bright colours despite the fact that paint technology has come up with plenty of new shades and effects in great qualitiy.

Why live has to be so grey ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[sleep envy]

zakelwe said:

sleep envy said:

zakelwe said:

You don't really need air con in the UK unless you are a salesman worried about sweaty pits, not sure why people are so soft nowadays.

have you spent many summer days in a rear/mid engined car with little or no sound deadening / heatshield?

it's not pleasant

None at all.

I have worked in Kuwait though where temps do actually get more than the 35-40C max you will get in a car typically during a british summer. Don't be such big girls blouses. You'll be complaining next the noise hurts your ears

how that relates I've no idea

[E21_Ross]

Hitch78 said:

Mjpmark said:

As a group of petrol heads, myself and friends constantly dip into the porsche pool of fun. This is one car which what ever way you look at it, the following is true.

You couldnt afford the 911 - regardless of press hype the 911 is the porsche to have to drive to be seen in. Lets face it without a limit on budget you would not get a cayman over a 997

The press office should be going on strike after being given such sh**ty figures to try and advertise a new supposedly fast performance car. Are porsche really progressing now?

The final insult to injury is: A few of us spent 5k on a nicely spec'd 1996 mr2 turbo, regardless of driver in the cayman s, it cannot live with the MR2 on street or track. Now not taking anythign from the MR2 - we love it. But in this day of engineering perfection things need to be better. I'd love the new porsches to be at the top of our buying list everytime. But it seems time and time again they dont step up to the reputation they once had.

That is a lot of tosh.

agree. a mate of mine had a 911 S, as well as a boxster S, he sold the 911, got a DB9, sold the DB9 now has an RS4 and still has the boxster S. he says of all those cars the boxster S is the most fun to drive. safe to say, budget was certainly not a worry

on another note, i think it's a bit of a con really. at least with the CSL BMW knocked over 100kgs off.

Edited by E21_Ross on Wednesday 17th November 13:42

[Oddball RS]

juansolo said:

Marf said:

Fair enough, I can see I'm arguing against the tide here, all the same I'll take my cars with an LSD.

Provided it's been set up to handle correctly with one in place, then it's no issue. They allow you to get the power down better out of low speed corners which is cool. However if it hasn't been set up right it'll just understeer like a bastid. I personally prefer my Cayman without and don't press the throttle quite so hard out of tight corners.

LSD's are great for track use, on our crap roads they are often a real hinderance.

[VladD]

Mjpmark said:

As a group of petrol heads, myself and friends constantly dip into the porsche pool of fun. This is one car which what ever way you look at it, the following is true.

You couldnt afford the 911 - regardless of press hype the 911 is the porsche to have to drive to be seen in. Lets face it without a limit on budget you would not get a cayman over a 997

I'd disagree. I'd have a Cayman in a shot, but would never own a new shape 911. I love the looks of the Cayman but the 911 looks like it's wearing a nappy on it's arse. I couldn't live with the looks of the 911, so I'd never buy one.

And of course with an unlimited budget, the 911 engine could be fitted to the Cayman, so you'd have the best all round.

Edited by VladD on Wednesday 17th November 13:45

[juansolo]

wildman0609 said:

juansolo said:

I suppose Ferrari giving them a kicking lately might get them to re-think.

so when did ferrari give porsche a kicking?

alms won by porsche
le mans series won by porsche
le mans 24hr won by porsche
british gt won by porsche
spa 24hr won by porsche

there may be more. the 997 gt3 is various forms is a great race car why would they change it for the cayman?

Not counting the sports prototypes, which are a very different kettle of fish, Ferraris had been giving the 911s in GT a bit of a kicking (mainly down to reliability of the box), I suspect this has probably been sorted now (this is based on last year, my bad, I haven't been paying attention recently). Why change it for a Cayman, financially, they wouldn't, but the platform has much more potential for racing down to size, weight and most importantly, location of the engine. I'm not saying that Porsche haven't made rear-engined cars work and be competitive, they have. But it's against the laws of physics. There are many very good reasons that the majority of racing cars are mid-engined, including Porsches own sports prototypes. Now I'm not saying that Porsche shouldn't make or race the 911. Why not. People still want them and they are competitive. I just don't see why they can't also do the same with the Cayman. It's a great platform.

Edited by juansolo on Wednesday 17th November 13:48

[scoobster999]

I had the choice of a 997 or a Cayman S, money wasn't particularly an issue - the 997 was a couple of grand dearer and a few months older but having driven both cars for over a week each I went for the Cayman. It felt a lot more sporty to drive in my opinion, like a big go kart and with no rear seats etc just felt a lot more like a sports car.

It is remarkably practical too, boot at front and rear, so a lot more space for luggage/shopping etc. I find it odd that some people would imply that it is boring, and has a cooking engine.....a sub 5sec 0-60, 175 mph top end and the same size engine as used to be in the 996? Combined with sweet handling and I would argue that fractions of a second differences in 0-60 times, the Cayman would keep up with a 997 round a track and on the road. And people who quote their blown 5K MR2....I am still laughing. A case of comparing apples and god knows what...if their point it cheap performance get a bike.

[Mr Fix It]

It seems most comments (with which I agree) say that the gayman is under powered and overweight. If Porsche dont want to make such a CS or RS or R version of this car, its a shame the tuners out there dont really give something as a viable alternative?

I have heard about some versions where they will swap an engine or put on better suspension, but these are not often commented on in forums like pistonheads, or at least I dont hear about loads of people going out and buying a 2nd hand cayman and taking it to one of these companies to end up with this optimum performance car! I suppose its either because these conversions cost too much (or no good!), or that most Porsche owners want something that is only "Porsche". Shame.

Maybe I should set up a company to offer value, quality conversions!

[Mario149]

Didn't see this car coming at all Think I'd prefer the Boxster Spyder though...soft top all the way for me, but I'm biased

[wildman0609]

juansolo said:

wildman0609 said:

juansolo said:

I suppose Ferrari giving them a kicking lately might get them to re-think.

so when did ferrari give porsche a kicking?

alms won by porsche
le mans series won by porsche
le mans 24hr won by porsche
british gt won by porsche
spa 24hr won by porsche

there may be more. the 997 gt3 is various forms is a great race car why would they change it for the cayman?

Not counting the sports prototypes, which are a very different kettle of fish, Ferraris had been giving the 911s in GT a bit of a kicking (mainly down to reliability of the box), I suspect this has probably been sorted now (this is based on last year, my bad, I haven't been paying attention recently). Why change it for a Cayman, financially, they wouldn't, but the platform has much more potential for racing down to size, weight and most importantly, location of the engine. I'm not saying that Porsche haven't made rear-engined cars work and be competitive, they have. But it's against the laws of physics. There are many very good reasons that the majority of racing cars are mid-engined, including Porsches own sports prototypes. Now I'm not saying that Porsche shouldn't make or race the 911. Why not. People still want them and they are competitive. I just don't see why they can't also do the same with the Cayman. It's a great platform.

Edited by juansolo on Wednesday 17th November 13:48

I wasn't counting prototypes either.
alms won by flying lizard 997 rsr
lms won by felbermyer 997 rsr
le mans won by felbermayer 997 rsr
spa won by bms scuderia italia 997 rsr
british gt won by trackspeed 997 r

yes the cayman could make a great race car but why bother spending money developing a new race car when the current one has won all the major races this year. may be a different story next year.

[juansolo]

wildman0609 said:

juansolo said:

wildman0609 said:

juansolo said:

I suppose Ferrari giving them a kicking lately might get them to re-think.

so when did ferrari give porsche a kicking?

alms won by porsche
le mans series won by porsche
le mans 24hr won by porsche
british gt won by porsche
spa 24hr won by porsche

there may be more. the 997 gt3 is various forms is a great race car why would they change it for the cayman?

Not counting the sports prototypes, which are a very different kettle of fish, Ferraris had been giving the 911s in GT a bit of a kicking (mainly down to reliability of the box), I suspect this has probably been sorted now (this is based on last year, my bad, I haven't been paying attention recently). Why change it for a Cayman, financially, they wouldn't, but the platform has much more potential for racing down to size, weight and most importantly, location of the engine. I'm not saying that Porsche haven't made rear-engined cars work and be competitive, they have. But it's against the laws of physics. There are many very good reasons that the majority of racing cars are mid-engined, including Porsches own sports prototypes. Now I'm not saying that Porsche shouldn't make or race the 911. Why not. People still want them and they are competitive. I just don't see why they can't also do the same with the Cayman. It's a great platform.

Edited by juansolo on Wednesday 17th November 13:48

I wasn't counting prototypes either.
alms won by flying lizard 997 rsr
lms won by felbermyer 997 rsr
le mans won by felbermayer 997 rsr
spa won by bms scuderia italia 997 rsr
british gt won by trackspeed 997 r

yes the cayman could make a great race car but why bother spending money developing a new race car when the current one has won all the major races this year. may be a different story next year.

Tis a fair point. *thumbs up*

[Dr S]

The only hope that remains is that the sum of small changes will amount to something much bigger as it did in the Sypder.

All in all I also see this as a disappointment. Why are Porsche so worried about stepping on the 997's toes? An edgier Cayman would appeal to a very different type of customer than a base 997. It's like a GT3 not stealing many Turbo sales...

[RobM77]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think this point is a little wide of the mark to be honest. I would expect a company to take pride in what they do, and whilst I expect them to make a profit, I would also expect a company like Porsche to have the passion, enthusiasm and pride to create a good product, even if what makes it great is only appreciated by a small percentage of their customer base, or even perhaps just a few select engineering types. As I said on a previous page, Concorde, the Gherkin or the Millau Bridge could have been made to generate more profit if they'd been uglier or not quite as well engineered, but the designers and engineers involved decided to go that extra mile. I don't expect a company like Ford or Vauxhall to go that extra mile, but I do expect Porsche too. £50k is a lot of money, and I don't expect to find that the Cayman isn't as fully developed in some areas as it could have been.

[sledge68]

so i can still chase down Caymans in my 97 Legacy GTB ESTATE, bit soft isnt it?

Great Pretender said:

juansolo said:

A massive disappointment. Air-con is essential in a coupe and rubbish though the radio is, most people spec it, when you add those back there's little in the way of weight saving. If you were allowed to pick the combination of options on the Cayman S, the only things this car is adding of worth is the Spyder suspension and a tiny hike in power. They've not gone anywhere near far enough with this.

Also I don't like the spoiler and was hoping for something more along the lines of the Spyder in that respect. It's lazy just slapping the aero pack on and painting a few things black. The spyder *looks* special. This is just a parts bin special. Even if it was using the bumpers/spoiler from the Spyder, at least then they'd both have the same look.

The half-arsedness of it all is a show stopper for me. They had a real opportunity to give the Cayman some teeth here and they've once again cowered away behind the bulbous rump of a 911. Very disappointing, but on the plus side it saves me a load of cash so I'm not complaining too much.

Edited by juansolo on Wednesday 17th November 10:25

Agree with this.

I was seriously hoping the much anticipated 'Cayman ClubSport' would be just that: a stripped out special in the mould of the 968CS.

Instead, this is a Cayman S with a sports pack.

The CSL stays.

[Porscheplayer]

I’ve had both 911 and Cayman S and prefer the 911 easily; it’s nothing to do with badge snobby or anything like that. I was never a Porsche or 911 fan.

The 911 is not prefect but you are more in control of the car and the steering ‘tells’ you when the front wheels have a suitable purchase on the road(this doesn't happen in any other car I've driven), so you car start applying power. The 911 is more interactive car all-round, yes the Cayman layout is better and can make the 911 feel flat footed, with the Cayman it’s just a case of turning into corners as fast as possible and picking up the throttle, once you’ve built up to maximum corner entry speed it starts to under steer and there’s not much you can do about it, it so easy to drive fast. It becomes boring, mine only lasted 12 months.
The 911 layout keeps your interest much longer despite it’s on paper deficiencies, it’s more rewarding to drive generally.

People who haven’t really driven either car bang on about the Cayman being the better handling car and it’s true, there are missing the point, my current Z4M doesn’t offer the balance, poise or steering feel of the Cayman, but I prefer it many time over the Cayman, even if it is flawed.

The 911’s flaws are what make it one of the most successful and interesting driver’s car of the past 40 yrs. (plus it still wins many group test)

Unless a GT3 style Cayman appears, I would not buy another, but I will buy another 911 at some point.

[anniesdad]

I suppose if you do want to go 911 baiting, you just strip the car out of all superflous items, get a remap and you're there.

It does look a little weedy to me, would have prefered bigger wing, new front bumper arrangement, splitter etc.

[RobM77]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[iain1970]

I'm glad I've had my earlier comment corrected.

[sledge68]

you can go 911 baiting in a legacy gtb, carrera 4 s dealt with on sunday along the a3

anniesdad said:

I suppose if you do want to go 911 baiting, you just strip the car out of all superflous items, get a remap and you're there.

It does look a little weedy to me, would have prefered bigger wing, new front bumper arrangement, splitter etc.