Cayman GTS on Top Gear

[Harris_I]

EricE said:

It's the same with carbon ceramic brakes. The sportauto 911 comparison had the regular C2S on Pirellis with steel brakes and the GTS on Super Sports with carbon ceramics... coincidence? I think not.

Carbon ceramics won't make any meaningful improvement in lap time. They may improve consistency in some cases.

[BGHughes]

The Corvette, I have to agree, is an eye-catcher. Very striking looks

However, the premise of the piece was the CGTS and Stingray are similar in price. But they are not.
The base price of the Corvette, before any configuring, is 65.5k. That's over 10k more than a Cayman GTS

sub 1.22 is a quick time, faster than a lot of very expensive cars, including Ford GT & Merc SLS

Edited by BGHughes on Tuesday 24th February 20:16

[bcr5784]

BGHughes said:

The Corvette, I have to agree, is an eye-catcher. Very striking looks

However, the premise of the piece was the CGTS and Stingray are similar in price. But they are not.
The base price of the Corvette, before any configuring, is 65.5k. That's over 10k more than a Cayman GTS

sub 1.22 is a quick time, faster than a lot of very expensive cars, including Koenigsegg and Zonda

Configure a GTS to the same level (if you can) and you'll find the Stingray is a similar price and probably better value.

[BGHughes]

bcr5784 said:

Configure a GTS to the same level (if you can) and you'll find the Stingray is a similar price and probably better value.

I hadn't looked before, the Corvette has quite a nice basic spec - excellent value for the money
STINGRAY COUPE
• 19" front and 20" rear silver-painted alloys
• 6.2 litre V8 engine
• 466 PS, 630 Nm of torque
• 7 speed manual transmission
• Magnetic Selective Ride Control
• Performance Handling Package
• Head-Up Display
• Drive Mode Selector
• Full leather upholstery
• Rear view camera
• Navigation system Option

[KaymunS]

dtriggs said:

Of course it is a relevant comparison - 2 seater sports cars of similar price ! How else would you decide on a comparison ? But it was actually impressive how close the Cayman was in both drag race and lap time. When you take into account residuals, interior etc the Corvette really doesnt figure for most people I imagine.

+1

[KaymunS]

dtriggs said:

Of course it is a relevant comparison - 2 seater sports cars of similar price ! How else would you decide on a comparison ? But it was actually impressive how close the Cayman was in both drag race and lap time. When you take into account residuals, interior etc the Corvette really doesnt figure for most people I imagine.

+1

[SidewaysSi]

But the Vette is probably the more interesting car.

[Trev450]

What's not to like:

[FrankCayman]

All personal taste....I find the Vette has terribly vulgar styling and would feel a bit silly driving it around the UK roads.

Better suited to Route 66, I feel....

[bcr5784]

FrankCayman said:

All personal taste....I find the Vette has terribly vulgar styling and would feel a bit silly driving it around the UK roads.

Better suited to Route 66, I feel....

I feel much the same about the GT4's rear wing. Interesting that TG preferred the looks of Corvette, categorising the Cayman as dowdy (librarian). Personally think that the standard Cayman has very tasteful styling. All depends on whether you want to make a STATEMENT or not. Personally I'd rather not and prefer something innocuous looking that goes like stink. (I've always rather fancied an ex John Haugland Skoda or one of those 135bhp Austin A35s.)

[koorby]

Despite the Top Gear antics (they are a light entertainment show after all) I actually think the CGTS came out of the comparison rather well. Had it been a PDK using Sports Plus and launch control the drag race would have had an entirely different result, and possibly also the lap time. Not too shabby for a car with a 125HP deficit!

[tyrrell]

koorby said:

Despite the Top Gear antics (they are a light entertainment show after all) I actually think the CGTS came out of the comparison rather well. Had it been a PDK using Sports Plus and launch control the drag race would have had an entirely different result, and possibly also the lap time. Not too shabby for a car with a 125HP deficit!

+ 1

[m999psw]

I also think they are trying a bit harder to sell themselves (Top Gear) to the American Market, they have attracted a good number of 'A' list celebs of late. The GTS did what it was supposed to do for this comparison. If I lived in the US I would have one or a Mustang, and would probably even accept calling it a Vette or Stang.
Naughty librarian is fine with me.

[Durzel]

I know it's a well worn topic but when watching the comparison of the Corvette and the new Cayman I was left thinking - as ever - what might be possible if Porsche weren't so fixated on preserving their halo car's status.

IME the Cayman is such a perfectly refined car, save for the power output. It isn't bad, but I can't shake the feeling that it could easily be knocking on the door of 400-420+ BHP without any compromises being made.

[aelord]

FrankCayman said:

All personal taste....I find the Vette has terribly vulgar styling and would feel a bit silly driving it around the UK roads.

Better suited to Route 66, I feel....

I concur.

[dreamcar]

Durzel said:

I know it's a well worn topic but when watching the comparison of the Corvette and the new Cayman I was left thinking - as ever - what might be possible if Porsche weren't so fixated on preserving their halo car's status.

IME the Cayman is such a perfectly refined car, save for the power output. It isn't bad, but I can't shake the feeling that it could easily be knocking on the door of 400-420+ BHP without any compromises being made.

Porsche have started to "promote" the status of the Boxster / Cayman with the GT4.....