The thing is, now I want one....
Discussion
Had a fantastic day on Monday when my girlfriend took me to OPC Chester to have a cup of coffee and a look round the new 911's (a friend of hers has just had a new Cayenne, and knowing I'm a Porsche nut she arranged this through him as a birthday surprise). One thing led to another and the salesman loaned us a Cayman S demo for the day - stunned doesn't cover it :-) I've had three older 911's (two 3.2 Carrera and a C2 964) but I'd come to the conclusion that those days were over, and had come to terms with that.
The Cayman was so good that I've decided "sod that" and will be returning to Porsche ownership in the near future. It won't be a new one, but I don't care. Porsche - everything else really is just an appliance :-)
The Cayman was so good that I've decided "sod that" and will be returning to Porsche ownership in the near future. It won't be a new one, but I don't care. Porsche - everything else really is just an appliance :-)
Ozzie Osmond said:
Truly astounding cars IMO. Although they are far from cheap, the "value for money" at £50k is simply astounding. With cars like this from the big manufacturers it's no wonder the writing's on the wall for builders of specialist sports cars. Sad but true.
Not really sure about that. A Caterham/Ariel/Lotus is a very different proposition from a Cayman and I think appeal to a different type of buyer/driver.I have a 7 and Elise and would not entertain a Cayman, nice as they are.
miroku said:
Had a 7 and an Elise. Both great cars. However, I use the Cayman as a daily and cover about 20k miles per year. Cayman is much more suited to this. IMO of course!
Totally agree-for sole car ownership and biggish miles, a Cayman is brilliant.But the average specialist car buyer is unlikely to be in this position and may have a Cayman as a 'daily'.
I love Porsches but they appeal to different buyers and IME will only give 60% of the hit of a proper lightweight.
Had an Exige S in the past and have tried the new one with 3.5 litre engine. Although the new Exige is faster at accelerating and is almost certainly faster round a track, the Cayman is the more complete car for day to day driving and going round a track as well. That is why I now have a 981 Cayman S, which incidently has much more luggage space if you want to go touring.
The new 981s is about as good an all rounder as you can find right now as far as I'm concerned.
I'd agree that on the right bit of tarmac in the right conditions the 7s and Elise family are the more fun bit of kit, but how often do those conditions come along?
The 981s give you 90% of the fund, but are useable and tractable pretty much 100% of the time in all conditions.
As a one car solution or second car that needs to be able to do a weekend there's nothing to touch them for the money. In fact, there's little that's close whatever the price, if you factor in running costs on the more exotic contenders.
I'd agree that on the right bit of tarmac in the right conditions the 7s and Elise family are the more fun bit of kit, but how often do those conditions come along?
The 981s give you 90% of the fund, but are useable and tractable pretty much 100% of the time in all conditions.
As a one car solution or second car that needs to be able to do a weekend there's nothing to touch them for the money. In fact, there's little that's close whatever the price, if you factor in running costs on the more exotic contenders.
SidewaysSi said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
Truly astounding cars IMO. Although they are far from cheap, the "value for money" at £50k is simply astounding. With cars like this from the big manufacturers it's no wonder the writing's on the wall for builders of specialist sports cars. Sad but true.
Not really sure about that. A Caterham/Ariel/Lotus is a very different proposition from a Cayman and I think appeal to a different type of buyer/driver.I have a 7 and Elise and would not entertain a Cayman, nice as they are.
Still fancying a Caterham 160 though I'll admit. But I wouldn't sell the Cayman.
I have both a Caterham and a Cayman (2008 2.7 manual)
The Cayman is the best daily I've ever had by some margin but the Caterham (a humble 125bhp 1.7 Ford Kent X-flow with De-Dion rear) is in a totally different league in terms of driving thrills.
If you can afford a 981C I'd strongly recommend you also consider the 987C + Caterham route. The combined value of my two cars is less than £30k...
The Cayman is the best daily I've ever had by some margin but the Caterham (a humble 125bhp 1.7 Ford Kent X-flow with De-Dion rear) is in a totally different league in terms of driving thrills.
If you can afford a 981C I'd strongly recommend you also consider the 987C + Caterham route. The combined value of my two cars is less than £30k...
ORD said:
The 987 is lovely in black (I would say that, wouldnt I). I dont think I have seen a 981 in black yet, strangely. They all seem to be grey or silver in London.
At my local OPC they had a glittery black 981 the anthracite wheels and PCCB's it was £70K+ it looked absolutely fabulous, but I said to myself I'll buy one exactly like that when it's four years old for about £35K it'll be a bargain. This is of course assuming the past depreciation cycle.BIRMA said:
At my local OPC they had a glittery black 981 the anthracite wheels and PCCB's it was £70K+ it looked absolutely fabulous, but I said to myself I'll buy one exactly like that when it's four years old for about £35K it'll be a bargain. This is of course assuming the past depreciation cycle.
based on what i'I've been offered trade for my £58K 981 Boxster S, it'll be a good chunk less than £35k in 4 years.. more likely £20k 
Nano2nd said:
BIRMA said:
At my local OPC they had a glittery black 981 the anthracite wheels and PCCB's it was £70K+ it looked absolutely fabulous, but I said to myself I'll buy one exactly like that when it's four years old for about £35K it'll be a bargain. This is of course assuming the past depreciation cycle.
based on what i'I've been offered trade for my £58K 981 Boxster S, it'll be a good chunk less than £35k in 4 years.. more likely £20k Gassing Station | Boxster/Cayman | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff