How much faster than a Cayman?

[SkinnyPete]

With 320BHP I find my Cayman fast enough the majority of the time, yes the long gearing can dull the acceleration and no, it doesn’t suck the horizon in anything like a supercar but for the majority of the time it is enough.

Now I have been offered a 2011 C4S with PDK for a good price by an acquaintance, I'm not too interested because its 4 four wheel drive and PDK however it did get me wondering how much quicker it would be than a Cayman considering it is £20k more (said acquaintance has the speed warning set to 70mph so a comparison is impossible )

The only fault I can find with the Cayman is traction in the wet coming out of 1st gear corners although it’s far better than most cars. I suppose the C4S would alleviate this issue and combined with PDK it would be a real point and squirt weapon?

I also wonder how much quicker a manual C2S would be over a Cayman? The extra 65bhp in a car like this would be quite usable.

Watching youtube/top gear etc I’m always pleasantly surprised at how much faster Caymans and 911s are compared to just about anything. The traction and weight advantage can be phenomenal and can make up for over a hundred horse power.

It's one of the few cars I've driven that doesn't make me crave more performance, for an every day road car the dynamics are off the scale.

[SkinnyPete]

Thanks for the feedback.

I was just curious over the performance difference rather than the idea of actually changing. As much as I like the 997 I don't think its worth the extra £20k at least from a casual observers perspective.

As it happens the owner of the C4S did have a Cayman for 2 years which he loved, but the 911 has been a big dissapointment for him.

Horses for courses I suppose.

[SkinnyPete]

Baz99 said:

Is this for real OP, you are asking if you should pay £20k for an upgrade and expect to be influenced by this thread? Or is it another 'my Cayman is as good as a 911' justification. All the usual 'I had one, drove one once and didn't like it' nonsense. If you want an agile fun two seat occasional sports car then fine, but you could do better with a Lotus. The Cayman is not a 911 so keep saving.

Did my post touch a nerve? A big fat insecurity nerve?

You read into my post what you wanted to read and completely missed my point.

Moosh said:

SkinnyPete said:

The only fault I can find with the Cayman is traction in the wet coming out of 1st gear corners

Try the "1st gear corners" in 2nd gear. You will find any car much more compliant, unless you are talking about a standing start of course.

I suppose 2nd is more compliant, but I find it too slow in those circumstance.

[SkinnyPete]

wilkos said:

I've driven quite a variety of caymans over the years, and its a great drive. But the standard interior is very low rent compared to the 911, and for me a car is a place to sit as well as something to drive.
I just speced an S up on the configurator to the same spec as my 911 and its 71K. The list on my 911 was 100k, so a decent saving, but I've got 2 kids and need the seats, and whenever I see a cayman it doesn't have the road pressence or rarity of a 911. I've also found the 911 to be a much better motorway car than a cayman, and of the 10,000miles I do a year in my car, I doubt more than a couple of hundred are testing the limits of the car. The rest is comfy cruising.

If I had a cayman it would have to be a weekend car, and then I'd need another vehicle for weekdays, and the 2 would cost me more to run than the 911, unless the weekday one was a total snotter. I'd rather drive a 911 every day!

Now not all thse things are important to everyone, so if you want a great driving car buy a boggo cayman S as its a great car and a bargain.
For me car ownership is a combination of factors and even without the kids I'd pick a 911. But then without the kids I'd be able to afford a turbo.

A bit of a ramble, but all I conclude is buy what you want for your needs, likes, financial situation. There is no right or wrong answer.

Thank you for taking the time to write that out, err however like the poster above you have completely missed my point.

Is a 911 faster than a cayman, would I notice the difference, and would 4 wheel drive resolve my observations?

Also I think you are way off the mark regarding the interior.