Matt Farah Drives Porsche Cayman GTS, Has Little Good To Say About It

We’ve spent some time in Porsche’s 981 GTS cars, both the Boxster and Cayman iterations, and it’s safe to say we love them dearly. It is possibly the best road-going Porsche ever built, with a singsong engine note, comfortable yet sporty suspension, great balance, great steering, and one of the most compelling driving experiences ever. We’ve also spent time in the new turbocharged flat-four ‘718 Cayman’ and while it does improve on almost every one of those aspects, the engine is something of a letdown. The 718’s turbo engine is less willing to rev, it feels more agricultural than a sports car deserves, and it sounds nothing like a Porsche ought sound. Even if the new 718 Cayman S is just as fast as the old Cayman GTS, we’ll pick the GTS every time.

Matt Farah, reviewer of hundreds of cars, politely disagrees with us it would seem. In this recent ‘One Take’ video on his The Smoking Tire YouTube channel, Farah drives a fan’s gorgeous white Cayman. The only modification from stock is a set of slightly downsized wheels (19″ HREs versus 20″ stock). In recent weeks, Farah has also tested the 718 and professed his love for it, as well as a Ford Coyote V8-powered 987-generation Cayman which set his heart racing. Right from the outset, Farah on the GTS, saying it feels like its ‘dragging a boat anchor’ and praises the torque of the 718’s turbo engine. We like Matt, but we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, the GTS is a gem. With 340 horsepower and a 4.6 second 0-60 time, the GTS matches the 718 on acceleration. Perhaps Matt has become desensitized after driving cars with crazy power on a regular basis.

The internet community wants to know why he was so cranky!

YouTube commenters and Reddit users alike jumped on this video, calling Matt rude, smug, and patronizing to the owner of the Cayman in regards to his derision of the Porsche. As with nearly all things, the internet wanted to find something to spin into a tizzy about, and this time their target was Mr. Farah.

Reddit user Tomes2789 started a thread with this comment:

For those that didn’t watch it, he spends a GOOD amount of time during the video (I’d say the majority of it) basically telling this guy all the things wrong with his car, how it’s not fast, and basically being pretty rude and (in my opinion) obviously in a bad mood.

The owner of the Porsche is a regular user on the NASIOC forums, and had this to say about the ‘controversy’:

 Matt was a really cool laid back guy in person and despite what half the commenters think what was going on, they knew nothing, and it was a fun time. He was just expressing his opinions and stuck by them, I respect that in a man and took no offense.

And finally, here is Matt’s response to the whole thing, it’s a bit long, but he comes out being the guy we know, a passionate and caring gent:

“I was being honest, and the owner was giving me absolutely nothing to work with. I don’t need to repeat myself when the owner makes good conversation, but when I’m like talking at a brick wall, and the car feels dogshit slow and not that good, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do? I am appreciative of everyone who brings me a car. That does absolutely not mean that the owner has the right to get their ass kissed, that I need to say a slow car is fast, or that I owe the owner anything at All. I feel bad I didn’t like his car very much. But it wasn’t that fast, it was very expensive for the performance available compared to the new 718, and he didn’t make interesting conversation about it. So you get what you get.

Sometimes you have to tell it like it is in front of the owner. That’s why I can do this job, and not everyone else can, because I don’t give a fuck what the owner thinks.

Edit On Re-reading this comment, I feel like I was unnecessarily harsh towards Ed, the cars owner. And that wasn’t the point. Ed is a nice dude, if not a TV presenter, and his car works well for his needs, which I’m very happy about. And again, I appreciate his time, gas money, and his being enough of a fan to share his car. But, ultimately, this is a car review show. And my job is to judge the car, for better or worse. I didn’t like the car, I’ve driven a bunch of Cayman’s, and I ran out of things to talk about aside from how slow it felt after driving two properly fast ones. I’m sure Ed wasn’t pleased with it, and for that I do feel bad. But the show is about the car, and the owners feelings are secondary. I was honest about my thoughts on the car based on my experience, and my allegiance is to being honest with the audience, not kissing up to the owner.”

[Source: The Smoking Tire on YouTube]