new Porsche Cayman any day over 911 - Page 12 - 6SpeedOnline

#166

03-09-2013 | 08:56 AM

tx11

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Min911

Strictly talking sales numbers in the US, both the 911 and Boxster are doing very well in the past year. Cayman sometimes was selling in the single digit a month. Dealers simply didn't have any to sell.

The new Cayman could change that. If so, it will cannibalize some 911 sales.

I think the Boxter is going to cannabalize Cayman sales because it now looks aggressive and the top goes down. The Cayman top looks a little frumpy IMO.

#167

03-09-2013 | 09:22 AM

SM_ATL

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Min911

I take it that the same tires would not have reversed the results entirely...
Of course the question is legit, why then didn't they use the same tires to begin with? They set themselves up for attack. The only answer I can think of is, they only go with what is offered by the manufacture, without aftermarket intervention. That way, the test results are true to what Porsche designed them to be, not what we can make them to be.

You are perfectly right, the results would not have been different with other tires, the gap would just have been closer. I have owned a Cayman R and a 997.1 GT3 and, with the same Michelin PSS street tires, the GT3 is much faster in all circumstances. The weakness, I'd even call it incompetence, of the journalist is that when you want to highlight a difference in one parameter, you try to make all others as equal as possible, not the opposite. And tires have a huge impact...
This does not mean that the Cayman R wasn't a great and fun ride. And a 911, with its heavy butt handles differently but is a ton of fun too.

I should refrain myself to participate to this thread because it does not get you anywhere. Any (Porsche) engineer, or technically savvy person, knows that when you move mass closer to the rotation axis (mid engine vs rear engine), you reduce the inertia. So what? No doubt that a Cayman with a 3.8 engine would be a hell of a ride. Is Porsche stupid? NO, they have made a choice: the rear engine is what makes them different and they capitalize on that. 911's handles like no other cars and that's why enthusiasts like it (and snobs who can not drive it too but for different reasons).

The video was very poor as it tried to boil down the difference between the 2 cars to speed (with engines & tires that are totally different). In the printed magazine I remember that there was a better article where thy in fact focused on the physics of the 2 cars architecture and how it commands different driving techniques. Too bad that the dude on the video dumbed it so much down...

#168

03-09-2013 | 09:44 AM

Min911

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Quote:

Originally Posted by tx11:3789221

Quote:

Originally Posted by Min911

I think the Boxter is going to cannabalize Cayman sales because it now looks aggressive and the top goes down. The Cayman top looks a little frumpy IMO.

In this case it is really not possible because Porsche USA has not sold any Caymans at all in the past year. Cayman sales has no place to go but up

#169

03-09-2013 | 11:39 AM

ChuckJ

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Min911

In this case it is really not possible because Porsche USA has not sold any Caymans at all in the past year. Cayman sales has no place to go but up

That's the truth. Maybe the new one will sell better.

ChuckJ

#170

06-05-2013 | 01:17 PM

Expect212

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Quote:

Originally Posted by White991

Not surprising since the boxster s is already coming so close to the base 991, the cayman s probably lighter and stiffer than the Boxster S, might out run the base 991 on track and drag. But our 991 can seat 2 adults + 2 hobbits!

That was