At the Circuit of the America's Grand Am race, the sole Cayman was at the back going head to head with 2 Mazda diesel sedans. The Cayman did win it's class however unless Porsche lets the Cayman move up, it's just not the Porsche most people get excited about.

 

what does this tell us? it tells us nothing. Go drive a spec boxster.

Google Black Swan while youre at it.

 

Tells us the guys with the 911 has money to participate in track day activities. I've taken a Cayman R on the track and that feels so much lighter, faster around the bends, easier to drive fast, gives you more confidence b/c it's more predictable.

I was not a fan of the 986, just horrible. The 987 is good but not enough to want to go out and buy one. The 981 almost looks exotic, everything is nicer than the previous model. Porsche is a little ambitious with the pricing, other than that. I have no problems picking a 981 over a 911. It is a very fun car to drive, get a lot of positive comments.

 

Then all I can do is admire Porsche for winning Le Mans in both GT classes with the inferior 911 platform !

 

This is what a track event looks like from behind the wheel of a Cayman (previous generation). Turbos and GT3s go roaring by and disappear off into the distance. Not much can be done about that. However, other Carreras do not. I could hunt down, catch and pass base and S models, C2’s and C4’s. At introductory level DE’s you need point by’s to complete a pass, and not every Carrera driver will give a point by to a Cayman. When this happened, I noticed I had to slow down in the curves and I could hold position in the straights. If the straight was long enough, the Carrera would start to pull away, and then I would be back on their tail in the curves. Was my car faster? No. Was I driving better? Yes. Was I able to drive better at this introductory level because of the balance of the mid engine build? Probably.
What can you learn from this?
· High performance driving is as much about the driver as it is about the car.
· Drive what makes you happy and don’t worry about what others think.
· Any fool that can keep a turbo on the road can probably keep it in front of you!

 

Agree 100%. That's why I got base c2 and get hpde. I took c2 over cayman and c2s because has always been my dream car and I prefer 911 looks by big margin over cayman looks but I don't need extra hp of the c2s. For me there are 3 Porsches I'd love to own, base boxster, base c2 & gt3. But I can have only 1 for now, and that's my c2.

 

I have to agree. In the scheme of things a car is a losing/depreciating toy. I can hardly justify this want/desire when I can spend the money on another house or improve the real estate I own and drive a camry.

The 911 has always been my dream car since I was old enough to recognize how special they are and now that I have one i'm not "dreaming/wishing/pining" for anything better than what I have. I feel special that I was able to purchase it and I plan to keep it as long as California law will allow...

Its my only debt/obligation and I'm happy to write the check when I consider that maybe 1/10th of 1/10th of 1 percent of the world gets to drive the same vehicle I realize how incredibly blessed I am.

 

You are thinking way too much.

Original question is pick Cayman S or Base 991 and why.

You definitely will fail in an exam with your answer.

 

Thanks guys for all the feedback! I will admit, I'm still on the fence. I will be autocrossing whichever car I do decide on. I wonder if the Cayman S would be better for autocrossing. Also the Cayman S would have PASM, PTV, Sport Chrono etc. VS the 991 would have the basic suspension. So who knows if all the gadgets might put the Cayman S on top. As far as looks go. I do understand the iconic looks of the 911. The new Cayman S does have great looks compared to the old car. I'm going to test drive the Cayman S and see about how I fit inside. I'm 5'11 so I think I should be ok. It wil be a weekend car, so I can live with the small space. If I follow my heart. Like people are saying. It would be the 911 but I'm worried that the Cayman S might be the right car for the job.

 

My original post did say it was a tough decision .

The base car buyer often has stretched his budget to get into the base car and it will never be the best 911 (as Jasper pointed out to you) . At 100K for a base car if the extra 20K breaks the budget for the "S" then I'd say keep the money in his pocket because the new Cayman S is that good.

It's also better looking.

At 85K he'd have an extra 15K in his pocket PLUS a car that is more balanced ,nearly as fast, and can be parked anywhere if he wanted with a lot less worry.

If he never had a "911 in his garage" I do not feel the 991 is must have 911 . But this Cayman is the must have Cayman .

Had this question been posed with the last gen Cayman and the 997 my reply would have been different .

 

Follow your heart, get the c2. You'll never truly love the cayman. Been there done that.
Furthermore there is a vid on YouTube testing fully loaded cayman s against c2 without any options on track, and there is a clear winner, the c2.
Do what I did, get the 911 you always wanted, spec the options you really want and make the budget work. Get your dream car !

 

And the winner is!!! 991 Carrera. I hope to pick her up this week. Thanks again everyone for your feedback.

 

Congrats! Whichever car you pick will be still be a great choice.

 

Welcome to the 911 group. The new Cayman S is nice, but ......

ChuckJ

 

Congrats, good decision. Welcome to the club. What were the deciding factors?