After spending two-and-a-half years with my ’09 Cayman S I traded her in this past Saturday for an ’11 Carrera 4S. My Cayman was by far my favorite car that I have ever owned. I really had no intention of buying a new car but I made the mistake of going by the dealership a couple of weeks ago to window shop. Needless to say, taking me anywhere near a Porsche dealership is like taking a drug addict to a crack house, but I digress.

I drove my Cayman for 22000 miles and have driven the Carrera for about 60, (and none of them spirited), but here’s my review, so far. :-)

Things to know:

The specs for the ’09 Cayman S were as follows: White with sand beige standard interior, PCM 3 with extended nav, lsd, PDK, 19” Carrera S 11 wheel, bluetooth, sport chrono plus, xm, floor mats, and universal audio interface.

The specs the ’11 Carrera 4s are: Black with black standard interior, adaptive sport seats, infotainment package, sports exhaust, PDK, auto dimming interior, heated seats, 19” turbo II wheels, wheel center with color crest, sports chrono package plus, extended nav 3.0, bose, xm, 3 spoke sport steering wheel, with shift paddles, aerokit, illuminated door sills.

Looks:

Exterior: Subjective of course but I like the looks of both cars. I think from certain angles the Cayman was better and from other angles the Carrera is better. I will say this... my white Cayman was a cute looking car and the black Carrera looks mean. It’s probably due to the aero kit and the wide hips of the 4 but it just looks like it means business. I also like how the rims and exhaust tips match. I really like the brushed metal of the sports exhaust vs the chrome.

Interior: Carrera is much larger. There is much more head and leg room and the windshield and side windows are easier to see out of. I really like the look of the illuminated door sills. I appreciate the fact that they say Carrera 4s, not just Carrera. Nice touch. As for the for the gauge cluster, the Carrera has 5, the Cayman 3. The center console is essentially the same. I like having the additional buttons in the Carrera. In my case heated seats, PASM and sport exhaust buttons. I like buttons!

Power:

Ugh... No question. The Carrera would dominate. Nuff said.

Handling/Steering:

The Cayman was tossable. The Carrera 4 is glued to the earth. And I mean glued. You could turn quickly in the Cayman and it would have a touch of body lean, maybe even skid the tires a bit and off you go. Maybe it’s because of the AWD but when you hit a turn in the Carrera 4 it feels like you could do ANYTHING and get in zero trouble. There is no body roll and you just fire into the turn without a worry in the world. The Carrera 4 feels like it was constructed from one solid piece of metal. It just feels like a more expensive car.

The steering on the Cayman was lighter. The Carrera 4 has a heavy feeling. I’m not sure which I like better. The Carrera 4 is much easier to drive in a straight line over rough patches in the road.

Also, the paddle shifters are far superior to the buttons for PDK. Porsche should just accept this as fact.

Amenities:

I figure that my Carerra has the following upgrades over my Cayman... More power, xenon, bose, sport exhaust, heated seats, adaptive seats, PASM, paddle shifters, and illuminated door sills.

More power- Always welcome. :-)

Xenon- Much better than halogens. I was blind and now I can see.

Bose- I have not like the Bose systems on previous cars. I thought that it was an abomination on an ’06 Vette that I had. But I must say that I like it on the Carrera. Definitely an upgrade over the base.

Sport exhaust- Sounds unbelievable. $2800 is a lot for sound alone but it is well worth it. Definitely changes the visceral experience with the car. Maybe skip the bose and opt for the sport exhaust if you had to choose.

Heated seats- Can’t go wrong

Adaptive seats- Greatest seats that man has ever invented. They are amazing. A must have.

PASM- Like it on the Carrera. Never thought about it on the Cayman.

Paddle shifters- Much better than buttons.

Illuminated door sills- Maybe my favorite feature. I talked about this previously.

Overall:

The Carrera 4S feels like a more expensive car, and it is. Both are great cars. I’ll obviously need more seat time in the Carrera to have a more complete review. I definitely like all the goodies in the Carrera, but they could be optioned in the Cayman as well. (Of course, that would be one expensive Cayman)! These are certainly the best two cars that I have ever had and look forward to many years of enjoying the Carrera.

Btw. My wife wanted me to mention that she like the Carrera more than the Cayman. FWIW.

 

You're jazzed and that's what really counts; but the WAF weighs in the positive column it's always a plus. The C4S is a great, great car.

Congrats!!!!

 

Congrats!

As a former Cayman shopper for 2 months, I made the "mistake" of test driving a 911, and went home with it same day. Never looked back.

 

Having never driving a Cayman, I always wondered how it would compare to a Carrera4S. Very nice review. Thank you for taking the time to come out with this post. Congratulations. Don't think you can escape ..we need pictures of that beautiful car ....right now

 

I also came from 987 Boxster S for 4.5 years. Sold it after 80k and bought 09 Carrera S. I think I drove my new car 6k in 6 months. I really can concur w/ chiroporsche in terms of a comparison. 997.2 is a def more solid built, more powerful and thus justifiably more expensive. Only thing I miss about boxster S would be convertible top but I would never look back after C2S. One thing that I want to add is.. I just bought 2 after market mod (fabspeed - intake and X-pipe) and H&R Spring and sway bar....just made a whole lot better. I am not the person who would do much mod but boy...feel that power difference. I really think my car puts out around 420hp...based on my butt dyno. I really like H&R setup as well. Car does feel so much more secured in place than ever before. I would highly recommend the setup I just got. I am not quite sure if I want to do anything other than new wheel...leaning toward OZ ultralegerra with gold finish. If anybody have any performance suggestion it would be great! I don't want any louder than as is.

 

Congrats!! (pics??) Enjoy!

 

grats! looks like new cayman will get paddles like ones in your carrera though.

 

Pics! Congratulations!

 

GRATS!

I especially agree with the "glued to the ground". I have never driven a car so stable and planted then my C4S. I swear you feel like a superhero when you drive it.

And yea, the power is sick

For me at 6'3" 240 the 911 fit much better as well.

Post pictures!

 

no pics?

 

PICS or BAN!

 

I've been trying to upload pics from my computer but I keep getting a message that the upload failed. Any ideas?

 

Resize them first perhaps.

 

or post them to tinypic.com and post the URL here

 

I tried to add a photo to my garage last night and got the same error. I think their uploader is down.