Porsche Blasted by Auto Extremist

[Kim Crosser]

Could the problem in the turns be that Porsche didn't put a limited-slip differential in the Cayman, because they were worried about it then out-performing the 911 models?

The Stig on Top Gear had a lot of trouble with wheel spin in the turns, and they were speculating that the LSD had been left out deliberately to ensure that the 911 models would have a slight performance edge over the Caymans.

[Jad]

Lets not forget he said the Lotus was on R compound tires versus the horrible stock tires Porsche uses. If it was even close in the corners, the Cayman (which I do not personally understand/like despite being a watercooled hatchback ) is better at handling and faster with similar setup. Lets face it, I remember a certain Honda Civic beating most Porsches at an AX in December, but I wouldn't say it was a fair test showing Hondas are better.

The biggest problem I have with the Exige, is I would be too scared to drive it on US roads. You would have no chance of surviving an accident in one. As a pure track car it would be fun, but a lot of money for a fairly slow pure track car. Curt would be so slow, the sundial timing wouldn't even work, carbon dating may be needed

[Curt]

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I may be slow, but that is only so I don't do this and end up as someone else's avatar.

And please, don't even try and tell us that is Amy. Just take one for the Duncan team and don't throw your wife or dad under the bus.

[Curt]

I like the Cayman too. I just like the Exige more. The Exige does come on R Compound tires, but they aren't the R compound tires any of us choose if we want to be fast.

Unfortunately the Exige's tires are way undersized. I think it is 195 in front and 225 in back. Can you imagine if that thing had the meat on it that the Cayman does?

Whew, I'm glad I didn't spell anything wrong in that last sentence.

[Jad]

Hey, there were ten reasons for that:
1. the sun was in my eyes,
2. the tires were old,
3. the tires were cold,
4. I had the big track setup,
5. there was a corner worker in the way,
6. someone spilled oil on the track,
7. I was demonstrating what not to do to a student,
8. it was only practice,
9. I was parking and waiting for you so you weren't too embarrassed by a 944,

and the real explanation.....

10. you and Dan are really getting good with photoshop, it actually looks like I spun, much better than the boat work

I reserve the right to re-use any and all of these excuses for all past and future events as I see fit. In addition, more reasons may be added at anytime without notice if I can think of more or better ones.

[harnishclan]

All this Porsche blasting finally inspired me to go out and buy the Cayenne I have been wanting. And no, I didn't even slow down when I went past the Chevy dealer!

[paul hastings]

I have had my sport pack Elise for a year now and it is incredibly fun to drive! I have driven several Porsches and it's not really a fair comparison. Unless you are speaking of a GT-3 or CGT then you are really comparing a GT car to a sports car. Comparing the Cayman to an Exige is not something most buyers are going to do. Most people considering the Cayman will not tolerate the lack of luxurious appointments and soundproofing found in the Elise/Exige. It's just a totally different experience. I like to look at all the manufacturers arriving to similar performance in different way's. As we all know there is not a better manufacturer at light sports cars with worldclass cornering then Lotus. I really like Porsches and look forward to owning another right next to my Elise.

[Bob Gagnon]

Note in the Exige vs Cayman article that the HP/Weight ratio is the same for both cars.

Good demonstration of engineering writer Carroll Smith's mantra: "Torque wins races" and the Cayman has the torque curve to deliver the goods.

If the gearing for the Exige were custom selected for the test track to keep the revs up, the results would probably be closer.

[markvaden]

I thought I would chime in since I just bought a cayman S. I previously had a 95 993 which I sold to buy the cayman S. The first thing that I would mention is that I made money on the 993 which almost never happens. I purchased my 993 two years ago for 33,000 and sold it for 37000. I sold it to a friend, otherwise I think I could have sold it for even more (the car only had 20000 miles). I almost feel like I was paid to drive the 993. I am positive a corvette from the same era has depreciated much more.
I am taking the cayman to the track for the first time this weekend (buttonwillow), so I can provide more feedback on monday. I have also driven and ridden along in a C6 Z06 at streets of willow, and I tracked my 993 a few times. I have also done a drivers ed and some auto crosses in my 993 with the porsche club. I am still a beginner when it comes to performance driving so keep that in mind as you read my comparisons of the cars. I will start with the C6 Z06. The Z06 I drove was insanely fast, and had so much torque that it made things easier in certain parts of streets. For example, entering the bowl in the Z06 I just left it in 3rd, and it happily pulled right out of the bowl and quickly hit over 100 heading into the chicane. The power difference is immediately noticeable. Also with all of the rubber it hits corners like it is on rails. It is an impressive car in some respects. I would say the negatives are that you get almost no feedback, things feel very loose, and even this very new car rattled a lot. Also I was hanging out with guys from the corvette club, and their cars broke more than any other group of cars. I saw a balance pulley come loose, all kinds of problems with oil (leaks, over heating, starvation), a cracked hub and a myriad of other problems. All of the corvette guys add extra oil because it is so easy to starve the engine of oil (of course maybe my cayman will have this problem also).So in summary the Z06 is ridiculously fast (both in the straights and corners), poorly built, unreliable, and offers almost no feedback - at least to a beginner.
My 993 by comparison was underpowered, but provided way more feedback, and in my biased view was way more fun to drive. I like the chassis and the feel of the car, but the stock springs (even the m030) are way too soft, and the car rolls around way too much. But the car feels as tight and rattle free as a new car. Also throttle steering is very intuitive. My lap time in my car was faster despite giving up nearly 200 hp. Of course I was taking it easy in the z06 since it is not my car.
I have not really pushed the cayman yet (since it is not quite broken in), but the suspension feels much better than my 993, and the car feels very balanced. I think it will be a much better autocrosser. In fact I can't wait to try it in the march autocross. In the NSS class with my 95 993 C4 I always felt that I had the slowest car in my class, now with the cayman I should be out of excuses. I think that the cayman should be very competitive in the NSS class. If the boxster is any reference the cayman will probably not hold it's value as well as my 993 did. I think 993 values are so high due to nostalgia. It's almost like being able to buy a classic car that performs like modern cars and has modern conveniences. I think that newer porsches will probably depreciate similar to other cars, but if you want an investment, buy real estate not cars.
FWIW that is my 2 cents.

Mark

[pdy]

Mark - anxious to hear about your weekend.

I remember test driving a corvette C5 a few years back.
Brutal torque, and that's about it. A cheaply built car that
looks a lot better on paper than in the real world. The ployester-clad sales pimp proudly showed off the space for the golf clubs,
but this new car had more flex, squeaks, rattles, shakes, and
fit/finish problems than my 25 year old 928 with 150,000 miles.
They were tough miles - I really beat the sh*t outta that car,
like many, many miles at Holtville (including getting big-time
airborne a few times), and many other aggressive driving events.

Not sure about the C-6, but it also looks good - on paper.

Plus, this club and the members (yes, even Dan) are so much
fun, that I can't see getting anything else. I am blindly hooked
on the marque.

Paul.