Sat in the Cayman S

[Chris Tallon]

I sat in the car at Rusnak in Pasadena. It truly is a beautiful car to see in person. Way better looking than I expected. It sat on the Carrera 19's instead of the 18's designed for the car. I must say that at 6'1" I felt comfortable in the car. I have a 35 inch inseam and it felt good. It was a little tight feeling next to my right leg though. The center console comes in to the travel area of the right leg when working the clutch and throttle. I think it's a beautiful car otherwise and I'm in line to drive it once that "test drive" date arrives.

I too would love to have the car painted one of the early "wild" colors of the day. For $4,315, you can order it "color to sample," & so for my money, I'd dump the PASM, and a few other unnecessasaries, and get one the color of my choice, say Signal Yellow, or Bahama Yellow. I also learned that there is a Euro version that drops the car 20MM, but is not offered in the States. Most of the guys ordering this car to track, are ordering it bare bones (No PASM) and will order the suspension kit from europe to drop the suspension.

As for depreciation, I agree that the first two years will take the toll. Look at the GT3's right now. $115K cars are selling here for low $80's now. Platas, we are paying $58K plus extra's and tax for the Caymen's here in the States. It sucks that you guys have to pay so much more for your cars there.

All the best,

CT

[CurtEgerer]

"then strip 2 or 3 hunnerd pounds of spurious luxury stuff off'n it, firm up the ride some, and punch the motor up to 375 or so...then you'd have sump'n) "

Beleive it or not, I've had half-serious notions to do that to my M3. Gut all the girlie crap out of it (i.e. stability control, A/C, power windows, 25-way power seats, stereo, door panels .....) Just can't figure out how to yank the computer controls out and still make it run .....

Depreciation: the first 2 years are the BIG years, but it continues for many years after that. Look at older Boxsters and 996's right now

[pu911rsr]

You guys are hitting the nail on the head. I feel in love with Cayman at first site. My wife can't understand why I have a garage full of old Porsches. She think I should sell them all and buy a new one, but when I think of the difference between 15 % depreciation and 15% appreciation I can't do it.
Phil

[John Fusco]

Jens;

Where did you see it? There is one nearby in Dover NH. I want one.
On second thought, If I had that kind of dough I would buy a real nice early S . Or something that would make a nice RSR .

John

[pwd72s]

Interesting thread. Last night I had a phone conversation with a friend who has $62K of car insurance money burning a hole in his pocket, doesn't know what he wants to buy. He got the check for his 1998 C2S with aero kit after it spent a day or two parked in a few feet of salt water. Yeah, he lives in the keys. One interesting comment he made. Said he didn't want another C2S...it was "too electronic, too luxurious" for his taste. He really didn't enjoy the car. I suggested he think about it until after the Key West "fantasy festival" coming up on the 10th. He'll be subject to too many distractions until the festival is over. Oh...here's a pic taken at the 2003 "fantasy festival".

[John Fusco]

That's my fantasy, but why is she ( conda ?) green ?

John

[platas]

I think that to about a new porsche, but every time i go to a meet here every one who owns a cayene or 996 comes over to see my car, here in spain the meets are not like you guys, usually theres 1 or 2 classiks, and i always get the same coment, too much electronics, they love their porsches, but they want a classik, good for me, buiss wise, but the cars are too expensive here.Funny thing is they sell 1 cayene daily. I will wait to get my cayman, but when i do it will be orange.

[lkadams]

I love the Cayman. It's been a long time since I've lusted over something so badly that is juuuust out of my reach. Being a man of modest means (I envy the many on this board who aren't!), I know I would have to sell my 912 to get a Cayman S. But I want my cake and eat it too, so I don't think I could do that. And I would order my Cayman in Tangerine to match my 912! I guess call it the 5 year plan...

[Chuck Miller]

My buddy Thierry picked up his new Cayman S last Thursday and came over after work on Fri.

After a good dinner we took it directly up in the hills...

With 180 miles on the clock we needed to keep it under 5500 revs for the recommended 1500.

My take....
It's as if George Jetson built a big bore 914-6 GT for the 21st century ... It's FANTASTIC !!!!!!

MUCH smaller feel then a new 911, completely balanced, tons of low end torque, and the sound.... well, all the talk about just a little bit of upholstery between you and that new 3.4 ... they're RIGHT... and it's a wonderfully addictive...

By next week he'll have the break-in mileage done and I'll give'ya my second take ...


Cheers,

[creator8]

I recently had a 996 (C4) w/ Euro suspension and set up for the track. It was my first Porsche and it never really set me on fire as some cars I've owned had. A little soulless.

I've driven a couple of versions of the 997s on track and while I do like the way they look, on track they again didn't impress. Just a little too cosseting for my liking.

I love the way the Cayman looks but until they do a Clubsport version I'm not interested.

I also agree about the performance limits of modern cars. I have a Subaru WRX STI with close to 400 hp at the wheels and I find myself glancing down at the speedo looking at 90mph in no time on roads that I really shouldn't be hitting those speeds. On track its a blast though.

On a nice canyon road, to be honest, I have the most fun pushing my 69 to 7/10ths. I love the feel and the feedback--something that you aren't going to get from a modern Porsche.

Having said all of this, I am seriously close to pushing the button on a 993 Turbo. IMHO thats the ultimate Porsche. It looks fantastic, is awesomely fast, raw and brutal and requires respect and skill to get the most out of it. Plus you can put a couple of kids in the back and run them to school every day!