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Unfortunatly the days of "less equipment/lighter weight = lower cost" are gone. You pay more for less.

Regarding slotting it in between the Boxster and 911, well, they will ALWAYS slot everything (except halo car like Carrera GT) behind the 911. They usually do this by keeping the performance (usually via displacement) just under the 911. Which I think is stupid. People buy the 911 because it is the 911. Not because it is the "fastest" of the Porsches. This same thinking killed off any real development of the 914/6 decades ago. Any development of the 914/6 was going to crush the 911 from a performance point of view. So the car was as good as it was going to get from day one. Attempts such as the 916 were killed off before they made it to market. Hopefully that thinking is going away and with the Cayman S being a lot cheaper and nearly (or faster dependig upon the article you read) than the base 911 this might be a big experiment from Porsche's point of view.

I think the days are long gone of seeing any type of real "back to basics" car from Porsche. They just don't see the money in doing something like that. Something like the Miata or Elise is as close as you get in mass production and with the Elise it ain't cheap and the Miata is going more "mass market" all of the time. Still, all of the talk is about the Cayman S. You don't see much about the base Cayman. So it will be interesting to see where it slots in at.

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

Yes, all true, and unfortunate.

Porsche has been adamant since the creation of the boxster that they would not support racing in them, only the 911. Which again I find hard to beleive and rather short sighted ontheir part.

But oh well what does what I think matter to them. They keep making bigger vehicle, First a SUV and now if the rumors are true a 4 dr sedan Porsche is in the works, is hell getting colder??

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91 Jetta GLI STS/DSP 111
85 Porsche 944 ASP 11
http://www.blackforestindustries.com

FWIW, here's my own opinion of the Porsche situation.

I think they're "big company" now, which means they probably have internal politics and battling factions and all that. The 911 folks rule the roost because they bring in the most dough. They don't want to build 911's just because people want 911's, they want to keep them sort of a pinnacle. The higher ups in the company listen and agree due to ego as well as fear of change (and more realistically, fear that the change will hurt them).

The reality, however, is that finally building a coupe version of the Boxster will cause the true driving enthusiasts to buy them instead of the 911 because, well, mid engine is better. 911 purists will still buy the 911. Ultimately, though, the demand for better Cayman versions from the people buying them (assuming they do sell well) will cause them to build a "better" car than the 911 (something that will whip the shit out of the 911 at Nurburgring) and they will sell them by the boatload. That's my hope, anyway, because I want a Club Sport or GT3 version of the Cayman, but I won't be buying a 911 GT3.

Oh, and I really think you "only" hear about the Cayman S right now because that's all they are building at first. The base Cayman won't be available for several months after the release of the S. That said, I can't imagine the base car selling that well since I'm somehow doubting it'll be cheaper than a Boxster, but it's probably less desirable than one. Driving enthusiasts will want the S and people who just want a cool Porsche sportscar will opt for the Boxster if the Cayman is still more expensive.

The rumor is the first track ready Cayman beat the 997 by a decent amount at Nurburgring. Porsche then detuned the engine to put it a few seconds back. Wonder how long it is before you can get an aftermarket chip for the Cayman that gives you that power back?


--Donnie