Talk me out of a Porsche Cayman

[LockedBreech]

There is a lot of room in a 911. I'd suggest checking them out. Three-four different seat options exist. I bet they can find you a configuration that fits.

You’re gonna cost me money. I’ll have to look


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[RevolverRob]

Rob - What are your thoughts on the new Cayman / Boxster flat 4 vs the flat 6 engine in terms of the overall experience?

Rich,

Unfortunately, I don't have experience with them. Last Cayman I drove was a flat 6. Alas, I haven't been involved in the racing/trackday/autocross since I moved to Chicago so no anecdotal evidence either.

[RJ]

Rich,

Unfortunately, I don't have experience with them. Last Cayman I drove was a flat 6. Alas, I haven't been involved in the racing/trackday/autocross since I moved to Chicago so no anecdotal evidence either.

No worries.

I was wondering whether a (turbo?) boxer 4 was much different from a flat (NA?) six in terms of “Porsche-ness”.

I’ll probably have a look at the torque curves.

After a few YouTube videos yesterday, I got SWMBO to give me permission to go test drive a new one. Obviously it will be PDK (there are no new 6MT to be had, as far as I can tell, locally) but still.

Plus she picked a color, which is also a good sign.

[orionz06]

Great post. I took an international business transactions course in law school where we examined this very question. Disciplined focus is for sure a cornerstone of it but it goes deeper into their business culture.

American car manufacturers focus on the new. This all new design; this all new engine, this all new feature. Japanese brands do that too for the cosmetic stuff like electronics and appearance, but for the actual powertrain, frame, suspension, and critical components, the Japanese focus is much more on refining a good idea close to perfection.

If you look at the engine, transmission, small high wear parts of a Honda Accord, they’re probably very similar 20 model years apart.

So that’s what we learned. Honda/Toyota et. al. have a corporate focusing on, instead of “what’s our next big thing,” “how do we make our current thing do its thing even better.”

I’ve come to truly admire that business approach, which is why I’ve enjoyed seeing the significant refocus, refinement, and reinvestment by Beretta on the PX4 and 92 series.



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In college for advanced machine design we did a few week study on Japanese vs American auto makers and various components and their development. It's amazing how well some of their econo-boxes are and how much garbage is acceptable stateside.

[RevolverRob]

No worries.

I was wondering whether a (turbo?) boxer 4 was much different from a flat (NA?) six in terms of “Porsche-ness”.

I’ll probably have a look at the torque curves.

After a few YouTube videos yesterday, I got SWMBO to give me permission to go test drive a new one. Obviously it will be PDK (there are no new 6MT to be had, as far as I can tell, locally) but still.

Plus she picked a color, which is also a good sign.

If you’re getting a new one - Stuttgart delivery! You can do a factory and museum tour, and then pick it up and cruise around the most beuatiful part of Germany. Then they ship it to Atlanta and either you can pick it up there or from the dealer!

And you can order the 6MT then.

[olstyn]

There is a lot of room in a 911. I'd suggest checking them out. Three-four different seat options exist. I bet they can find you a configuration that fits.

^
What he said. Jeremy Clarkson is 6'5" and he seems to fit ok whenever he reviews one on Top Gear or The Grand Tour.

[RJ]

If you’re getting a new one - Stuttgart delivery! You can do a factory and museum tour, and then pick it up and cruise around the most beuatiful part of Germany. Then they ship it to Atlanta and either you can pick it up there or from the dealer!

And you can order the 6MT then.

No doubt.

I was born in DE and Mrs. Rich went to High School in Munich (we’re both Army brats).

I did see the Stuttgart delivery. It would also be cool if the ATL pickup included something like BMW Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg SC.

We picked up my ‘11 328 there and that was a first class experience.

[RevolverRob]

No doubt.

I was born in DE and Mrs. Rich went to High School in Munich (we’re both Army brats).

I did see the Stuttgart delivery. It would also be cool if the ATL pickup included something like BMW Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg SC.

We picked up my ‘11 328 there and that was a first class experience.

You mean this one?

https://www.porschedriving.com/porsc...cle-deliveries



FYI; I will NOT be held responsible for you buying a Porsche. But, I won't turn down a ride should I be in Florida some day soon.

-Rob

PS: It's pretty well established in my house that I'm gonna be "that" professor who drives a Porsche to campus. My wife is already aware that the next car purchased will be a P-car.

[RJ]

You mean this one?

https://www.porschedriving.com/porsc...cle-deliveries



FYI; I will NOT be held responsible for you buying a Porsche. But, I won't turn down a ride should I be in Florida some day soon.

-Rob

PS: It's pretty well established in my house that I'm gonna be "that" professor who drives a Porsche to campus. My wife is already aware that the next car purchased will be a P-car.

Thanks! First ride is on me lol.

Yep the BMW experience looks similar. They do put you and a guest up at the Marriott, give you dinner, and collect you at the hotel for the drive to the PC. All complimentary.

Very interesting stuff. I’ll need to talk this out with The Boss, obviously. She did let me buy my M3, so I’m hopeful.

[RJ]

Found a C&D review focusing on the new boxer 4 and the base model (let’s face it, I most likely will not be getting an S).

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...t-drive-review

“As in the S, the smaller engine’s abiding characteristic is its torque, with the peak 280 lb-ft of torque arriving at just 1950 rpm. The result is the sort of effortless, any-gear progress of a big-cube powerplant, the 718 Cayman pulling hard at the sort of engine speeds where the old car’s 2.7-liter flat-six would just be clearing its throat.

The flip side, as is usually the case in these modern tales of turbocharged progress, is that the new Cayman can’t match its predecessor’s keenness for being revved hard—or deliver the zinging soundtrack it used to make in proximity to its redline. While the new car’s fuel cutoff is just 300-rpm shy of the old one’s, it has markedly less enthusiasm for touching it. The ironed flatness of the engine’s torque curve means there’s little obvious reduction in acceleration when one upshifts 1000 or even 2000 rpm early. And although the new car gets louder as the limiter approaches, it lacks its predecessor’s spine-tingling change in pitch. As we noted in the 718 Boxster and Cayman S, the new engine also has a tick-tick-tick idle note that anyone over 35 might associate with an air-cooled Volkswagen Beetle.”

“But for most buyers, the need to decide between the six-speed manual and the optional seven-speed automatic is likely to be a more significant choice than the one between Cayman and Cayman S. Based on our experience, we’d lobby for sticking with the stick, both on the general principle that sports-car drivers should change their own gears but also because the PDK doesn’t seem to have been particularly well-optimized around the new engine’s torque output. “

Gotta love C&D; you’ll pry the 6MT from their cold dead hands...[emoji41]