[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by brzaapi

I couldnt answer this for you, no one can. I have driven my fair amount of P-Cars, and some have delighted me and some were only just fun.

I can tell you this though, a test drive, hell 5 test drives will not be enough to fully appreciate the characteristics of any sports(i use the term loosely) car. This also depends on where you are in your car journey(soul searching). If you have track experience or not (and how much), if your a HP freak,etc.

I have owned 3 different Caymans, and ran them all on the track and in different configurations. The Cayman specs are nothing to be excited about, but i doubt you will find a cheaper car for the money that can perform (and teach the driver) on the track as well as it does (hint: better that spec sheets show) and can still be a perfect driving machine on most roads. Its balanced and designed to take the abuse from the occasional track day with no real problems. The beauty of most Porsches is not in the cars levels of performance. Its in the balance of performance/drivability/robustness. That being said, all cars are machines and machines will break and require maintenance. But go grab several 60k cars and run them hard non-stop on a track see which ones fail first. A p-car should be one the last to fail. However, that may not mean much to the guy who just drives a Porsche around town.

This was all a long way of saying, whether you are impressed or disappointed by a Cayman...depends more on you than the car itself. And Caymans are not for everyone.

Originally Posted by bfrank1972

Yeah there really is no such thing as the 'perfect sports car' for everyone, extremely subjective. I guarantee you my old 73 911s would NOT please everyone (my wife called it 'the lawnmower'). But I absolutely loved it, despite being 'relatively' slow, having a vague shifter, unsophisticated suspension, etc. It's sort of why I like my FR-S, it's a more visceral car (especially when modified) despite its shortcomings. No doubt a modern Cayman is a better engineered car from top to bottom - better suspension, better interior, better motor sound (6 cylinder anyway), more power. It's a great car for the person who wants to buy and drive, and has the money to pay when it breaks or gets damaged. The FR-S is better suited for people who want to make the car 'their own', a tweaker's car. Despite the less sophisticated suspension design, with a minor investment in suspension & motor (RCE Tarmac 2's, camber adjustment, alignment, headers) it's a hugely fun car to drive. Also to note, there's the 'beater' factor. Not that the FR-S/BRZ is a beater in any way, but I definitely feel less sad when someone inevitably puts a dent in my car (vs. driving something really expensive). I also feel less guilty daily driving it every day & am more apt to push the limit at track events. YMMV - this is a really subjective....subject

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Some of the most fun I ever had in a car was an old Karmann Ghia. 0 to 60 in about 45 minutes but still a blast to drive since it made YOU do the work to get anything out of it and that is driving I enjoy. What one person wants out of a car can sometimes raise nothing but contempt out of another person so to say there is the "perfect" car for all would be an injustice.