Yahoo Autos - FR-S vs Cayman S
 

Yahoo Autos puts the 86 up against the Cayman S, which we have been hearing several other unofficial reviews lately comparing the two together.

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/2013-sci...-s.html?page=2

Why the caymen s and never the caymen.. I wanna see that comparison

No offense but how do you have 1,500 posts on here and not know that there is already a FR-S vs Cayman S thread in the proper VS section?

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18332

You should have posted there.

I was about to post the comment to say what you said. :)
Why Cayman "S"!?!?

The VS section gives itself away to be a section for encounters people between different vehicles, and discussions on possible VS scenarios.

I am merely posting a review article related to the FR-S. There have been mass amounts of review articles in this section and nobody complained before. Maybe we shouldn't start now?

I thought about where to put this before I posted as I like to be a thread-section Nazi at times too. But this isn't really that big of a deal. This thread could've easily fit in this section, the VS section, or even the Off Topic section.

This Car & Driver "comparison" test is the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a long time. This is the same test in which they were able to squeeze 21 mpg from the FR-s, an absurd figure if they're trying to tell buyers anything realistic about the car. I wouldn't give you ten cents for C&Ds opinions about anything after reading the verbose nonsense they publish as a "review", I'm just glad I read it in the doctors office and didn't waste my money.

I hate when someone replies to a thread simply to critique the location of it or why it was posted. No attention was even paid to the content of the post itself :P

But in regards to the article you posted: given the price difference, idk how you could even begin to compare the two. Almost seems silly to try and pit them against each other

I didn't like the review either. It seemed very poorly thought out and executed.

Specifically on the page concerning the FR-S, with the "cheap looking" interior. Of course...it's being compared to a Porsche interior...

I read the article and it was like saying

"Oh yeah my house is way better than yours because it has 3 more rooms, 2 more baths, better backyard and lawn, but they are located in the same block."

I do not like how they were compared. Based on how they did, OF COARSE the Porsche was going to win. Its almost twice as much! :bonk:

Actually, I like the "looks" of the FR-S interior better. IMO the porsche's interior looks monotone and blah however I'm sure the quality of the materials used in the porscheare better then in the FR-S.

The article is from Car and Driver, not Yahoo.

almost twice as much... WTF!

In Australia the top spec 86 is the equivalent of about $39000 US (the entry GT about $35K) and a Cayman S would be about $145000 or more on road.

You guys get amazing prices on some stuff

Haha here is a half glass empty vs full argument if ever I have seen one. Was about to post something similar re prices in Oz but was going to say how lucky are we to get a brand new 86 at 1/5 the price of a Cayman S??

The US has the cheapest prices on new cars in the developed world. Sadly, I live in Canada. :thumbdown:

Looked into importing a BRZ from NY state briefly, but an importation tax of ~ 5.5% ON TOP of our 13% sales tax would have applied, negating most of the savings. And I would have to pay up front for warranty work then try and claim it back from Subaru USA. Wasnt worth my trouble IMHO.

I was shocked that the FR-S was only $1000.00 more in Canada (4%), but in addition freight and PDI is ~ $1500 here and I think $700 in the US, so the total ticket is $1800 more.

In past years I have seen lease ads for luxury cars in the Florida newspapers for at least 35% less than advertised here, and this is when our currencies were almost at par.

Sometimes it's just better to not know about this stuff and avoid the aggravation.

Maybe I'll just pack up and move to the Outback and spend my days playing the dijideroo (hope I said that right). Munch on some nice sweet insects.

This comparison was part of a group of two-car comparisons where in each they pitted an affordable car against a high-priced one with similar characteristics such as layout, size category etc. They purported to examine the question of whether paying X times the $$ gets you XX times as much car.

Clearly they are very enthusiastic about the BRZ/FR-S. Right at the beginning of its section of the article they reveal that they were rooting for it:

Yeah, but in declaring the Cayman the winner, they conclude that the Porsche is worth the additional cost.

As for my observations. . .

The first time I drove a FR-S I heard about the wonderful handling and took a hard corner. My immediate thought was "uh oh, I shouldn't have done that."

If I were to take that corner at the same speed in a Cayman S, I'm usually thinking, "I bet I could have gone 15-20 MPH faster."

There is no performance metric that the FR-S is better than the Cayman S outside of fuel economy. But that's understandable given the cost differential between the two.

I think part of the issue here is a distinction between "handling" and "grip".....although related they are different.

well the cayman has a much nicer suspension setup and better tires to boot. throw some coilovers/sway bars/wider tires on the twins and i would have to assume that the grip would be better than a cayman. i know its really hard to compare each other because the twins are such a bargain sports car but upgrading the small things can at least make the handling of the two comparable.

I think it would still lose against a base Cayman.

Owned a base Cayman for a few years and can honestly say that based on my normal spirited driving tendencies (i.e. non-track use), my FRS is at least 90% as satisfying to drive. Granted, the FRS is a bit short on HP and doesn't have the sweet sounds that a mid-engine car offers but for the price you can't beat it.

Could you go into more detail comparing the two, please? With the new Cayman coming out in a few months the current gen is sure to drop in price in the upcoming year. The M96 engine (IMS failure) is what turns me off from 'em, pops had an 03' Carrera and it was always a concern in the back of his mind.

Well one of the comments in the article made a worthy point.


None of us can drive for jack shit, so we better drive Honda Accords for the rest of our lives.

Damn.