[Talus1]

Go drive both. You sure won't hear me chide you about how different those two cars are, if you happen to like them each for their own merits.

I test drove a 2012 Cayman S this past weekend then repeated the route in my BRZ. The Cayman is much faster and, obviously, the overall fit, finish, materials, sound system, etc, are leagues better. It is better balanced with awesome traction from apex to corner exit, where the BRZ will spin an inside wheel. (For reference, I'm on 225 wide MPSS on the stock suspension). The Cayman is a tighter fit for me, with marginal leg room. Overall, I would say that the Cayman and BRZ are not fundamentally different types of cars, just opposite ends of the price/performance/quality spectrum. Stepping out of the Cayman into the BRZ I had the feeling that it still makes a compelling case for itself. Overall, I found the BRZ a little easier to "read" on the road, though I am sure that is 90% familiarity. The ride over ripply pavement is similarly jiggly but the Cayman was way less crashy over larger and sharp edged bumps (sorry for the technical lingo). I put that down to better quality damping and more rear suspension travel before the bump stops, but I might be imagining it. I think the trunk and folding seats in the BRZ are slightly more practical than the Cayman's frunk and shallow hatch.

Afterwards, I did some calculations based on torque curves, gearing, wheel size and weight. Surprisingly, from the engine torque curves I was able to find, the 987.2 Cayman S has a similar torque dip to the twins, just more torque everywhere. Basically, the Cayman S has ~50% better in-gear acceleration at any given speed, not unexpected given the 1.7 times bigger displacement balanced by ~7% higher loaded weight and slightly taller gearing.

Basically, I liked the Cayman S more that the BRZ for the higher quality feel and I was certainly going faster everywhere, but I wasn't having 50% more fun.

Having said all that, I'd love to have a little city car with more power than it deserves, like a Fiesta ST, JCW Mini or Abarth. The roads around here are crap, so I'd need something with decent suspension travel. It will never happen because it would be a 4th car that we don't have space for. I've even thought about a Smart Electric, which would fit our lifestyle pretty well given our short daily commute and available outside power right where we park.