I bought an '11 Cayman base manual a few months back. Picked it up in Phoenix and drove back to Rhode Island, visiting friends and family along the way
I got my '17 BRZ PP after cross-shopping vs. 987 Cayman a year and a half ago. My thoughts from then: BRZ felt more immediately engaging and fun to drive. Quicker steering rack, much better shifter, more supportive seats vs. standard Cayman seats, and the PP's Sachs dampers felt more "go-karty", so I got the BRZ
But a year later I still wanted a Cayman...
So this year I decided to try both for a while. So far, on the street:
Cayman pros vs. BRZ:
The Cayman is quieter, less road and wind noise, better road-tripper in that regard.
Cayman feels a lot stiffer, more solid. The extra mass seems to have gone into a more rigid unibody.
Optional "sport" seats are slightly better in terms of support and comfort vs. BRZ Limited seats. But it's close... I was not going to buy one without the sport seats which are unfortunately a seldom-ordered option on these cars.
2.9 H-6 engine sounds better, has more torque and more power of course but also a broader powerband, between 222-230 rwhp from 6000rpm up to 7400rpm redline.
Cayman dampers are a lot better than the PP's. More controlled but less harsh. I think that the Sachs have too much high speed damping which gives it the initial go-kart feel, but maybe not enough low-speed rebound. Cayman suspension feels firmer but also more comfortable over bumps.
Cayman has tire pressure readout, >>> a low-pressure warning light.
Cayman negatives vs. BRZ:
Feels heavier. I would trade some noise isolation and even some solidity for 250 lb. less weight.
Shifter is CRAP. This is one thing I thought I'd get used to, but instead it just gets more annoying. An '05 Mazda3 with over 200k miles shifts *WAY* better, nevermind the BRZ! I think I shoulda gone PDK, but I was worried about reliability and potential for $$$$ repairs. Ironically the manual transmission is having to be replaced! More on that later....
Interior switchgear ergos are not as good. Door window switches are not oriented well for use by humans, pivot point for these and the climate switches gives nearly zero fingertip leverage, and the tactile clicky feel is not as nice.
If you forget to hit the "Sport" button the car feels dead slow on the street, like you're driving in 4" of molasses. Even with the "sport" button engaged, it has less tip-in acceleration vs. the BRZ. Ideal initial throttle response would be halfway between Cayman in "sport" and the BRZ, which has a little too much tip-in. Having a "sport" button for this is pretty dumb. It's a sports car, you shouldn't have to mash a button to get decent throttle response.
Porsche steering rack is slower, but steering is heavier, and you get more kickback from bumps. I don't think it gives much (if any) better feel than the BRZ's EPS. Also the Porsche steering wheel is bigger, too big IMO.
Neutral (so far):
I haven't played with the data acquisition, but it has Sport Chrono Package Plus. I should look into that... Meanwhile the BRZ's stopwatch/lap timer is super easy to use, whereas the teeny bit I've played with the Cayman's stopwatch feature, it's not as intuitive, and gave lap time readouts to the second, not even tenths? Obviously I will need to get me some learnin' on that but really a simple stopwatch/lap-timer feature should be, simple...
I'll see how it goes at the track next month!
BIG Cayman negative:
I had to buy it a new transmission
Well, Porsche factory remanufactured, anyway.
Not long after I began my trip, the car started occasionally lurching or jumping out of 2nd gear after a 3-2 downshift, maybe 20% of the time. It *only* exhibited this behavior after that downshift, never any problem with 2nd after upshifting from 1st, nor with any other gears. I thought it was driver error, due to my unfamiliarity with the vague, long-throw, cable-actuated shifter. When I didn't get any better at it, I did some research and decided the cables might be about to let go, or need adjustment. Had a shop give it a quick check-out in Atlanta and they pronounced it OK for the rest of my trip, didn't suggest any massive problems. When I got it home I had a couple of Porsche shops look at it, fully expecting to have to update the cables (Porsche had revised the bad routing design), but alas, it was worse than that... Both shops gave the "needs new transmission" diagnosis, 1st one after a brief drive around the block, 2nd one after full inspection of cables and draining trans fluid, finding metal bits. Dayumm...