Manufacturers often play with numbers to keep their lower priced models from stealing sales from more profitable, higher priced ones. Understating the power output of the standard engine is fairly common, and in some cases even the size of the standard engine is ‘hidden’ from the average person (e.g. Z3 2.3, E90 325i).
Porsche seems concerned that its Cayman will cannibalize sales from the 911, and they should be.
Porsche has a habit of ranking its cars by 3 metrics: price, time around the Nurburgring, and 0-60 time. We think mph’s Dan Pund sees through the numerical smoke and mirrors well in this month’s drive of the Cayman:
by the numbers, the Cayman S is closer to the Boxster S in terms of power and price. But…the Cayman’s weight-to-power ratio (10:1) is much closer to the Carerra’s than to the Boxster S’s—and this ratio is the single most critical measurment for preicting performance… Porsche says the 911 is faster than the Cayman S. That might be true on a long racetrack where the Carerra’s extra juice matters… The 911 has as much grip as the Cayman S but the Cayman makes you want to find the limit more often than does the 911, which is more prone to understeer.
Did we mention the Cayman is $10,400 less than the Carerra? We’d be tempted to get the Cayman and put the money saved towards the unsprung weight squashing ceramic brakes.
UPDATE Perhaps the best write-up we’ve come across yet is by one of our favorite writers of all time, Automobile’s Michael Jordan (the same man who a dozen years ago made a convincing argument for why he’d pick the VW Fox if money were no object).
Right behind your head, you can hear the 291-hp, 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine whirring with the same crisp, mechanical sound as an old air-cooled Porsche six. In contrast, the 911’s 321-hp, 3.6-liter six-cylinder has a bass note that’s rich and melodic but more distant, since it’s at the back of the car. The 911 Carrera’s engine is actually fractionally more responsive, because the mid-engined Cayman S’s complicated intake tract compromises the six’s throttle response…
the Cayman S’s 3.4-liter six has to work a bit harder on mountain roads… Fortunately, this six-speed manual is great, one of the few six-speed gearboxes that delivers shift action precise enough to afford quick, effortless gearchanges. For all that, the 911’s transmission sets a standard the Cayman’s can’t match, perhaps because the 911’s rear-engine layout affords a short, direct route for the shift linkage.
Its weight is pretty evenly distributed fore and aft (45.0 percent front/ 55.0 percent rear) compared with the 911 Carrera (38.4 percent front/61.6 percent rear), so the Cayman S feels poised and sure-footed even on the tightest mountain road. The heightened rigidity of the chassis also makes the steering action even more deliciously precise than the Boxster, yet without any harshness. To drive this car quickly, you simply point it where you want to go. The 911 Carrera is also a great car in similar circumstances, but it feels completely different. Its extreme weight distribution calls for more driving skill, as you use the accelerator pedal and brakes to shift weight back and forth to optimize grip during acceleration, braking, and cornering. As a result, the 911 feels like a much larger car with somewhat slower responses. Yet the 911 has far more personality than the Cayman, and the fact that the 911 is quieter and more composed on the freeway than the somewhat shrill Cayman also counts in its favor.
the Cayman S makes its way around the track with a completely different style. It slashes through corners as if it were a hologram from Gran Turismo 4, so obedient to the steering that it follows the racing line in demanding corners… almost effortlessly. In comparison, the 911 Carrera again seems somewhat bigger and clumsier, and it’s slower in the middle of a corner. Yet the 911’s reassuring stability under braking as it squeezes down on all four tires gives you more confidence… The Cayman is quick, precise, and consistent, while the 911 is simply fast, fast, fast.