To me, the main difference between the way they drive was the higher level of grip and more solid feel of the Porsche. I just felt more confident gunning it round the twisties. Both handle better than I can exploit so a mute point.

and yes both cars could have more power but you don't buy a Porsche/RX8 for power... buy a Corvette if that's your interest.

Went from Cayman S to RX8, now going back to 911... horses for courses...

 

stock, people always complain how soft the rx8 is. That is the price we pay for broad appeal. Better that the track addicts go aftermarket than to ask that of the general public by pushing stiff suspension on them. The drawback is that the car is measured with stock equip in reviews.

Overall the rx8 has good balance while retaining broad appeal.

 

I personally think that the rx8 handles as well, if not better than a Cayman or S for that matter

its just that porsche comes equipped stock with much better tires, better rims, and a stiffer suspension

the chassis design it's self is definitly on par, and with some upgrades (definitly cheaper than the porsche stock) will OMGWTFPAWNBBQ the porsche

 

But you haven't driven a Porsche so this post doesn't matter.

 

the Cayman (S) is barely mid-engine too. I'm pretty sure the RX-8 has a lower CG too.

Also, I'm on chapter four of Tune to Win. So I know what I'm talking about

 

haha, you'd be surprised

 

Dude. I'm trying to save you from hurting yourself. Having a copy of autoweek (with a porsche on the cover) in your yugo doesn't count.

 

Not that it's relevant at all, but didn't the BMW 135i absolutely smoke the Cayman in acceleration and handling on Fifth Gear?

I love the 135i. That'd be my next car. I like the looks of the Cayman better, but I'd take the 135i for 17k less than the base Cayman all day long.

The 8 performs as well at half the cost, and the 135i performs better at around 67% of the price of the base Cayman.

C'mon Porsche.

 

you caught me! (rikimaru)

btw, is your car running stable with no issues? I pretty much took your word for it on my post about turboing the rx8

 

i've been complaining lately that my ride is too stiff. i went from 225/50 snow tires (made the ride very nice) to 245/40 summer tires, and the ride is quite bumpy now.

and i was thinking of going to afterkmarket springs... i still might do it. i like the lowered look too much.

 

So wait... I haven't been around much lately but in the time I was gone did the RX-8 get a sexy new exhaust note? Is it now capable of getting around 30mpg on the highway? Can the RX-8 now run 14 flat in the 1/4 mile around 100mph and then pull .95+ g's on a skidpad? Can the RX-8 go 0-130 in 26-27 seconds now, or is it still 35ish seconds?

I'm sorry, but the RX-8 falls short of the Cayman by a decent margin in just about every performance category. Is that extra performance, better materials, feel, mileage, brand prestige, and sexy exhaust you get from the Cayman worth the extra money? Well, that just depends on how much money you pull in every year and how readily you are to spend that money. The RX-8 may be a good bang for the buck, but equal to the Cayman it is not.

You can all go back to drinking your RX-8 flavored kool-aid and I'll creep back into the shadows now.

 

Just a little difference in horsepower and torque between the two - 306 hp for the twin-turbo 135i as opposed to 245 for the Cayman (they didn't even test against a Cayman S, just a Cayman.)

 

An aside from the main topic, but this is my concern potentially moving from225/45/18 to 245/40/18 sneakers on the stock rims and suspension. I do like the wider look tho'.

 

I still prefer the RX-8 over the Cayman any day of the week. I find the RX-8 plenty fast and exotic :-)

That said here are some times from TopGears test track:
Mazda RX-8 1.31.8
Porsche Cayman 1.26.2 (it didn't say an S so i assume it is the basic Cayman)

Thats 5 seconds difference in lap times (i.e. at least two eternities). That cannot be taken just by stiffening the suspension or adding a turbo. Seriously to take 5 seconds on that short track nothing less than R-compound tires are needed.

I have still outrun a Cayman on the track with my stock RX-8. *shrugs* Either the driver wasn't pressing his car as hard as I pressed mine or he just was slower. Who cares, I love my RX-8.

 

I've certainly gotten the attention level with my -8 that I would have gotten from a Porsche. Not that many -8s out there.

C&D's "Lightning Lap" numbers were
2006 Mazda RX-8 - 3:19.0
2006 Porsche Cayman S - 3:09.5
with top speeds of
2006 Mazda RX-8 - 116.4 mph
2006 Porsche Cayman S - 129.2 mph

Given the speed diff, I would think it safe to assume most of the difference was sheer power. But it may be a significantly different course from Top Gear's.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the "Lightening Lap" is one full course at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). They (C&D) likened it to a shorter but nearly similar Nuremburgring.

Yes I understand there is a MAJOR difference between the two courses, just repeating what I remember from the first time they did this. As per the VIR website, the total distance of the track is 3.27 miles. So the RX lost 10 seconds over 3.27 miles...ehhhh....not great.

What if you added 20k to the RX...I think we've already beaten that horse, but yeah. I'll keep my rx...thx!

 

^ as long as you keep in mind the cayman s is rated at 295 hp when comparing to the rx-8.

 

You meant smking RX-8 pot while you go back under the bridge.

Stomp the gas pedal when in doubt of own driver's ability.

 

Everyone here, including Ike (and Ike, please cite the source you got those respective numbers from) keeps culling numbers from the S, which has 54 more hp than the base Cayman, and an upgraded suspension.

The 5th Gear comparison of the 135i and the Cayman was the S version, wasn't it?

 

Unfortunately no. They were trying to get as close to price parity (uk prices obviously) as possible with that comparison.

 

Okay, thanks.

That's kind of lame for them to expect that the Cayman could keep up with the BMW, then. I mean, the weight between the two is not nearly great enough to negate such a hp discrepancy.

And also, if that's true, the BMW was still 17k cheaper than the base Cayman???

Sheesh.

 

I thought the same when I watched it. The second thing I thought is why the hell didn't they do this comparison with the Nissan GT-R vs a 911 GT3 instead of the 135 vs a BASE Cayman. I would have loved to see what Tiff could do with the GT-R.

 

Those numbers are for the regular Cayman. C&D got 14.1 around 100, 26.6 0-130, and .96 on the skidpad. R&T got a 13.9 @ 101mph, 5.3 0-60, but did far worse on the skidpad with .90 for some reason (maybe it was cold). They also averaged 23 mpg during their test. I haven't driven a Cayman yet but I have driven a Boxster and for all intents and purposes they are VERY similar. People like to dismiss the regular Cayman and Boxster as wannabe or poor mans Porsches, but those people are idiots and have never driven one. The Boxster/Cayman isn't perfect, but it has that special something that few cars have and they're brilliant IMO. That isn't to say the RX-8 isn't a great car, but the Porsche is better and saying the two are equal is flat out wrong.

 

 

I would expect the Cayman to be better. Porsche needs them to be so they can buy the rest of Volkswagen.

But yes, The Cayman S is a good target to tune the 8 to. Would be nice if Mazda did the work for us.