Now it is time to upgrade your 8 with ACT light flywheel and Centerforce clutch.

 

No the renesis already revs down fast enough I couldn't imagine a lightweight flywheel in this car it would be awful for dd :-P

 

Name it.

What brand new car is better than a Cayman for the same money, that you would buy?

Luckily, I don't think you will have to worry about being forced to buy a Cayman.

BC.

 

Lotus Elise?
Z4M?

 

Those don't scream midlife crisis?!?

 

No ****.

BC.

 

not as vulgar and flashy as a Porsche.
yes they are very mid life crisis car, but at least you have some taste.

 

An Elise is not as vulgar and flashy? I don't think those words mean what you think they mean.

 

I feel you. Owning a Mclaren has been a dream for me as well, since I was 5 years old.

 

when i see another RX8 especially an R3 i get more excited than i do about seeing a cayman yet i absolutely love porsche cars, i too would hold out at least one with at least more performance gain over the R3.

 

how many people in the US knows where England is let alone recognizing what Lotus is. they probably think it's just another Japanese tin box if it does not have a V8 in it.
being vulgar and brash is not about how the car looks like. you can be driving a $60k Cadlica CTS-V still be less vulgar and brashy than a $40k BMW.

 

We're the ones having the conversation here, not the morons in this country who can't even spell UK, never mind them being able to find it on a map or not.

All your arguments are about what other people might not like about owning a Cayman, but you haven't provided one valid reason why you wouldn't actually enjoy the Cayman if you had one to drive.

By your own words, if the Cayman cost $100k+, you would be fine with it, but since it only costs between $54k and $89k, you can't stand the idea of owning one, because one day, some flaming knuckle dragging a-hole might tease you about owning the "poor man's" Porsche.

Yet, the Cayman actually out handles the 911 Carrera.

I can understand if you just thought the 911 looks better than the Cayman, or that you would rather have the extra 2 seats that the Carrera has, but your only argument presented so far is just silly.

BC.

 

i would buy a 08 m3 for a couple more grands..listed price 36k

 

This thread is full of awesome.

I've just recently been contemplating this EXACT trade up / down (however you want to look at it). Went to the Porsche dealer to look at a pre-owned 911 but it was sold. But, BAM sitting there inside the door was a 2013 Cayman and OMFG, poor-man's Porsche be damned! That thing is hot!! Recent changes in the style seriously did it justice! If you didn't know better, you might even mistake it for a 911.

I sat in it. Started it up. Heaven roared to life. Ok, no way was I driving it. I know what happens when I test drive cars like this. I go home with them. Then sleep on the couch.

$67K for the base Cayman I looked at. They had an "S" for $78K. Nicer wheels, more HP. Meh. I'd save the 11K and buy the base model.

What am I saying. I love my R3! The rich-man's RX-8. LOL. baaahaaa!

 

Yes.

 

The other day, making the run off from Beach DR to get up to 16th via the uphill twist and turn of Sherrill AVE, saw a Cayman S make the turn ahead of me and thought, hmmm....

Of course, it out-accelerated me to the first 110 degree right, where I more than halfway closed the gap, then about a third of the way through the 115 degree left and I had to ease off the throttle because I'd caught the guy (no vision for a pass, and not enough room before the light unless he just waved me by). Given that the Cayman had a slight wiggle just before I caught it, I think the attempt was there to keep my R3 in her place.

One thing about the RX-8 is that you can push it until the back end starts to go and just a slight throttle adjustment and wheel flick gets 'er back in shape. My experience with the back end of a 911 I was taking care of while a friend was stuck overseas one winter was far scarier. When a Porsche starts to get loose, it can be over before you get that heavier wheel and less sensitive throttle to respond. Imagine the Cayman S is a little easier in the department, but...

BTW, the R3 was only the rich-man's RX-8 in comparison to the base trim, as it was a little less than the GT.

 

He was probably just cruising. A cayman s is faster than a stock rx8.

By what you say about the 911 i can understand that you never drove one other than around town.
It's true that they are scary but they are also scary fast. Throttle response is great, especially in the gt3 models, and the steering wheel feels light and precise when cornering since there's almost no weight in the front.

Throttle steering a rear engined porsche (not an mr one like the cayman) should be fun and part of the game. If the whole ordeal is "over" before you can move the "heavy" steering wheel then you are not doing it right.

 

Use Cars.com and find other Caymans near you.
Base price on a Cayman is actually $52,600, so they had nearly $15k worth of options on the "Base" that you looked at. Cayman S starts at $63,800, so again, another $15k worth of options.

BC.

 

Oh, just about everything out there is, in some context, faster than a stock RX-8 -- except in a corner. This a two-way traffic road, not an eighth of mile less than a 100 degree corner after the first eighth mile straight. On the side we were on (uphill) a rounded curb and guard rail keep you from going down into the ravine. As all corners are effectively blind, you can't be out of your lane, so you can't whip out your back end without risking an accident, huge fine and a few points.

As it was a friend's 911, took it our once early in the morning to a commuter road not used on a Saturday and let 'er rip. Got a little confidence, took one hard corner wrong and whipped that rear engine delight clean around. Quite concerned that I flat-spotted the tires, but apparently no. A 911 driven by someone who knows how would cook a lot of other cars, including an RX-8 that came in at 1/3 the sticker.

Not convinced that the Cayman is all that much over the RX-8 except (straight line) acceleration.

Only vehicle that gets me to hankerin about being unfaithful is top shelf ZR-1(3). Then I could accelerate faster, corner just as well. Not brake as well, but at that weight....

 

Sorry - right word, wrong context. Porsche lists them as Cayman Base and Cayman S regardless of options added. I guess I was holding my nose too high in the air to see what I had typed. LOL.

 

buy a buick regal...374hp/340tq cheaper insurance, no one will even want to steal it.

 

I'm trying to make a similar decision myself.

I sold my RX-8 a couple of years because I was buying a house. Now the house is under control and a I received a substantial raise at work, so I'm in the market for a fun car again.

I started off looking at the new Cayman. IMHO, they are much better looking than the old Cayman or the 911. I have to say, though, I drove one and it didn't blow me away. It wasn't bad by any means, but for a car that costs twice what my RX-8 cost me, it didn't seem close to being twice as good. Plus, it has no back seat.

Then I test drove a Lotus Evora. WOW! Now that is a car to lust after, Toyota engine or not. Unfortunately, Lotus seems like it could cease to exist any day, which makes me a bit wary of dropping so much a coin on one.

Out of curiousity, I started looking at CPO RX-8s. Man, they are really tempting. The refreshed models fixed a lot of my concerns with my 2007 (even though the originals look better--hate the big black plastic bumped on the new ones). And spending $20K on a car instead of $60K would give me a whole lot of money for other toys.


Decisions, decisions...

 

buy my R3maybe...

 

Now I'm really confused. I was thinking of selling my 911 and buying a Cayman. Granted my 911 is 33 years old, but it's in fantastic shape. What will people say?

 

Go with whatever you want and quit asking somebody else if you will be happy. You know yourself much better than random yobs on the Intertubes.