Through Ian's Lens: 2008 Porsche Cayman S

As I wrap up my first year of "Through Ian's Lens" blog posts, having the opportunity to photograph a car like this reminds me why I love my job. I also realize that after climbing behind the wheel of more than 140 cars, I have yet to publish anything negative about a vehicle. So here goes.

The Porsche Cayman S, like all Porsches, is fantastic to drive but visually bland. As the company moves closer to the 22nd century, I feel as if Porche's car design has become more and more homogeneous across all its models, past and present. The curvy wheel wells and wide rear end make the Cayman S smooth and controlled on the racetrack but provide plenty of "I've seen it before" comments from the peanut gallery standing on the corner. I think the only reason anyone turned their head toward me was the car’s "LET'S-LOOK-AT-THAT-GUY-DRIVING-THE-HEY-HEY-LOOK-AT-ME" yellow paint, complete with matching yellow seat belts.

Does a brand as historic and revered as Porsche need to rely on bright colors to be seen? Do we really need another year of the most "eh" looking cars on the road from Porsche? Maybe I'm just peeved that they didn't send us one in black. Either way, let me know what you think in the comments section. A full set of images is below.

Comments

Cayman could have been exciting car but Porsche de-tuned it so much in order not to infringe on 911 that it is just another overpriced car from Porsche out there. I wrote here before about Cayman S a few times. I test drove it many times. Once I had friend's M3 2004 for a couple of days and went for Cayman S test drive. Cayman S was a bit more agile but obviously lacked power. I would take M3 (E46) over it any day. Another time I test drove Cayman S head to head with Lotus Elise. Than within a few days I drove Exige S. Exige S outperform Cayman S in every single thing that I tried. Last time I test drove Z06 (one year old), 911s (one year old) and Cayman S (new). Cayman S cannot even come close to these cars. Regular Corvette would blow doors of Cayman S in performance arena (this comes from a guy who was die hard German car fan back in Europe). I had chance to drive Evo VIII and it was more fun that Cayman S.

In the end Cayman S is just a nice (overpriced) daily driver that wants to be a sports car. To bad Porsche "destroyed" such a nice concept. With low weight and powerfull engine it could have been the next big thing from Porsche. But who would buy 911 then.

I think the Cayman is absolutely beautiful, particularly in speed yellow. It a realistic car for today's roads. It is agile, quick, comfortable, has enough trunk space for two people to take a two week trip and gets good gas mileage.

If only Porsche made a convertible version; it would be perfect.

Erm...they do. It's called the Boxster

I think he was kidding.

I'd rather have the Boxter S than the Cayman. Not really a 911, the Cayman's probably not a good long term investment. It's cousin, the Audi S5 looks like it might be a lot more fun to own.

As has been said many times before, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I own a black Cayman S, and have had perfect strangers come up to me and tell me that the car is one of the most beautiful they have ever seen. Mine is not an isolated case, either. All you need do is go to the Cayman Club website and read about numerous other owners having similar experiences. Also, in a stoplight drag race, the Cayman S may loose to some lesser priced cars, but that is not what it was made for. On the track, it is one of the quickest, best handling cars there are. If blinding acceleration you must have, for approximately $15,000, you can take it to the right mod shop and turn the Cayman S into an 11 second quarter mile car.

Gee people weren't looking at a new radical shape. And you don't like the car because the free car to drive that the marketing people had for me to drive wasn't the color you like. The styling is like their other models (perhaps because the company believes that function should dictate form and there is only so much you can do with a mid-engine design and it still be practical).

I don't own a Cayman, but happen to think it a beautiful form in many of its colors. I don't care for the brighter colors (and I hate the speed yellow), but other people should be allowed their choices. But maybe that is because I don't feel the need to call attention to myself...or to invite the unwanted attention of the law or the vandal.

I don't need raw horsepower to interest me, a 201HP Boxster I once owned was more than enough car that it was a better car than I was a driver (and I've raced SCCA).

Practical too, good mileage, enough luggage room that two people could go off for a week. Reliable enough that in cost to own over several year it beat my Honda and Acura (fewer trips to the dealers too).

I don't know where the reviewer drove it or what his credentials are but he really ought to try driving one for several days in the real world, to the grocery store, to the vacation spot, on a date, to the golf course (try that one in a Lotus) etc. I think he'd find that the car was a very practical and pleasant car to own. And the joy of ownership of a car that just handles like a dream. It makes seeking out the bending road an excuse to go driving.

Sure we all wish it were cheaper. But we can say that about any make/model.

Mike F,
Ian is our staff photographer. He may be more interested in car color than a reviewer for good reason. Although I think the shots look better with it in yellow. I think he was speaking to the fact that you get unwanted attention in yellow and he would have preferred black. IMHO I would like black better too ;)

I thought it was an excellent handling car but couldn't help but think the M3 has pretty good handling too (not as good mind you) a lot more power, more practicality and a better ride on bumpy Chicago streets while still able to hit a track with ease.

When you're driving a car that barely comes up to a Hummer's door handles, is it really "HEY-HEY-LOOK-AT-ME" yellow? Or is it more like, "What do you mean, you didn't see him?" yellow?

A Porsche can look terrific in dark metallic gray or black (invisible at night), in silver (invisible in rain); even Guards Red is surprisingly invisible under mercury vapor lighting. Speed Yellow may be the best defense, even if it does make you worry that people will think you have an ego problem.

It's always funny to see people say that the Cayman "could have been a 911 beater with X, Y, or Z." First off, realize that with the larger engine everyone wants, the car does not handle as well as it does now. Go read Excellence about the guy who stuffed a 3.6 M96 motor in his Cayman. The tail wagged, and it was not the same balanced car. It was a great car, but not what Porsche envisioned it to be. It was more like my 996 at that point. Which is why Porsche didn't do it that way. They were filling a market segment gap. The only people complaining are not buying, and Porsche doesn't care about the people who aren't buying. (duh) Besides, why would they make the second tier car defeat the flagship?

You can say you don't like the 911 being the flagship, but after the 928 didn't replace it, Porsche figured it out. The 911 will ALWAYS be the flagship, because that's what people want, and they vote at the top of their lung's with their wallet. Which is why you cannot buy a 914, 928, 944, or 968 anymore, even tho they are all great cars. Cause it turned out everyone was buying 911's instead. Amazing.

BTW, the reason no one turns heads at a Cayman (or even my 996 /shrug) is because they are not that expensive or rare. People know they are great, but they have seen it before. Where I live, see Ferrari's and Lambo's a lot (once a week?) and no one turns to look at those either, except me in my 996 but then, the Lambo guy is looking at me to see if I will look at him. Then we chat. And chase. Fun!

p.s. the M3 is a sedan. It weighs over 700 pounds more than a Cayman S. My 996 is also 700 pounds lighter than an M3, and I wish it weighed less every time I have to wait out an off-camber turn at the track because of my mass. I like the M3, but it's a sedan. If I was single and needed a sedan, it'd be great. But for a sports car, it's 911 all the way. (Ok, if you threw a Ferrari F430 at me with a 50K maintenance budget, I might trade in the Carrera... hahah)

The Cayman is a good looking car, but it needs more horsepower. It just doesn't have the torque down low to keep up with other cars or give you that acceleration that makes other cars so exhilarating.

'I test drove this and I test drove that and that Caymans could have been a jar of oysters if only they'd have let it shine, blah, blah'

The Cayman is one of the prettiest cars around and when you hear people crapping on about hp you realize that they just don't get it. Buy a Corvette if you want unrefined HP and buy a 911 if you want the icon. Buy a Cayman S if you want one of the best handling, most rewarding cars in the world.

G.

Mine is black on tan. Many, many comments from strangers. Give it 2 or 3 more years of Porsche design and we will see where it ranks!