Well, last night, after being
fed up with not being able to find a Cayman S to test drive, I met up with Miles at South Center Fine Cars in Calgary, AB to try test driving a base model Cayman instead. This is the 2.7L model, but is all that SCFC has available for a test drive. 0-60 in 6.1s, 245bhp. All the comforts and handling of the Cayman S though.
I should note that I will make lots of comparisons to the Z4M. I also went to the BMW dealership after the Cayman test, and re-examined the Z4M to make sure I am not biased. If you have not read it yet, maybe read my Z4 M Coupe review here:
Review (as promised) Z4 M Coupe Test Drive
I arrived at SCFC in the rain at 6pm (after work) and realized that I had picked a bad time for a test drive, since nearby roads were deadlocked in bumper to bumper traffic. But I strolled in and said hi to Miles, who has been an interesting character and has been pretty casual and helpful, even though he is definitely a sales pro
If you remember my Z4 M Coupe review, my BMW experience was all classy business - they called me Sir and got me a coffee, which was cool. Then my test drive was 10 minutes with my sales guy at the wheel then about 15 with me at the wheel (and him in the passenger seat).
Miles was much more casual and after the usual uncomfortably-long salesman handshake, when I mentioned that I was a little sad about the rain and traffic for my Porsche test drive, Miles tossed me the keys to a brand new Guards Red Cayman and said "well, take it over to the mall, have dinner, then after, drive around, bring it back whenever.". Haha, awesome! Off I went
Being able to solo drive a test car is a way better experience than driving with the sales guy in the passenger seat, so props to Miles and SCFC for letting me have one for over an hour and a half! My Guards Red tester looked like this one from the
gallery:
The car was bare bones with no options except the Bose surround sound system and
Sport Chrono. Black interior.
Overall, my review of the base Cayman is really positive. Just like my review of the Z4M. They are both fantastic cars. But what I learned was that there are NO other similarities between these cars. They are less alike than a hummer and a hyundai. I am not exaggerating when I say that although both experiences are fun, you really cannot compare them.
Driving Experience
Usually I am shy on the new clutch until I get a feel for the car. On the Cayman, I immediately noticed that I didn't have to be. To be blunt, it is one of the easiest cars you could ever drive. The clutch is feather light with a short travel. The 2.7 isn't too powerful so you're not scared of gunning it into a parked car either. I was driving like it had been my car all along in just seconds. Heel toe shifting is a breeze and you forget to think about driving, you just DO it. Like riding a bike, your body knows and you don't worry.
The transmission is very volkswagen-or-audi like. The throw isn't too long but it doesn't feel as solid as the BMW or even a honda. It feels a bit clicky and kind of flexible. You can't slam it into gear and you don't really feel like you want to. Instead, you have to be delicate and click it into gear with your wrist. The more precise and delicate you are the better it responds. This is again a sharp contrast to the Z4M which had a shift lever that I feel responded most to strong-arm throws where you put your whole shoulder into it. You feel more like you are driving an exotic car in the Porsche but you feel a bit more testosterone in the Z4M in this regard.
The steering wheel on the Cayman is a real let down. It feels thin, and plasticy. I couldn't even tell if the one I had was leather covered; I have a feeling it was fake plastic leather textured. This might not seem like a big deal, but it is. In VW terms its the same as comparing the plastic base Mk4 Golf/Jetta wheel with the R32 wheel. Its not nearly as engaging, exciting, or inspiring. It doesn't make you think "I want to DRIVE this!" but instead, it just kind of fades into the background, like a minor interior detail such as the ashtray or the cupholder. At worst, sometimes you grip it in anticipation of a tight corner and feel a bit let down that it doesnt' grip back.
The shift knob on the Cayman is another real let down. In terms of driver experience I think the shift knob and steering wheel are paramount since they are all you touch. The shift knob has a leather top, but its actually plastic on the front where your fingers wrap around. Smooth plastic feels like **** on a shift knob. Leather is best, maybe metal, but not plastic. Yuck. Plastic also makes it feel more like it will break if you were to be rough with it.
The seats on the Cayman are much firmer than the Z4M. The padding is thinner and the leather is stretched tighter. The Z4M had pillows for bolsters but the Cayman is more like a racing seat, the shape of the seat is well defined and although it is very comfy, you don't really sink into the seat, its more like you are just strapped into the seat. I actually prefer the Cayman seats. The Sport Seats (not on my test car, but I sat in them in the showroom) are even better. They feel sporty and when you compare to the Z4M coupe you feel like the BMW seats are made for people wearing a suit and seem almost too plush (which I commented on in my original review). Z4 seats are for looks, Porsche seats are for driving.
Handling
Well, both cars handled great. They are also distinctly different. The Cayman feels very sharp, glued to the road. I know its not AWD but it feels like an AWD car. You can feel all four wheels grabbing on. It is SUPER easy to make this car go fast and handle through the corners. An absolute beginner driver can be a pro in a slalom or on the track - its that good, really. It forgives your mistakes, you can come into a corner too fast or too sharp and its easy to correct it and you don't feel the car lose its composure. You can go so fast that you are thinking "holy sh*t this sucker grips!!". I get the feeling it would understeer before it would oversteer... but honestly I took it into some corners at fantastical speeds and I wasn't near enough to pushing the limits to be able to tell for sure. The steering wheel does not feel too fake or assisted on the Cayman but it is light and effortless. In contrast the Z4M handling feels balanced on a knife edge. It handles responsively but more like a manual steering system almost, you gotta put in more muscle and hold the wheel still. And it (Z4) has a tighter turn radius (or feels like it). You also are sitting at the back of the long hood in the Z4M so it feels like you are pointing a rocketship and praying it goes where you point. I think the Z4M feels more like it will oversteer and you almost want to slide it or drift it around corners vs the Porsche which does not want those kind of shenanigans. The Z4M would surely be just as fast through the corners but you would be crashing through them almost like you were driving a speedboat on the water. The porsche doesn't crash through the corners, it zips, it has endlessly more agility. If you got more balls, the Z4M is maybe for you, I think I prefer the Cayman, its just more capable and I don't have to put on extra anti-persperant before driving
The Cayman feels the bumps like train tracks a bit more sharply but not as unsettling as the Z4M. The feedback is in your seat bottom on bumps in the Cayman but on the Z4M you could also feel it in the wheel in your hands a bit more. It feels like the suspension doesn't travel as far on the Porsche, like a big hand is pushing the car down as you go over the bumps. I would say that at high speeds on deerfoot in the bumpy lane, the Cayman felt less unsettled, but also not as smoothed out. Neither car is particularly smooth though
Brakes on the Cayman were good, but I think the Z4M has a slight edge, but hard to benchmark because the Z4M had so much more power and acceleration to hold back, vs the tamer Cayman 2.7.
Acceleration and Speed
Well lets face it, the 2.7L 245 bhp Cayman is not even in the same league as the 333hp Z4M. There is almost 100hp difference. The Cayman accelerates slowly. It feels like there is no torque, way less than the Z4M for sure in the low RPM's. Launching the base Cayman... well, I couldn't get a good launch, it always felt slow during regular driving. You feel like other cars are expecting you to leap ahead of them but you secretly know you can't do it by just putting the pedal down. Your car won't live up to the expectation of how it looks. It is at best only above average.
But in the high RPM's, 5000-6000 both cars sing! And... I feel faster in the Cayman at 6000 rpm's than in the Z4M!! Even though the car is slower, the engine note and the way the torque curve is delivered in the Cayman makes it "feel" like you are really moving. The Z4M on the other hand felt more like it hides your true speed from you; its more like momentum than speed in the Z4M.
Lets face it, speed is speed. Acceleration from a stop, the Cayman is lots slower than the Z4M but if you are on deerfoot doing 100 and want to pass.... well, in the Cayman you downshift into a lower gear, getting those RPM's up around 5500, the Cayman feels better, feels like you are doing something by downshifting to launch yourself. The Z4M has more like the same engine response at any RPM so if you downshift, its like, nothing happened, it just got louder. But of course, the Z4M is faster. It does take less time to reach insane speeds in the Z4M. And you can floor it at low RPM's and feel like you're going. The gears are maybe spaced better on the Cayman (closer in the early gears) but the base cayman has a 5 speed so... shrug.
Overall I think that the base Cayman is actually very livable in terms of speed especially one you get going, its just the low daily-driving RPM's around town that disappoint. If you also want a track car the 2.7 might be good enough in Calgary, you will have lots of room to grow into that car. But I guess, even when you do get the RPM's up in the Cayman, you feel that its sporty but you do feel like there should be more considering what you are driving is supposed to be a sports car. It doesn't feel like its really faster than your typical sport hatch like the GTI. Its probably about on par with a sporty hot-hatch type car in terms of how fast you percieve your engine to be.
Interior
Well... I already mentioned the steering wheel and shift knob, they are worlds better on the Z4M. And the seats go to the Porsche, especially the sport seats. What about the rest?
The cockpit of the Z4M feels more enclosed and visibility is a bit of an issue. The Cayman does not feel as dark or enclosed inside and visibility seems fine. It is very airy but not big like a sedan. I had a bit more legroom in the Cayman to get comfortable, due to a better design of the central console. In the M Coupe I also had to kinda cram my legs under the dash but the Porsche is more roomy and you can just sit in it and fit.
The plastics on the base Cayman are not awesome but still better than the totally unacceptable BMW dash. The only plastic bits that really suck on the Porsche are there stereo and temperature control bezels and the door pulls on the inside: they feel like they are from a Mazda. The BMW had crappier knobs and switches though than the Porsche plus the whole dash looked like it was from a Pontiac. The edge goes to the Porsche in terms of plastics and details!! It is almost at Audi levels but not quiet. The doors on the Z4M had leather on the top half though, while the Porsche is plastic unless you get the full leather option...
So I also sat in the FULL LEATHER version of the interior, in a C4S in the SCFC showroom. The Full Leather Porsche interior is wayyy better and I really hope I can get it now. The stitching is super nice and it covers a lot more of the car. Leather on the doors on the inside and even on the glove box. Leather everywhere! Dramatically makes the car seem more luxurious, although it is still very spartan and practical, which makes it feel sporty and exotic. With the full leather, there is no contest, the whole Porsche interior is better than the Z4M, except the steering wheel and shift knob.
The Cayman windshield has an antenna (?) in the middle, splitting the glass, it takes some getting used to. Mirrors are nice but the rear view mirror looks a bit cheap and generic, like they stole it from a cheaper car. The pedals on the Cayman are metal, unlike the plastic on the Z4M... they look and feel a bit sportier under your shoe.
The
Sport Chrono wart on the Cayman dash is actually ugly - the lens plastic looks cheap IMO. But not too bad. Its neat when its ticking!
Sound System
The BOSE sound system in the Porsche is better than the BMW Premium sound system, but not by much. The BOSE system seems to want to play highs and lows well but leaves out certain middle frequencies. Its like tweeters + subwoofer. I think it is the kind of system for people who like to use the stereo controls to turn up the built in EQ to +5 Bass +5 Treble. The subwoofer was nice though, better than not having it. Personally I would put an aftermarket system in except that I hear it is nearly impossible to do. The VW "Monsoon" system is probably better than both the BMW and Porsche systems!
Exterior
You may remember that I criticised a few exterior details on the BMW Z4M such as the grill seeming a bit flimsy. Well, the Cayman has its weak spots too. The grey plastic on the front of the car, namely the lower grills, is super cheap and ugly looking. Its that textured plastic like VW uses on their grills but there is a LOT of it. The fog lights are mounted in these big plastic panels which look pretty bad and seem to be getting roughed up by rock chips and also get dirty fast. The side grills on the Cayman also seem a bit weak and vulnerable to being broken. The headlights and tail lights seem excellent though!
Overall, I think with a metalic paint colour the Porsche would look better on the outside. The quality of the paint on the red Z4M was better than the guards red on the Cayman though. It had more depth.
Fitment of the exhaust tip looked a bit sketchy on the Cayman compared to the sweet quad tips on the Z4M. Brakes look better on the Porsche, but the OEM wheels kinda suck. Porsche looks a little high while the height of the Z4M suits it better.
Other Comments
The luggage space in the Cayman is nearly zero haha. I thought there would be room up front under the hood but it could barely fit a small suitcase. There is almost no space in the back, you could throw your backpack back there I guess. If you went for groceries, you could maybe buy 6 bags worth. Forget about a costco trip, hahaha.
When I had the Z4M I drove slowly through the IKEA mall down on deerfoot, just kinda taking it over speed bumps and navigating the parking lot. It was uneventful. I took the Cayman through the Chinook mall parking lot - it gets a LOT more stares and looks than the Z4M. Everyone is looking. I think a lot of people don't know what it is. The Z4M is rarely noticed, I think that in terms of the "attention getting" aspect, the Porsche is WAY ahead.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the Cayman is an amazing car. It emphasizes handling and effortless driving. The interior is comfortable without going "plush" or going over the top. The engine is beautiful at high RPM's.
The chief difference between the Z4M and the Cayman is that in the Cayman you feel like you are part of the car and you forget about driving it. You just drive automatically and naturally, and when you speed into a corner you are 100% confident that it will be a smooth and clean machine. The Z4M never lets you forget, its like you are riding a bronco or climbing a mountain or something, you are always thinking about your actions and responding to tactile feedback. You are always on the edge of your seat and physically taking control of the car.
As a daily driver, the Cayman wins hands down, no contest. But for many people the Z4M might be more fun, if you want to take the car out and really bag on it HARD. It also costs $10,000 less than the Cayman S. But the overall interior feels cheaper, except that magnificent steering wheel.
Tough choice.
Summary of Categories:
Acceleration: BMW (obviously unfair comparisson)
Tactile Feeling of Controls: BMW
Testosterone feeling/Aggression: BMW
Exterior Paint and Plastics: BMW
Engine Response: Cayman
Interior Looks: Cayman
Seats and Comfort: Cayman
Handling: Cayman
Clutch and Throttle Response: Cayman
Daily Drivability: Cayman
Attention getter: Cayman
Stereo: BOSE Cayman
Engine Sound: Tie
Brakes: Tie
I actually think in the long term the Cayman 2.7 would probably make me about as happy as the Z4M Coupe and the Cayman S in full leather trim would make me much happier than the Z4M. But I would still miss the feeling that the Z4 M Coupe gave sometimes, especially when I want to be really hard on the car and feel like a badass.
