I took delivery of my new 911 C2S last week and handed in my Cayman S, which I drove for about 20 months. I'm in a pretty good position to give you a view of the two cars. In short, the C2S easily out guns the Cayman on performance (as you'd expect) and the Cayman in my view is the more raw (and possibly more fun!) car of the two.

Beyond the big power difference - in the CS I could thrash it to the limit without worrying too much; in the C2S you really have to think before you put your foot down because it gets to 120 a lot quicker - the handling, ride, exhaust note and road presence are the most noticable differences. With the exception of road presence the other differences may well be down to the options I chose, rather than the cars themselves!

Here's the spec of my C2S:

Atlas black
Full black leather
19" Sport design wheels
Sport Chrono
Thicker sport s/wheel
Red s/belts
Black dials (really like these!)
Sat Nav
Telephone

My Cayman S:

Arctic Silver
Full black leather
Sport s/wheel
6-disc
etc.

As you can see the C2S is loaded with 'sports' equipment, but my Cayman wasnt - the C2S has PASM as standard too. It's these items which make a a big difference for me between the cars. In other words I can imagine that a similarly spec'd CS would be great fun. PASM is fantastic - perfect for the British roads in standard and great for flat surfaces in sport. The sport chrono transforms the car - again, its probably just as good in the CS. One item of equipment that I'm sure the CS cannot match is the the sports exhaust. The Cayman cannot come close to the sound of the 911.

So, which do I prefer? Unfortunately (or fortunately if you drive a CS and get hung up on the 911 debate) I have to conclude that they are simply different, each with benefits over the other. If a more powerful (and noiser) Cayman came out I'd buy that over a 911...it would be a blast. And that's probably why there never will be one!

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Good review! Thats what I felt about the 05 C2S I tested drove before picking up my 07 Cayman S. the C2S is way quicker, but both cars drive differently.

Congradulation on your new porsche!
I am not a skilful driver, I feel more secure driving fast in my cayman s!
I like the 997 better straightline speed and it feels more intimidating in a fun sort of way----a unique experience!
I think the cayman sounds louder cause the engine is RIGHT BEHIND YOU! You can make it louder by removing the sound deadening cover on the rear compartment---it helps to demist your rear screen during winter!

PS. 997 looks nice in dark colour---in an ideal world you would love to have both cars plus a RS4 for all motoring occasion

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Andy

Glad you enjoyed your CS and also that you're staying in the Porsche family. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in here and say that a MODIFIED CS changes the comparison quite a bit and that even with the extra costs of the modifications you most likely come in well under what a 911 C2 costs and also most likely can outperform it due to the inherent balance/nature of the CS. I LOVE BOTH CARS but yes, I own a thoroughly modified CS.

A stock CS is I believe rated at 297 hp at the crank, just by adding in a full aftermarket exhaust/sport intake filter/ECU reprogram you can get up to around 350+ hp at the crank AND greatly improve the sound. My car and many others are there! So that puts you almost exactly on par hp wise with a stock 911 C2S (355hp) and within 30 hp of the 911 C2s with the X51 kit (381 hp) but the CS is a few hundred pounds lighter than a 911 C2S I believe... Straightline they should be very close, in the twisties or on a track the mid-engine nature of the CS should give it an appreciable edge... There are many folks on here that do track their cars on a regular basis and could speak to that better than I.

911 C2S Stock MSRP (US) $83k
CS Stock MSRP (US) $59k

That leaves you around $24k of aftermarket performance enhancements you can add in just to get to the same price of the stock 911C2S... Throw in the X51 kit and the gap gets wider still.

Not trying to slam your choice AT ALL! By all means drive the car that makes you the happiest and everyone understandably has different prefs. Just playing devils advocate here a bit.

My CS has:
Dealer options
Sport Chrono
Sport Seats
Auto Climate Control
Pref package (Bi-Xenon, rains sens etc...)
19" Carerra Classic wheels
Aftermarket options:
Full Milltek Exhaust
Evo sport intake filter
GIAC ECU tuning
Techart aero kit
lowered coil over Bilsteins
Stiffer sway bars
Avic Z2 touchscreen radio Nav/phone/Ipod (+amps, upgraded speakers)

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Life is a one lap race... Carpe Diem!"

Congratulations on the new Carrera. I like Atlas Grey, my CS is the same.

I'm thinking of switching to a C2S also. I'm going to keep my CS and let my wife have it. That way I can still drive the CS whenever I want.

Please do not take this as an argument. I can only tell you my experiences with my car; I do not own a 911. I have a Cayman S with PASM and sport chrono. I added Miltek headers, and catbacks; This makes the sound more raw and the way I like a sprts cat to sound. As far as the other aftermarkets exhaust sound it is probably the tamer of them out. That is what I was looking for. The PASM is excellent. The roads here are horrible, and I track the car every so often. I use PASM normal all the time except when I track the car. I have 19" rims and 18", I have opted to use the 18 most the time because I added H&R sway bars front and back, The sway bar stiffen the suspention a little bit say 10-15%. With this setup the 18" are easier to live with.

You have a great car, and I also considered it, because I have two little ones that could ride in the back. I chose the Cayman S because it is not my daily driver, and I liked the looks much better. It is also my first Porsche. It is also a lot easier to drive for a driver that is learning than the 911. The difference in $ did not hurt. I am happy with my choice.

I am sure you are happy with your car. Congratulations on your new car! I think we both are lucky to be driving great cars.

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Having fun in Puerto Rico

Thanks for the comparo. I found it very interesting.

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Gator Bite
(View My Articles : Blogs : Car : Profile)

Are those gains dyno tested by someone other than the parts manufacturers? If so, I'm amazed the CS motor opens up so well with bolt-on mods.

Thanks for the comparison I find it very useful because I am planning on switching late next year from my 2.7 liter to a C2S. I don't look at this as an upgrade or one car being better than the other - I love cars and switch as often as financially possible. For me the C2S is next on my list.

Erik