Porsche newbie again. May be an odd question to ask on the Cayman forum, but those of you who have owned a Boxster and a Cayman, how do they compare? I'm less interested in outright power and more interested in steering, brakes, handling, feel and all around livability. I have to say I'm not a big ragtop fan -- to me, cars without solid roofs aren't cars; they're recreational vehicles -- but every time I drive the Boxster I come back with a huge smile on my face. The Cayman gets me smiling, too, but I must say I'm undecided.

To me, the Cayman S has more direct steering than the Boxster S. I don't think the ratio is any different, so it must come down to the stiffer suspension and chassis.

I'm a new Cayman S owner. I've put only 200 miles on mine. Yesterday, I dropped it off at the dealer to have sports seats put in, full detail (detail department was closed whenI bought the car on Saturday), and re-alignment (I'm picky). My courtesy car is a new Boxster.


A couple of things I noticed. The boxster is a 5 speed. I was incrediblysurprised to see this considering its supposed commonality with the Cayman. It is a non-S version so this might explain the difference. I'm new to Porsche just coming from an Acura NSX and Honda S2000.


However to your points, the biggest difference I found with the Boxster in terms of handling is the level of feedback. At first the Boxster seemed to be feeding back info from the chassis more than the Cayman until I realized it was chassis flex. Driving both cars back to back the Boxster's chassis seems to constantly 'flutter' over pavement undulations. This muddled the feedback from the chassis and tires. During some hard corners I had to take it on faith that the tires still had grip. During hard spirited drives, my old S2000 was far more confidence inspriring and had much more real feedback than the Boxster with almost no chassis flex. The Cayman is flat out better than both in this regard.

I have never driven the Cayman S and Boxster S back to back so I can't comment on the fine differences between them but my overall impression is that they are so similar you should get the one that appeals to you emotionally. I loved the 987S and ordered my Cayman S based on the Boxster S demo drives since the Cayman S hadn't been released at the time. I have no regrets about my decision and haven't been back in the ragtop until last weekend at Lime Rock. I had the Boxster S out on the track with an instructor and the car was flawless being pushed well beyond what I have ever done before. The Boxster S seemed a tad less powerful than my Cayman S but the handling seemed just like my car. I was more concerned with keeping the car on the track and didn't pay much attention to the car itself but the car didn't need any attention since it was so stable and secure. I am sure the reviews are all correct about the Cayman S being a more focused car but from my vantage point they are pretty similar. While some people get uncomfortable when the Cayman is referred to as a Boxster coupe, after many demo rides on street and track I am happy to own a Boxster coupe. It is a great platform and you can't go wrong no matter which one you pick.


Alan

I've owned both and I prefer the Cayman S, but that's just me, your opinion/needs will likely be different. I don't think you can go wrong with choosing either. Make no mistake though that the Cayman S is more than a Boxster with hardtop.

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K-Man S

IMHO, if you are not racing or don't need the extra 5 cu. ft. of luggage space the Cayman S provides, it is a coupe vs. roadster decision. I pictured myself driving my favorite roads with the top down and bought the Boxster S.