Porsche Cayman S wins Motor Trend Magazine award for "Best Driver's Car" for 2009
#1
09-02-2009, 11:47 AM
Porsche Cayman S wins Motor Trend Magazine award for "Best Driver's Car" for 2009 The past two years, we've engulfed and entertained you with Motor Trend's "Best-Handling Car," an exhaustive multipage feature replete with in-depth analyses and qualitative data on the year's most imposing crop of high-performance machines. We've spent hundreds of hours driving an array of curve-carvers along challenging public roads and, with a little help from pro racers Max Angelelli and Randy Pobst, around the infamous 2.3 miles of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. We've not only recorded such standard MT stats as lateral g and figure eight, but also utilized a bevy of contraptions, sensors, and measuring devices to calculate such dynamics as step steer, swerve stability, and ride quality -- all in our best efforts to quantify optimal handling. In order to narrow down the field to the Best-Handling Car, we examined, filtered, and hotly debated over all the objective and subjective bytes.
While no magazine had ever attempted testing this detailed, we knew there was room for improvement.Enter 2009's test. For this go-around we addressed a shortcoming that now seems obvious to us. In our efforts to ascertain the best-handling car, we overlooked some vital data: our expert subjectivity. Sure, we'll continue to keenly heed every observation made by Pobst, who graciously joins our team again, but this year we're going to listen to ourselves more, considering such nuances as a car's ability to induce driver confidence and its prowess at enveloping our judges in ergonomic delight. We even deemed it important to examine not only steering feel but also steering-wheel feel: That's right, how well does the shape of the helm satisfy the fingers? These and other criteria are all scrutinized in the following pages.
While no magazine had ever attempted testing this detailed, we knew there was room for improvement.Enter 2009's test. For this go-around we addressed a shortcoming that now seems obvious to us. In our efforts to ascertain the best-handling car, we overlooked some vital data: our expert subjectivity. Sure, we'll continue to keenly heed every observation made by Pobst, who graciously joins our team again, but this year we're going to listen to ourselves more, considering such nuances as a car's ability to induce driver confidence and its prowess at enveloping our judges in ergonomic delight. We even deemed it important to examine not only steering feel but also steering-wheel feel: That's right, how well does the shape of the helm satisfy the fingers? These and other criteria are all scrutinized in the following pages.
For the rest of the story -->>
2009 Motor Trend Best Driver's Car - Best driver's car competition - Motor Trend
#5
12-03-2009, 04:50 PM
This is what kills me. The journo's LOVE the cayman S. Porsche it's self tells us how exciting the car is to drive on the track. But the reality is; MOST of us don't have a track outside their front door enough to justify the Cayman S.
It's a joke really. Because Porsche actually 'thinks' of the Cayman S as a 'entry point' into the brand, work your way 'up' to a 911.....sort of thing.
And that's the joke; Porsche hasn't a clue that the reason the Cayman S / Cayman are such poor sellers isn't because it's a bad car. It's a FANTASTIC car. But for $65k - think of ALL the cars that fall into that category.
M3
C63
CPO 997/ 996 Turbo, 993 etc etc. And more over, the client who spends $65 on a car, with Porsche specifically- they're writing a check. Does one go out and say "Oh, I can't spend a penny over $65k!"
No. They easily can afford a Turbo if they wish. What (usually) happens is the client either gets a 997; or goes for a Boxster. Boxster is less money, and it's got a drop top. It's perceived to be a 'better value' for the average driver- And i agree.
So Porsche can claim is a champion of a car. The journo's can claim it's an absolute winner.
But the fact is- they remain unsold on the lot; because they're incorrectly priced and incorrectly marketed.
Porsche: listen up, either reduce the price of both the cayman and cayman S below that of the boxster, or kill either the cayman or cayman S.
I'm actually thinking of this structure for the 987 chassis:
(priced from highest to lowest)
Boxster S
Boxster
Cayman (priced around $41/42 base price)
They (we) would sell a LOT of Cayman.
It's a joke really. Because Porsche actually 'thinks' of the Cayman S as a 'entry point' into the brand, work your way 'up' to a 911.....sort of thing.
And that's the joke; Porsche hasn't a clue that the reason the Cayman S / Cayman are such poor sellers isn't because it's a bad car. It's a FANTASTIC car. But for $65k - think of ALL the cars that fall into that category.
M3
C63
CPO 997/ 996 Turbo, 993 etc etc. And more over, the client who spends $65 on a car, with Porsche specifically- they're writing a check. Does one go out and say "Oh, I can't spend a penny over $65k!"
No. They easily can afford a Turbo if they wish. What (usually) happens is the client either gets a 997; or goes for a Boxster. Boxster is less money, and it's got a drop top. It's perceived to be a 'better value' for the average driver- And i agree.
So Porsche can claim is a champion of a car. The journo's can claim it's an absolute winner.
But the fact is- they remain unsold on the lot; because they're incorrectly priced and incorrectly marketed.
Porsche: listen up, either reduce the price of both the cayman and cayman S below that of the boxster, or kill either the cayman or cayman S.
I'm actually thinking of this structure for the 987 chassis:
(priced from highest to lowest)
Boxster S
Boxster
Cayman (priced around $41/42 base price)
They (we) would sell a LOT of Cayman.
#8
12-04-2009, 12:53 AM
For the price you get a mid-engined German engineered sports car that can out perform most everything with less hp. It's a classic P O R S C H E.
My wife's 2.7 Cayman is the best balanced car I have ever driven. It's like putting on a glove.
Imagine what it would do if Porsche let loose on it and wasn't afraid of out doing the 911.
My wife's 2.7 Cayman is the best balanced car I have ever driven. It's like putting on a glove.
Imagine what it would do if Porsche let loose on it and wasn't afraid of out doing the 911.
#9
12-04-2009, 03:16 PM
For the price you get a mid-engined German engineered sports car that can out perform most everything with less hp. It's a classic P O R S C H E.
My wife's 2.7 Cayman is the best balanced car I have ever driven. It's like putting on a glove.
Imagine what it would do if Porsche let loose on it and wasn't afraid of out doing the 911.
My wife's 2.7 Cayman is the best balanced car I have ever driven. It's like putting on a glove.
Imagine what it would do if Porsche let loose on it and wasn't afraid of out doing the 911.
#10
12-04-2009, 03:56 PM
Well I think the Cayman has left to desired from Porsche, LSD, good shocks and better sways, more powerful engine. No question that it is the best balanced car Porsche has on the market, put some HP back into, tweak the suspension some and add a LSD and there is not much that comes close. But it is really treated like the ugly duckling by Porsche. Go to Planet 9 (the former Cayman Club) and you will find thousands of people who would not by a 911 over the Cayman. People who had prior 911s and are looking for a drivers car.
I agree on the bad product policy Porsche is playing with the Cayman. The original Top Gepisode (believe in season 7) where it got the badge the Cockster best illustrated it when Jezza went over the chart with the Boxster, Cayman and 911. The Cayman has so much potential and is just placed as a stop gap. My Cayman has been at TPCs for a little over two months and I am DD'ing my 997tt. I hope to pick it up next week and I can tell you that I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Configured right it is a little arrrrrrrse kigga ...
I agree on the bad product policy Porsche is playing with the Cayman. The original Top Gepisode (believe in season 7) where it got the badge the Cockster best illustrated it when Jezza went over the chart with the Boxster, Cayman and 911. The Cayman has so much potential and is just placed as a stop gap. My Cayman has been at TPCs for a little over two months and I am DD'ing my 997tt. I hope to pick it up next week and I can tell you that I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Configured right it is a little arrrrrrrse kigga ...
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