I wonder how the Cayman drives

"E90M3" (e90m3)
05/05/2018 at 14:04 • Filed to: unnecessary car shopping with E90M3

Today, in unnecessary car shopping with E90M3, we find !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I’ve driven a couple of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! before, but never the 911's cheaper sibling, the Cayman. I’ve been told that I should take one for a drive, and seeing as there is a Porsche dealer less than 10 minutes from my apartment with a manual Cayman, I figured today would be a good day to take one for a test drive.

To start, I would like to talk about the clutch. On other Porsches, I’ve found the clutch to brutally heavy, unnecessarily heavy. The clutch in the 2015 Cayman I drove was heavy, but not so heavy it was painful to use or hold in. It was a good weight, a little heavier than the ones in my BMWs, but it was fine. I don’t know how people DD manual 911s, this I could sit in traffic and not need physical therapy to recover.

While we’re on the subject of changing gears, I think the shifter was about perfect. The throws seemed short, but not so short that I couldn’t tell one gear from another. It was about perfect. Some of the 911s I’ve driven have had a lot looser shifter; I was not impressed. It could be due to their age, but this is what I was expecting from Porsche.

Once again, the steering was fantastic. It wasn’t as heavy as the 997 911 I drove, but it was still heavy enough to give a nice confidence when going through corners. There was a road near the dealer with some good curves on it and on that road it felt sublime. After the drive I took my M3 on the same road and might have gone a little faster as I feel a lot more comfortable in the M3, since I’ve had it for almost 4 years now.

I didn’t really play around with anything else. I really just wanted to focus on the drive itself.

I’ve learned that one day I’m going to get a Porsche. These are fantastic cars. Only problem is that I don’t want to ditch the M3, so looks like it’s going to be a while from now.

DISCUSSION (14)

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > E90M3
05/05/2018 at 14:17

Wait, you just walked into a Porsche dealer and they let you drive a Cayman? just like that. No questioons asked?Was it because you drove up in an M3?

Becuase the local Subaru dealers act like the WRX/STI is freaking Porsche or a Ferrari. I guess I got them mixed up.

E90M3 > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
05/05/2018 at 14:21

I haven’t had any trouble test driving cars. Porsche is one of the best places. They didn’t even see me pull up, so I doubt it was because of the M3. I once pulled up to a Mercedes in a rental Corolla and they just handed me the keys to a E350 and a C300.

I’ve heard bad things about Subaru, but I went to the Subaru dealer in Savannah and had no problems test driving an STi. It only had 4 miles on it when I started the drive.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > E90M3
05/05/2018 at 14:32

This was about a year or so back one of the Atlanta area dealers refused to give an STi test drive to someone who rolled up in a 335i. It was posted on several forums and everyone blew up their yelp and other review sites with negative reviews.

E90M3 > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
05/05/2018 at 14:35

I know OpposResidentLexusGuy had a hard time test driving WRXs, I had heard that it was hard to get a test drive, so I went to see for myself.

It’s kind of bullshit that they’re like that sometimes. If I can test drive a 911 turbo, I can test drive a Subaru.

WilliamsSW > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
05/05/2018 at 16:24

Honestly, I think some of the higher end dealers are far better in this regard than Ford, Subaru, etc.

Subaru dealers seem to be worried about joy riders, goofballs, etc., and protecting that ‘special’ car because they “know what they have”.

Meanwhile, Porsche dealers know damn well that no one is going to buy a Porsche without driving it— and in fact, some of those cars are so damn good, they sell themselves when you spend some time behind the wheel.

I recently drove a Boxster S and 997 S on the same trip to my local dealer (I’m one of the people who told E90M3 he needed to drive a Cayman/Boxster). They were happy to do it, and I even ended up spending a bit of time in the Boxster by myself. It’s a brilliant driver’s car, and that drive shot it to the top of my wish list for my next ‘fun’ car.

WilliamsSW > E90M3
05/05/2018 at 16:26

Looks like a base model 981? Did you drive it hard enough to get it a little loose? That’s where that car really shines.

Does the 981 vault over the E34 now, or nah?

OPPOsaurus WRX > E90M3
05/05/2018 at 16:32

Can confirm Subaru dealers can be douchy. One was fine and wanted me to test a brand new WRX, the other wanted me to sign an agreement first on a fucking used one. I wanted to tell them to blow goats but was a bit nicer about it.

E90M3 > OPPOsaurus WRX
05/05/2018 at 17:28

If they treat me like shit, I’m going to say some very vulgar things to them.

E90M3 > WilliamsSW
05/05/2018 at 17:29

I didn’t drive it too hard, I wasn’t that confident. Maybe if I by myself.

It doesn’t trump the E34, I still really want that.

WilliamsSW > E90M3
05/05/2018 at 18:46

I’d love either one, really.

Poor_Sh > E90M3
05/05/2018 at 19:27

Hey, I just got one of those! (more or less) I certainly agree with your points. Taking turns in this car at/near the limit even at 30mph is beyond special. Makes me smile every time :)

E90M3 > Poor_Sh
05/06/2018 at 08:46

It is a very nice car to drive. I would love one, but then I would have to sell my M3, and that’s not happening.

Poor_Sh > E90M3
05/06/2018 at 17:20

Don’t you still have both kidneys?

OPPOsaurus WRX > E90M3
05/06/2018 at 20:37

Be like what do u think it is a Focus RS? It’s only a Subaru