HwangTKD

A member asked me to compare these two cars so I thought I would share.

Sorry for the crude format but I broke my arm and can only use one hand to type. I had a 6 speed manual white 06 Cayman S with beige interior, 19 inch carrera sport wheels, pasm (active suspension), and sports steering wheel. All of these options are a must in my opinion. I've owned 2 ap1's and an ap2 with dbw.

Exterior Looks: The Cayman with the right rims looks much more aggressive and upscale than the s2000. Very sleek and sexy in terms of overall design. My biggest gripe was the headlights. I prefer the 911 circular lights. The AP2, imo, has a nice simple timeless design. I love the long hood, upright windshield, and short wheelbase.

Interior: Porsche got the seats right, decent bolstering but extremely comfortable for long drives. I def. had more adjustability with the base porsche seats. I am 5'8, 170 lbs. Passenger can recline seat enough so he/she could take a nap (very important to me since I love long road trips). No way you can do that in the s2000. All driver controls and touch points were solid and very high quality. Gauge cluster was easy to read during the day and night. The sports steering wheel had a great feel and I believe smaller diameter than stock. I prefer the porsche steering wheel compared to the s2000's because its thicker, has better grip, and adjustable. All of the radio and hvac buttons were a little small and not very logically placed but you get used to it. Silly as it may sound but I really enjoyed the carpet. Luxurious and thick. The Porsche obviously has much better sound deadening. You can have conversations on your cell without difficulty. Egress and entry a bit easier with cayman bc of the longer doors. Radio was tons better than the s2000. Warning: It is pretty expensive and difficult to replace the porsche headunit and speakers. Interestingly, the s2000 has the better drivers oriented cockpit. all the controls were placed so that they are within a hands reach of the steering wheel.I don't understand why sports cars today are not more like this now.

Engine: Cayman S is much faster at all speeds than the s2000. Tons more torque which makes everyday driving easier and more relaxed. The Cayman S has an interesting idle, kind of burbles. At WOT the cayman makes nice sounds as the engine sits right behind you but I prefer the scream of the s2000's high redline. The thrust you feel in the Cayman is much more satisfying.

Transmission: Cayman S has an excellent transmission. Mechanical and precise. However, it can not match the feel of the s2000's short throws. I did find that the porsche's tranny was much less temperamental, especially in cold weather. I never experienced grinds or difficulty shifting (which I did in the s2000). Clutch was easy to modulate but heavier than my ap1 and ap2.

Steering: Cayman had second best steering i've ever experienced (1st best was the Lotus Elise). Hydraulic steering rack had excellent feedback. I always knew what the front wheels were doing. The S2000, as you know, is very numb.

Handling: Cayman with the pasm has much higher limits. More confidence mid corner, especially at higher speeds. Initial turn in is quite good. The chassis did not get as upset by uneven pavement as the s2000. The Cayman did understeer, which I found surprising. Probably because earlier caymans did not have a limited slip diff. Both cars have very minimal body roll. High speed stability in a straight line was much better in the Cayman as well.

Brakes: Both cars have good brakes but I found the cayman stopped with more authority. Not sure if thats a function of the wider rubber, engine layout, and/or clamping power.

Overall impressions: I felt pampered in my porsche. Def the car I would take the wife out in for dinner in the city or a long weekend road trip. I love the quality and luxuriousness of the interior and it's classy exterior. The porsche always drew looks and has a much better curb appeal. I felt like a million bucks every time I got into the cayman without being pretentious. However, I love the rawness, value, and reliability of the s2000. The s2000 is the car I would take if I were by myself, in the backroads on a warm summer night with the wind blowing in my hair and the tach screaming to redline.

Hope this helps.

FYI, I never had any reliability issues with the Cayman, but if you are thinking of picking one up, research IMS issues with the Cayman.

CenturionS2K

Nice review! The one I'd get is the 2009 or later, no IMS issues. My thought is the the more one drives the s2000 the way it was truly meant to be driven, the more one appreciates it for what it is, and the less likely one will give it up. By the way, your quote above sums it up for me

HwangTKD

Funny you should say that, I am on my 3rd s2000, an ap2. I sold my last AP1 almost 10 years ago. Something about this car keeps drawing me back.

rogue3092

Having gone from a 2006 S2K to a 2009 Cayman S, I agree with all of your points.

There are really only two things I miss about the S2K:

• The shorter throws and precision of the S2000's shifter, though the Cayman's is plenty good.
• The S2000 feels more "raw", though that's not always a plus.

waltk88

Great topic and nice writeup. I also have experience with both cars. I had an '01 AP2 followed by an '05 AP2. A few cars further down the line, I picked up an '06 Cayman S. My Cayman S was lightly equipped with base suspension, 18" wheels, short shifter and base seats. The Porsche is a good bit quicker than the S2000. It makes much better low-end and mid-range torque, but it doesn't have the frenetic rush to redline of the S2000 at the top of the tach. Both cars have great handling. I tracked my S2000s and the Cayman enough to get a feel for the differences. The S2000 has a more pointy front end. Turn in response is very good. The Cayman understeers more, but it's still not bad. The S2000 is more nervous at the rear, especially over bumpy sections. The Cayman is much more confidence inspiring. Part of this is due to the better steering feedback and partly because of the ability of the dampers to take the drama out of bumpy pavement. I felt like I could push the Cayman closer to its limits without fear of getting bit. Combining this friendlier track behavior with the straightline advantage, the Cayman was the faster track car for a driver of my ability.

For everyday driving, the Cayman felt more refined. The engine is smoother and doesn't need big revs to pull ahead of an SUV across an intersection. The ride is more comfortable, and the cabin seems to have higher quality materials (my car had the stitched leather dash).

CosmosMpower

Former S2000 and 987.1 Cayman S owner as well. I agree with all the points but it's to be expected. One was a 32K car new one was a 65K car new. Even used the Cayman S is significantly more expensive than a S2000. I will say that the Cayman S stock understeers like a pig compared to the S2000.

I wouldn't buy a 06-08 Cayman S these days, go straight for the 09+ and preferably 981 if you can swing it.

vader1

Another difference, unless you get the Burmeister the Porsche comes with a bad stereo whereas the S2000 comes with a dreadful stereo.

CosmosMpower

Burmeister isn't even available on the 06-08 Cayman. I thought the Bose was decent in the Cayman, the footwell subwoofer was very efficient. The S2000 stereo is horrible, you can't even hear the radio much less determine if the sound is good quality.

jeffbrig

In my opinion, the bose is kinda "meh", just ok in the 06-08. Yeah, it's got the footwell sub, and 8" midbass speakers in the door, and a center channel in the dash. Sounds better on paper than it sounds in reality, and it's stuck in the pre-BT age no matter what. The problem with upgrading is that the Bose system is one of those weird 1 ohm speaker systems, and they even used a proprietary optical cable from the head unit to the bose amplifier. So if you change anything, it's a total gut and redo. I'm *this* close to gutting it and putting in good stuff. I picked up a JL stealthbox from someone a while back on the Porsche classifieds. Only thing holding me back is the cost/effort of changing the HU/amp/speakers all at once. And in a car that I don't put that many miles on. But this is the first car I've ever had that I didn't put a kick ass stereo in, so it's probably more a question of when...

CosmosMpower

I mean it's not audiophile quality but i've heard plenty of stock stereos that are worse. I don't even know what the stereo in my GT3 sounds like, that's what the GMG muffler delete is for