This thread proves there is no real replacement for the s2000.

interestingly when it was discontinued the S was considered too slow. Not enough HP for the money, long in the tooth. Since then cars have greatly increased HP, size, weight and speed. So much so that it’s way too much now. Any newer m3 or 911 is way too much to enjoy on the street. Now many have rediscovered the magic of the S- that it was actually nearly perfectly balanced to enjoy for the mildly talented driver. The only rival for balanced sports car that you could really push is probably the 987S.

if that doesn’t do it for you and you need a change than you need to go more hardcore than the S (Lotus, 7, etc.) or more GT. There just isn’t a real equivalent.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145083955...mis&media=COPY

That'd count as special

 

wow. And a nice Audi v8 to boot. I’ve always thought a BMW s65 in a cayman would be best their GT products.

 

That'd be something!

 

Well that was an interesting morning. A dealer just outside Bristol had an 08 Porsche Cayman 987 S with 36k miles on it so I went to try it. If anyone's looking for one, it seems like a decent one! These 'Gen 1' cars are far lower priced than their Gen 2 counterparts (2009 onwards), which had the bore score and IMS bearing issues sorted by a slight redesign. I think the engines might have been uprated slightly in capacity and power too, if I remember correctly. But it's nothing that a few hundred quid of inspection couldn't pick up (far less than the increase in price of a Gen 2!). When I mentioned it being a Gen 1, he dealership said they'd taken it to the local Porsche dealer for a check over (inc bore score and IMS check) at a cost of £400 to them, so it's a lot of car for the £22k asking price, I reckon.

Looks-wise, I've always liked the first generation Cayman. It looks far better than the Boxster, even though the front end is the same. It just looks far less 'unfinished' at the back. Unfussy styling, with none of the 300 flicks, grills and scoops that modern cars all seem to have. It was silver, which is boring, but 99% of them seem to be black, silver or grey. Are Porsche drivers boring!? The interior wasn't the usual black though, thankfully. It had dark blue leather and carpet, with a blue/grey roof lining. Far nicer than the depressing black that a lot of cars seem to have. The fit and finish is nice, a little step up from the S2000, and feels 'solid' but not 'over engineered to feel like a lump of lead', which I have found with some German cars. A surprising amount of room in the two boots, too ('in the frunk' and the rear hatch).

Driving position was nice. A bit of steering wheel adjustment, plenty of seat adjustment and my feet seemed to fall on to the pedals nicely. The seat rails seemed to have quite a fine adjustment (small gaps between the notches), which allowed a nice precise adjustment. It was slightly easy to catch the accelerator when pressing the brake, but nothing too bad (it didn't happen whilst driving, and made for easy heel & toe). All the switchgear was very square and functional. Typically German! It had a few extras, including the PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management, I think it stands for), so a Sport button to activate the noisy exhaust valve, stiffen the ride and sharpen the throttle (more on this later). There was a separate suspension button too, so you could firm up the ride without the extra noise/ throttle response, or soften the ride with the extra noise/throttle response (more on this later).

The view out was fairly 'normal' compared to the Evora. Nice view of the intakes in the wing mirrors, but not quite the large, square haunches of the Evora. All in all, I felt quite at home, jumping straight from the S2000 into the Porsche. Similar overall dimensions, although obvious a slightly shorter bonnet and longer tail due to the rear mid engine vs front mid in the S2000. Gear stick felt fine. Decent feel, but nothing to write home about compared to the S2000 (pretty high bar for comparison though!). It felt similar to the S2000 in throw and gate (my S2000 has a stubbier knob on it though), but where the S2000 is very 'metal on metal with nice slippery grease', like you're physically pushing the cogs into place yourself, the Porsche felt like it had a bit extra rubber in between the shifter and gearbox. Clutch had some weight to it but not heavy, nice firm end stops, and easy enough to use straight away.

Driving it was very easy, especially in non-sport mode. I let the engine come up to temperature for the first 10mins and it rode very well, with decent torque low in the rev range, which you'd expect with a decent sized 6 pot (3.4 litre, 295bhp). Once it warmed up, I started giving it full throttle and some more revs. It definitely has more pull through the rev range than the S2000, and with a bit less 'fuss'! I noticed the pull from low down straight away and there was a satisfying shove in the back. Nice enough engine note, although not horrendously loud (even with Sport mode engaged). I think what I'm discovering is that whatever car I end up with will need an intake modification for more full throttle noise! Interestingly, a chap at the dealer was just part exchanging his own 987 S for a Merc (needed more seats for a family) and he'd fitted a sportier exhaust for the same reason.

The ride was very comfortable in non-Sport mode and tightened up noticeably with Sport mode engaged. It wasn't crashy at all, in either mode, and felt very 'sorted', although I did notice a bit of 'head bobbing' in sport mode over some smooth ripples at a particular frequency which would probably prevent me from keep it engaged all the time. It felt like there was a hint too much low speed compression damping, which opened up when hit harder, but the smooth ripples didn't get it opening up, so the car followed the tarmac contours. The throttle map was definitely sharpened up in Sport mode, too, but it did feel like the early part of the throttle was doing too much. This made it actually quite difficult to tickle the car along smoothly in a 30 or 40 zone, so I would be switching between the two modes regularly. One thing that was a little disappointing was the engine's throttle response. I do have a slightly lightened flywheel on my S2000, but even with an OEM flywheel, the S2000 throttle response is quicker. I had to give the Porsche quite a bootful of throttle to rev match when downshifting, which was surprising.

The steering wheel was fairly thin-rimmed, but fat enough to hold with my long spindly fingers and there was definitely more feel than the S2000 (not surprising - it's a low benchmark!). Steering weight was 'medium', I'd say and felt very natural. The one thing I did notice, compared to the S2000, was the lack of 'fuss' when encountering potholes etc half way through a corner when pushing on a little. Whereas the S2000 is constantly shimmying around, 'chatting' to you, the Porsche just shrugged its shoulders and said 'what pothole?', even in Sport mode. But the talking was done subtly, through the steering wheel. Given that this was fitted with the optional 19 inch wheels (I thi k standard is 17 inch), it's even more impressive.

The brakes surprised me too. I don't know if they needed new discs and pads, but they certainly needed quite a lot of leg effort to get them working. Clearly not over-servoed though, which is a good thing. I don't know if they're all quite THAT hard work though. If I drive a Boxster, I'll compare.

All in all, it's the car I've felt most instantly 'at home' in so far; very much like a grown up S2000 (with a roof). I'm not sure I'd bother with the PASM - it feels like a decent set of 'analogue' suspension would be fine, and there are enough characteristics I feel I could tweak with a few modifications (eg a louder intake) to make it more suited to my tastes. It would definitely be more comfortable/easy-going on a long run than the S2000, I think, but perhaps not feeling quite as 'alive' all the time. The S2000 (at least, my S2000 with all the mods I've got) feels like it wants you to thrash it all the time; the need to work the engine hard on the S2000 is part of its charm. Whereas the Porsche felt like it was kinda happy, whatever you wanted to do with it, but perhaps would shrug at your thrashing it (as if to say 'yes, that was fine') rather than begging like a puppy for more!

So, I can see why these cars have had good reviews, and why people like them. I'd say it's like a slightly more well-mannered, refined and grown-up S2000. But it was another sunny day today, and I did have the roof down in the S2000 to and from the dealership, with the raucous intake noise making me grin...

A drive of a Boxster S and Evora NA are required, I think... If I can get past the looks of a Boxster.

 

Great review Chris. Despite its greatness, nothing compares to top down driving if that’s what you want. You are exposed and engaged with the environment if a way that can’t be done with the fixed roof. But yes, the cayman does look a bit better than the boxster.

I might suggest when you drive the boxster to drive it hard like you would the s2000. I’ve found with rear mid-engine cars the beauty is in hard braking into a turn, mid turn in balance and power out. There is no nose dive. Instead you are pulled from the rear and the way it brakes is just so much more neutral. Also the turn in is so quick because less weight over the front. IMHO that’s the magic of rear mid-engine and you can never get that in a front engine car.

similarly, you’ll never get the s2000 unless you drive it like you stole it- then you understand how amazingly balanced it is.

 

The major plus point of the boxster is that it doesn't matter which end you look at it from.

I really prefer the looks of the current 718 model but not the price.

The only thing I've driven recently that I'd have been happy to spank 30k on was a newish Rav 4. Might be.an age / pothole thing but that ticked far more of my car needs boxes.

That said, weather is bike weather so the cars are both out of favour

 

New Boxsters are all turbo so faster and less audiophile appealing

So I don't like them. Being a twat who likes noise. SC is the best of both worlds but inefficient and rare as a result.

There is one with a 911 engine but it's stratospheric expensive, over £100k and the GTS is the other non 4 pot and that's still big £ and will carry Porsche maint bills (big £)

Bang for buck they are bloody expensive

And probably too fast and not involving enough for road fun for the OP

If you're into Porkas Matt Armstrong hacked one back together (a Cayman) and it's worth a watch


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Yep, hence I think the 987 S is actually the sweet spot (esp a gen 1 if you get it inspected for bore score and IMS failure, as they're £5k cheaper than gen 2). I noticed a Jay Emm has just agreed with me on YouTube!

 

I agree in theory

I can't watch that fella though, he has a face and voice that makes.my fist clench