MidEngineRules

Good comeback!!

Jim 'n' SC

I notice a lot of people saying the 718 is faster. Ok it's faster, so what. I have owned lots of Boxster's and one Carrera and it's never been about having the fastest car. For me it's about the handling and the sound. The first thing I do when I get a new car is put on a Fabspeed Sport exhaust. This totally transforms the driving experience. The only Boxster I didn't was the 981 as it sounded really good with the stock exhaust.

I've never driven a 718, so I can't really comment on which one to buy. I recently sold my 981 and bought back my old 2003 Boxster from a friend I had sold it to 10 years ago. I added Fabspeed exhaust and short shift kit and couldn't be happier.

DriveInHouston

I am new to the 718. My previous car was a Mustang GT (manual). It was faster than the Cayman (as in 0-60). The Cayman is quicker. A lot QUICKER!!! It is more agile, more direct, crisper handling, better brakes. So what if the Mustang is faster?

Similarly, I test drove a 911 Carrera 4 (PDK). On paper I believe is faster than the Cayman S. In practice, the Cayman is quicker. Yeah, maybe on the track, going around at 6-7k RPM the 911 may be faster, but in real life it was lazy/boring. The price (2016 model) was the same as my 2018 Cayman S (CPO) (so was the mileage 18k vs 11k in the Cayman) and I was planning (still am) to drive the car until the doors fall off, so the difference in age/mileage doesn't matter. I just liked the handling and the turbo performance better for a daily driver.

Chester7

Torque matters and the 718 turbo engine has it. A car that has no low end torque is not very satisfying on the street (for me at least, but to each his own)

Yellow Submarine

My daily (since 2014) is a 981c with 2,7L PDK (it was the only one in my budget back then, a demo car). I later tested a 981 GTS PDK, a 981 GT4 manual (1000 km) and recently a 718c GTS PDK with sport PASM. I like the way the sport PASM improves the handling and all that torque is impressive. But in the end I would never trade in my six-cylinder for it. Not much torque? It doesn't matter with PDK. Floor the throttle and it gets in the right rev range fast as greased lightning. The flat-four just doesn't sound right! And you can hardly ever use kick-down because it gets to ridiculous speeds in a blink. You can wring out the NA engines more and more of the time, which is a great part of the fun.

Now, the GT4 is an entirely different species...

Money wise, a 981 will loose less of it's value too. Maintenance may be higher though. Or probably come sooner, my 4 brakes were completely overhauled @ 70k km and that's expensive, around 2,000€.

Chester7

Low torque speaks for itself.

CaymanSinAR

The more I drive my 991.2 the more I think the 718 T might be the best driver's car for the street, for the exact reasons you mention.

Yellow Submarine

If you have hearing deficiency, yes.

CaymanSinAR

LOL. I meant of the turbo era (post 981/991.1).

DriveInHouston

So it doesn't sound right and it is too fast?

MidEngineRules

Torque matters but gearing matters more. Gearing is Force which is multiplied torque. An NA car driven correctly has all the torque/force you need. If you're a lazy *** driver and want torque at low speeds and while using high gears, then yes to each his own. PDK is great because gear shifting is made easier so there's more reason to be in the right gear for the power demand you want. It more closely represents the gear decisions you make while riding high performance motorcycles. On a hyperbike at 50 mph you're certainly not above 3rd gear...maybe still in 2nd. In a car, especially a turbo you might be in 5th or 6th. In a NA PDK car, I would be in 3rd like I would be on my MV Agusta. Torque has more to do with how something is operated than purely motor output/character.

Yellow Submarine

I bet if you never drove a NA flat six, you can live with it by lack of knowing any better...

The turbo's are not "to" fast, but who needs all that torque? The power war is getting us nowhere. My 2,7 is plenty fast on the flat roads I drive. It goes to 200 km/h in a blink, who needs more?

DriveInHouston

Driving around town, or even on freeways and byways (non-spirited driving) in a NA car you need to be revving up to 4k RPM. You know it, I know it, everybody does. No torque, no joy. If you want to run around town like a maniac, enjoy your NA exhaust sound. Frankly, driving like this I prefer my old Mustang GT NA exhaust sound. Nothing beats a V8 for sound. But I don't want to drive like this. That's why I prefer the turbo, pulling at full torque at 1900 RPM, where your NA 6-cyl is a dead nag.
Yes I did drive 911 Carreras (both 2WD and 4WD) and did not like them as a daily driver. Lazy up to 4k... I am not buying a car for track days, or as a weekend queen. I actually drive it every day.

From your comments, it sounds like YOU never drove a 718 turbo with PDK. In the sport mode is quite a different car than all the NA versions. Especially in the non-manual mode...

Gamecock718

We all like different things. That doesn't make you wrong and me right, or vice-versa.

I come from 15+ years of driving a Honda S2000, many of those years competing at a high level in National-level autocrosses. When I was finally ready to try something new, I knew the Cayman was the car for me, as it is also an incredible driver's car. I drove the 981 S and the 718 S, and to me, there was no question which car was better. Being a competitive, driving enthusiast, the 718 is definitely faster, and more engaging. And that's coming from someone who has defended the joy of revving to 9,000 RPM's for over a decade and a half. So to answer "who needs more?" I do. I'm not particular with what it sounds like. I'm particular about what it goes like. That's not to take away from the 981 or previous generations. They're all brilliant cars. But at the end of the day, I'll give up a little bit of sweet engine noise to go faster.

Guess what though, just as much as I want to go faster, I also want the pure joy of rowing gears the old fashioned way. If you haven't mastered heel-toe downshifting, you're missing out on a pretty magical experience. Because of that, I made the compromise of a little bit of speed for a manual transmission. Isn't it grand that we have such great choices in life!?

duegatti

People are talking about the 718's like they red line at 4500 rpm's and don't have transmissions. If you want to drive them at 6 grand - like everybody seems to drive their NA six's to create this "sound" - you're perfectly free to do so.