My first 100 miles with my Cayman

I took delivery of my Cayman last Friday. First impressions : - The car look wonderful in grey with sport design wheel - The car is lower than my 996 so be careful when you drive in bad routes - The car is smaller thanI imagine. - The gearbox is amazing. Better than a bmw z3 or m3 oy my 996. As good and fast as the 6 speed gear box of my Caterham - Big surprise is the sound. Very loud at low rpm (nothing to compare to the 996 3.6) like the sound 3.0l BMW , the sound change 3 times. Very good. - Brakes are Porsche. Just perfect. - Little disapointement is the throttle response. Just perfect in sport mode (i have the chrono package) for the hell and toe, the response of the accelerator is a bit too slow in normal mode. - The handling seems very good. Perfect steering, the car feel more stable and lighter than my 996. There is a big difference in sport mode an normal mode with PASM. The car feel more rigid. In resume, i was impress by a great sound,a car whofeel small and light, a perfect gearbox and a amazing. Brake and flat 6 is as good as usual. Voila. A little resume of a happy french guy.

all sounds really, really, really good! There's got to be more throttle response than my Boxster. Can't wait to actually get behind the wheel and drive a Cayman!!! thanks for the update

MLA, Thanks for the report! We would love to see some pics if possible? You are one lucky French guy! Aloha Russ

MLA Do you have an M3 ? I ask because thats what i am changing from and am keen to see what ex M3 owners think of the Cayman. Secondly which Caterham do you have? Mines an R400.

Ok. I had a roadsport 1.8 VVC. In France you can't buy the superlight series. Maybe i offense you, it's only a personal point a vue, but i didn't like my M3 E46. I prefered my Z3 3.0l. Brakes of the M3 are dangerous for apowerful and a heavy car, the tires (continental M3) are a shameunder the rain, gearbox are slower than the z3 and the suspension is too stiff for small little road. But the engine is phenomenal and the stability over 200 Km/h is superb. My personalclassement: 1 Caterham 1.8 VVC 2 996 C2 3.6 3 Maserati Grandsport 4 Porsche Boxster 2.7 5 Maserati 4200 GT 6 BMW Z3 3.0i 7 BMW M3 E46 8Subaru Impreza 9Mazda mX-5 1.8 10 Peugeot 106 Rallye 12 MG ZT 190 13 Citroen Xsara 2.0 VTS

Mark w I've got an E46 M3 (coupe, manual, 18's) and having test-driven the Cayman I would compare/contrast as follows: M3 is/feels quicker in a straight line up to 100mph M3 throttle response is more immediate at low to medium revs M3 is more inclined to go sideways.... Cayman's seats (tick the optionals sports seats) are fantastic, much more comfortable than the M3's Cayman benefits from the Sport Chrono - sharpens up the throttle response. M3's sport button (for me) is too aggressive whereas the Sport Chrono enhances the exploitablity of the Cayman Cayman's gearbox is much slicker and faster, far less notchy Cayman's steering is slightly weightier, slightly more feelsome Cayman has far less weight transfer under braking Cayman's brakes are, unsurprisingly, in a completely different league to the M3. Pedal feel is rock-solid, pedal travel is progressive, brakes are easy to modulate etc etc Cayman turns in with far greater immediacy Cayman rides much better, rear end doesn't pogo like it can on an M3 Cayman is much faster down a twisty road, and more fun. I posted up a longer comparison vs the 997 Carrera S on the Cayman UK forum. Hope all the above helps, even slightly. As you are no doubt a keen hardcore petrolhead driving enthusiast (R400, what a beast!) you will find that the Cayman is a proper road/tracksports car, whereas the M3 is a fast entertaining sports 'saloon'. Stunters

I'm totally agree with you stuntman !!! Great analyse.