[Drumcarfar]

I am in the market for a 718s Cayman. I have owned older models and know the handling, and feel will be great. I’m wondering how the acceleration is, from the butt meter. In other words how much it pushes you back in your seat. I’m looking for a car this time that feels really quick 0-60, as well as handles well. Just looking for some input as I am not able to test drive one.

 

[Gtipirelli]

It feels very quick but more linear quick e.g. there is no big turbo rush once you hit x revs

It is a 1,350kg car that has 350bhhp so it is no slouch

 

[jimmuller]

...I’m wondering how the acceleration is, from the butt meter. In other words how much it pushes you back in your seat.

That's a tough question to answer without having a sense of perspective. What feels fast to me might not feel fast to you if your driving experience includes 200mph supercars. What I can say is that my base model is the fastest car I've ever owned. When I get the opportunity to push the loud pedal it kicks me in the butt just fine, thank you. Alas, those opportunities don't come often as traffic so often gets in the way. And when I can push it it's is only for a second or two before I'm into hand-over-the-license territory. Just reading the published numbers can tell you that kind of stuff.

However measured numbers aren't the same as butt-kick. The key isn't so much the 300hp or 350hp but the torque curve. It hits torque peak at 2000rpm and holds it to 4500rpm. (Peak power is at 6500rpm.) That means brute force at almost any speed regardless of the gear, a kick in the back that starts early and doesn't let up until you do.


But that's just my perspective. Yours may be different.

 

[Drumcarfar]

So a friend of mine for instance drove an f type r and said the acceleration was crazy. I know the figures between the two are similar 0-60, even though the jag has about 200 more hp and torque but also weighs an extra 900 pounds or so. Has anyone experienced the f type r and how they compare?

 

[Baka1969]

So a friend of mine for instance drove an f type r and said the acceleration was crazy. I know the figures between the two are similar 0-60, even though the jag has about 200 more hp and torque but also weighs an extra 900 pounds or so. Has anyone experienced the f type r and how they compare?

The standard base Jag F Type is a much better comparison to a base Cayman. It is $60,000 and around 300 hp.

The F Type R is $100,000 and 550 hp. So, there is a significant difference. My guess is the GT4 will be priced about $100,000 and will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 420 hp. That will be closer to an apples-to-apples comparison.

 

[duegatti]

One of the major car mags just did a multiple car acceleration show down. The 718 beat a GS Corvette; most people think those things accelerate well.

 

[Baka1969]

One of the major car mags just did a multiple car acceleration show down. The 718 beat a GS Corvette; most people think those things accelerate well.

Any link/info?

 

[DriveInHouston]

I traded in a 2014 Mustang GT for my 2018 Cayman S.

On paper, the cars accelerate equally well, 0-60 maybe a 1/10 sec faster for the Cayman... The Mustang has pretty good torque in low revs and it was a stick. Sacrificing a bit of clutch life, the Mustang GT can be a 0-60 beast. Because it is not as heavy as people perceive it to be.

In practice, it felt like the Cayman can run circles around the Mustang. The Cayman is QUICK, agile, game for quick driving. No other car, including a Carrera T and a Carrera 4 felt like it.

Quick is not 0-60 numbers. It is how the car is put together, its balance, its directness, its agility. The PDK shines here, for the additional reason that it keeps the RPM above 2000 (unless stopped and idling) making the massive torque available at all times, with no turbo lag.

Internet car savants are talking about turbo lag, confusing the turbo threshold (i.e. when, for a given amount of throttle the turbo kicks in) with turbo lag (a lag in response to sudden changes of the throttle). They don't really know what they are talking about, some of them may have not even test driven the car.

Test drive the car! It is fun!

 

[duegatti]

Any link/info?

Ties the fancy high-powered Camaro to 60; drubs the Vette through the quarter mile. I think it had the least motor of any contestant - how does this car do what it does?

 

[8833]

Ohhh that video is sweet! That really brings out the brute in me!

 

[jimmuller]

Internet car savants are talking about turbo lag, confusing the turbo threshold (i.e. when, for a given amount of throttle the turbo kicks in) with turbo lag (a lag in response to sudden changes of the throttle).

I would argue that it has little to do with the turbo at all. When the engine crosses 2000rpm you can feel it get down to business even when the throttle is open so little that the turbo pressure gauge still reads zero. Which is to say, it is all "engine management" controlling valves, ignition timing, and mixture. But yeah, it definitely is not turbo lag.

 

[DriveInHouston]

I would argue that it has little to do with the turbo at all. When the engine crosses 2000rpm you can feel it get down to business even when the throttle is open so little that the turbo pressure gauge still reads zero. Which is to say, it is all "engine management" controlling valves, ignition timing, and mixture. But yeah, it definitely is not turbo lag.

I agree with you. Most of the time, in city driving, the turbo doesn't come on, but the car goes. Bringing up the turbo in city driving is asking for a ticket, or removal of license, depending on how long the thing is on.

The 'savants' are normally driving in an open road and press the pedal gently and then knowingly say they discerned turbo lag!... Some of them haven't put the car on Sport Mode!

 

[wriggly]

I owned a Shelby GT350 simultaneously with my Cayman GTS and the Cayman is faster. Not a lot faster mind you, but definitely faster. If you get a PDK equipped Cayman, you will freak the first time you do a launch control launch.

 

[duegatti]

wriggly - are you the person on the internet who wrote something to the effect of: "the mustang was the slowest 525 hp car I've ever owned"? I read that somewhere and, as you can see, it stuck with me.

 

[nineball]

i took my dad for a drive one day and he wanted to see the launch mode, so i obliged. his neck was sore for a couple days after being thrust into the seat. now i warn people about it.



another fun thing to do is to have a passenger sitting with their hands stretch towards the dash. tell them as soon as you feel the car start to accelerate to try to touch the dash. it's a blast to watch.

 

[jimmuller]

Some years ago (which by now is a very large number) I acquired a book titled The Sports Car, Its Design and Performance by Colin Campbell. Much of it is dated now (first published in '54, my copy is the 4th version, '78) and some of his math is a bit sloppy but it is quite informative on some things.

One of the chapters is about performance. He makes a point that, as with all things, goals change and our perspective changes along with them. He lists performance figures for various cars (unfortunately with year given for only one) which by today's standards are surprising. For example, measured 0-60mph times and top speed:

Aston Martin DBS V8 5.7sec, 155mph
Corvette Stingray (1968) 6.1sec, 146mph
Ferrari 308 GT4 2+2 6.4sec, 152mph
Maserati Bora 6.5sec, 160mph
de Tomaso Pantera 5.8sec, 155mph
Porsche 911S 7.3sec, 136mph
Lamgorghini Espada 7.8sec, 150mph

He also lists other less high-end cars such as TR7, MGB-GT V8, Morgan Plus 8, etc, and other specs such as weight, "net power" (presumably DIN as he described in an earlier paragraph). The highest power was from the Lamgorghini Espada 350bhp, followed by the Aston Martin, 345bhp estimated, and the Corvette 340 estimated.

These cars were the top-levels stuff of the day, that Corvette being at the height of the muscle car era. By today's standards they are all slow. The base Cayman's 4.9sec, 170mph beats them all. Are we spoiled or what?

 

[Calimerus]

0-60 it's not the value to see if a car is a fast car

To know how powerful it is, you've to see how long does it takes to do 60-120 km/h

To know how effective is, you've to compare lap times

 

[Porsche2018]

0-60 it's not the value to see if a car is a fast car

To know how powerful it is, you've to see how long does it takes to do 60-120 km/h

To know how effective is, you've to compare lap times

Sounds like some of us know our way around a race track.........

 

[Baka1969]

 

[jimmuller]

0-60 it's not the value to see if a car is a fast car
To know how powerful it is, you've to see how long does it takes to do 60-120 km/h
To know how effective is, you've to compare lap times

True enough. The question of "fastest" always depends on distance, and on a track it depends on cornering speeds, turn contours, etc.

What wins in 0-60 won't be the same as 1/4mile. Go for 3 miles straight and the top speed will win out.

But the original question was about how it feels to the driver's backside. "Experiencing" the kick from 60-120kph (37.5-75mph) will more readily get one into trouble than doing the same between, say, 20-60mph. Anyway, my limited experience of banging on the accelerator pedal on open highway says the 718 feels strong at 60-70. The PDK doesn't let it let up much.