[sweetsound]

Good article. Agree with the first place conclusion as it is a no-doubter in my mind. Performance wise, a more fair comparison for the 718 would have been a low optioned S or GTS.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a29233714/2020-toyota-supra-vs-bmw-m2-vs-ford-mustang-shelby-gt350-vs-porsche-718-cayman/

Enjoy.

 

[rsmith]

given where performance of cars is today it's hard to argue with the results, and yet also so easy too! It would have been interesting to see how the S or GTS would have done in their comparison even with the price hit it would have taken.

 

[alf_17]

I must say that I am warming up to the new Supra, but the GT350 (or any Mustang for that matter) is not really to my own taste, I can however recognise the appeal of one.
With a comparison like this where price range is set strictly around 60k and where it seems horsepower is prioritised high, a third place for the 718 seems given.
If horsepower is really important an S or GTS would be a better comparison, but these are much more expensive, instead I think the problem might be that there in the test is not enough focus on the handling of the cars, if there was the 718 would very likely be ranked higher.

 

[cbarra]

I didn't love the article. Couple of things that stood out to me with the "ratings". The 718 got a 15 out of 20 on price, even though it's a base Cayman. It should have been a lower optioned base, which would have brought it to 17/18 out of 20. That alone would pushed the 718 above the Supra and possibly tied with the GT350 in the final results. Or as was stated above, keep the price hit, but get a zero optioned 718 S, which would have made up the points in other areas and again probably would have won in the final results. The 718 was also punished for not have rear seats. And I find it hard to believe that the GT350 gets a 9 in styling versus an 8 for the 718 - seriously??? Just my 2 cents.

 

[antennahead]

And I find it hard to believe that the GT350 gets a 9 in styling versus an 8 for the 718 - seriously???

Styling is completely subjective, I get that, but stating the GT350 looks better than the 718 is just crazy in my book. YMMV

 

[ZXTT95]

I didn't love the article. Couple of things that stood out to me with the "ratings". The 718 got a 15 out of 20 on price, even though it's a base Cayman. It should have been a lower optioned base, which would have brought it to 17/18 out of 20. That alone would pushed the 718 above the Supra and possibly tied with the GT350 in the final results. Or as was stated above, keep the price hit, but get a zero optioned 718 S, which would have made up the points in other areas and again probably would have won in the final results. The 718 was also punished for not have rear seats. And I find it hard to believe that the GT350 gets a 9 in styling versus an 8 for the 718 - seriously??? Just my 2 cents.

Even at those prices the Supra would have more equipment than the 718. Similar with the S, except much higher price to go with significantly less equipment. Any way you slice it, the 718 loses the value comparison.
Styling - yeah, don't know about that...one of these cars looks better than the others and it's not the brutish one.

 

[4ftw]

The 718 got a 15 out of 20 on price, even though it's a base Cayman. It should have been a lower optioned base, which would have brought it to 17/18 out of 20.

Concur.

While I'm admittedly unfamiliar with the process these journalists go through in terms of what options their test cars have, their particular Cayman was only spec'd with one or two options that I saw as worthwhile for this purpose. Would it have changed their results had they had an S and not a base? My guess is no. But I wouldn't be scratching my head as much pontificating if the 718 was given its due credit.

 

[GregW]

One thing I learned by reading Consumer Reports is that the details matter. ?

Unless my preferences were exactly the same as the reviewers (unlikely?) then my rankings rarely matched theirs.

Same goes for all reviews and rankings.

 

[cipher]

I think the thing missed here is that there were a total of 250 or so points used to score the cars. The fact that they are all just 3-4 points away from one another indicates the reviewers really didn’t take a decisive stand especially if you remove more subjective categories like “back seat”. Just removing that category move both the Supra and BASE 718 at the same points as the GT350.

If I were a GT350 owner, I’d be pissed that my big bad V8 barely eeked out an acceleration victory against a four cylinder car. That really is a testament to how awesome the 718 really is. While people bash its four cylinders they really don’t know what they’re talking about. No one complains about the Alfa 4c or Lotus Elise and they are similar cars in the same price range.

 

[Naptown]

I think the most interesting comparison will be the C8 v CaymanS.

 

[wriggly]

I owned a GT350 simultaneously with my Cayman GTS. The GTS is decidedly faster. From a handling perspective, if you haven’t driven a GT350 on real roads as opposed to a track or really smooth roads, you can’t possibly understand how bad the tramlining is with the GT350. Where the Cayman is poised, smooth and precise, the GT350 is nervous, jerky and downright dangerous at times. On a rural two lane, I hit a rut in one section and the car pulled me into the oncoming lane one time. I drove the Cayman over the very same spot many times and never even noticed the road imperfection.
The lack of low end torque was another negative for me with the GT350. I made the comment a few times that the GT350 was the slowest 526hp car I’d ever driven. All in all, the GT350 is a cool car.....the 718 is just cooler.

 

[DriveInHouston]

I owned a GT350 simultaneously with my Cayman GTS. The GTS is decidedly faster. From a handling perspective, if you haven’t driven a GT350 on real roads as opposed to a track or really smooth roads, you can’t possibly understand how bad the tramlining is with the GT350. Where the Cayman is poised, smooth and precise, the GT350 is nervous, jerky and downright dangerous at times. On a rural two lane, I hit a rut in one section and the car pulled me into the oncoming lane one time. I drove the Cayman over the very same spot many times and never even noticed the road imperfection.
The lack of low end torque was another negative for me with the GT350. I made the comment a few times that the GT350 was the slowest 526hp car I’d ever driven. All in all, the GT350 is a cool car.....the 718 is just cooler.

+1

If you think this is bad, you should have tried my 2014 Mustang GT with the solid rear axle!... Taking bumpy road turns in high(er) speeds made me as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs

I could never get used to the rear axle jumping sideways a couple of inches in the roughs (or the concrete expansion seams)... The steering was not the fastest or more sensitive either...

The NA V8 and the car's heft made it, on paper, directly comparable to my 2018 CS

 

[Baka1969]

Who the heck buys a sports car for a back seat? Isn't that what an SUV is for? If you want a back seat get a minivan!

As for looks? The Cayman looks (IMHO) more exotic than the Mustang. Which is basically a $28k base car with go-fast parts. Where the Porsche is built to be a $70k+ sports car.

That being said, a base, no optioned, Cayman would be the significantly slower manual transmission. And that would effect the score. Even a totally bare-bones manual Cayman S is only fractionally faster than the Sport Chrono PDK base Cayman. So their speed evaluation is fair and on point.

 

[roundtail]

I owned a GT350 simultaneously with my Cayman GTS. The GTS is decidedly faster. From a handling perspective, if you haven’t driven a GT350 on real roads as opposed to a track or really smooth roads, you can’t possibly understand how bad the tramlining is with the GT350. Where the Cayman is poised, smooth and precise, the GT350 is nervous, jerky and downright dangerous at times. On a rural two lane, I hit a rut in one section and the car pulled me into the oncoming lane one time. I drove the Cayman over the very same spot many times and never even noticed the road imperfection.
The lack of low end torque was another negative for me with the GT350. I made the comment a few times that the GT350 was the slowest 526hp car I’d ever driven. All in all, the GT350 is a cool car.....the 718 is just cooler.

And that, my friends, is what's known as "a real-world comparison".

 

[roundtail]

I didn't have to get far into the article to see that FMC must've been in need of a good stroke.

So the four cars have a combined 18 CotY awards? That's curious, since the C&D CotY wiki page lists the Cayman/Boxster as having 20 all by itself. C&D suddenly segregates the body style in the same publication year its "10-Best" feature listed them as one. How convenient.

As though that isn't misleading enough, traveling with the link to the C&D review for 2019, we see that the GT350 is a "two-time 10-Best Cars winner." Ouch. Should've left the 10-Best stat on the cutting table.

Then there's this, also in the opening paragraph, describing the Cayman "as one of the 21st century's purest driver's cars." Not surprising, as the "verdict" from the feature's link to the Cayman review page says "The definitive driver's car". The Mustang surpasses these superlatives how, exactly? FMC needs it to, is my guess. It's their turn today.

 

[antennahead]

I didn't have to get far into the article to see that FMC must've been in need of a good stroke.

And who says journalism isn't dead? ?

 

[bmwrider1946]

I look at this section whenever a new post comes up and then I had somewhat of an epiphany. I have been with my wife for over 56 years and never once did I compare her to “the competition”. I look at her every day and think how lucky I am to have her in my life. I then realized that is pretty much how I currently feel about owning my 718 GTS. I walk into the garage and see it sitting there and think to myself that this is the car that I wanted and I am fortunate enough to be in a situation to own it. I really don’t care about “the competition”. While I find the comparisons enjoyable to read I am perfectly content with my decision.

 

[Mtaylor]

I look at this section whenever a new post comes up and then I had somewhat of an epiphany. I have been with my wife for over 56 years and never once did I compare her to “the competition”. I look at her every day and think how lucky I am to have her in my life. I then realized that is pretty much how I currently feel about owning my 718 GTS. I walk into the garage and see it sitting there and think to myself that this is the car that I wanted and I am fortunate enough to be in a situation to own it. I really don’t care about “the competition”. While I find the comparisons enjoyable to read I am perfectly content with my decision.

Amen brother, Amen...on the wife (37 years here) and on the car (2018 BS)...perhaps the best 2 decisions I have ever made!