Road and Track compares the Cayman S to the 2014 Alfa Romeo 4C and Lotus Elise Club Racer

[Sticky]

The Cayman S is the smallest car in the Porsche lineup but it is the biggest and heaviest car in this particular comparison. The Cayman S is hardly heavy at 3083 pounds but the Lotus undercuts it by about 1000 pounds and the Alfa-Romeo 4C is about 800 pounds lighter. Now, the Alfa Romeo 4C will gain some weight to comply with US crash regulations when it is finally available for sale but the Elise and 4C are both much smaller and lighter cars than the Cayman.

The Cayman S is the only naturally aspirated car of the trio with its 325 horsepower 3.4 liter flat-6 that it shares with the 991 Carrera. The 4C has a 1.7 liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 237 horsepower and the Elise has a 1.8 liter four-cylinder that is supercharged for 217 horsepower.

The Cayman S despite being the heaviest car gets to 60 quickest at 4.0 seconds flat and is the quickest and fastest through the 1/4 mile at 12.5 @ 110.5. The Alfa-Romeo 4C gets to 60 in 4.2 seconds and through the 1/4 mile in 12.9 @ 107.8 making it the second quickest car. The Elise is the slowest of the group getting to 60 in 4.8 seconds and through the 1/4 mile in 13.6 seconds at 102.4 miles per hour.

The 4C and Cayman S both benefit from dual clutch transmissions while the Elise has a manual transmission. The Elise being included in the comparison is nice to see but as it is not for sale in the USA any longer it is somewhat irrelevant to the North American market. Hopefully Lotus can manage to sell their complete portfolio in the USA but nobody should hold their breath on that.

The Cayman obviously is for sale and the 4C is coming to the USA so this is more of a battle between the Porsche and the Alfa. Road and Track does not rank the cars but it's clear they place the Cayman S above the others. They state that if it was twice the price they would believe it as it is that good. It seems to be the most capable sports car whereas the other two are more raw. The 4C gives a great driving experience but the Cayman is much more sophisticated while offering a great driver connection. They state the cars are not really rivals and despite both being sports cars this is true. The Cayman is the grown up of the group. The 4C does not offer the same level of refinement and the Elise is even worse in that respect.

It is hard to argue against the Cayman being the best sports car of the three.

[onisyndicate]

I'd still take the 4c over the Cayman just so i could have a nice sunday TA car!