Tested: 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Z51
vs. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4
Car and Driver,
by
K.C. Colwell
Original Article
Posted By: Pluperfect,
9/16/2020 4:41:24 AM
For the lot of you who have yelled at and/or addressed the editors of this magazine with a stern tone because we have not compared the new Corvette with the equally new 911, we hear you and we're choosing to ignore you.
The truth is that the Corvette's closest competitor from Porsche's lineup hasn't been the 911 for some time. The German brand made its rear-engine flagship just a bit too soft right as Chevrolet got downright serious about making big performance gains by relocating the Corvette's V-8. The mid-engine 718 series of two-seaters has taken the throne at Porsche as the de facto sports-car line
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 9/16/2020 7:31:56 AM (No. 542313)
I saw one of these new Corvettes head on the other day, and was totally fooled into thinking it was a Lamborghini Huracán, until it drove by and I saw the "bowtie" on the back. Quite impressive looking.
5 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
hurricanegirl 9/16/2020 8:56:01 AM (No. 542387)
Good grief! Don't leave me hanging! So which one tested positive for the Kung Flu?
2 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
seamusm 9/16/2020 9:13:56 AM (No. 542405)
I don't understand a word he says but I still drool over the beauty and performance of these machines!
4 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
ROLFNader 9/16/2020 9:16:55 AM (No. 542410)
So, we're supposed to page through 50 freakin photos? Can't we be trusted with a video ? It's a lot more exciting when the pictures move......
1 person likes this.
I don't care what product they turn out, General Motors will produce a money pit of a car! This new Corvette is interesting...but how much to change the oil, or what does a tire cost? I'm guessing $1,000 per. The run flats on my 2014 VW CC AWD cost 350 a pop...so I replaced them!!! How about a set of rings? Ha!
1 person likes this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
DaddyO 9/16/2020 9:53:42 AM (No. 542456)
If you want a sports car that's reliable (and isn't that the point) buy a Miata.
3 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
bigfatslob 9/16/2020 10:30:53 AM (No. 542491)
I'm not a sports car guy (money pit or you better be rich) but I would like to have my old Volvo 244 back. I loved that car and driving experience. Only convertible I had was a 1959 MGA but that's about as sports car as I got it cost me money to keep it running and wasn't reliable at all.
0 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Phooey 9/16/2020 10:32:27 AM (No. 542494)
Where is the ashtray and cig. lighter ?
0 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Hazymac 9/16/2020 11:08:28 AM (No. 542544)
Enthusiasts' automobile magazines and articles like the present one are a pleasure to peruse. Gearheads who love internal combustion naturally want to know about cars they'll never own but would want to recognize on the road. Any normal driver who tried to take a 495bhp Corvette or a slightly lighter 414bhp Porsche on a track and really wring it out would probably take it off road. Only professionals or very well trained amateurs should try to drive these cars at their limits. But owning a fast car is a status symbol of sorts. It's nice to know that someone can afford to own a Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini, Bugatti, or other superexotic supercar. These rolling works of art show the ingenuity of their builders. Good for them. (I'm not jealous, being the original owner and still daily driver of a 2003 Honda S2000, the AP1 with 9000 redline and 240bhp from a normally aspirated 2.0 liters, quite sufficiently potent for me.)
One thing stood out about the Porsche 718 Cayman: It possesses a slightly detuned version of the normally aspirated 4.0 liter 6-cylinder found in the 911 GT3RS, the last non-turbo 911 of them all. That's significant. Soon all 911s will be turbo. Two years ago a GT3 RS, 500-520 bhp, circled the 12.9 mile, 73 turn Nurburgring Nordschleife in under seven minutes, making a nice roar and engine exhaust note all the way. Sir Jackie Stewart dubbed the Nordschleife "the Green Hell."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4gghnwAMvw
The Corvette had to go mid-engined to maximize its performance potential. Built in Bowling Green, KY not far north of Nashville, the 'Vette ought to be a solid answer to the four wheeled megabuck rockets from Europe and Asia, but build quality isn't up to snuff Was it ever?
My favorite 'Vettes, the C2 Sting Ray from 1963 through 1967, were gorgeous cars that were not at all aerodynamic, and were extremely dangerous at 120+mph. But I wish I had a '63 Split-window Coupe with Rochester fuel injection and 360 ponies. Nowadays at auction those cars can run well over a quarter million apiece if they're in 99 point condition. A '67 L88 (the most potent 427 cid) would also be nice, but only twenty of those were ever built.
2 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
DVC 9/16/2020 11:37:08 AM (No. 542584)
I am not surprised that the Cayman won. Before I bought mine, I read many road tests, and most concluded that it was essentially perfect.
I have an 5 year Porsche Cayman, but not the higher horsepower GT4 version that they tested. Mine will reach 167 mph and will do 0-60 mph in about 4.5 seconds. That seems to be enough for me on the street these days.
At a racetrack in England last year, I drove a 620 hp BMW M5 flat out, no limits on a very high speed track. Fun stuff, but you really can't use that much horsepower on the street. Now days, older and wiser, I will enjoy the somewhat lower horsepower of my Cayman on the street, but you can still enjoy the amazing cornering (more than 1 G lateral acceleration for mine) and precision balance in the "twisty bits" on a nice country road. The immensely powerful and smooth brakes, the extremely high cornering limits are just part of what is probably the finest sports car every produced. More hp is useful on a track, but doesn't do much on the street since you can so rarely use it, getting over even interstate speed limits in under 7or 8 seconds with my "low horsepower" version. Getting to illegal speeds a second or two sooner.....doesn't really bring much to the party unless you are on a track where you can really unleash that HP.
But, I have always appreciated Corvettes at some level, but just never wanted to own one. I have been a Porsche fan since the late 60s when they were only a dream. I was a quarter of a century before I could afford to own a Porsche. If you love driving - a Cayman is reachable, with older used models available in the $30s. Given what a new SUV costs these days, that's a bargain if you can stand it's impracticality. Strictly two seats, the engine is where the rear seat is on most cars. Modest trunks, front and rear.
3 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
DVC 9/16/2020 11:47:51 AM (No. 542599)
One final quotation from the article:
"We drive a lot of cars, and there isn't one in recent memory that is as good in the corners as this Cayman is and still comfortable enough to drive daily."
Yep, comfortable ride and goes around corners like you can't quite believe. Get a ride in one.
1 person likes this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
konocti95 9/16/2020 12:24:21 PM (No. 542634)
#7 - I had a '68 Triumph. That thing was made to run...in England. Unfortunately I lived in Colorado (Scotland Yard auto parts in Denver, is it still there?).
0 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
StormCnter 9/16/2020 12:29:26 PM (No. 542639)
I guess the appeal of these cars is mostly a guy thing. Give me a big, comfy Buick like those cars used to be. Now I have a big, not so comfy SUV. In my garage is a covered '86 Red Corvette. It's my son's and he drove it until marriage and kids. As I said, I think sports cars are primarily for the males.
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
DVC 9/16/2020 1:26:35 PM (No. 542714)
You are basically correct, #13, but some women enjoy cars, too.
0 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 9/16/2020 1:48:26 PM (No. 542743)
I raced sports cars for seven years including a Mini-Cooper at Sebring and feeling that urge to own a sports car again. Been looking at Alfa Roeo Giulia and a Kia Stinger (actually sports sedans) Both are fast with plenty of power but the Stinger has a five year warranty and the Alfa only one year. I am an old coot now and if I tried to wring one out near its maximum, I would probably kill myself so I'll just be sedately cruising along when you seem on the road.
2 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Hazymac 9/16/2020 2:16:27 PM (No. 542762)
The new more powerful Porsche Cayman is a desirable car for sure, but the six figure base list price is bracing, to say the least. That's a lot of simoleons for anything with four wheels that doesn't have Louisville & Nashville written down the side. No wonder Porsche pumped up the power plant output as the showroom list price was bumped giddily skyward.
Jeremy, one of the old British crew of Top Gear, didn't much like the earlier Porsche Cayman, and, to boot, educated me on the proper West London pronunciation of "urinals" (yoo-RYE-n'ls) when he said, "Pulling up in a Cayman next to a 911 at a stop light would be like going to the urinals next to a horse." The Brits frequently say things better than we do.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Videodrone 9/16/2020 2:19:39 PM (No. 542763)
In the years BC (Before Children) I had a number of two seat sports cars including a two tricked out Porsche 914's (one was a 2.6L with dual carbs - would hit 150Mph with the top on)
Still having fun with my 650Hp Shelby GT500 convertible
2 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Heraclitus 9/16/2020 2:30:00 PM (No. 542771)
#10, where do you live? Try that here where we live in NH, and we'd be wrapped around the Tobin Bridge in Boston before we could yee-haw!
We've seen Lamborghinis, an Aston Martin and a Bugatti. Other than the gorgeous interiors or status, why have a car you can't enjoy driving the way they're built to run?
1 person likes this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
DVC 9/16/2020 7:28:06 PM (No. 543007)
#15, depending on exactly when you raced the MiniCooper, I probably saw you run. I was at the SCCA Nationals and other races in Fla and Ga from 69 thru the mid 70s, and was at Sebring 12 hrs every year from 69 thru 75, missed Daytona in 71 due to a 'high energy event' with a motorcycle.
I loved watching the Minis stream through turn 5 complex at Road Atlanta, very cool little cars. Many years later, I got to run a 911 on that track in a track days event....enjoyed the turn 5 complex on the track, too.
Enjoy your new car!
0 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
DVC 9/16/2020 7:35:43 PM (No. 543010)
#18, in Kansas, and can't top end the Cayman on public roads....or at least I haven't and likely won't. Track days are where you can REALLY enjoy these things. If you were to visit KC, I could show you a particular cloverleaf where getting 1 G + cornering is ......amazing, and not terribly outside the speed laws. 60+ mph, pulling over 1 G laterally on a tight cloverleaf is - fun.
But these cars shouldn't be pushed to limits on the street. I sure don't ever want to hurt some one. I have
been driving cars since the 1960s, and had one accident.....on a motorcycle, on a dirt road, doing nothing beyond driving straight at 25 mph. The only car accidents that I have been "involved in" have had me stopped and hit from the rear at stoplights or stop signs. I absolutely do not intend to ever drive in a way which might cause an accident, and so far, I have done it.
Rental cars in Germany......have driven over 135 mph. That cruising is fun, and legal on some stretches of autobahn.
0 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
MickTurn 9/17/2020 8:39:30 AM (No. 543402)
The Corvette Kicked the Porshe's Posterior...but the Porshe had a nicer interior...Really???
0 people like this.
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From the September, 2020 issue