BMW M Coupe vs. Porsche Cayman S

Give Porsche credit for even showing up to this fight. The M Coupe should, on paper, strongly trounce the Cayman right out of the box. Some sports car and supercar makers (you know who you are) won’t provide their cars if they think they might be criticized or, worse, beaten by a competitor. But Porsche was not afraid and earned yet another dose of respect.

The Cayman S faced another handicap in that it was not created by a special in-house tuning arm of the manufacturer, the way the M Coupe was made by BMW’s M. There’s no Porsche P to tune Porsches—they’re all pretty well set up right off the end of the assembly line—if tuning can

improve a car, then maybe there was something wrong with it to begin with. Whereas M took the Z4-based M Roadster, added a roof, more power, better suspension and lots of other things to make it go faster and corner better. Hence, on paper it looks like BMW is already ahead before the cars even show up.

But you don’t drive cars on paper, thank God. You drive them on roads, preferably roads that twist and dive and unroll before you like two-lane sticky tape. If you are really lucky and have a budget, you drive them on racetracks, such as the NHRA’s drag strip at Pomona and the Streets of Willow at Willow Springs. It’s also nice to drive up and over Angeles Crest Highway, which is not a racetrack but is one of the best driving roads in the world.

With the Cayman S, it was love at first drive. It’s so well-balanced, so smooth and easy to pilot that you don’t want to get out of it. The first few miles in this car were so stable and solid that all that was necessary in corners was to ease the wheel over and let the car hunker down and hold on until the road straightened out. No mid-turn corrections required, no second-guessing by driver or machine. The Cayman S simply takes a set and keeps tracking as the g-meter clicks away.

The first stint in the M Coupe was just the opposite and therefore took quite a bit of getting used to. The initial feel behind the M wheel was twitchy, and long corners required numerous tiny corrections to hold the line. The M Coupe felt skittish and frightened at first, like an abused dog you’ve adopted from the pound. Lift off the throttle and the rear end feels lighter than anticipated. The steering felt darty, the suspension almost jumpy. And where was all that extra power this car was supposed to have?

Those were first impressions. The hard numbers were next.

The first opportunity for objective comparison came not on twisty roads, but on a very straight one, the NHRA drag strip at Pomona. There it was close to a tie. Each car finished within a license plate frame of the other. The Cayman “won” by 0.05 second, 4.96 vs. 5.01 seconds to 60 mph. That gap barely lengthened through the quarter-mile, with the Porsche winning by 0.07 second. Both cars ran in identical atmospheric conditions, too, so don’t blame that.

The M Coupe’s extra horses and better power-to-weight did not help it. Blame wheelspin—all the power in the world won’t do any good if all it does is spin the tires. Managing wheelspin is always the biggest problem with high-horsepower cars: The clock keeps ticking while the car goes nowhere.

After drag-strip testing, the cars made their way to Willow Springs. The first stretch, from the 210 freeway up Angeles Crest, is slightly tighter and more constricted than the second half where you turn left onto Angeles Forest Highway. On this stretch of road, the Cayman hunkers down and holds on through the corners. You can really feel the g forces pulling it to the side, and the Cayman feels like it was designed specifically for this. You just turn the wheel and the chassis doesn’t move off-line through the whole turn.

On Angeles Forest Highway, the BMW again feels twitchy and skittish. In corners that the Porsche takes perfectly, the M Coupe requires tiny corrections throughout. The ride is bumpier in the M, though not terribly so, not like the Lotus Elise, Subaru STI or Mitsubishi EVO. It starts to feel better after you get used to it, but the Cayman rules on the open twisty road.

Tires might have something to do with it, with the Porsche on slightly lower, stick-ier tires, 235/35R-19s front and 265/35R-19s rear compared with the M Coupe’s 225/45R-18s front and 255/40R-18s rear.

Open-road impressions remained the same at Willow—at first. The Cayman S easily went through the slalom at a near-record 45.5 mph, compared with the M Coupe’s still-respectable 44.3.

“The Porsche is much more poised in the slalom, to the point of having some understeer, while the BMW readily breaks its tail loose,” said one tester. “The Porsche is a lot easier to drive fast, while the BMW rewards drivers who know how to manage tail wagging.”

That could be the definitive difference between these cars. A few aggressive laps around the Streets of Willow road course finally revealed the M Coupe’s sweet spot—you have to push it hard on a racetrack to see it shine. There the BMW was far superior to the Cayman, as enjoyable to drive as the M Roadster was a couple of months ago on the former Grand Prix course at Jerez in Spain (“Wild Child,” March 20).

“On the short, tight Streets of Willow, the difference between the two was huge,” said another tester. “The M Coupe was much, much better. Suddenly the power difference showed itself as I entered the first turn, down to the apex, and easing on the gas, the thing just ran. This course requires good brakes, good power and good transitional handling. The turns on Highway 2 where the Cayman felt so good were far more wide open, and the cars weren’t pushed as hard. Here on the racetrack, the M Coupe ruled.”

At Willow, the Cayman showed other fallibilities, too. A recalcitrant shifter that had felt awkward engaging third gear earlier in the day, stopped engaging first, third and fifth altogether toward the end of the day. Perhaps the triple-digit temperatures were frying the gearbox. But there it sat, a suddenly three-speed transmission. Porsche later said it was a “loose shifter cable,” but the shifter failed only on that one hot day at Willow and worked fine the rest of the week. Thermal expansion makes everything longer and looser.

Oh, and the Cayman out-braked the BMW, too, stopping from 60 mph in 112 feet, compared with 114 for the M Coupe.

What about design? It’s a subjective tie. The Cayman looks svelte from any angle, with proportions that are just about perfect and from the back even appear like something that should be called “The Aquabat.” The M Coupe looks like a miniature Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, one that costs considerably less than an original. It is miles away from that thing BMW released a decade ago called the M Coupe; remember, the one with the ugly body?

The overall winner? The Cayman was tops in every one of the objective number tests and felt better to drive in all conditions but one. The M Coupe felt way better on the racetrack. So the Porsche finishes first because it was better (just barely) at almost everything. Of course, the one venue where the BMW triumphed might be the one that matters most to more than a few owners.
Numbers are not the point. Which one you choose comes down to two things: styling and feel. The Porsche flaunts some of the finest lines on the road, so checkmate on that. As for feel, it’s extremely buttoned down and confidence-inspiring. The BMW is more high-strung, which some drivers consider charming, or at least more involving. I’ll take the Cayman S, though I can’t blame those who pick the BMW, especially if track driving is their thing. MAC MORRISON

Styling is subjective, and picking between these two is like deciding what’s cooler, the aggressive lines of a shark or the streamlined silhouette of a dolphin. I usually go for the one with sharp teeth.

On the road, the M Coupe is tight and responsive and clearly a driver’s car. You sense it from the moment you strap in, but the first corner proves it beyond a doubt. For me, the M Coupe wins. KEN ROSS

I’d pick a BMW over just about anything in the segments it knows best: sport sedans and coupes. But when it comes to sports cars, little competes with Porsche. In almost any driving scenario, the Cayman S shines, meaning you can enjoy its pitch-perfect handling every time you leave the house, not just at the track. NATALIE NEFF

Of all the DoubleTakes, this one is the closest for me to call. Both cars have merit, and frankly, the M Coupe far exceeded my expectations. But my vote goes to the Cayman S, one of the best Porsche driving experiences I’ve had, with terrific handling and that boxer engine screaming away behind your right ear. ROGER HART
2006 BMW M Coupe

Base Price (includes $695 delivery and $1,000 gas guzzler): $50,995
As-tested Price: $57,595
Horsepower: 330 @ 7900 rpm
ENGINE
Front-longitudinal 3.2-liter/198-cid dohc I6
Output: 330 hp @ 7900 rpm, 262 lb-ft @ 4900 rpm
Compression ratio: 11.5:1
Fuel requirement: 91 octane
DRIVETRAIN
Rear-wheel drive
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Final drive ratio: 3.62:1
CHASSIS
Unibody two-door coupe
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 98.3 in
Track (front/rear): 58.5/59.7 in
Length/width/height: 161.9/70.1/50.7 in
Curb weight: 3230 lbs
SUSPENSION
Front: MacPherson struts with coil springs, twin-tube gas-charged shock absorbers, antiroll bar
Rear: Multilink with coil springs, twin tube gas-charged shock absorbers, antiroll bar
BRAKES/WHEELS/TIRES
Vented and cross-drilled discs front and rear, ABS; aluminum 225/45R-18 front, 255/40R-18 rear Continental Contisport Contact
CAPACITIES
Fuel: 14.5 gal
Cargo: 10.7 cu ft
OPTIONS AS TESTED
Premium package, with auto-dimming rearview mirror, power seats with driver memory, storage package, cruise control, BMW Assist with Bluetooth, premium Hi-Fi package ($2,500); black extended Nappa leather ($1,800); navigation system ($1,800); heated front seats ($500)

STANDING-START ACCELERATION
0-60 mph: 5.01 sec
0-100 km/h (62.1 mph): 5.27 sec
0-quarter-mile: 13.63 sec @ 102.7 mph
ROLLING ACCELERATION
20-40 mph (second gear): 2.3 sec
40-60 mph (second gear): 2.3 sec
60-80 mph (third gear): 3.3 sec
BRAKING
60 mph-0: 114 ft
HANDLING
490-foot slalom: 44.3 mph
Lateral acceleration (200-foot skidpad): 0.87 g
FUEL MILEAGE
EPA combined: 18.8 mpg
AW overall: 16.3 mpg
INTERIOR NOISE (DBA)
Idle: 56
Max first gear: 82
Steady 60 mph: 68


2006 Porsche Cayman S

Base (includes $795 delivery): $59,695
As-tested price: $70,505
Horsepower: 295 @ 6250 rpm
ENGINE
Rear-midship longitudinal 3.4-liter/206.68-cid dohc H6
Output: 295 hp @ 6250 rpm, 251 lb-ft @ 4400-6000 rpm
Compression ratio: 11.1:1
Fuel requirement: 91 octane
DRIVETRAIN
Rear-wheel drive
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Final drive ratio: 3.88:1
CHASSIS
Unibody two-door coupe
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 95.1 in
Track (front/rear): 58.5/60.2 in
Length/width/height: 172.1/70.9/51.4 in
Curb weight: 2954 lbs
SUSPENSION
Front: MacPherson struts with coil springs, twin-tube gas-charged shock absorbers, antiroll bar
Rear: MacPherson struts with coil springs, twin-tube gas-charged shock absorbers, antiroll bar
BRAKES/WHEELS/TIRES
Vented and cross-drilled discs front and rear, ABS; aluminum 235/35R-19 front, 265/35R-19 rear Continental Sport Contact 2
CAPACITIES
Fuel: 19.6 gal
Cargo: 14.1 cu ft
OPTIONS AS TESTED
Cobalt blue metallic paint ($3,070); preferred package ($2,190); Porsche Active Suspension Management ($1,990); 19-inch Carrera S wheels ($1,550); bi-xenon headlamp package ($1,090); sport chrono package without Porsche communications management ($920)

STANDING-START ACCELERATION
0-60 mph: 4.96 sec
0-100 km/h (62.1 mph): 5.23 sec
0-quarter-mile: 13.56 sec @ 104.9 mph
ROLLING ACCELERATION
20-40 mph (first gear): 1.7 sec
40-60 mph (second gear): 2.5 sec
60-80 mph (third gear): 3.6 sec
BRAKING
60 mph-0: 112 ft
HANDLING
490-foot slalom: 45.5 mph
Lateral acceleration (200-foot skidpad): 0.92 g
FUEL MILEAGE
EPA combined: 23.0 mpg
AW overall: 17.6 mpg
INTERIOR NOISE (DBA)
Idle: 53
Max first gear: 86