Nick Jeffery

Surrey, UK @npjeffery @npjeffery

I have spent the last couple of months thinking about what, if anything, could replace my much-loved 996.2 Carrera 4S. I’ve had the car since June 2014 and added nearly 40,000 miles during that time.

She’s now battle scarred with stone chips and an awkward blemish on the offside rear wing plus a couple of additional marks on the front bumper. She’s also approaching 100K miles, a psychological barrier for some and yet she drives as well now, if not better than when I picked her up six years ago! As new rear tyres were required imminently and the car really needs a partial respray, I took the decision to look around for another Porsche that might just fit the bill. It had to be engaging, fun to drive, look and sound great, relatively practical and, crucially, offer me something I don’t have at the moment. Plus, it had to be a proper sports car and no bigger than a 996/997.

In addition, it had to be a car that my wife wanted to drive and was comfortable to be in, as we are also selling our other daily driver after three years in our care – an Audi S3 Quattro Saloon.

We toyed with the idea of a Boxster but couldn’t agree on which generation/ model. We both like the Cayman, which I genuinely believe is the spiritual successor to the 996/997-generation 911s given how big it has become since the 991/992 generations were released. In the end we opted for a stunning, late 2015, 981 Cayman S in Carrara white with a superb options list and only 16K miles on the clock at Paragon Porsche, who were delighted to take the Carrera 4S back!

So, why did we choose a 981 Cayman S to replace the 996.2 Carrera 4S? It’s compact, with a similar-sized footprint to the older car. It’s a mid-engined sports car, delivering a totally different driving experience to a 911. It has a naturally aspirated flat six power plant developing 325bhp, so slightly more than the C4S, and sounds absolutely awesome with PSE. The handling is sublime, perfect for a B-road blast, equally happy on the mundane commute. Finally, it is a practical car with two boots and a luggage shelf, meaning we can also part company with the Audi S3 and use it for any more up and coming road trips.

For this column going forward, I will focus on my exploits and adventures in the 997.1 GT3 and the 997.2 Carrera 4 GTS. The Cayman S will ultimately fulfil another vital role – keeping the mileage relatively low on each of my prized 911s!