Porsche Has One Job: Don’t Ruin The Cayman

[00:01] I love Porsche, but Porsche might actually be ruining the best sports car. And no, I don't mean the 911. I know, somewhere right now, some guy wearing a Porsche Design sunglasses indoors just dropped his espresso. But, guys, let's

[00:13] Boxster have been the Porsche for people who actually care about driving more than explaining what they drive. The 911, it is an icon, the legend, the poster car, the one your dentist leases after a good year. But the Cayman, the

[00:26] Cayman was the only one that made sense. Small, mid engine, balanced, not huge, not trying to be a luxury spaceship, not pretending you need 640 horsepower to enjoy back road at 47 mph. It was the Porsche for the person who says annoying

[00:39] things like, "Actually, balance matters more than power." And the worst part is they were right. The Cayman was so good Porsche had to keep it slightly worse than the 911 on purpose. That is not a conspiracy theory, that is just basic

[00:52] German family politics. The Cayman was the younger brother who had better beat the older brother in a foot race. So, dad kept making him wear ankle the Cayman the exact same power, the same development budget, and the same

[01:06] emotional permission to be the flagship sports car, half the 911 lineup would start looking like a very expensive traditional tax. And now, Porsche is trying to replace this car with an EV, maybe, possibly, eventually, depending

[01:19] has coffee that day. I mean, the next 718 Cayman and Boxster were supposed to go electric. That was the plan. Porsche was going to take its small midsize modern electric sports car. And at first, that sounds interesting. Because

[01:35] electric sports car feel good, well, it's Porsche. The Taycan proved Porsche understood EV performance. The Taycan is fast, it's expensive, it's heavy, and it's complicated, and still somehow feels like the engineers actually cared.

[01:51] It's not just a luxury iPad with wheels. So, an electric Cayman could be amazing. Low center of gravity, instant torque, Porsche chassis tuning, compact size, sharp steering, maybe a proper sports car EV that does not feel like a

[02:04] refrigerator trying to set a lap time. But then, the reports started coming out. Delays, battery issues, packaging problems, rising cost, development headaches, possible cancellation, which honestly, it's kind of funny because

[02:16] charge you $4,000 for colored seat belts, but apparently putting a battery in a small sports car without turning it into a fat little toaster is hard. And this is where enthusiasts get nervous because the Cayman and Boxster worked

[02:30] Porsche standards. Not cheap, I mean, let's not lie. Porsche has never heard the word affordable without laughing in German, but compared to what the rest of the lineup is, the 718 still felt like the car where the point was the drive.

[02:44] needed status. You bought a Cayman because you wanted the good bit of a Porsche without the 911 mythology, leather-scented finance bro energy, and my allocation guy conversations. A good Cayman is one of those cars that reminds

[02:58] you speed is not the whole thing. It is steering, it's weight, it's balance, it's seating position, it's brake feel, the way it rotates. Oh, so good, brother. And the way it makes 45 mph on a twisty road feel more interesting than

[03:11] 140 in a luxury SUV. And that is exactly why making it electric is risky. Not because EVs are bad. EVs, they're not bad. The lazy anti-EV take is boring. We get it. No sound, no soul, microwave car, cool. Very original. You've become

[03:26] a Facebook comment with a pulse. The real problem is not that the next 718 could be electric. The real problem is that the next 718 could become too heavy, too expensive, too filtered, too perfect, and too removed from the things

[03:41] people actually loved. Because Porsche looked at one of the best driver's cars more and made the noise of a dishwasher entering sport mode?" That is That is the fear. Not electricity, the fear is Porsche turning the Cayman into another

[03:55] premium tech product. Because once a car becomes a tech product, the conversation, it changes. It stops being how does it feel and becomes what's the the battery have preconditioning? Is the

[04:07] performance package without a subscription? Why is my sports car real quick, the giveaway for the Shelby and Supra in the $100,000 has ended and well, the winners are being picked right now. But, we're coming back bigger and

[04:23] the pinned first comment because like Rocky who won the GT-R, like Greg who won the 100K, you can sign up to be notified and get 100 free entries once it goes live. So, click the link down below, go put in your email and I can't

[04:37] wait to show you what we have cooking. All right, back to the show. And I am next to a Cayman at a Cars and Coffee saying, "Yeah, bro, the steering is mm." That is not romance, that is printer

[04:50] ownership. The Cayman was never about winning a spreadsheet. It was about being the right size and modern cars keep forgetting that. Everything is wider, everything gets more expensive, everything needs more screens, more

[05:03] modes, more sensors, more subscriptions, more fake sounds, more premium every enthusiast with a pulse in a Facebook marketplace looking at 2006 Boxster with a check engine light and one owner named Greg. And that's because

[05:16] old sports cars feel like cars. New sports cars increasingly feel like part nobody wants to say out loud. A faster 718 electric could still be a worse Cayman. It could do 0 to 60 in 2.8. I don't care. It could beat your

[05:31] old car around a track. I don't care. It could destroy it in every measurable way. It's still be less desirable because numbers are not the same as fun. We already learned that with a million modern performance cars. They're fast,

[05:44] they're capable, they're safe, they're refined, they are technically brilliant. home and look at a used Miata on Facebook Marketplace. I mean, the Cayman's magic was never that it was [music] the fastest thing. It was that

[05:56] it felt like it was built around you, not around marketing, not around a battery platform, not around a corporate promise from 5 years ago that sounded good in a PowerPoint. A small Porsche sports car should feel like a tool, a

[06:08] sharp one, and not a lifestyle object. And that is why these delays might actually be good news for you and me. And yeah, I know it sounds backwards, but maybe Porsche struggling with the electric 718 is proof that Porsche still

[06:21] knows what the Cayman is supposed to be. Maybe the engineers are looking at the early prototypes and going, "Yeah, this is fast, but it drives like an expensive ankle monitor." Maybe they know the weight is wrong. Maybe they know the car

[06:33] cannot just be quick. It has to feel right. If that is what's happening, well, delay it. Seriously, delay it. Cancel it if you want to because a late Cayman is better than a bad Cayman. A bad electric Cayman could do more damage

[06:46] to the brand than no Cayman for a few years. Porsche fans can survive waiting. There are people that wait 2 years for a GT3 allocation and then thank the dealer for emotionally harming them. I mean, they can handle [music] the gap. But if

[06:58] Porsche launches an electric 718 that feels like a smaller Taycan coupe with less practical and more anxiety, that car is dead on arrival with the exact people who are supposed to care. And yes, some people will buy it. Of

[07:10] course, they will. There is always someone ready to buy the newest Porsche first. They will post it on Instagram with the caption, "New chapter." Drive it 1,200 mi in 2 years and then list it as a tastefully optioned car. The guy on

[07:24] about curb weight, watching comparison videos at 2:00 a.m., pretending he is just researching while his savings account quietly dies, that guy needs a reason to care. He does not need another fast EV. There are already tons of

[07:39] embarrass half the performance car world at a red light while the driver eats a about crypto collapse. That is just not special anymore. An electric Porsche sports car has to be more than launch control. It has to make somebody take

[07:53] miss the exit on purpose. It has to make them forget the spec sheet. That's the job. And if Porsche cannot do that with the electric 718 yet, then Porsche executive promised some full electrification during peak EV hype.

[08:08] Because that is the other part nobody wants to admit. I mean, a few years ago internal combustion engine was going to disappear on Thursday. Everything was EV only. Everything was future mobility. Everything was clean sheet architecture

[08:22] language. Then reality showed up wearing steel-toe boots. EV demand, it got weird. Costs got ugly. Charging became brutal. Interest rates punched everyone in the mouth. And customers

[08:35] started saying, "Actually, I would still like an engine in my expensive sports cars, please." Now, Porsche is reportedly rethinking parts of the plan, keeping combustion around longer, considering hybrids, protecting the 911

[08:47] from full EV conversion, which makes sense because Porsche is not a normal car company. Porsche does not sell transportation. Porsche sells emotional justification. [music] You don't buy a Cayman because you need to get

[09:00] want to feel something on the way there and then lie to yourself that it was the financially responsible choice because it holds value. So, if the next 718 does not deliver that feeling, Porsche, well, they have a problem. [music] And here is

[09:14] what I think Porsche should actually do. Do not make the Cayman EV only forever. Make the EV if you can make it great. Fine. But give enthusiasts a combustion option or at least a hybrid one. A small flat-six hybrid Cayman would make people

[09:28] four-cylinder hybrid with real character would be better than pretending every customer wants silence and a charging curve. Just give us choices. Let the EV combustioner hybrid version be the driver's car. Let the market decide.

[09:43] Because the worst version of the future is not electric cars existing. The worst the same idea with a different badge. You know, fast, heavy, quiet, expensive, digital, dead behind the eyes. The Cayman deserves better than that. This

[09:56] car saved Porsche's soul more than people want to admit. The Boxster helped the '90s. The Cayman proved the mid-engine layout was just not for supercars. The GT4 became one of the most beloved modern driver's cars on the

[10:09] >> And now Porsche has to decide what that legacy is worth. Is the 718 just another product slot? Or is it the car that reminds people Porsche still builds driver's cars for people who care about driving? Because if Porsche gets this

[10:22] wrong, the comments are going to be a war crime. [music] I mean, and honestly, an electric Cayman if it is genuinely brilliant? Or should Porsche keep the 718 alive with a gas or hybrid option? Let me know. Go argue in the comments

[10:36] down below. Agree, disagree, call me an idiot, explain why I'm emotionally with a YouTube channel. The editor might even heart your comment and reply version of being knighted. And if you like rants about car companies making

[10:50] actually care about, well, subscribe so we hit 2 mil by the end of the year. And it was a good video. Also, check out some of these Ideal vids over here. I'm Brad Danger, this is Ideal, and promise me one thing. Keep living the Ideal life

[11:05] me one thing. Keep living the Ideal life style.