For a day of driving with one passenger, rent a Cayman. Rent the 911 if a third person is coming or it's going to rain hard. Grandpride has one 911, the 992 Carrera 4S at RM 6,100 a day, and two Caymans: the 718 Cayman S at RM 2,800 and the 981 Cayman GT4 at RM 3,000. Each day includes 120 km and Basic Cover.
"The Cayman is a smaller 911"
They are built around different layouts. The 911 has its engine behind the rear axle, at the very back of the car. The Cayman has its engine in the middle, behind the seats and ahead of the rear wheels, and it began life as the coupé version of the Boxster roadster.
On the road that changes how each one feels in a corner and how much room there is inside. The Cayman's engine takes the space where a 911 has its small rear seats, which is why the Cayman is strictly a two-seater.
"A 911 seats four"
It has four seats. It doesn't seat four adults. The rear pair suit children, or a bag you don't want rolling around, and an adult back there won't be comfortable for long. Think of it as a two-seater with a useful shelf, plus a small boot under the front bonnet.
That still makes it the only one of the three Porsches that can take a child along. If the plan is a Sunday drive with your ten-year-old, it's the 911, and remember that a child that size may still need a booster seat under Malaysia's child seat law.
"The Cayman has no room for luggage"
It has more than you'd expect of a two-seater. The Cayman has two boots: one under the front bonnet with room for a soft bag, and one at the back above and behind the engine, opened with the rear hatch. For a night away in Fraser's Hill or Melaka, either Cayman is a practical car for two who pack soft.
"The two Caymans are the same car at different prices"
They are very different cars. The 718 Cayman S has a 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder CHECK: is Grandpride's 718 Cayman S a PDK automatic or a manual?. The 981 Cayman GT4 has a 3.8-litre six-cylinder with no turbos, taken from the 911 Carrera S of its day, and Porsche only ever built it with a six-speed manual gearbox.
So the GT4 is the one for people who love driving a manual and plan to be out of the city early. It's the wrong car for a Friday evening crawl down the Federal Highway, working the clutch every few metres. Our guide to KL traffic jam times will tell you when the roads clear.
"The 911 will be faster, so it's more fun"
The Carrera 4S has a 3.0-litre twin-turbo six and drives all four wheels through an eight-speed PDK automatic. It is a quick car by any measure, but in Malaysia the expressway limit is 110 km/h, and all three Porsches are far quicker than that lets you use. Where the 911 does earn its place is in the wet: with all-wheel drive, it's the calmer car when a KL afternoon downpour arrives in the middle of your drive.
At legal speeds, what you notice is how a car turns into a bend and how the engine sounds, and that is where the mid-engined Caymans make their case, the GT4 above all.
Which to book
- Two people, a dry morning, a twisty road: the GT4 if you drive a manual well, the Cayman S if you don't.
- Two people and a weekend away: the Cayman S.
- A child coming along, or rain in the forecast: the 911.
- A first Porsche day and you aren't sure: the 911, with an automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive to settle into.
Compare the three day rates for your dates rather than assuming one is always the lower; the Porsche rental guide also covers the Macan and the Taycan if four doors would suit you better. Whichever you pick, 120 km a day goes quickly when the drive is the point of the day, so add 50 km or 100 km a day, or take unlimited mileage when you book. It works out cheaper per kilometre than paying for the extra afterwards. For roads that suit these cars, see our list of the best driving roads near KL.
