Audi TT RS vs BMW M2 vs Porsche 718 Cayman S: on the limit 

Actually, after this 4th part, the 718 sounds better than some v8s, you really have to be brainwashed to hate it, or haters gonna hate it for sounding so good...

Really good 4 part comparison, explaining how the pros and cons of each car while drifting sideways is auto journalism at it's best well done Jethro Bovington!

Drifting looks realy cool on review videos, but I honestly don't think it's a big selling point for street cars. Unless you're wanting to run over people at cars and coffee when you realize you're not Chris Harris.

the 718 clearly doesn't have a bad engine. If its anything like a Subaru boxer 4, I'm sure its reliable and you can most likely get loads of power out of it. Its the sound that everyone is complaining about. I wonder if a nice aftermarket exhaust would help?

Put the inline 5 turbo into the Cayman. That way you get a proper baby supercar.

I wish you would have included a road test. After all, that's where these cars will spend 99% of their time.

Mate, one of the best unbiased and balanced reviews out there... congrats DRIVETRIBE for another professional video. Kudos dude. Dr Davin Lim

The pricetag behind the 718 S is a bit too steep to compare, but I feel even a standard 718 would outshine these two. Looking at pricing, the base M2 (+ sunroof and smartphone connectivity) comes to CAD$70,610 and the base 718 (+ sportchrono and connected nav) comes to CAD$69,970. Unfortunately Audi has removed the configurator for all TT models, but that would be at the bottom of my list anyway (unless I was looking for an all season sports car, rwd in a foot of snow wouldn't be any fun).

i've been listening to these whining about the flat 4 of 718 for 5 years now. i've seen countless YT videos where the host inevitably, always, continuously, repeat how the 718 is a spectacular car "but the engine sound..." (the only possible exception seems to be Paul Schmucker in Everyday driver: "stop being babies") now, i came to realise one thing and i write it here since is a well know channel and a beautiful video. yes the flat 4 doesn't sound like a flat 6. and that's why IT IS NOT a flat 6. does a flat 6 sounds better? maybe. probably. but i can also argue that a flat 6 doesn't sound like a V8. were all the whiners in line to buy the Porsche 928 because the 911 did sound like a rattling dishwasher with its aircooled engine missing 2 cylinders? i don't think so. yet the V8 did sound great. and i can argue also that any V8 does not sound as great as a V10. are all the 911ers rushing to buy a Gallardo? is everybody crying how everything sounds worse than a Viper? is the LFA on the top of All Times Best sellers? still doesn't seems so. and i can go on saying that a V10 is kinda worse than a V12. and not to say about the flat 12. how is not anyone bashing their heads about how dumb and senseless is life outside anything less than a Ferrari Testarossa? are all those crying about the sound of the 718 with their a* on a Testarossa and i missed it? is anything worse than a Cavallino unworthy to be considered? now, the 718, especially with the 2,5L, is IN EVERY MEASURABLE WAY better than the previous version. more power, more torque, less weight, less pollution, less components. in some way, it's even better than the GTS with the flat 6: is lighter, simpler, more comfortable, costs significantly less, and consumes and pollutes less. is a 6 cyllinder "better"? well, i guess a 250 GTO is even better...

...i guess you Porsche fan boys have been fans of Porsche for about mmm 5 years in total now...Porsche have had 4 cylinder engines since the dawn of time...and a 4 cylinder Turbo engine in the early 80's...so they've put 4 cylinder Turbos in the Boxster/Cayman/718 now..wow i'm so surprised! are you guys?

This guy doesn’t know his a$$ from a hole in the ground. This is, by most accounts, “the” premium 4-cylinder engine on the planet. I have no idea why some are whining about the sound of this engine. It’s brilliant in sound and performance. Brilliant! In fact, the GTS is a masterpiece of German engineering.

Most people drive on the roads! Ttrs makes the most sense. Cayman is better looking though.

Brakes can be fixed with the M2 with M Performance pads, or other dedicated brand. M2 for me - loved mine.

The Audi engine, the balance of the Porsche, and the grin inducing silliness of the BMW all together in one package...sadly perfection doesn't exist, so I'd spend the money (if I had it) on a 981 Cayman GTS.

The fake engine noise coming through the speakers in the M2 is maddening!!!

I absolutely agree with you Jethro re the 718 flat four. For me you said exactly what I've been wanting someone to say out loud about that engine. I've owned 3 Boxsters and was in the market for the new Boxster until I heard it and test drive one. I was so disgusted with that engine I returned the car early from the test drive.

Not being funny guys, but it's how these cars drive 'on the road' that's more important to most buyers? Almost no-one drives them sideways on the limit!

great confrontation videos!! you make it so involving and fun. comparing the experience of driving with michelin star restaurant is just... beyond belief!! LOL thanx

People hating on the Cayman's engine sounds but don't want to realize it's the best out of the bunch

Great video, subscribed. I like all 3, can’t call the winner. Think for me it would be the BMW (shocker!), but the Audi next then the Porsche, for the money I would buy the 911 vs the Cayman.

Best review for sure..Cheers!

La puissance de l'Audi, le plaisir de conduire de la BMW et l'efficacité de la Porche

That's the problem usually....great track cars seldomly are also great road cars.

Was the Porsche equiped with the Performance Exhaust ? It is such a shame that Porsche decided to not offer the flat 6... I was test driving a pre facelift Cayman S with manual gearbox and surely was much more enjoying the incredible, emotional feeling of the car than I was missing the torque of a turbo engine..

Porsche did put back a manual gearbox in the GT3, surely we'll see a Cayman with a 6-cylinder engine ?

I’d pick the TTRS. Seeing as nearly everyone will spend most of their time on the road and the TTRS will destroy the other two.

haven't seen as many vids from this channel recently. Always quality Henry still missing. Release more content

front discs on M2 look like theyre heat cycled properly!

Totally agree

I can afford the cayman, but i would not buy one any more. I just don't think it's purpose is fulfilled by it's equipment. The Audi seems less fun, less interesting, more prudish.. But it doesn't have the same agenda as the Porsche. Same with the Bimmer, it feels like is focused on it's mission. But the Cayman had a mission that was distinctly less year round useful, and then it gave you an engine you might prefer in a Subaru. That's a confused choice. I'd happily take less power to have a more dramatic engine. Give it closer ratios to make up for it. At least then you can be honest with what it is you are.

Does the Cayman S has a Limited slip differential ( PTV) ? PASM suspension - 10 mm . or - 20 Mm ? It seems to be answered yes when you see the balance or the car with a good pilot...

reviews of the new cayman s make me want the old one. LOL

Is it Audi chassis or the design that causes the understeer or the terrible weight distribution or maybe the 4 wheel drive system

It’s not even competition. Why would anyone buy a BMW or an Audi?

718 sounds better than a Subaru, actually, compared to a dsg golf gti, its way more epic, but people seem to enjoy trolling with their subjective and irrelevant opinions...

Don't agree about the sound of the 982 verses 981; the 982 with power at much lower RPMs then with the 981 is far far better. I have driven both and the 982 is phenomenal..........The 982 is more powerful and represents progress......

with that beautiful old flat six a Cayman over these two is an absolute no brainer and today I'd probably pick a used previous gen S or GTS over them but in their current form the M2 is really appealing to me

If you don't like buying new tires every month go with Audi

the new GT4 has the 6 cyl engine and 414 horsepower. It's back.

They also ruined the look of the Cayman IMO

Where would my money go? On a Cayman 981 GTS or a 987 R & change.

A British car review isn't complete without the words, "lovely", "bonkers", and "bespoke".

This engine sounds awesome when you push it to it's limits on the track! I know because I got one myself, and I believe that with an ECU-upgrade it's faster than the GT4 as well...

Totally disagree with your comments about the 718 Cayman S engine. I have owned 3 Boxsters (as well as currently a 911 GT3 RS). The Cayman S is by far the best engine of the Boxsters, sound is good, performance is great and gas mileage is excellent. The engine does not compare to the RS, but it is also about half the price.

I've test driven both 718 S and 981 S at the same time in a mountain road and the 981 6 cylinder doesnt have a chance to keep up the pace. The engine sound in the exterior is good too, obviosly not as good as the 6 cyl, but it has more growl and it is something subjective. But I didnt find any 4 cylinder turbo that revs so quickly, it flies up to 7250 rpm and that lack of smoothens is somehow substituded by a more mechanical and crispy feel that reminds me classy engines. The driver who owns the 981 S I was testing said he loves the punch and the engine sound in the 718 S. I am little bit tired of hearing that the engine break ups the whole package, as in the case of the 911, IMO it doesnt and make the car more usable and powerful.

funny as i watch this months after release, i'm looking for videos about the Cayman as I hope to buy one soon. everyone bitches about the sound, but compliments the actual drive ability of the flat 4. if no one had ever heard the 6 i'm not sure it would even be discussed. all these 718 reviews people just complain about the sound. the flat 6 isn't that fantastic. it's not a Aston Martin V12, or Maserati or Ferrari, those engines sing. not sure it's necessary to ride the same band wagon and bitch about the sound of a 4 cylinder engine. I don't know many that stand out. It sounds like a Porsche, it sounds refined and in the high rpm range I think it's amazing. I'd be damn glad to own the 718 and listen to that wail every day.

Cayman is a legit dream car... it's pretty obtainable too

I see no problem in the cayman engine really. It doesnt sound as a 6 cylinder but still....

if you've muted the video and only look at his expression, you will know which car you are going to get.

That engine is great! 2.5turbo is way ahead, where a 981s with the 6 would be way behind both the M2 and TTRS. Sounds great too in my opinion. I've owned 3 Porsches, 2 air cooled 911s and a 06 987.1 Cayman S, and I think the flat 4 turbo is awesome. I've driven the 2.0L 718 with pdk back to back with my 987, and even though it's not as loud as the 6 it still has a very mechanical sound to the engine. This engine makes the car more dynamic too. 2 less cylinders mean less weight a little less out back reducing the urge to oversteer at corner entry. Bottom line, the flat four makes the 718 handle with a near perfect dynamic that makes this car better than all of the previous 981, 987, 986.

I own a porsche 718 boxster s, sound disappointing?? Never had that problem. Car is incredible, preferred the boxster over the Cayman as you get the choice of no roof, which here in Aus I find myself driving 70% of the time lol. The 718 is so refined its a 10/10 for me!;-)

Funny how morons cry about automatic vs manual and doesn't even mention that M2 was tested on wet track and TT RS on dry... That's not fair! Still great series.

The 718 Cayman S is a beautiful amazing machine and sounds incredible...!

The TTRS engine in the Cayman S chassis would be something I would like to drive.

its like audi almost built a really, really, really good car, but at the last minute they were told not to try and compete with porsche. thanks, vw...

What a load of Bollocks! While I am the first to admit I love, love, LOVE the flat 6's in all their juicy iterations, he is sitting there bemoaning the engine of the 718 (a flat 4 2.5l turbo) that makes as much power as the old 997 Carrera S and with more torque down low! Are you kidding me?! The car equipped with PDK is bordering on ludicrously fast 0-60 4.2! And I suspect that Motor Trend (amongst other testers, etc.) may be able to get the time down to 3.8! Tuners are already salivating at the idea of a remapped ECU doling out shall we say between 380hp and 425! These would be potentially realisable numbers and output figures. Finally Porsche built the first 4 banger boxer engines far before Subaru ever did. Not Porsche? Totally Porsche!

Really entertaining video. The Porsche looked like a totally different experience versus the other two. It looked like a proper sports car versus two sedans. I'm majorly on the hunt for a base Cayman with the manual.

Great review... TT is a street car that holds your hand and ensures you stay safe whilst getting you from A to B in the quickest time possible. The other two are more driver's cars but dont have the same straight line point and shoot power of the Audi.

. . why didn't you take the TT RS out in the wet?? . . And BMW out in the dry?? . . yup, that's my point . .

What do you mean it's not a Porsche engine? They won races with flat four engines

Just get a 981 and be happy!

I'm genuinely suprised how well he can drift the cayman

The previous gen Cayman would not even be getting compared to these 2 stella performers, as its just too slow. The 718 is an incredible car and its engine is unique and interesting. Its on a whole new lvl to the previous gen, completely different car now so no use comparing the 2. There are pros and cons to both, good to be able to choose. I have a 718bs, tuned and piped it and its fucking awesome 👏 porsche messed up with that crummy left over from the 6 exhaust thou. Needs a proper one like mine built for the 4. Now with 400hp and 520nm its as fast as the new gt4 for half the $$ - Start up and track noise here. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wULV3fT0tQc.html

I have my second TTRS 2019 and they keep on getting better, love it!

Everyone complaining about the sound are being childish. Really pethetic to be honest. Ok it don't sound super inspiring but can easily be fixed with an armytrix or similar exhaust system. If you can afford the Porsche you can afford to fix the minor fucking exhaust sound. God I'm sick of you people complaining. For fuck sakes.

Ok, so you don't like the Porsche engine but you never actually say WHY. Is it just a lack of character? Is the throttle response mushy? Is it just about the sound? Does it have a flat top end? Are you offended by the sheer concept of a turbo four instead of an atmo six? Porsche has a long history with flat fours and the 919 demonstrates that they have excellent form with them now. What's so desperately lacking with this engine?

sorry, had 981 and 781..prefere the 781.the car is right as it has more power, dont follow the yt crowd

That Audi things gotta be a joke. Cornering looks so so wrong. There is never a proper line, only weird hacking through the corners.

I think the driving King of 4 wheel drive Audi cars is still Walter Rohrl...

Hell, I don't care if the 718 has two mice in the rear instead of an engine...If it drives like that, it's a beast... This pre-chewed narrative of not a flat six is getting old after 2 years of production.

Wait for the 718 Cayman Gt4 .....bet that'll be a hoot with the 911s 4.0 flat 6

Audi will never cure their understeer problem for as long as they insist on FWD platforms. 60/40 weight distribution is hard to negate , even with clever diffs.

*"Audi TT RS AGAINST: chassis"* OMFG, it's not chassis. It's the moronic anti-enthusiast front-wheel biased Haldex AWD system that freaks out and sends 100% of the power to the front everytime you try to balance the car with the throttle.

I prefer TT RS this car have only 400hp, but acceleration 0-60 in 3,5 seconds is very impressive

Porsche know that the paupers who crave a 911 will settle for a 4cyl cayman. It wasn't that long ago that reviewers were heaping praise over the 4cyl 968 club sport.

This comparison doesn't really make a lot of sense to me, and neither do the conclusions you draw. They're similar cars price wise and people may cross-shop them, but fundamentally they're 3 very different cars hoping to achieve different things. Testing for 'fun' in different weather conditions is not fair and expecting an AWD car of any kind to behave in the same sort of 'fun' way to a RWD one is just stupid. RS cars are AWD for a reason, and that reason is speed, expecting it to drive like the others and then call it not fun when it doesn't is a bit unfair. You also tell us that the engine in the 718 is bad, and I can accept that it doesn't sound as nice as the flat 6, but in every other conceivable way, it's better. You don't actually say at any point WHY it's so bad. The most infuriating thing about this entire test is the fact that 2 cars have manual gearboxes when they BOTH come with DCT gearboxes. You could have had a much more objective test but for some reason decided not to?

"There is no substitute" - Porsche

My personal favourite is the Porsche, since it has a certain look about it. Anyway, I like the Porsche because it’s cheapish, if they put a 6 cylinder in it they will raise the price to well over the $200k mark. But great videos guys keep them coming.

If only they didn't handicap the cayman because it would outperform the 911. The cayman COULD be a great car. That M2 tho

There nothing wrong with the engine, think this needs to be made clear. It doesn’t sound like the previous gen cars, takes away from some of the drama and I get that, however the current engine is up on power and performance so it is better

Agree 100% on the Cayman engine. Exactly why I won't be purchasing one. Hopefully they return to NA in the next Spyder and GT4.

What a great review and so nice sliding scenes. Well done. The great cars have. 4 Cylinder, Porsche 356, 919evo Hybrid, ..

Mega precise handling Cayman - magnificent. But that generator is just sad :(

And of course... the Cayman S prevails! I really liked this series...

One of the best car channels on YT

Why is a car not good if you can't drift with it, I don't get all this hype in wanting a car to be dangerous, If a car is losing grip, losing traction, it's losing efficient progress, why do all these testers want to wreck tyres?

When I moved to Germany I had three cars in mind, M2, 718 Boxster and Golf GTI. After watching and reading many reviews I thought the M2 would be the one, the Boxster was on my list because I love Porsche’s, the GTI because honestly it’s all you really need. I test drove them all. After 15 minutes in the M2 I took it back to the dealer, why? It’s loud, rides like a truck and cheap inside. I knew after an hour in the car it would be tiring. Next was the Boxster, I started off in the entry level, cheap interior and underpowered, next the S, better but still disappointing, last the GTS, beautiful interior finally felt like my expectation of a Porsche. Last was the GTI. It’s a great car for the money but after the other 2 it felt ordinary. I ended up buying a Boxster GTS and the day I signed the contract a guy drove out of the dealership in a 981. I said to the salesman “that car sounds much better than the 718” he said “the turbo 4 is better in every other way” I’ve had the car for 2 years now and regret buying it because I just can’t get over the fact that it sounds like a tractor.

The engine sounds like a generator ahaha! Harsh but fair.

I have to admit the videos are just getting better and better ... Jethro is brilliant in expressing his thoughts on the cars he drives, love the word play :) ... Keep it up guys!

Chill out mate the engine is not that bad. If you own one it sounds good in the flesh and everyone I've taken out in my 718 said it sounded good and was great fun to be in

Problem with the N/A flat six was that it was simply too weak for nowadays standards. The top hot hatches could compete with it. Particularly the non-S Cayman.

porsche sounds like a beetle..

You said you would stop talking about the engine. Then you proceeded to continue talking about the engine until you ended the review on a negative note, talking about the engine. Get your shit straight. If you had ear plugs one, you'd probably pick the 718. Plus, anyone looking into Caymans for the noise is barking up the wrong tree.

TT is like a little kindy girl. M2 is like Million Dollar Baby and the Cayman is like Lara Croft.

The amount of BMW fanboys that gonna be triggered... I agree btw, I've driven my 718 on Anglesey and it was insanely fast yet fun

I actually like the sound of the Cayman's engine. I know it's not as vibrant as the previous 6-cylinder, but I feel that they needed to differentiate between the 911s and the Cayman/Boxter (718) line. Perfect car imho.

Does this Cayman has the PASM - 20 mm optional suspension & PTV mechanical limited slip ? It seems yes. It makes the car completely more track car...

please spend more time talking about the SOUND of the engine ... i mean who cares how fast it is right?

You can always hack the TT's CPU and change the torque to 75% towards the rear for "race" and leave "Race+" for launches... You're already throwing tyres and brakes through the window... Stop thinking like Apple users, who can't be allowed to see system files... grow up and make your own path...

Can this idiotic auto journalists just stop to always bring up the obvious and just annoy the heck out of everyone? Yeah - Porsche bought back the 4 cylinder engine. And yeah - it doesn’t sound like the boxer 6 before... But a Cayman S is now faster than a Cayman GT4! And the car is fun (that means, the engine is good, but just doesn’t sound that great). Let’s not hope, that Porsche listens to much, and goes the BMW way with a fake engine sound...