Porsche Cayman Comparison | 987.1 vs 987.2 

Wow this is crazy! Never even noticed most of these. I must admit, I think the gen1 is the more cohesive design. The colour of the rear badge is silver on S models, and grey on base models hence why you have a silver one. White dials also 'exclusive' to the S but it was possible to spec.

Interesting and subtle differences I had never noticed before. But I was surprised that they didn't mention the obvious and very visible difference in the rear bumper, where a plastic vertical strut was added to the vents on either side of the exhaust. The 987.1 has no struts.

Maybe next time, park them a bit further apart? Hahah

I'd take the gen 1 exterior with gen 2 interior. Rounder lights the better

Interesting video Max. Brave in that weather😂. My 981 doesn’t have a wiper and I think if I had the choice I would spec one. They do clutter the look of the rear more but in this weather I can never see anything out of the rear window.

Thanks Max. I can actually say I knew about these differences. My Cayman Gen1 is in red with red centre console and red dials and black Cayman rear badge. No rear wiper which for me personally is no big deal. Another great video!

3.4 S have white dials 2.7 and 2.9 have black dials , the black edition 3.4 have black dials and so do the cayman R ... all exciting stuff :-)

I didn't know the differences...that's why I'm here to watch the video 😉

Brilliant video, so I guess you cannot use the wing of 987.1 on the 987.2 model then?

Why not just park them closer to each other, side by side????

Cool! I knew some of these. What I didn’t know was the headlight differences. That means different front fenders and bumper cover too.

those aftermarket foglamp-to-LEDS (LED spars) enhances the look, IMO, of the gen1 to as good or better than the gen.2. the throttle booster and a numeric shifter fill out the aftermarket products that i highly recommend. overall the differences are slight, but with the LED spars the gen1 gets the nod for me.

I thought you were going to stump me, but having both a .1 and .2 it did not. Still a great video, thanks for all your efforts putting it together, much appreciated! Also difference in rear lights, .1 are not LED whereas the .2 is.

How adults play spot the difference 😂. Nice cars...im looking for a cayman now

Skip the rear wiper. Water does not get on the rear window when driving. Save the weight and complexity and skip that. Personally, I like the differences you pointed out better on the gen 1 over the gen 2.

Amazing! Thanks @Maxrevs for another wonderful video. Wow and I thought the changes were engine/transmission related but those subtle difference really stand out. Dials - the S have the white dials and the base are usually black but can be optioned to a colour of your choice I believe

Love the rear wiper. Even on 718 I’d spec a rear wiper. Way cooler with the wiper. This video makes me start to think that the 987 might actually be the best looking model, bit like the early 911’s before they have now got too fat

Cool video! I knew about a few of these too. I have a 2008 987.1 Cayman base as well & I have a friend with a 2007 base. His has the rear wiper, mine doesn't I wish mine did, living in Florida it rains a lot and sometimes I have to leave it outside, it'd just be nice to wipe off the rear once or twice before I get moving. On these cars once you get moving 45-50mph or so, there's no need for wipers at all. The rear window doesn't get any airflow so it stays dirty, and the front is slanted enough that the water just rolls off, so that's how I usually drive unless I'm at lower speeds and need the wipers on. I keep a few microfiber towels in my glovebox for stuff like bird poo and sometimes I do use one to wipe off the rear window if I was parked under a tree in the rain before I start driving it since the rain will get dirt back there and there's no other way to get it off except by hand. Also, just opinion here, but I prefer the 987.1's headlights and taillights. I don't particularly love the 981's headlight look and the 987.2 is headed towards that new shape. I also prefer the black gauges of the base models, of course I'd prefer the more powerful engine though. That said, I am still rocking the stock head unit, which I outfitted with a bluetooth receiver behind the dash, and I think the 987.2 is a lot prettier on the inside with the black center stack instead of the volcano grey of the .1's. Combine the slightly nicer interior with the larger brakes, 6-speed gearbox, better oil take-up and no IMS and I think the 2.9L 987.2 is the best bang for buck out there. I'd get one if I hadn't already spent so much time and sweat maintaining my .1 to perfection. The other plus of the 987.1 and 987.2 Base, they are not direct injected, unlike the 3.4L 987.2 and anything newer than that. Easier to keep running clean in the extreme marathon long run. That only mattered to me because I intend to keep the car in excess of 150k miles. You could still do it on a 987.2 S, but you'd have to do a valve cleaning at least once or twice before that point. Oh, and one last note. The door jamb thing - silver on your car and body colored on his - mine are also silver. I have noticed a few other things like that about mine.. which rolled off the line in November of 2008. My guess is some of the 2009 987.2 stuff trickled in and mine being one of the very last 987.1's got a few of those pieces. Porsche is definitely known for doing little incremental changes like that as they lead in to new models and such. I have seen 2007's with body colored door jambs. This is just pure speculation though, since my sample size is pretty small I don't know for sure. They are also really easy to swap out so I imagine some owners who prefer the body color look would just do that. Great video, enjoyed watching. Cheers

My gen 1 has the 'sport twin pipe' exhaust, in fact my car was spect right up by first owner to 'S' trim, even though it's a base 2.7. Even has the S on the back!! Also 6 speed box, and 19" alloys, along with the expensive Ruby Red metallic paint which is a rare colour apparently.

Love all your videos....

That was interesting Max to see the subtle differences between the two cars side by side. With regard to the rear wiper, it’s something I don’t have on my 981 and to be honest I prefer the “look” . It can be a pain in heavy rain but for the average downpours Rain X works really well.

Gen 1 looks better. More authentic and true to Porsche

Very detailed video, nice!

Hi good video mate I've a 2006 Cayman came with rear wiper an op extra I was told also fitted switchable sports exhaust with twin pipes I fitted the same front spars as the one you have featured as for that rear wiper I do like it comes in useful

like the lights on 1 better mine is a 2. rear light gen 2 better like brighter badging

Just a little correction, the rear bumper can actually be swapped between both versions taken you also change the rear lights (I know because I did it)

Great Video.

I wonder if these slightly different shaped lights are just to stop people swapping and updating the .1 themselves

Brilliant video thanks so much mate. I have an entry level Cayman '07. Thinking about changing it on Monday for a 2014 Cayman. The main reason is my own costs €1,345 to tax in Ireland. An absolute discrace. The 141 costs €750.

Interesting... Thanks for posting this Max. At the moment I'm tossing up between a base 987.1 & 987.2. Might take a gamble on a 987.1S ...

I like the design of the gen 1 more.

Items such as name color and gauge color are Porsche options.

I never really noticed most of those differences - just the fog lights really. Does the same apply to the Boxster 987.1 / 987.2

My gen 1 has rear wiper it's a must have option also I believe that the 2006 gen 1 came with a titanium painted lip on the front bumper

Thanks for sharing. Which video camera do you use for this video?

MAX REVS. do you think if i buy a gen2 front lip, wiill it fit on a gen1? love you videos by the way.

White dials is specific to S models

Fact. The 911 was the first car ever with a rear wiper! That being said I don’t have one on my 997.2 nor on my 987.2. To bad.

IMO gen 1 is better looking on every aspect (both interior and extreior). Gen 2 looks more dated, whitle Gen 1 is more... timeless?

and you do not need the rear window wiper....even in England.....it looks better without...

The centre stack PCM and Climate control is black in .2 and silver in .1

Color of the dials has to do with the version of the Cayman where on the S version the dials are white and on the 2.7 they are black.

It's a shame that I can't use the 718 design tail light for the first gen

Gen 1 looking better!

Love these cars. What colour are they exactly?

Does anyone know if the gen2 front lip fit on gen1?

the rear lights on the .2 look like Caman eyes!!

Max...the 987.2 is the better choice....I am glad you got this one.....

I never noticed the headlight difference - the Gen 2 are really ugly compared to Gen 1!! Oh my goodness - Gen 2 is almost reminiscent of 996 headlights. Terrible. I am glad I have Gen 1 👍

a gimbal or stabilizer might help you out a ton. so much wobble.

The rear wiper is terrible - this is not a VW Golf!! My 06 Cayman S does not have the rear wiper - thank goodness!! 👍

No excuse for having bad sound record, if you believe you can make video and upload it to youtube. Get the cheap microphone with windshield otherwise your video with bad sound is just not acceptable. Thank you for sharing

Sound quality is horrible

*All S-versions of ANY Porsche vehicles come with white dials.*

987.2 PDK and no ims bearing

Too noisy mate

987 1 is better