Budget Buy $35,000: Porsche Cayman vs Chevrolet Corvette

Two excellent used sports cars in an affordability sweet spot; we pit the Chevy Corvette against the Porsche Cayman at $35,000.

Ultimate Bargains

Suppose you’ve already ruled out a new Miata as your next sports car. Suppose you wanted more power, more excitement, more luxury, more street cred. There are rear-wheel drive two-seaters out there to satisfy your refined tastes without needing to drop $70,000-$100,000. And all while maintaining the level of connectedness and excitement that makes the Miata great.

Two such cars are the Porsche Cayman and Chevrolet Corvette, and they currently represent serious bargains. At a budget of $35,000, you can find excellently cared-for used examples of either car carrying between 35,000 and 50,000 miles on the odometer. That’s a lot of life and a lot of miles left at what is less than half the price of a new example.

Both offer great handling, oodles of raw power, and enough style to force you to upgrade your wardrobe (hmm, Lacoste or Polo? Tough choices…). So, which car is the preferred choice? For this head-to-head we chose the 2009 model year of both cars as they’d each received engine upgrades at the time.

Specs

2009 Chevrolet Corvette 6.2L V8 - carsforsale.com

The 2009 Chevrolet Corvette’s base motor is the venerable LS3, a 6.2L V8 making 430 horsepower and 424 lb.-ft. of torque and comes paired with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic. The Z06 runs a LS7 7.0L V8 making 505 horsepower and 470 lb.-ft. of torque. A six-speed manual is the sole transmission option here. The ZR1, new for 2009, runs the LS9, a supercharged 6.2L V8 making 638 horsepower and 604 lb.-ft. of torque. It too comes with a six-speed manual transmission. Fuel economy trends downward at the horsepower rises, with the base getting 16 city and 26 highway mpg, the Z06 getting 15/24 mpg, and the ZR1 at 14/20 mpg.

2009 Porsche Cayman S 3.4L H6 - netcarshow.com

The 2009 Porsche Cayman’s base engine is a 2.9L flat-six making 265 horsepower and 221 lb.-ft. of torque. New for 2009 was the PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission. A six-speed manual is also available. The Cayman S upgrades to a 3.4L flat-six that makes 306 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft. of torque. The PDK equipped Cayman and Cayman S both get 20 city and 29 highway mpg while the manual versions run 19/27 mpg.

Driving & Performance

2009 Chevrolet Corvette - netcarshow.com

The biggest charms of the C6 Corvette are its engines. The base LS3 offers more than ample power at 431 horses, far more than even the top-of-the-line Cayman S. The Z06 and ZR1 offer appropriately bananas numbers with the latter’s supercharged V8 reaching 638 horsepower and achieving a 0-60 sprint of just 3.3 seconds. That’s far outpaces the slower Cayman S at “just” 5.1 seconds to 60 mph. And before you say, but the Porsche is the better handling car, know that the C6 can corner with the best of them. The steering offers precision and good feedback. Set the optional magnetic ride to sport mode and you’ll get equal parts harshness and agility, in other words, proper sports car stuff.

And yet, the choice between the Cayman and Corvette is far from settled. The Cayman may not offer the same straight-line thrills, but its canyon carver reputation is well earned. The throaty boxer engine note, the near telepathic steering response, and peerless PDK automatic grant the Cayman loads of character. The improved rigidity over the cabriolet Boxster is readily apparent in the Cayman and further enhances its playful attitude. The mid-engine layout (one that C8 finally adopted) rounds out the package with near perfect balance.

Since the driving experience is why to buy either car, it’s important to highlight their most glaring difference. All that extra power in the C6 makes it a very different creature than the Cayman. The Corvette is a barely contained wild animal. It rewards a steady hand and a clear head. Conversely, the Cayman is much more buttoned down. The boxer rumble is more seductive than it is intimidating. The connected nature of the Cayman allows for a seamlessness between car and driver that is a rare commodity.

Comfort & Interior

2009 Chevrolet Corvette - carsforsale.com

Unlike your passed over Miata, the Cayman and Corvette both offer enough room for drivers taller than six feet. The C6 Corvette offers nice luxury level touches like leather upholstery and brushed aluminum accents. But there are also sizable swathes of hard plastic that mar the overall affect. One especially bright spot is the seats in the Corvette which are well-cushioned and well-bolstered. The C6 also passes the classic two golf bag cargo test with a generous 22.4 cu. ft. of trunk space.

While the 987 Cayman isn’t as refined as subsequent generations, this is still a Porsche, and it shows. Trim options of leather, Alcantara leather, wood, and even stainless steel (which, admittedly, looks dated in 2021) are available. Since the options list for this and really any Porsche are automotive equivalent of War and Peace, you’ll be living with the very specific aesthetic choices of the original purchaser. But, then, they bought a Porsche, so how gauche could they be, right? Side-by-side, the Cayman comes away as the clear winner when it comes to interior (even the fuse box cover could be optioned with leather for gosh sakes!). Interior space is impressive for a two-seater, though the mid-engine layout does sap some of the overall cargo space, which comes in at 14.5 cu. ft. in total, split between the front and rear trunks.

Trims & Features

2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 - carsforsale.com

The 2009 Corvette offered a good array of standard features and additional options. Leather and brushed aluminum ritzed up the interior. The small infotainment touchscreen housed navigation. Bluetooth and satellite radio were also on tap as well as push-button start, heated seats, and a heads-up display. Additional options included 20-inch, 20-spoke aluminum wheels, magnetic ride control, and a performance exhaust system. The Z51 Performance Package added an upgraded suspension including new springs, shocks, and sway bars as well as added cooling and column-mounted paddle shifters.

As noted above, the options list on the Cayman is extensive. Interior trim options included leather, Alcantara leather, wood trim, carbon fiber, aluminum, and stainless steel. There is also an Aerokit that included a rear wing and front splitter, a sport exhaust, 19-inch Carrera sport wheels, and leather basically wherever you’d want it applied. Like the Corvette, the Cayman has a infotainments system that, while decently functional, will remind you just how far automotive technology has come in 12-years’ time.

Conclusions

In the end, choosing between these two excellent used sports cars comes down to one of attitude. Do you prize the refinement and precision of the Cayman? Or do you want to buy a sports car that can make you feel alive because it can scare the heck out of you?

If attitude, horsepower, and interior design don’t settle it, perhaps allow your transmission preference to determine a winner. The Porsche PDK, even in its earliest form, is the benchmark for automatic transmissions. The Corvette’s six-speed auto just doesn’t compare, and besides, the Z06 and ZR1 come exclusively with a six-speed manual.

For $35,000, we’d give the 2009 Porsche Cayman the slightest of edges over the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette, but do yourself a favor and drive both before deciding.