Porsche Cayman 981: history, specifications and values

The Porsche Cayman 981 is the two-seat sports car Porsche built from 2012 to 2016, a coupé with its engine in the middle, between the original 987 Cayman and the four-cylinder 718. It was the last Cayman with a naturally aspirated flat-six in every version, from the 275 PS 2.7-litre Cayman to the 385 PS Cayman GT4, which was evo’s Car of the Year in 2015. At British auctions over the five years to October 2026, a Cayman 2.7 sold for £18,000 to £24,000 and a GT4 for £51,000 to £69,000.

Which generation is the Cayman 981?

The 981 is the second Cayman model series, after the 987 of 2005, and the coupé sister of the third-generation Boxster. Porsche has numbered it both ways. Its launch release of November 2012 called it “the third generation of the Cayman”, while a Porsche sales release of September 2014 called it “the second generation of the Cayman mid-engine sports car coupé”. When the 718 Cayman arrived in April 2016, Porsche called that car the fourth generation. Owners and parts suppliers go by the type numbers: 987 for the first car, 981 (or 981C, C for coupé) for this one and 982 for the 718.

History of the Porsche Cayman 981

Porsche showed the Cayman 981 for the first time at the Los Angeles Auto Show on 28 November 2012, eight months after the new Boxster had appeared at Geneva. There were two versions at launch, the Cayman with a 2.7-litre flat-six of 275 PS and the Cayman S with a 3.4-litre of 325 PS. Porsche’s release called the car lower, longer, lighter and faster than the 987: up to 30 kg lighter, depending on model and equipment, and up to 15 per cent more economical. Adaptive cruise control, a Burmester sound system and keyless entry were offered on a Cayman for the first time.

In Britain the range started at £39,694 for the Cayman and £48,783 for the Cayman S, with deliveries from March 2013, as Gentleman’s Journal reported in February 2013. Autocar’s report from Los Angeles said the Cayman would be built alongside the Boxster at Zuffenhausen and later at the former Karmann factory in Osnabrück.

Later models and the end of the run

The range grew three times. The Cayman GTS, with 340 PS, went on sale in the spring of 2014; the Cayman GT4, the first Cayman developed by Porsche’s motorsport department at Weissach, was announced in February 2015 and shown at Geneva that March; and a Black Edition of the 2.7 followed in October 2015, a month before the GT4 Clubsport racing car. Porsche unveiled the 718 Cayman on 25 April 2016, with first deliveries that autumn, and the 981 went out of production.

Cayman Black Edition

The Cayman Black Edition of October 2015 is a 275 PS Cayman 2.7 in black paint with a black part-leather interior, extending a series Porsche had already sold on the Boxster and 911 Carrera. Its standard equipment adds satellite navigation, 20-inch Carrera Classic wheels, bi-xenon headlights with Porsche Dynamic Light System, two-zone climate control, heated seats, front and rear parking sensors and the Sound Package Plus audio system.

Design and the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS

The 981 kept the 987’s outline, a fastback coupé with the engine behind the seats and a boot at each end, but with tauter surfaces and bigger air intakes. Autocar listed the changes at the car’s launch: 35 mm longer and 10 mm lower, larger cooling ducts ahead of the rear wheels fed by a crease running through the doors, mirrors mounted on the doors, round units in the nose for the daytime running lights and indicators, and a steeply angled tailgate. Luggage space is 150 litres in the nose and 162 litres above the engine.

Porsche has tied the Cayman to the 904 Carrera GTS of 1964 since the first one. A December 2012 SkiddMark report on the 981’s launch recorded that the first Cayman’s press pack had been “full of references” to the 904, and that a preserved 904 stood in the corner of the Porsche stand at Los Angeles when the 981 was unveiled; the same report judged the 981 the first Cayman to look the part, having found the 987’s rear three-quarter view hard to love. Porsche’s own release for the Cayman GT4, published in full by PistonHeads in February 2015, placed the car in the line of mid-engined Porsches that runs from the 904 GTS through the 911 GT1 and Carrera GT to the 918 Spyder, and promised “radical two-door sports cars now and in the future”.

What the 904 was

The 904 was a GT car styled by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, known as Butzi, who had just signed off the 911, with a glass-fibre body on a steel box-frame chassis. According to Motor Sport’s history of the car, 104 were built and sold with the four-cylinder quad-cam engine to meet the 100-car rule for GT homologation, and the factory kept 16 more with six- and eight-cylinder engines. The road version had 155 bhp and weighed 650 kg; the GTS competition version made 180 bhp. In April 1964 Colin Davis and Antonio Pucci won the Targa Florio outright in a 904, with Herbert Linge and Gianni Balzarini second in another.

Body, chassis and engines

The Cayman 981 shares its platform with the Boxster, the open roadster built alongside it. The body is a mix of aluminium and steel, and the engine is mounted, in the words of Porsche’s 2014 GTS release, “deep in the middle of the chassis to offer a low centre of gravity for a balanced and precise driving experience”. Porsche, quoted by the trade site Alcircle, said about 44 per cent of the Cayman body-in-white is aluminium, including the front and rear body sections, the floor, the doors and both boot lids, that the body shell weighs 47 kg less than the 987’s, and that static torsional rigidity rose by 40 per cent. The car is also 10 mm lower than the 987, and Porsche said the lower centre of gravity was at the heart of the Cayman’s better dynamic ability.

Wheelbase, track and steering

The wheelbase grew by 60 mm to 2,475 mm, the front track by 36 mm to 1,526 mm and the rear by 5 mm to 1,540 mm, Autocar reported, and the Cayman adopted the Boxster’s electro-mechanical power steering. The Cayman has 18-inch wheels with 235/45 front and 265/45 rear tyres and 315 mm front brake discs; the Cayman S has 19-inch wheels with 235/40 and 265/40 tyres and 330 mm discs, and 20-inch wheels were optional on both. Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), Porsche’s adaptive dampers, was an option; the GTS has it as standard along with the Sport Chrono package, whose dynamic engine mounts stiffen under hard cornering, braking and acceleration and whose Sport Plus mode brings launch control on PDK cars. Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) with a rear limited-slip differential, an option on the other models, was standard on the GT4.

Engines and gearboxes

Both launch engines are flat-sixes mounted behind the cabin. The 2.7-litre replaced the 987’s 2.9 and has 275 PS and 290 Nm, about 10 PS more and 10 Nm less than before; the 3.4-litre of the Cayman S gained about 5 PS, to 325 PS, with its torque unchanged at 370 Nm. The six-speed manual was standard, and the seven-speed PDK, a transmission with two clutches, an option that could disengage the clutch to coast when the driver lifted off. Carbon dioxide output fell to 192 g/km for the manual 2.7 and 206 g/km for the manual S, against 222 and 254 g/km for the 987s they replaced.

Manual or PDK?

On Porsche’s figures the PDK car is quicker and more economical: a manual Cayman reaches 62 mph in 5.7 seconds and a PDK car in 5.4, and the gap on the Cayman S is 5.0 against 4.7 seconds. UK buyers of the Cayman GTS mostly chose PDK: of the 520 GTSs on the register in mid-2026, the DfT’s vehicle licensing table VEH0120 lists 388, about three in four, as semi-automatic. The GT4 came only as a manual.

Porsche Cayman 981 specifications and performance

Every Cayman 981 has a naturally aspirated flat-six, mounted in the middle and driving the rear wheels. Power runs from 275 PS in the Cayman to 385 PS in the GT4.

The Cayman Black Edition uses the standard 275 PS 2.7. The weights are for manual cars, as reported at launch; Porsche’s GTS release gave no weight.

How the Cayman 981 drives

CAR found the 981’s chassis balanced and its electric steering the weak point. In CAR’s 2013 review of the Cayman S, Georg Kacher wrote that precise throttle inputs gave “real balance and delicacy”, that clumsiness brought “a dollop of understeer”, and that the steering felt “more mute” than the 987’s hydraulic rack and made small self-correcting inputs on bumpy roads. With PASM, he found the ride stayed soft in Sport mode while the driver held back, and torque vectoring, which slows the inner rear wheel on turn-in, made the car slightly more eager with better traction.

evo’s 2015 review judged even the base 2.7 “comfortably more resolved” as a driver’s car than the Audi TTS and Nissan 370Z, called the GTS “appreciably sharper” than the S, and wrote that the Cayman S felt good enough to challenge the more expensive 911. Autocar’s 2022 used-car guide found the 987’s poise intact despite the new electric steering, and liked both gearboxes: PDK for its fast shifts, the manual for its well-weighted pedals.

Porsche Cayman GTS (981)

The Cayman GTS is a Cayman S with 15 PS more and PASM and Sport Chrono as standard. Porsche’s GTS release of March 2014 gave it 340 PS and 380 Nm from the retuned 3.4-litre engine, 0–62 mph in 4.6 seconds with PDK and launch control, and 177 mph with the manual. It was the first mid-engined Porsche coupé certified to the Euro 6 emissions standard.

Outside, the GTS has its own front spoiler, darkened inserts in the front bumper, a new lower rear apron, black-finish bi-xenon headlights with Porsche Dynamic Light System, black gloss lettering and black 20-inch Carrera S wheels; a sports suspension 20 mm lower was optional. The GTS tyres are 235/35 front and 265/35 rear. The seats have Alcantara inserts. Carbuyer reported a UK price of £55,397, against £52,879 for the Boxster GTS, with cars in showrooms from May 2014. DfT figures count 520 Cayman GTSs registered in the UK in mid-2026, against 524 at the end of 2016.

Porsche Cayman GT4 (981)

The Cayman GT4 is the 981 developed by Porsche Motorsport, with the 3.8-litre engine of the Porsche 911 Carrera S and chassis parts from the 911 GT3. Porsche’s Geneva release of February 2015 gave it 385 PS, suspension that sits the body 30 mm lower than the standard Cayman’s, an extra-large brake system, a new nose with an air outlet ahead of the bonnet and a fixed rear wing, which made it the only Cayman with downforce at both axles. Porsche Cars GB’s release of 3 February 2015 gave its Nürburgring Nordschleife lap as 7 minutes 40 seconds.

It came only with a six-speed manual gearbox, and reached 62 mph in 4.4 seconds and 183 mph. The UK price was £64,451, with deliveries from the end of March 2015, and standard equipment included the sports exhaust, Sport Chrono with dynamic engine mounts, torque vectoring with the rear limited-slip differential and 20-inch wheels. Inside, a compact steering wheel and leather-and-Alcantara sports seats were standard; carbon-ceramic brakes, carbon-fibre bucket seats and a Club Sport Package were extra.

evo Car of the Year 2015

evo’s list of 2015 finalists called it “the car we all demanded”, with a front axle “taken directly from the GT3” and “one of the best manual transmissions on sale”. On Scotland’s North Coast 500 it beat ten other cars, among them the Ferrari 488 GTB and Lotus Evora 400, to win the title, with the McLaren 675LT second and the 911 GT3 RS third, as evo’s list of every winner records. Its successor, the 718 Cayman GT4, won again in 2019.

How many 981 GT4s are in the UK?

Porsche has not published a production total for this model. In the UK, DfT table VEH0120 counted 567 Cayman GT4s registered at the end of June 2026: 492 taxed and 75 declared off the road, the same total as at the end of 2016.

The Cayman GT4 Clubsport and racing

The Cayman GT4 Clubsport is the racing version, built for drivers new to the sport and not approved for the road. Porsche showed it at the Los Angeles Auto Show on 18 November 2015 and took orders from that day at €111,000 before tax, its launch release said. It keeps the road car’s 385 PS 3.8-litre engine but has a six-speed PDK gearbox with paddles, a mechanical limited-slip differential, lightened front struts from the 911 GT3 Cup, 380 mm steel brake discs, a welded roll cage and a weight of 1,300 kg. For 2016 Porsche homologated it for the VLN endurance championship at the Nürburgring, SRO’s GT4 series, the Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA and Porsche Club of America racing.

Cayman 981 vs 987 vs 718

The 981 is longer, lighter and stiffer than the 987 it replaced, and the 718 that followed it in 2016 kept the mid-engined layout with a turbocharged flat-four in place of the flat-six.

How the 981 differs from the 987

Against the 987, the 981 has a 60 mm longer wheelbase, a wider front track, a body that is 44 per cent aluminium and 40 per cent stiffer, electro-mechanical power steering and larger wheels. Its base engine went down in size, from 2.9 litres to 2.7, and up in power by about 10 PS; the S kept its 3.4 litres and gained about 5 PS. Porsche told Alcircle that part of the weight saved in the body went back on in a larger glass area and bigger wheels.

How the 981 differs from the 718 Cayman

The 718 Cayman of 2016 replaced the flat-six with turbocharged flat-fours: a 2.0-litre of 300 PS and 380 Nm, and a 2.5-litre of 350 PS and 420 Nm in the 718 Cayman S, 25 PS more than the 981s they replaced, according to Porsche’s launch release as Porsche Club GB published it. For the first time the coupé cost less than the roadster, and UK prices were £39,878 for the 718 Cayman and £48,834 for the 718 Cayman S.

How many Cayman 981s were made?

Porsche has not published a total for the Cayman 981 alone. Its parent company’s annual reports give production of the Boxster and Cayman together, and the 981 years are below. Porsche’s September 2014 sales release put Cayman deliveries in the first eight months of that year at 7,200, 16 per cent up on the same period of 2013.

For two versions the UK register counts the 981 alone, because the 987 and 718 had no models of those names under the Cayman heading: the GTS and GT4 sections give the DfT’s figures.

Porsche Cayman 981 rivals

evo’s 2015 review of the Cayman range set each version against different rivals, from Audi, Nissan, Alfa Romeo, Lotus, BMW and Jaguar, and noted that the Cayman S, optioned towards £60,000, cost as much as a BMW M3, a Lotus Evora or a used Nissan GT-R, and that the GT4 was cheaper than both the 911 GT3 and Carrera S whose parts it used.

evo priced the GT4’s Clubsport package, which included a half roll cage, at £2,670.

Porsche Cayman 981 prices and values

In the UK a Cayman 981 2.7 now sells at auction for about half its list price new, while the lowest-mileage GT4 sold has made more than its new price. OUTLAW 8’s auction records hold 20 British sales of 981 Caymans in the five years to 26 October 2026, from £18,350 for a 2014 Cayman 2.7 with 75,637 miles (Car & Classic, May 2026) to £69,388 for a 2015 GT4 with 4,762 miles (Collecting Cars, February 2022).

Dealers ask more than these auction prices. Autocar’s used-car buying guide of October 2022 found base cars of varying mileage and some high-mileage S models at £25,000 to £35,000, low-mileage base cars and sparingly used S models at £35,000 to £45,000, and mostly GTS models, with the occasional GT4, at £45,000 to £60,000.

Values in the United States

Far more 981s are sold at open auction in America: 128 in the two years to 26 October 2026. The dearest was a GT4 at $130,000, and the cheapest a 2014 Cayman with 94,000 miles at $25,850. A Cayman S with under 30,000 miles sold for a median of $57,500 (18 sales), and one with 30,000 or more for $44,000 (31 sales).

Is the Cayman 981 reliable?

The Cayman 981’s British recall record is short: three campaigns, each covering a few months’ production. The independent specialist RPM Technik, a member of the Porsche Partner Network, lists three it sees on the Cayman 981: rear wiper motors that fail after water gets in, exhaust blows at the joint between manifold and catalyst caused by corrosion of the fixings, and radiator fans that seize.

Porsche Cayman 981 recalls

The DVSA recall register lists three campaigns that cover Cayman 981s:

• R/2014/151 (November 2014): the upper part of the front boot-lid catch may not be secured properly, so the lid could open; Caymans built 5 May to 6 June 2014.
• R/2019/250 (August 2019): a faulty capacitor in the airbag control unit, fixed by a software update or a new unit; Caymans built 23 June 2015 to 16 June 2016.
• R/2021/314 (September 2021): rear axle carrier side parts that may not meet Porsche’s specification, replaced on both sides; Caymans built January to July 2014.

A fourth Cayman campaign, R/2019/095, covered a single car with a weak joint between the lower longitudinal member and cross member, from a build window of February 2016 to February 2019 that runs mostly through 718 production.

Running costs and servicing

RPM Technik publishes fixed prices as a guide to running costs: for a Cayman 981 they start at £350 for a minor service, £840 for a major service and £150 to change the brake fluid, all before VAT. A full set of genuine Porsche discs and pads starts at £1,055 and a clutch at £990.

Buying a used Cayman 981

The checks that matter on a used 981 are the service history, a diagnostic read-out of the engine, and the dampers, brakes, tyres and cooling parts. Its engine is a later design than the M96 and M97 flat-sixes, whose intermediate-shaft bearing could fail. Before buying, the DVSA’s online recall checker shows whether the recalls have been done on a given car, and RPM Technik charges from £420 plus VAT for a pre-purchase inspection.

The engine and the IMS bearing

Total 911’s technical explainer notes that every 911 engine up to the 9A1 direct-injection unit drove its camshafts through an intermediate shaft, and that in the M96 and M97 engines the shaft’s sealed roller bearing could lose its grease and, in rare cases, seize and break the engine. Porsche’s “60 Years Porsche 911” press kit dates the 911’s switch to direct injection to the model update of autumn 2008. The 981’s engines are of a later generation again: Autocar describes the Cayman S engine as the 3.4-litre from the 911 Carrera, and CAR called it “essentially a detuned version” of the 991 Carrera’s.

What to check

Porsche’s schedule is a service every two years or 20,000 miles, and specialists advise a check every year, Autocar’s 2022 buying guide notes. A diagnostic read-out of the engine management confirms the mileage and shows fault codes and any over-revving. PASM dampers occasionally leak, an easy repair at a specialist. Corrosion can reach the air-conditioning condensers, radiators, exhaust fixings and brake parts, though the bonded aluminium body panels do not rust; stone chips on the front bumper, wheel arches, sills and windscreen are common. Brake pedal bushes can bind so the pedal does not fully return, which overheats the brakes. The original N-rated Pirelli P Zero tyres have a reputation for cracking, and some owners fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4S or Cup 2 tyres instead.

Options worth having

CAR called the 981 “spec-sensitive”, and Autocar found that even £25,000 to £35,000 base cars usually have “a fair number of factory options”. CAR’s 2013 test priced PDK at £1,922 and carbon-ceramic brakes at £4,977, and judged the standard steel brakes enough. PASM adaptive dampers and Porsche Torque Vectoring were options on the Cayman and Cayman S, and Sport Chrono changes the throttle mapping and gearbox settings. On PDK cars, Autocar notes that the standard steering wheel has shift buttons, while the sports wheel has paddles, which a specialist can retrofit. The GTS comes with Sport Chrono and either PASM or the 20 mm lower sports suspension as standard.

Questions

When was the Porsche Cayman 981 made?

From 2012 to 2016. Porsche unveiled it at the Los Angeles Auto Show on 28 November 2012, and the 718 Cayman replaced it after its unveiling on 25 April 2016, with first deliveries that autumn.

Where was the Cayman 981 built?

At Porsche’s Zuffenhausen factory in Stuttgart alongside the Boxster, and at the former Karmann factory in Osnabrück, as Autocar reported at the car’s launch.

What engine does the Cayman GT4 have?

A 3.8-litre flat-six taken from the 911 Carrera S, with 385 PS and 420 Nm, mounted behind the seats. It reaches 62 mph in 4.4 seconds and 183 mph.

Was the Cayman 981 GT4 available with PDK?

No. The road-going GT4 came only with a six-speed manual gearbox. The GT4 Clubsport racing car had a six-speed PDK with paddles.

What is the difference between the Cayman 981 S and Cayman GTS?

The GTS has 340 PS against the S’s 325 PS, 380 Nm against 370 Nm, and PASM adaptive dampers and the Sport Chrono package as standard. It also has its own front spoiler and rear apron, black-finish headlights and black 20-inch wheels, and cost £55,397 in Britain against £48,783 for the S.

How fast is a Cayman 981 S?

Porsche quoted 0–62 mph in 5.0 seconds with the manual gearbox and 4.7 seconds with PDK, and a top speed of 176 mph with the manual.

How fast did the Cayman GT4 lap the Nürburgring?

Porsche gave a time of 7 minutes 40 seconds on the Nordschleife, the Nürburgring’s North Loop, when it announced the car in February 2015.

Sources

• Porsche AG, “Lighter, lower, more agile: World premiere of the new Porsche Cayman”, press release via PR Newswire, 28 November 2012: launch date, outputs, top speeds, weight and economy claims, new options.
• Autocar, “LA motor show: Porsche Cayman”, November 2012: dimensions, wheelbase and tracks, engines against the 987, acceleration, weights, wheels, luggage space, factories.
• Alcircle, “Cayman’s aluminium and steel structure reduces weight by 47kg”, quoting Porsche, 2012: aluminium share of the body, torsional rigidity, CO2 against the 987.
• evo, David Vivian, “Porsche Cayman (2012–2016) review”, 18 September 2015: the cars evo compared and their prices, its verdicts on the 2.7, S and GTS, the GT4 Clubsport package.
• Porsche AG, “120,000 Porsche cars delivered to customers”, Porsche Newsroom, 10 September 2014: Cayman deliveries in 2014 and the “second generation” name.
• Porsche AG, Cayman GTS press release, March 2014, reproduced by Ultimatecarpage: GTS outputs, equipment, performance and Euro 6.
• Carbuyer, “Porsche Boxster and Cayman GTS unveiled”, 19 March 2014: GTS UK prices and on-sale date.
• Porsche AG, “Double world premiere in Geneva”, Porsche Newsroom, 25 February 2015: GT4 engine, aerodynamics and chassis.
• Porsche Cars GB, “The benchmark in its class: the Porsche Cayman GT4”, press release published in full by PistonHeads, 3 February 2015: GT4 gearbox, performance, Nordschleife time, UK price, equipment and the 904 lineage.
• Ultimatecarpage, Porsche Cayman GT4 specifications: GT4 torque and weight.
• evo, “2015 evo Car of the Year finalists”, 2015: the eleven finalists and evo’s description of the GT4.
• evo, “evo Car of the Year: every winner since 1998”: the 2015 and 2019 results.
• Porsche AG, “All in black: Porsche Cayman Black Edition”, Porsche Newsroom, 2 October 2015: the Black Edition’s engine and equipment.
• Porsche AG, “La nuova Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport per la pista”, Porsche Newsroom, 18 November 2015: GT4 Clubsport specification, price and championships.
• Porsche Club GB, “The new Porsche 718 Cayman”, April 2016, publishing Porsche’s release of 25 April 2016: 718 engines, prices, “fourth generation” and delivery date.
• Volkswagen AG, annual reports 2012 to 2016, Porsche division, read through the Internet Archive: Boxster and Cayman production by year.
• Motor Sport, “Porsche 904: how a four-cylinder stopgap became a Targa Florio winner”: 904 production, outputs, weight and the 1964 Targa Florio.
• Department for Transport, table VEH0120, licensed and SORN vehicles by make and model, data to 2026 Q2: Cayman GTS and GT4 numbers in the UK.
• DVSA, vehicle recalls register (RecallsFile.csv), read 28 October 2026: recalls R/2014/151, R/2019/095, R/2019/250 and R/2021/314.
• RPM Technik, “Porsche 981 Cayman servicing”, read 28 October 2026: known faults and service prices.
• SkiddMark, report on the Cayman 981’s launch, 3 December 2012: the first Cayman’s press pack and the 904 on the Los Angeles stand.
• OUTLAW 8’s auction records, read 28 October 2026: UK auction sales of the Cayman 981 over five years, with three Collecting Cars GT4 lots checked by hand as road cars with the Clubsport Package, (Collecting Cars, Car & Classic, H&H, The Market) and US sales over two (Bring a Trailer, Cars & Bids, PCARMARKET, Hemmings), with UK results recorded in dollars converted at OUTLAW 8’s daily exchange rates.
• Gentleman’s Journal, “The 2013 Porsche Cayman S”, 20 February 2013: UK launch prices and March 2013 deliveries.
• CAR, Georg Kacher, “Porsche Cayman S (2013) review”, 2013: handling, steering, PASM and PTV, option prices, engine origin.
• Autocar, “Used car buying guide: Porsche Cayman”, 17 October 2022: UK dealer price bands, service schedule, what to check, options, driving impressions.
• Porsche AG, “60 Years Porsche 911: 6th Generation, Engines”, Porsche Newsroom press kit, 2023: direct injection from the autumn 2008 update.
• Total 911, Josh Barnett, “Technology explained: Intermediate shaft”, read through the Internet Archive: the intermediate shaft and its bearing up to the 9A1 engine.