RC:

I can talk about Germany only (It is kind of mentality thing): Porsche could put a 450 hp GT3 RS engine into the current Cayman and I still think it wouldn't be a huge success.

The problem with the Cayman is...identity. People associate the 911 with the Porsche sports car. If the Cayman would be something else, not a sports car, it would probably sell better.  I actually think that the name Cayman would have been more appropriate for the upcoming smaller SUV, the "Cajun". 

The 911 can not be "beaten". The only Porsche sports car which could, could have more success than the 911, is the rumored GT based on the Panamera.

How could Porsche re-design the Cayman to fit better in the model range? I don't have a clue. I would change the look (again...roofline), I would change the front and rear lights (no more semi-Boxster look) and I would reduce comfort features (optional) to lower weight further. Price tag should be under the Boxster price tag.

How about installing that 450hp GT3 RS engine and calling it a Porsche 906 GTS...

 

Although it was officially named Carrera GTS, it opened a new chapter in Porsche's sporting history under the internal designation 904. The 904, designed by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (known as "Butzi"), anticipated, from a technical point of view, much that did not become the norm in racing car manufacturing until later: mixed steel/plastic construction, low weight, small frontal area. It was the first Porsche with a plastic body and 100 examples had to be built in order to qualify for the GT class. This was followed by a further 20 vehicles, of which 16 were assembled. The rest provided the parts for the spare parts store.

The 904 GTS displayed in the Porsche museum had, as a works car, an eight-cylinder two-litre engine and joined the line-up at Le Mans in 1964 and in 1965 driven by Mitter/Davis.

Exactly five months after it was presented, Porsche achieved its fifth victory in this classic race on 26 April 1964 with the production 904 at the Targa Florio. Antonio Pucci and Colin Davis snatched victory ahead of Linge/Balzarini in an identical 904. Further victories followed: at the Tour de France, at the 1,000 kilometre race around the Nürburgring, in the Le Mans 24 hour race and in the following Reims 24 hour race. The 904 proved its roadworthiness at the Monte Carlo rally in 1965, where Eugen Böhringer still came in second despite a totally snow-covered course. The 904 fitted with four, six and eight-cylinder engines was not only a very successful racing car of the early 1960s, to this day it is still regarded as one of the most attractive...

...with all due respect to the 1964 Porsche 904 GTS Coupe and Walter Rohrl!

Smiley SmileySmiley