Now that I had a chance to ponder some more, I recall the 987S steering to feel "tighter" (ie. less sloppy, if you know what I mean ....... just a bit tighter and more damped). And this applied to the suspension and chassis also ....... faster and tighter absorption and less chassis flex - tighter dampening.
The only street car that was actually more fun for me was the Elise. It had better sound, more power, very, very stiff chassis, superb steering feel (non-assisted) and less refinement. The drawbacks for me were that it was not a 12s auto droptop. The difficult ingress/egress was no problem for me and the seats, seating position, pedal placement, and shifter positions were perfect for me.
The 986S sounded more rougher ...... similar to the 295hp 987S on heavy acceleration. The 280 hp 987S sounds quieter and more refined to me in comparison - on the verge of being too civilized and quiet.
The 987S just felt overall like a upgraded version of the 986S. The Elise for me just was a little bit too "raw" for me, but perfect for very high speeds. The new Exige S240 does 0-60 in 4 sec now. The Elise already was crazy fast at top end of the powerband. I really can't imagine wanting to go any faster ........ ever. It was the most fun ever driving that car. The sound, steering, and high power were just simply amazing. The Elise SC will only be better. Handling in these cars is simply superb. Power and handling nowadays is simply great. Another 80 horse actually I wouldn't mind in my 987S as mid range power would be instantaneous fun like in the 997S, but still ok within the chassis. The newer chassis is pretty stiff, it has some flex, but kind of carves like a racing snowboard. The Cayman S with 19s and PASM was crazy stiff - much too stiff for normal roadways.
I stuck with the 987S because it was more refined and just better overall for my purposes.
Anyways, hope this helps, cheers
