Why does a Porsche cost so much for such low horsepower comparing to other German makes?

I don't know the history of Porsche that well,but a Cayman with 300HP or so cost as much as a BMW M3 with 414HP.





Is it the history of the company that makes it expensive or the material? Resell value?|||In short, because cars are not sold on a dollar/horsepower basis. There are a wide variety of factors that figure into any car's price point, for a performance car, how well it performs will be a major factor... but again, horsepower is a measure of one characteristic that affects performance, it is not a measure of performance.





Consider the following cars, all near the same price point:


Porsche Cayman S = ~$200/hp


BMW M3 = $160/hp


Cheverolet Corvette Z06 = ~$140/hp


Lotus Exige S240 = ~$275/hp


Radical SR4 = ~$360/hp





Now... in terms of pure performance, which do you think is the fastest? Yes, it's the ringer of the bunch. The Radical would completely destroy any of the above dispite having less than half the horsepower of the BMW. The Exige, the Corvette, and the Cayman will also all enjoy an advantage over the heavier BMW around a track - the BMW is about 700 pounds heavier than the Porsche... and more than 1700 pounds heavier than the Lotus... and more than a ton heavier than the Radical; in short, it needs the extra power just to keep up!





But just as horsepower/dollar isn't the only criteria of a car, most will not go strictly by performance/dollar. Which is why you would most likely not even consider the Radical (aside from it not being street legal in most countries). The BMW is the only car I mention here with a back seat. And while the spartan Lotus could make any car look luxurious, the BMW still looks good against most other cars in this department.





And while the Corvette offers ALOT for the money, it will unfortunately never match the build quality of the Porsche or the BMW, even though it will offer more performance/dollar.





So the end result of all of this? When all is considered, the cars all offer a different set of strengths for their price... which of those strengths mean the most will help determine which makes the most sense for you. But if it's strictly horsepower/dollar, you will probably want to look to someplace other than Germany, and if it's strictly performance/dollar, again, not so good (though in the last one, the Cayman will more than stack up against the more powerful BMW).|||Just about everything said here about the performance of the Porsche is true, with the exception of it being "very light." Compared to a Mercedes, yes; to a BMW, not so much.





Porsche inflates the prices of their cars -- especially the 911 and derivatives, "to add to the exclusivity of the vehicles." These are very low volume production cars; they do cost a lot to make. But not that much.





People who own them understand this and pay the price for the pride of owning a Porsche. The original sticker price (not what I paid) of my 2005 911 Turbo S (which weighs 3500 lbs) was over $147,000. Almost nothing can keep up with it on a track (not true on a 'drag strip'), including much pricier Lamborghinis and Ferraris.





Power-to-weight ratio is critical. The Lotus Exige (about 2000 pounds) that runs on the track where I do, regularly kicks all kinds of Porsche butt with less than 250 HP. I'd rather hit a wall in a Porsche than in a Lotus.





My 911 has 444 HP (maybe 380 of that gets to the ground) and so outdoes the M3. The current top HP for a Porsche -- the GT2 -- is 530 -- it puts that M3 to shame.|||it may only make 300 hp and the caymen definitely wont match up against a new Z06, but the thing is with porsche is that it's a track car. It's very light and handles like nothing else. Not to mention that it looks great as well. The M3 will make a lot more power, but its also a very heavy car (It weighs almost a 1,000 pounds more than the caymen).





so basically in a straight line the m3 will win (not by a huge margin), but on the track a porsche will cut those corners much better|||a porsche inst something that just goes fast its elegint when u sit in one your surrounded by leather. they are made great and even if something goes wrong the comony will work with you


wants you sit and drive one you will know immediatly why they cost more|||Cars are not priced according to their HP, although i'll admit some porsches are a little overpriced (Im a porsche fan btw). but if they can sell them at that price why bring the price down?


But compared to other German cars I wouldn't say they're a lot more expensive. For example a Cayman/S is only couple grand more than a BMW 335I both of which have around 300 HP.





PS. stop "CS7" from commenting on cars again. "400 HP Porsche makes 395 HP at the wheels"???? What are u smoking?|||Yeah well, you see the Cayman was built as a sports car, whereas the BMW is a production road car.





The Cayman is mid engined and has excellent balance especially on the track. The BMW would not stand a chance against it in the right hands.





Go ahead. Compare them on track and you'll soon see what I mean!!!





+ Its not just a car, its a PORSCHE...... Enough said??|||Yes but Cayman isn't the fastest Porsche! There are 9ff , Carrera GT ,Carrera 4S, Gt3 Turbo and many others! Thats why Porsche is the fastest automaker in the world! All german automakers are very good!|||Just look at the thing.





Now look at the M3. Which one says "rich adventurous playboy" and which one says "rich unadventurous accountant"?|||simple, because it carries a Porsche badge.|||They are hand built most of the time.|||Because it goes as fast as an M3, or other cars.





They do not need more HP. They have the best aerodynamics and WHP.





WHP is how much power gets to the wheels. Say a car has 400HP, Only 300HP gets to the wheels and the other 100HP is lost on the way to the wheels.


With Porsche's, if you have 400HP, 395HP would get to the wheels.





The new 2009 Porsche Cayman S has 325HP and goes from 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds for the manual transmission. That is 0.1 seconds quicker than the new 414HP 2008-2009 BMW M3.





The brand name, the racing technology, the history, the performance, and luxury all make it expensive.





Porsche was rated by J.D. power %26amp; Associates as the best luxury brand in initial quality.