London: They’re driving launch versions of the new Porsche Cayman away for the evening check as I’m writing this. German engineers in cars they drive every single day.
You’d think they’d be plonking along searching the wavebands for a crucial Bundesliga match commentary. But no, engines are crisply revving through the still air, gear levers snapping between cogs and headlamps spearing round the open corners — they’re having fun! That doesn’t happen every day.
The Germans call the Cayman the poor-man’s Porsche, and in most markets it is Porsche’s lowest volume car, but there’s no denying its capabilities or enjoyment factor. It’s hard to believe this is the third version.
The first was launched in 2005 and was thought of as a Boxster with a roof. It’s been built by Valmet in Finland, Porsche in Zuffenhausen and was going to be built by Magna Steyr in Austria before VW bought Porsche, and now it will be built at the Karmann plant in Osnabrück, Germany.
This redesign is to put the Porsche Cayman on the new, lightweight architecture underpinning last year’s new Boxster and the latest 911, which came out in 2011. At 4.4 metres (14ft 4.4inches), it is 1.3 inches longer than its predecessor, the wheelbase is stretched by 2.36inches and the roof is 0.4inches lower.
Front track is increased by 1.4inches for the Cayman and 1.57inches for the S, with the rear wheels pulled out by 0.08 and 0.4inches respectively. The old model was quite a looker, but this is better balanced visually.
There’s one angle which screams TVR Sagaris, but on the whole it’s a grand-looking sports coupe and, to the uninitiated, almost indistinguishable to a 911.
The new chassis is clever stuff, being much stronger and 30kg (66lb) lighter. Made of high-strength and mild steels, with aluminium floors, doors, bonnet and tailgate, it is more than twice as torsionally stiff as the Boxster, which provides a better basis for good handling and body control.
An electronic upgrade also means more equipment such as electronically-assisted steering and options such as adaptive cruise control, which maintains the distance from the vehicle in front, a Burmester sound system and keyless entry.
The flat-six, quad-cam engines are largely the same as before, although the 271bhp, 2.7-litre version has a slightly lower displacement but more power. The 321bhp, 3.4-litre of the Cayman S keeps the same capacity. Transmissions are a six-speed manual or a seven-speed PDK twin-clutch unit, which costs another £1,922 and weighs an additional 66lb.
Prices start at £39,694 (Dh221,252) for the 2.7 Cayman, rising to £48,783 for the 3.4 Cayman S. A Sport Chrono package with active transmission mountings costs £1,084, torque vectoring £890, sports exhaust £1,473 and leather upholstery £2,092 for the Cayman, £1,347 for the S.
As you can see, it’s not too hard to see the contents of your wallet disappearing at a Porsche dealership, where a poor-man’s Porsche is anything but.
The cabin is larger as a result of the increased wheelbase and the driving position is lower and more laid back. There’s still not a lot of room in the cockpit and the door pockets are tiny, but the luggage room under the bonnet and boot amounts to 425 litres.
The dashboard is broadly the same, with a large, central revcounter flanked by speedometer and ancillary gauges. There’s a big central screen, which crushes the heater controls underneath so they’re difficult to use.
In the centre console there are two banks of buttons proving how much you’ve spent on options: active damping, sports exhaust, sports setting for engine and transmission. The questionably useful electronic handbrake is tucked under the dashboard.
The upholstery is taut and smooth, but wrinkled in places where Porsche has tried to impose modern production tolerances on organic materials.
Roaring away
The flat-six fires with a metallic, guttural roar. It’s distinctively and evocatively Porsche, but the sports exhaust is simply too noisy and after five minutes you switch it off. If you hadn’t driven the 3.4-litre, you’d never want for it because the 2.7-litre engine is lively and rev-happy but with enough torque to pull this 1.3-tonne car quickly through the lower revs.
The larger capacity mill is addictive, however, with a deeper, stronger and more measured response to throttle. It’s the same with the transmissions, the six-speed manual is lovely, with short, fast shifts and well-spaced ratios, but the seven-speed PDK is so easy, even if you do tend to leave it in automatic for much of the time.
With a mid-engine configuration, the nose turns into corners faster than anything with its engine in the front.
Go in too fast and the chassis understeers, balance it through a corner and all four wheels drift out. That’s all with the traction control on — if you turn it off and get out of shape, you’ll need to be quick and accurate with the steering correction. That steering is very, very good, but doesn’t quite have the feedback and feel of the system in the old Cayman R, which was an exemplar of hydraulic assistance.
What are utterly brilliant are the brakes. Not just their power, but the perfect pedal weighting and linearity. You can almost think this car to a halt.
In standard trim, or with the active damping in soft, the ride is supple but stiff. The 18-inch wheels crash across potholes, but that’s in keeping.
Add in the 19-inch wheels of the Cayman S, or worse, the 20-inch options combined with the sports suspension, push all the buttons and you’ll wonder if there’s any springing apart from the seat. The Sport Chrono system locks the transmission mounts rigid with the body, which reduces the secondary reaction when you turn in to corners.
It’s at this point that we’re supposed to encourage you to dig deep and buy the larger engine, the twin clutch box, the leather, the options, the stereo and the bells and whistles. To spend, in short, a lot more than you intended. Don’t. Buy the standard 2.7 instead. It’s a car that encourages you to drive it better and rewards you when you do. The Cayman wasn’t a bad car before, but this one is a world-beater.
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2013
