Svizec Vehicle & Auto Info

Out in the real world, the Cayman S drives with surefooted chuckability. At slow speeds, the car’s fingertip steering, flyweight clutch and slow (though progressive) throttle fools you into thinking it’s a bit dim-witted. As you pile on the revs, the Cayman’s controls suddenly synergize: the steering gains heft, the six-speed snicks home like a spring-loaded knife and the engine switches into lunge mode. To get the best of the whipper-snapper’s powerplant, you have to keep the revs above 4000rpm– which is a bit like saying you have to drink a glass of ‘59 Chateau LaTour to enjoy it. The noise blatting from the cojoined pipes is cargasmic: raw, animal, aggressive.

The first time you chuck the latter day lil’ bastard into a corner its superiority to big brother 911 is immediately apparent. The Cayman’s mid-engine layout and light weight make it far more precise going into a turn, more stable through the apex and more benign coming out (C4 and Turbo excepted). Thanks to Porsche’s decision to put the 911 into the horsepower protection program, the Cayman can’t match the Carrera’s post-corner blastitude. But the Cayman’s inherent balance lets you carry more speed into the corner. Ultimately, all the [bigger-engined] Carrera variants are faster than a Cayman S. Even so, they can’t touch the Cayman S– or the Boxster S– for pedal-to-the-metal fun. What’s more, with PSM (Porsche Stability Management) in Sport, Frau Nanny allows a whiff of drift. Wikkid.