PORSCHE CAYMAN - S

Having just driven the Boxster S a few months back, I was head over heels (or vice versa) in love with the superb dynamics of the poor man’s Porsche, revelling in the superb craftsmanship of virtually everything associated with the vehicle. The thought and detailing that went into each aspect of the vehicle was apparent as was the DNA of the car which is present in every Porsche - everything meant to appease the enthusiast, everything meant to excite him and a few things that he could only find in a Porsche.
The shape of the car for instance - unmistakably Porsche, unmistakably exhilarating. With the Boxster having been labelled as it was, and the huge gap between the pricing of the roadster and the true blue sports coupe, the rear engined 911, there existed the place for another car to be positioned, something that the Cayman S owes its existence to.

The Cayman S takes its place in a classic Porsche line-up without a hint of difficulty as even at the very first sight it can be seen boasting classic design features reminiscent of the Porsche 550 Coupé introduced way back in 1953 and the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS Coupé. While the two large oval headlights and three symmetrically arranged large cooling air intake scoops create the typical Porsche face, uniqueness is added by the fog lamps with their positioning lights integrated via horizontal bars in the outer air intake scoops. Even though the Cayman S is based on the Boxster platform, its looks are far removed even though the front end of the car is just as characteristic as the side-line with air intake scoops in the front of the rear axle, the strong curvature of the roof and the rear end slowly tapering down to the bumper at the back - all classic Porsche design elements.

The overall effect is that of any even more muscular car than the Boxster could pretend to be. The chunkiness also comes a bit from its size and dimensions. Positioned between the two sports car offerings the Cayman S is longer than the Boxster but shorter than the 911, slightly higher than the Boxster but has the same width.

In keeping with Porsche’s classical drive concepts, the latest Porsche is powered by a horizontally opposed six-cylinder unit which is based on that of the Boxster S with the cylinder heads entirely from the 911 Carrera, a six-speed manual or tiptronic gearbox and rear wheel drive. The all aluminium dohc 24-valve engine features variable valve timing (Vario Cam Plus), hydraulic valve play compensation, switchable intake manifolds and two start up and two main catalysts and churns out a maximum of 295PS of power at 6250rpm and a whopping 340Nm of torque that is available from 4400rpm right through till 6000rpm. What amazed me most as I cranked up the engine was its eagerness to rev right up to its redline of 7300rpm. This has been made possible by incorporating the extremely short stroke of the Boxster S and combining it with the bore of the 911 Carrera. Thus the oversquare engine features cylinders with a bore diameter of 96mm combined with a stroke of 78mm. The VarioCam Plus system has three operating modes - idle, half load and full load. Idle speed is optimised by switching the intake valve lift on a small 3.6-millimetre cam and retarding valve timing to minimise valve overlap. In order to reduce the throttle effect in the engine and cut back fuel consumption accordingly, it is ideal to run the engine under part