2019 Porsche 718 Cayman And Cayman S Review
Porsche鈥檚 919 Hybrid race car just scored a major victory in the World Endurance Championship over the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. You don鈥檛 have to like or even understand motorsports to appreciate that it takes a lot of automotive ingenuity to win a gruelling six-hour endurance race in the harsh Texas heat. This 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman boasts the biggest increase in performance a Cayman has ever seen from generation to generation, but isn鈥檛 any less friendly or usable. Porsche engineers have made a ridiculous amount of enhancements and they will bore you to death with all the minutiae, but all you need to know is that it results in a dramatically better car. They looked at every single detail and didn鈥檛 leave anything out. Starting with the new engine, the 718 family is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter flat four-cylinder engine with 300 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. S models get an upgraded 2.5-liter unit that boasts 350 hp and 309 lb-ft of torque.
Interestingly, the smaller engine gets more boost, as the bigger one doesn鈥檛 need it because of the increased displacement, and Porsche needs to save something for the upcoming 718 Cayman GTS. Porsche doesn鈥檛 like to use the word 鈥渄ownsizing,鈥?preferring the term 鈥渞ight-sizing鈥?for this engine choice because downsizing might lead people to believe that performance has decreased, when, in fact, the opposite is true. With a more linear torque curve than the flat-sixes they replace (meaning that there鈥檚 usable power available whenever you want it), the new free-revving four-cylinder engines boast far more performance and are much more efficient. Power doesn鈥檛 drop off as sharply and there鈥檚 still plenty of power available even in the higher rpm range. Turbo lag is barely evident, and the smart seven-speed PDK reacts fast enough to get you up to speed faster than you鈥檇 ever need, even without using the paddle shifters. The six-speed manual is still available, and, of course, it鈥檚 still one of the best to use (much better than the Jaguar F-Type鈥檚).
Interestingly, there鈥檚 also a neat feature that if you stall, all you have to do is depress the clutch to get going again 鈥?there鈥檚 no need to turn the key. No one can dispute the engines鈥?better performance, but people seem to be divided on how the new 718s sound. Don鈥檛 worry about how it sounds, the 718s still sound like legit sports cars. The Sport Chromo option also brings with it the sport response button, which when activated, engages the optimal gear and for 20 seconds maximizes boost so a driver can make a quick pass. It鈥檚 kind of superfluous, but it鈥檚 mighty fun to use. As if it was even possible because the last Cayman was so good, the 718s have even better driving dynamics than before. For me, it starts with the steering, which is quicker and more precise than before. The 718s use the same steering rack in the 911 Turbo, and the result is a perfectly weighted setup that gives generous feedback from the road and tires.
The ratio is quicker so there鈥檚 very little hand-over-hand action needed, and the car generally feels more agile, even when parking. The weight reduction helps matters as well. The intuitive steering is complemented by the coupe鈥檚 balance, which is the type of feeling that only a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive car can inspire. Go too fast into a corner, and the 718s make you feel like a better driver than you actually are. The coupe has huge levels of grip and always seems to be an enabler to increasingly brave driving, always edging you closer to your limit. Luckily, drivers no longer need to have Red Bull stunt person-level bravery because tweaks have been made to the Cayman to make it more accessible and less scary. Drivers are typically much too timid (or not skilled enough) to turn off the traction control entirely, so Porsche made some tweaks to the stability management program that leaves a bigger gap between on and fully off. There鈥檚 now a nice middle ground that increases agility by decreasing traction so you can slide into a corner confidently without being too scared that you鈥檒l end up stuffing the coupe into a guardrail.