Porsche 718 Cayman S 2.5 Review
Porsche鈥檚 original 718 model is a sleek little two-seater roadster sporting a flat-4 engine mounted amidship. The mid-engine flat-4 layout only returned this year in the 718 Boxster, a heavily revised version of Porsche鈥檚 third-generation (model code 981) boxer-roadster. Its coupe sibling, the Cayman, is the latest to bear the same 718 moniker, although 鈥?04鈥?would have suited it fine, in my opinion. The biggest change with the new 718 Cayman is the powerplant. In place of the naturally aspirated flat-6 is a 4-cylinder, also horizontally opposed but with a single turbocharger to boost torque and power. There鈥檚 also Dynamic Boost Function, which keeps the throttle open when the accelerator is released (fuel injection is cut off), so that charge pressure does not drop significantly and boost resumes without delay when horsepower is demanded. Torque from this engine, 420Nm, exceeds even that of the 3.8-litre flat-6 Cayman GT4, although its 350bhp is marginally lower.
But then, this is just the S model of the revised Cayman range that sits below the GTS and GT4 models, which will probably continue with flat-6 naturally aspirated engines. Cockpit and its options are similar to 718 Boxster鈥檚, but with a 鈥渃losed鈥?coupe configuration that comes with a roomier boot. Although it is two cylinders down, the overall weight of the engine is just 8kg lower than that of the flat-6. This is because space vacated by cylinders 5 and 6 is now occupied by the turbocharger and part of its plumbing, plus a charge-air cooling circuit. Compressed air as hot as 170 degrees C from the turbocharger is directed into an air-to-water heat exchanger before being channelled into the intake manifold. The Cayman鈥檚 mid-engine chassis has received a number of tweaks in keeping with Porsche鈥檚 traditional concept of continuous evolution. The suspension revisions include recalibrated damping valves, stiffer spring rates and bigger brakes, although the basic design of MacPhersons with multi-link lower arms remains as before.
Completing the evolutionary work are a sharper, electrically assisted power steering gear adopted from the 911 Turbo, stiffer anti-roll bars and the addition of buffer springs in the front suspension to reduce pitch and roll. Not that the Cayman, which has always been a great-handling car, needed any urgent attention to the suspension. But any fine-tuning by Porsche鈥檚 engineers is always welcome. At Sweden鈥檚 tight Sturup Raceway, the Cayman is what I would call the ideal four-wheeled track machine. Immediately impressive is the highly precise and direct steering (which feels so good even on the country roads earlier), which also gives fantastic feedback. It is one of the most important features of these mid-engine Porsche sports cars that inspire confidence in the driver during high-speed track driving. With ample grip front and rear, and a superbly responsive 7-speed PDK (dual-clutch) transmission, the Cayman is just so easy to drive fast through corners and really difficult to get untidy at any velocity. Equally impressive is the fact that such a driver-focussed machine possesses almost saloon-car levels of ride comfort, adding to the Cayman鈥檚 appeal as a daily-use sports car.
At any engine speed, both Caymans are ready to accelerate with vigour, although the 2.5-litre Cayman S has a noticeable advantage in acceleration versus the 2-litre Cayman. There is no hint of turbo lag and the impression of speed is accentuated by the lighting-fast gearchanges of the PDK. As before, the driver can shift manually using either the gearlever or the steering wheel鈥檚 paddle-shifters. Although the new engine鈥檚 healthy torque requires you to change gears less frequently, split-second manual upshifts on hard acceleration are quite fun and addictive. Not so addictive are the sounds from the engine and exhaust. 鈥渁ural pleasure鈥?during idle and upon acceleration. The motor鈥檚 best moments are between 5000rpm and the 7500rpm redline. In any case, you鈥檒l know it鈥檚 the flat-4 718 when you hear it drive by. Visually, the new Caymans are most distinguishable by their four-point LED daytime running lights in each headlamp, and the black strip between the tail-lamps just below the rear spoiler. The Cayman has always been a fine driver鈥檚 car and the latest, arriving next month (October), is certainly the best yet. Dynamically, there is nothing to fault this coupe, be it the S or non-S, and I cannot think of anything else on the road today that can match the 718 Cayman鈥檚 perfect balance between power and chassis. It looks sporty inside and out, and now with a punchy turbo engine, the 718 Cayman S (or even its 2-litre version) is possibly the most desirable in its category. It is, to me at least, the world鈥檚 best flat-4 mid-engine sports coupe at this point in time. All it needs is a nicer sound.
The most interesting development is the rear-view mirror, which optionally now uses a rear-facing video camera to display what鈥檚 going on behind the car via the frameless high-definition display. Jag says the advantage of using a camera is that the rear view isn鈥檛 obscured by tall passengers, poor light or rain on the rear window (wipers would have been too simple a solution, clearly). Jaguar says it鈥檚 a first for cars in the XE鈥檚 segment but, although we can think of one production car in America with something similar, we鈥檙e struggling to think of any sold in the UK. The Ford Transit, of all things, uses something like it, but that system isn鈥檛 nearly as slick. The subtle-but-high tech interior upgrades continue with the addition of a smartphone wireless charging pad, a fully-digital driver instrument panel, and a new dual-touchscreen infotainment and air conditioning controls 鈥?shared with the pure-electric I-Pace.