Porsche 718 Cayman S Vs Cayman GTS NZ Comparison Test 2019
Probably one of the greatest endorsements for the Porsche Cayman came from Jim Richards. Last year, the racing legend gave up his 911 GT3 for a Cayman GT4 to compete in Targa Tasmania. He cited the Cayman鈥檚 superior chassis and its mechanical grip as his motivation. Porsche has since upped the ante with its refreshed Cayman range that鈥檚 more powerful and more economical thanks to a new four-cylinder turbo engine. Even though Porsche will never allow their engineers to build a mid-engined Cayman that will accelerate faster than it鈥檚 more expensive 911 range, the new turbo engine car has certainly narrowed the gap to the Carrera. The recent launch of the new 718 Cayman and Cayman S neatly coincided with the Porsche factory sending out a range of its models to New Zealand for a customer driving experience at Hampton Downs. This meant we were able to organise a track session for a back-to-back comparison of the new turbo鈥檇 S and the old GTS with its six-cylinder atmo mill.
And what timing, we were also able to chase a 911 Carrera S around the track in the Cayman to find out where each car gained an advantage or showed a weakness. It was a Porsche feast and we made pigs of ourselves. Our first impressions of the two Caymans were that the old six and the new boosted four cylinder models had a remarkably similar handling feel. The new 718 has stiffer springs which always makes a car feel more responsive in high intensity handling situations. The most striking difference is how the engines sound. The old six has the same wail as a 911 that has such a long and prestigious pedigree, even if it鈥檚 intentionally detuned for use in the smaller Coupe. Porsche was generous with its cars, allowing us to do as many laps as we pleased, and encouraged us to go as hard as we could.
So, naturally we did. It gave us a chance to push them right past their normal limits and we racked up some serious tyre wear. Pushed hard at the upper levels of adhesion, the new car is slightly more agile and lighter on its feet. The stiffer springs account for most of that improved feel. The older car has a sharper reaction if you lift off mid-corner, letting the tail step slightly wide, but it鈥檚 so easy to catch with a little bit of opposite lock. The new car still tightens the line into a corner if you lift, but it鈥檚 a softer, more refined reaction and it is even more responsive to corrective steering. The race between the Caymans new and old was much more closely matched. We even measured out a 400 metre drag strip down the new back straight. Surprisingly, the four-cylinder turbo engine had the advantage over the bigger six cylinder almost from the moment we side stepped the brake pedal in launch control mode. The 718鈥檚 launch system seemed to allow a little more wheel spin which may be in order to get the turbo boosting nicely.
By the end of the quarter mile, the little turbo motor had a lead of about a car length and a half. So imagine that repeated advantage every time you accelerate out of a corner. The handling between the two was very similar but it鈥檚 hard to argue with better outright speed. Race drivers jokingly refer to this as having better straight-line handling. Our track map (see gallery) doesn鈥檛 have an overall lap time because we couldn鈥檛 use the main straight but the top speeds reached in each area give you most of the picture. And while the figures reached at the end of the newly lengthened back straight don鈥檛 look all that impressive, they were recorded after a standing start from the pit exit. With so many similarities between the cars it almost comes down to whether or not you like the sound of the new four-cylinder engine because even the styling changes are subtle.