2019 Porsche 718 Cayman T Review
Driving pleasure in its purest form - or Touring - is what the T moniker is supposed to be all about when attached to a Porsche. Although, it seems more a marketing ploy than anything when emblazoned on the rump of an iconic 911 - you might as well just spec a Carrera how you want it. So PR jargon aside, is the Cayman better with a T? For a start you get the 鈥榣esser鈥?2.0-litre flat four turbo, and not the bigger 2.5-litre. Still, although it sits on the bottom rung of the image ladder, the water-cooled 1988cc flat four is actually a decent unit. It鈥檚 happier to rev and with 220kW and 380Nm pushing around 1350kg, the boosted four is not slow. A 0-100km/h time of 5.1sec (with the preferred six-speed manual) and a 275km/h top speed is the proof in the pudding. Select the rapid-fire seven-speed PDK and the 0-100km/h claim drops to 4.7sec with Sport Plus. Thanks to the impressive real-life performance of the downsized engine, the 718 Cayman T doesn鈥檛, unlike the 911 T, feel like an otherwise complete athlete with a weak heart.
The T pack combines Sport Chrono and PSM with an in-between semi-hooligan-like Sport Plus mode, boasting PTV torque vectoring and a mechanical diff lock. The steering rack, borrowed from the 911 Turbo, is 10 per cent faster and the sports exhaust is bimodal. Launch control and the Sport Response turbo boost button is fitted with the PDK 鈥檅ox. Handfuls of extra money buy carbon-ceramic brakes, which this Cayman requires about as urgently as Clive Palmer needs another 鈥楳ake Australia Great鈥?billboard. Inside there鈥檚 sport seats (anything from the standard pews to the expensive 918-style lightweight carbon-fibre buckets), Sport-Tex upholstery and fabric loops for door handles. PCM is a no-cost option.However, you pay extra for air-conditioning, sat-nav, Power Steering Plus, dynamic LED headlights, an Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel and a shortened shifter. There鈥檚 something about Porsche sports cars that no other manufacturer can match. It doesn鈥檛 really matter whether you are driving a 718 Cayman T, a 911 GT3 RS, a Cayman GT4 or a 911 Turbo S - they all handle, respond and communicate in a totally involving fashion.
Yes, the steering might be a little quicker in the GT cars, the suspension softer in others and the handling more neutral in the mid-engined models. However, there isn鈥檛 much variation in your inputs; the ratio between cornering grip and entry speed, or the lift-off attitude, remain largely the same. Irrespective of engine size and position, power and torque, weight and performance, all two-door Porsches are spun from the same dynamic ilk. When warm, the bigger tyres (235/35 ZR20 front and 265/35 ZR20 rear) instil more lateral grip as well as fierce traction, but the price you pay is a well-below par ride on country roads. In crosswind conditions and when following ruts, the directional stability can be unsettling at times, and those carbon-ceramic brakes don鈥檛 like rain or sub-zero temperatures. Active transmission mounts cushion abrupt tip-in and tip-out manoeuvres. The four-cylinder engine鈥檚 soundtrack isn鈥檛 quite as throaty and strong-voiced as the old six, but the reality is that the acoustics aren鈥檛 really an issue, nor is the somewhat underwhelming on-paper performance. Ultimately the Cayman T sounds meaner and answers more promptly to throttle inputs, but it is also harder sprung and more firmly damped - even before you dial in Sport. Still, the T feels like a somewhat brawnier and, subjectively, faster car. The do-it-yourself manual ties in with the back-to-basics nature over the ruthlessly efficient PDK, because at the end of the day, the Cayman T is all about a pure, raw and involving experience.
2. Pull the belt collar trim (the small plastic part with a slot where the belt disappears into the trim) away from the B-pillar trim. The belt "collar" comes off easily and you can slide it down to the floor out of the way. 3. Pulling from top and bottom (interior trim tools work best), pop the B-pillar trim / cover away from the pillar. There are 3 small pins that snap into the pillar - one at the top and two at the bottom. But in the middle, just above the opening for the belt collar, there is a clamp that must be released by poking it from "inside" the B-pillar. Porsche has a special tool for this, which is just a handle with a metal shaft bent at the end. I found a picture of the tool shown above. 4. With the clamp released, you can now pull the B-pillar trim away, and if you haven't released the seat belt, just let it slide down out of the way.
Before we move on, just a few comments. First, if you've made it this far without breaking anything, you are doing awesome! The clips/clamps and moulding are fragile, and you might break them. But just keep in mind that the hardest part is now out of the way! You may also want to consider removing the C-pillar and rear side trim panel (directly below the window) but they are not mandatory. With the moulding and trim removal out of the way, you can now focus on removing the rear window assembly. There are only two (2) fasteners actually holding the window in place -- the rest are just guide tabs! 3. At the same time you are pulling the window towards you away from the car body, note there are a few guide pins (top / bottom of assembly). As you clear the pins from the body, begin carefully pulling the entire window assembly towards the front of the car.