| Enter the first right fast with a light brake, then over the
crest and down into the left-right kink with a hard brake
while selecting second; then a full power exit up the hill and
onto another of Barber Motor Sports Park’s brief straights.
The Porsche qualities of effective performance-circle
dynamics are all here. With it comes a new balance not
unlike the mid-engine Boxster, but with more of everything.
The full power fourth gear, left-right sweeps at the end of
the straight underscore that character.
This is not another Porsche update of one of their traditionally
satisfying sports cars. This is an all-new concept –
granted it is based on the now well-established Boxster, but
a complete reprogramming of that mid-engine Porsche philosophy
was possible with the added support of closing the
structural loop. While the Boxster is brilliant roadster structure,
this new car is 100% stiffer and that has enabled Jan
(pronounced Yahn) Roth, the proud program manager, to
introduce a new quality of ride and suspension geometry
that the open car could not support.
It is hard to overlook the correlation between the Porsche
corporate attention to detail and the fastidious construction
of Barber Motor Sports Park. The sweep of flawless Armco
and manicured hedges are visible even at nine-tenths. It is
no coincidence that the Porsche Driving Experience training
program is based here. The facility looks like it was created
in Weissach.
The 2954-pound coupe is propelled by 295 horsepower
that is delivered by what Porsche calls an entirely new boxer
six. Well, okay. This combination, of 3.2-liter crank case
and 3.8-liter DOHC heads with variable valve timing
(shared only with the latest Carrera) and a number of other
details gleaned from the works parts bins, is a new combination.
The bits have been assembled with a new multi-gated
intake plumbing and pressure-manipulated exhaust system
that make it a new engine – technically. It works, of course,
superbly. One is always in search of more power in this day
of 500 hp commuter cars, but the balance with the Cayman
S chassis is difficult to fault. The sound that enters the cabin
is almost entirely intake and many hours were spent getting
that right. It is unobtrusive at even throttle and grows with
demand. At full throttle there is no doubt it is delivering as
required and there is no chance of discussing it in the cockpit.
Pure soul-stirring Porsche.
From the inside the Cayman S seems to include more
Carrera than Boxster. Other than the smaller instrument
cluster you could be forgiven for forgetting which car you
had taken from your Porsche collection. All the materials
and hardware are virtually identical to the more iconic sibling.
Even the best cup holder design in the industry is the
same. There are four different seats available, with either
manual or powered adjustments. The seats with full electric
controls are available with up to 12 different adjustments.
Even the sport seats are available with the same combinations
of manual or electric settings. The full-length console
is another Carrera crossover. It includes the brilliant new
Porsche gear-change stub that snicks back and forth in an
invisible crisp-edged gate; few companies have done the
clutch engagement and ratio sequencing as well as Porsche.
Their now-famous Tiptronic is an option and its latest S edition
includes a program element that perfectly matches revs
on downshifts to suggest to on lookers that you are the
master of the art. The Tiptronic S also has an electronic link
with Porsche Stability Management that responds to all the
various chassis and drive train inputs from the system, so if
you have taken that last left at 0.89 gs it will begin matching
ratios as quickly as you can get into the ABS. Porsche’s
nanny is cooler than that name traditionally implies. When
you have final approach for your apex it will have already
selected second and set you up for the exit of your dreams.
That exit can be as precise as you are able to locate. The
Cayman S variable-ratio steering feeds pavement info as
directly as your fingertips. There is a 30 degree window (15
degrees either side of center) in the steering in which the
ratio is more aggressive and gives more boost. Then as you
leave the 15 degree window it becomes more direct, dials
out boost and gives you a more immediate response on your
favorite set of twisty bits.
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