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Four cylinders sound worse than six, but the Porsche 718 Cayman nevertheless remains an unbeatable sports car

What is it?

It’s the Porsche 718 Cayman which, I assume, you take as read as being still the best sports car in the world. The best sub-supercar sports car, at least. And you’ll know the Porsche 718 Cayman is the best sports car in the world because you remember the 718 Boxster reviews from a few months ago. 

To recap, then. Bad 718 Boxster points: the new engine has two cylinders fewer and one turbocharger more than it used to have, so it now sounds a bit like a Subaru. Good points: everything else. 

The 718 Cayman, as you would expect, has now been through the same mill as its sister model, only this time it has emerged as the cheaper of the two. Which, actually, makes an awful lot of sense, given that it doesn’t have the cost and complexity of a folding roof to contend with. 

Generally, though, changes to the Boxster have now been conducted on the Cayman. The monocoque’s construction is largely the same as it was before ‘718’ was added to the description, but every body panel bar some elements of the roof are changed. So is the suspension which, at the front, is derived from the 911 Turbo's, including a steering rack that is 10% faster than it previously had. At the rear there are elements of Cayman GT4, particularly when it comes to lateral stiffness. 

Spring and damper rates and tuning are all new, though, not least because the 718 Cayman has a lower centre of gravity – marginally – than the six-cylinder car, although the addition of the turbo has left it – similarly marginally, at 1430kg versus 1415kg – heavier.

That engine, that aural downgrade, if you like, is a 2.5-litre horizontally opposed four instead of a 3.4-litre six, in as-tested S trim. (The standard 718 Cayman has a 2.0-litre donkey instead of a 2.7.) 

Because it’s boosted, and despite a 0.9-litre decrease in capacity, power is up by 25bhp to 345bhp, but it’s torque that gets the big boost, here lifted from 273lb ft at 4500rpm to a wholesome 310lb ft developed from just 1900rpm all the way to 4500rpm.

Read our review of the Porsche 718 Cayman here

What's it like?

All of these alterations change the nature of the 718 Cayman as they did the 718 Boxster. That there’s less need to rev it and the steering is quicker to respond means that it always feels eager and keen (turbo lag below 2500rpm notwithstanding), and it’s easy to pin it down a road at a healthy rate of knots while it remains knitted to the asphalt over bumps and crests.

It feels more alert than a Jaguar F-Type, albeit without the noise, and feels like it has more integrity than a Lotus Evora 400, albeit without the delicacy. It’s also faster and more serious than a Toyota GT86 or Subaru BRZ, which are in some ways its nearest dynamic competitors.

Is it less delicate than it used to be? I think so. About half a decade ago this magazine ran a 2.7-litre manual Cayman on small wheels, and its steering and engine felt as delicate and interactive as removing metal from a block with a hand file.

Today’s 718 Cayman feels more like using a CNC grinder to do the same job. Today’s steering is lighte and, less analogue, the engine more effective but less engaging and interactive. Inevitable? I guess so. But that doesn’t stop it being a shame.

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I’m splitting hairs, mind. Caymans had a lot of interaction to spare and, in sparing some it gains bruising ability and confidence. At its price point and even some way above – from an entirely reasonable £48,834 – it’s still the best there is, without question.

You’d spend more than that, though. Everybody does. 

Should I buy one?

Yes, you should buy one. And having established that, let’s take a moment to consider what you should and shouldn’t leave unticked.

When it came to the 718 Boxster, some of my colleagues thought you should have the 2.0 rather than the 2.5 S. I haven’t tried a 2.0-litre but am content to think that a Cayman deserves more power, and therefore the bigger engine. I’d have a manual gearbox – a slick, easy six-speeder - but could understand if you lived somewhere sufficiently towny that you wanted a PDK dual-clutch automatic.

Do tick the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) adaptive damping, which is great in its standard mode and better still in stiff mode on smooth roads. I’m not sure what the 718 is like without PASM, but given I’ve never been able to find a modern Porsche that hasn’t had it, I’m prepared to take a punt that it’s worth having. There’s sufficient torque that you should have the mechanical limited-slip differential, which includes torque vectoring via braking, and there’s sufficient four-cylinderness that you should specify the sports exhaust, which makes the 2.5 sound more purposeful at low revs and is switchable. 

By the time you’ve done this and, if you’re like most buyers, chucked in the Sport Chrono package (£1125), a fetching hue (£1595 in this case, which is a lot but does look magnificent), navigation, electric seats, DAB, phone preparation and a set of wheels (20s here, at £1566, but I’d go smaller, cheaper and less kerbable), you’re looking at a £60,000 car. 

Which is now a lot of money, in theory, but only a few extra quid a month in practice. And better, at either price, than anything else from anyone else.

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Porsche 718 Cayman S

Location Wales; On Sale Now; Price: £48,834 Engine 4 cyls, 2497cc, turbocharged, petrol; Power 345bhp at 6500rpm; Torque 310lb ft at 1900-4500rpm; Gearbox 6-spd manual; Kerb weight 1430kg; 0-62mph  4.6sec; Top speed 177mph; Economy 34.9mpg (combined); CO2/tax band 184g/km, 33%

Matt Prior

Matt Prior
Title: Editor-at-large

Matt is Autocar’s lead features writer and presenter, is the main face of Autocar’s YouTube channel, presents the My Week In Cars podcast and has written his weekly column, Tester’s Notes, since 2013.

Matt is an automotive engineer who has been writing and talking about cars since 1997. He joined Autocar in 2005 as deputy road test editor, prior to which he was road test editor and world rally editor for Channel 4’s automotive website, 4Car. 

Into all things engineering and automotive from any era, Matt is as comfortable regularly contributing to sibling titles Move Electric and Classic & Sports Car as he is writing for Autocar. He has a racing licence, and some malfunctioning classic cars and motorbikes. 

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HHX621 20 July 2017

"Poor Mans"

 911 R. 

david RS 11 July 2016

I cry alone the end of the NA

I cry alone the end of the NA flat 6.
You can't criticize too much It's your livelihood.
But if the NA flat 6 comes back (in antoher life), you will be the first to write it's wonderfull.
Cyborg 11 July 2016

david RS wrote: I cry alone

david RS wrote:

I cry alone the end of the NA flat 6.
You can't criticize too much It's your livelihood.
But if the NA flat 6 comes back (in antoher life), you will be the first to write it's wonderfull.

You're not alone, I'm with you there. I just can't get past that turbo four-pot where there should be a tuneful flat-six! Not in a Cayman anyway...and turbo-lag below 2500RPM, disappointing for a forced induction engine in 2016.

xxxx 11 July 2016

Underrated

By some distance the Cayman is the most underrated car on the road. It has 911 looks, performance (but not stupidly quick) and reasonably running costs. Love to see an article on buying and running a second-hand one as they're getting pretty cheap now
Overdrive 11 July 2016

xxxx wrote: By some distance

xxxx wrote:

By some distance the Cayman is the most underrated car on the road. It has 911 looks, performance (but not stupidly quick) and reasonably running costs. Love to see an article on buying and running a second-hand one as they're getting pretty cheap now

Underrated? I can barely think any other small coupe that has won as many tests/accolades/awards in past few years.

xxxx 11 July 2016

It's still better than that

Overdrive wrote:
xxxx wrote:

By some distance the Cayman is the most underrated car on the road. It has 911 looks, performance (but not stupidly quick) and reasonably running costs. Love to see an article on buying and running a second-hand one as they're getting pretty cheap now

Underrated? I can barely think any other small coupe that has won as many tests/accolades/awards in past few years.

That's still no enough. And it's not all about awards that you can barely think of

Beastie_Boy 11 July 2016

Are they really dropping in value?

xxxx wrote:

By some distance the Cayman is the most underrated car on the road. It has 911 looks, performance (but not stupidly quick) and reasonably running costs. Love to see an article on buying and running a second-hand one as they're getting pretty cheap now

I often look on Autotrader for an early Cayman and the prices seem pretty strong to me, especially when compared to an equivalent Boxster... Not great for the current owners but I can't wait to start seeing a decent selection of low miles, sub £10k Caymans.