PORSCHE Cayman S Review

Obviously, one cannot expect much comfort from a mid-engine coupe capable of these amounts of performance. Truth is, the Cayman S is actually a very comfortable car but only with a few conditions. If the state of the roads you're driving on is poor or you have to pass over a lot of tram rails and speed-bumps, you should probably think about another car. The rather stiff suspension, along with a go-kart-like ground clearance can only mean hell for your kidneys. Still, if the road's quality is German Autobahn-like, the Cayman S is actually very comfortable.

The ergonomic seats, though very supportive, are quite confy as long as the person siting on them isn't a very good friend of cholesterol. In other words, they're pretty narrow, just as a Porsche seat should be. As far as other comfort inducing bits, we should probably also mention the automatic climate control system, which, in conjunction with two other similar features can provide quite a nice atmosphere inside, no matter how hot or cold is outside.

To be more accurate, both the driver and the passenger seat have integrated three-stage heating AND cooling. So, if the outside weather is a bit more than nippy, all you have to do is push a button and the seat will heat up your tooshie in a minute. If the opposite happens, let's say that with the heat outside you can cook an egg on the hood, all you have to do is push another button once in and your seat will cool down in just a few moments. All in all, the Cayman S we drove is a pretty comfortable car, as long as you drive it on perfect roads.

As we mentioned before, the 3.4-liter Boxer engine in the Cayman S is quite different than the one powering the non-facelift version. It sports the same displacement, but a totally new direct injection system was fitted to it, making it both more powerful and more frugal, which of course is a bit antithetic.

Just like on all the engines powering the 911 range, the natural aspirated flat-six in the Cayman is also using the Porsche VarioCam Plus system. In plain "engineering English", this system combines variable valve timing with two-stage lift on the inlet side. In other words, the smooth rise in rpm when accelerating and the great torque output at low and medium ranges are happening thanks to this system.

Apart from following the Boxer principle, meaning it has a very low center of gravity, the engine is also using a dry-sump lubrication system, meaning it sits even lower than a regular engine. Together with the lower center of gravity, the use of dry-sump also improves lubrication during hard cornering and/or braking. All in all, the 3.4-liter Boxer is a very impressive piece of technology, offering no less than 320 horsepower at a stratospheric 7200 rpm and an equally impressive 370 Nm (272.9 lb ft) of torque at 4750 rpm. Coming from a natural aspirated engine of this capacity, this is pretty impressive.

An even more impressive piece of technology is the PDK double-clutch transmission. We're driven cars with double-clutch sequential gearboxes before, but none of them behaved as exemplary as the one from the Cayman S. Instantaneous shifts, seven forward speeds and a manual mode to keep every Formula One fan happy. This is simply the best gearbox we've ever experienced when it comes to sportiness, be it in manual or automatic mode.

Although a bit far from being a "fully decked" Porsche Cayman S, the model we tested was fitted with quite a decent number of gadgets. There was a bunch of stuff missing, like the front and rear optional parking sensors, but other than that pretty much all the useful gadgets were on it.

For example, the Porsche Communication Management (PCM) was on its 3.0 version. The system now sports a 6.5-inch color touchscreen display and has a CD/DVD drive which naturally supports MP3 format. The navigation system optionally included in the PCM 3.0 now has an internal hard drive for the maps and other such appliances, but our test car wasn't fitted with it.

Even so, the new sat-nav is actually pretty cool. You can even choose between a 2D or 3D image for the map display, depending on your viewing mood. Naturally, both types of display can offer dynamic route guidance. Just like the old one, the new PCM 3.0 can also include an optional TV-tuner which can receive both digital and analogue TV broadcast, which we again didn't test since it wasn't present on our ride.

Other than the PCM, other gadgets worth mentioning are pretty common in this price range (the Cayman S starts from approximately 62 thousand Euros in Germany). For example, our test car was also fitted with a pretty rudimentary-operated but otherwise with sufficient options cruise control system. The PDK transmission can be controlled from either the aluminium/billet gear shifter or from the two plus/minus buttons on the steering wheel. Speaking of which, you can control most of the PCM's functions from the steering wheel as well.

We already mentioned the heating and cooling option for the seats and the unbelievable Chrono Sport Package, so the only things left to talk about are probably the HID headlights and the rain and light sensors. Oh, we should probably also mention the rear windshield wiper which, believe it or not, is optional. Also, despite having an electric-operated function for the backrests, all the other seat controls were manual, which was a bit strange.

Having a Porsche badge, it is easy to assume that an EuroNCAP crash test is pretty much out of the question, right? Right. Although, come to think of it, in recent years Porsche has built enough models to almost rival a traditional car manufacturer. Even so, a Cayman's level of safety can be easily determined by the number of safety features available.

Let's start with the active safety features, which in our case even include the engine configuration, which gives the car and the driver a much better precision when negotiating hard turns, thus helping in on a safer drive. Other than that, the Cayman S is obviously equipped with some of the latest safety systems on the market. We can include the very common now anti-lock braking system, cornering brake control, anti-slip regulation, automatic brake differential (ABD) and the Porsche Stability Management (PSM).

All those systems can of course mean nothing if you're already crashing into a tree, so six airbags are there to protect you in the unfortunate event of an impending impact. Two dual-stage frontal airbags, two side thorax airbags build into the seats and two head airbags located within the door panels. Another standard safety feature is the so-called Porsche Side Impact Protection (POSIP), seat-belt pretentioners with force limiters and an impact absorbing steering column.

The best part about the Porsche Cayman S is most likely the handling. We know how much overused the "cornering like it's on rails" expression is, but trust us, it's the perfect way to describe how the Cayman drives. The engine howling right behind you, the precise steering telling you exactly where the front wheels point, the neck-snapping acceleration in "Sport Plus" mode and the phenomenal brakes, everything is near perfection in this car. So, as far as driving goes, you can't really go wrong with a Cayman S.

Honestly, it was pretty hard to find a weak spot on this car, and trust us we really tried. Still if we were to drive this Cayman S on a daily basis, there would probably be some annoying bits as well. The biggest gripe we had with it during our test drive was most likely its very low ground clearance. There wasn't a single speed-bump we encountered without the fear that we'll scrape the underside of the car. In other words, it's a pretty big responsibility to assume while driving a hardcore sports car.

As for the ugly bits about the Cayman S, well, it was only one actually. The mid-engine is very good for handling purposes, but it's also a nightmare as far as servicing goes. The only way to reach the engine is from underneath the car, while the oil and cooling fluids change nozzles are situated in the rear luggage compartment. This can only mean that you have to be extra careful when changing the oil, fearing that it will stain your trunk.