First Drive : Porsche Cayman

Right, no dilly-dallying about, just how good is it?

What, can't I tell you about the longer wheelbase, the 30kg weight reduction, the stiffer chassis, the extra power and torque of both the 2.7 and 3.4-litre engines, the attention to detail, the engineering? You know, give you a bit of preamble?

 No, you may not. Now spit it out.

It's terrific. Exceptional. I've spent the afternoon driving both the 3.4-litre S (pictured) and the regular 2.7 and both handle and drive with such control and dexterity. The ride on huge 20-inch wheels is close to sublime and the damping, well, both cars were equipped with Porsche's optional PASM system and felt wonderfully fluent. Peel into a fast corner and it's rock solid, play with the throttle mid-corner and you can feel the car moving the balance around. With a couple of exceptions (more on which anon), the new Cayman has moved the game on in every area. In a way this comes as a surprise.

How so?

OK, not a massive surprise, but with the Cayman now firmly established in the model line-up Porsche would have been justified in taking its foot off the gas a little. The first Cayman was a difficult sell, dismissed in some quarters as a Porsche for those that couldn't afford a 911 and in all quarters by those puzzled that a coupe, traditionally the cheaper variant, was more costly than the convertible Boxster.

I'm assuming they've kept the pressure on?

Of course. This is Porsche we're talking about after all. So, there's a feeling this is a more purpose-designed and built Cayman than the first generation. That was based on a Boxster and bound to be a little compromised as a result. This time round both have been developed in parallel. And as a result improvements have been made: torsional stiffness is up a massive 40 per cent, for instance.

And it's so much better looking.

Isn't it? Bigger, heavier shoulders, so much more muscular and there's something about the angle of the hatchback rear and the shape of the haunches that's so right when viewed from the rear three-quarters. The front is fine, but plainer by comparison, but those deep, sucking flanks improve the stance so much, and overall the surfacing gives the Cayman a deeper, richer, more desirable twist. That's boosted by great detailing, especially the way the rear spoiler integrates with the lights. It's self-assured, boasts a far better sense of proportion than before and, provided you go for a good colour (not dark brown...), little short of captivating in the metal.

And what goes on underneath?

A choice of two engines and many, many options, most of which you don't need (a Cayman shouldn't be available with radar cruise or a keyless system in my opinion). Most people will spec the PDK gearbox because the 0-62mph times are faster, but the manual now has a similar rev-blip feature to the Nissan 370Z. It's foolproof and fun and mated to a honey of a six-speed manual. The 2.7-litre engine produces more power (271bhp) and torque (214lb ft from 4,500-6,500rpm) than the outgoing 2.9 and in so doing becomes the first Cayman to produce more than 100bhp per litre. It has notably less zing than the (321bhp and 273lb ft) 3.4-litre at low revs, but although it picks up well from 4,000rpm and has a claimed 0-62mph of 5.7 seconds, you get the feeling you'd have a hard time fending off Focus ST's in this naturally aspirated coupe. Does make a divine noise though, and as the flat six doesn't whip through the revs, you get to listen to it for a good long time. Spec the optional sport exhaust and listen to the sounds of the distant Crimean War rumble and pop behind you. The 2.7 is noisier and more tuneful than it has any right to be and sounds just as fruity as the 3.4.

So should you upgrade to the S?

Tricky one. The upgrade costs £9,089 (from £39,694 to 48,783) and if you'd never driven the 3.4 I think you'd be perfectly content with the 2.7. However, you'd always be keeping a watchful eye out for determined hot hatches in the 2.7, while in the S, which uses a detuned version of the entry-level 911's 3.4-litre flat six, you'd know you had them covered. It's quick (0-62mph in 5.0 seconds), notably more energetic and punchier across the rev range. And it too sounds glorious, a real rich rasp, full of intent and intoxication.

Good. Now what about those causes for concern you mentioned earlier?

It's chiefly the steering. In any other car I wouldn't bother to mention it, but because the Cayman is so exceptional in other areas, the new electro-hydraulic steering sticks in the craw slightly. It's perfectly weighted, beautifully accurate, but there's this bit in the press pack where it says, ‘negative or unnecessary noise is filtered out' and I have a feeling that some of what's been filtered out would have been better left in. It's the same with the new 911: the steering is consistent and you know exactly where you are with it, but the electro-mechanical set-up lacks the last little bit of tingle and fizz that a hydraulic power steering system offers. The old Cayman's wheel used to jiggle and writhe a bit on bumpy roads, let you know about the surface, the camber and everything. This one doesn't do that as effectively. You feel it through the chassis as much as you do the steering. It's a small point, but one worth making.

True. But is this one better to live with?

Undoubtedly. There's a faint impression that the Cayman is now aimed at a broader, less specialist customer base, and the Cayman, even as a manual, is blissfully easy to drive. There's no challenge here, it's a perfectly refined and quiet cruiser that would handle long range weekends away with aplomb, (even the S manages 32.1mpg, giving a 452-mile range) and the twin boot set-up (150 litres in the nose, a maximum of 275 in the tail) gives it decent practicality. As long as you don't need to pack a pushchair or something. But then junior won't be accompanying you and your good lady in a Cayman anyway.

Quite right too.

Agreed. The trouble is though, I think it's the practical elements of the Cayman that have taken the greatest leap forward: the cabin design and quality are truly superb and dynamically it's the quietness, smoothness and composure that have most obviously moved the game on from the previous car. Don't get me wrong, the Cayman handles joyously and if you really take it by the scruff and hurl it down a good, tight, twisting road, it really knows how to engage and excite in a way that no rival this side of the far more compromised Lotus Exige can manage. I'd have one over an Audi TT RS or BMW M3/Z4 35i, and the base 335bhp Jaguar F-Type is going to have to watch its footing, priced as it is. This is a great car, one that's grown up and expanded its repertoire without losing the essence of what it means to be a mid-engined, driver-focussed Porsche. Yes, I'm a tad disappointed by the steering, but I'd happily, happily live with it and probably think no more of it after a month or so.

Porsche Boxster

Up Front Disclaimer: there’s a 1998 Porsche Boxster in my garage. Because it’s fitted with a factory hardtop, the soft top almost never goes down. During the week I spent with this latest Boxster, the soft top hardly ever went up. In its day, my ’98 Boxster was a great sports car, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the Porsche that goes by that name today. Because the 2013 Boxster is the best sports car on the market you can buy right now. And given its base price of $49,500, it’s also a sensational deal.

It’s unlikely you’ll find a new Boxster for $49,500 unless you order one that way from your dealer. Porsche offers so many options to customize this car that your head will spin just trying to make sense of them all. The options on our test Boxster added $15,735 to the car’s sticker, and there’s not a single one in the bunch that you’d want to eliminate, because they’re all worth the extra money. Start with the $2,385 Leather Interior in Yachting Blue. This is a bargain when you consider that not only the seats, but the entire sweep of the dash, from windshield to console, is covered with pennant blue leather set off by deviated color stitching. This pale blue, combined with matching blue cloth roof, sets off the $710 Platinum Silver Metallic paint like a heavenly duet. The silver glows with a golden sheen that energizes the expanse of blue.

My ’98 Boxster has a thin-rimmed, 4-spoke steering wheel set on a fixed column, providing a take-it-or-leave-it steering position. The newest Boxster offers electric positioning for reach and height of the wheel. The 3-spoke “Multifunction” wheel itself is perfectly configured for ease of grasp. It features knurled knobs on the left spoke for sound system volume control, and on the right spoke for multifunction readouts which appear in the right instrument face. You can scroll through a bevy of information, including tire pressure, trip details (including mileage to empty), oil and water temps plus oil pressure, and radio settings. Best of all, you can turn that right gauge face into a navigational map if you have ordered the $3,860 Infotainment Package.

The fabric roof drops or raises in just 5 seconds, which is about what it takes the Boxster to sprint from 0 to 60mph. The handling of this mid-engine roadster is impeccable. Porsche fits 8 inch wide front, and 9 inch wide rear alloy wheels as standard. These 18 inch diameter wheels can be upgraded to 19 inch diameter Boxster S wheels for an additional charge of $1,560. Our test Boxster enjoyed this improvement. It charged through corners on its 235/40ZR19 front and 265/35ZR19 rear Pirelli P Zero tires with an effortlessness that defied the laws of physics. You’ll want to option your Boxster with the $1,790 PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) which places a pair of buttons on the central transmission tunnel, one to stiffen the shocks for a more sporting ride, the other to quicken the response of your throttle pedal.

It should not go unnoticed that Porsche has managed to green the Boxster by equipping it with an automatic idle shut-off feature that turns the engine off after a few seconds of waiting at a red light. This new program saves fuel and engine wear, as well as cutting smog output. The Boxster scores 24 MPG overall, with a high of 30MPG on highway runs. The Auto Start Stop system, which you can turn off at will, is so slick you hardly ever notice it in action. This is in distinct contrast to a similar system on a 3 Series BMW which gyrated the whole car every time it sprang into action.





Our test Boxster sported a 6-speed manual gearbox which is absolutely state of the art for ease of use, precision, and clutch engagement point feedback. Although you can equip your Boxster with a 7-speed semi automatic PDK transmission, the 6-speed is so fine that it burnishes the ownership experience to a shinier luster than the Platinum Silver Metallic paint.

2013 Porsche Boxster
Engine: 2.7 liter opposed 6, DOHC, 24 Valves
Horsepower: 265hp
Torque: 206 lb.-ft.
Fuel Consumption: 24 MPG City/30 MPG Highway
Price as Tested: $66,185
Star Rating: 10 out of 10 Stars

Porsche 911 Carrera

We thought it was a typo when we first saw it in a report from our German correspondent more than a year ago. But he was accurate, as is his way: The Porsche 911 would be, and now is, offered with a seven-speed manual transmission. Seven speeds! A veritable embarrassment of forward gears! So many gears, in fact, that Porsche put an indicator in the tachometer so you don’t get lost.

Porsche and supplier ZF have accomplished what no other car company has, which is sharing the basic structure of its manual and dual-clutch automatic trannies: The two boxes share about a third of their parts. Beyond the benefits of commonality, the benefit to Porsche and to 911 buyers is improved fuel economy. At 19 mpg city and 27 highway, the new 3.4-liter Carrera gets 1-and 2-mpg bumps (city and highway, respectively) compared with last year’s 3.6-liter Carrera equipped with a six-speed manual.

 With seven forward gears—plus reverse—to diagram, Porsche is running short on knob space.
So, for those times when you would like to drive your Porsche not at all like a Porsche—just locked in overdrive and trundling along on the highway—you will get better fuel economy. In seventh gear, with the shift lever listing heavily to the right, the Carrera feels sedated. To keep on top of the ebb and flow of highway traffic, we typically left the car in sixth, the gear in which it reaches its 182-mph top speed.

That’s the thing about the new 911: It is a two-mode car. Porsche, like all automakers, has to be evermore mindful of fuel economy, hence the seventh gear, the standard stop-start system, the electrically assisted steering, and the greater use of aluminum body panels. Turn off the stop-start system and avoid seventh gear, and what you’ll give up in efficiency you will surely gain back in joy.

True, the electric steering filters away some of the feel of earlier 911 helms, but it also eliminates occasionally extraneous pavement feedback. Pile on some revs, and that characteristic hard-shelled thrum of ?the 350-hp flat-six still thrills. And the grip is just tremendous. The new car hangs on the skidpad more tenaciously, stops shorter from 70 mph, and gives up only a tenth of a second in 0-to-60 and quarter-mile times to the 408-hp 2011 Carrera GTS with its bigger engine.

 There is still the matter of a little thing called the Boxster S, however. Porsche has always been careful to prevent it from out-performing its bigger brother. With 2013 versions of the Boxster S and the base 911, the accelerative gap between the two is now exactly zero. And we mean exactly zero.

The 911 Carrera coupe, with the seven-speed manual, runs ?to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds. The Boxster S, powered by a 315-hp version of the same 3.4-liter engine, ran it in 4.4 seconds. More remarkable, they both clock 12.9 seconds at 111 mph through the quarter-mile. Even up to 150 mph, the 911 pulls ahead of its little brother by only 1.2 seconds.

But the Boxster S has a paltry six speeds in its manual gearbox.

Porsche Cayenne S V-8 Diesel

Former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking long resisted using diesels, but now Porsche has finally embraced the compression-ignition engine. In Europe, the Cayenne and the Panamera are offered with the smooth and capable 3.0-liter V-6 TDI that’s also available in a number of other VW Group vehicles, from the Audi A4 to the VW Phaeton. With 240 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque on tap, it is a highly capable, autobahn-friendly engine. Here in the States, we get that diesel Cayenne, as well as its Audi Q7 and VW Touareg relatives.

But in the grand scheme of things, the V-6 Cayenne diesel doesn’t quite mesh with Porsche’s position as an eminently sporty brand. The 500-hp Cayenne Turbo and the 550-hp Turbo S do a better job of that, but they’re gas-powered. VW once offered a V-10 Touareg TDI and Audi a monstrous V-12 Q7 TDI, and both currently offer to customers on the Continent a 340-hp, 4.1-liter V-8 diesel with 590 lb-ft of torque. The Cayenne, however, has been conspicuously absent from the big-torque party—until now.

With the Cayenne S diesel, Porsche has not only caught up but also taken the lead with its own variation of the Audi-designed 4.1, strengthened to 382 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque. This most welcome enhancement is achieved by an extra 3 psi of boost, an intercooler taken from the Cayenne Turbo, and a new, lower-restriction exhaust system. For durability, the piston heads are modified and laser-treated. This Porsche's exhaust growl is not artificially enhanced with resonators or active flaps but is the genuine article.

 It’s too bad, then, that you can barely hear the powertrain inside, but you can definitely feel it. Mated to an eight-speed automatic, the two-and-a-half-ton SUV accelerates with vigor. We estimate 0 to 60 in 5.4 seconds and 0 to 100 mph in 13.8. Top speed is an ungoverned 155 mph, reached in seventh gear. In comparison, the V-6 diesel’s estimates are 7.2 and 25.4. Top speed for the V-6 is 135 mph. So, yeah, the V-8 delivers huge improvements. The difference between the diesels is noticeable at all speeds, but it is especially remarkable north of 80 mph.

The immense amount of low-end torque is addictive, but the most significant benefit of this diesel might be the incredible driving range; you can go nearly twice as far on a tank of fuel compared with the gas V-8s. In the optimistic European cycle, the Cayenne S diesel is rated at a combined 28 mpg, and 25 mpg in real-world driving seems quite plausible. The latter isn’t easy to achieve in a Cayenne gasoline hybrid, especially during the prolonged high-speed runs typical in Europe. And driving this diesel is a much simpler and more natural experience. No high-pitch whine, no artificial brake feel, no sudden surges of the internal-combustion engine—just sheer output that’s easy to control and modulate.


Complementing the powertrain, Porsche has done an extraordinary job on the chassis, particularly with the optional Porsche Active Suspension Management system. PASM active damping uses the same hardware as in the V-6 diesel but gets an improved control unit common with the Cayenne GTS. It not only takes into account roll and pitch but also now considers vehicle speed. This increases the number of data points by a claimed factor of 40, and the spread in feel over the entire range (Comfort, Normal, Sport) is larger than before. But in any of the settings, this Cayenne is more sure-footed and predictable than ever. Our favorite is Sport, which is supremely balanced yet avoids excessive harshness. Small wonder this setup soon will migrate to Volkswagen brand vehicles. Finally, unlike the V-6 diesel with its permanent all-wheel-drive system, the V-8 diesel gets active all-wheel drive, which distributes torque seamlessly to the front and rear axles according to driving style and available grip.

At current exchange rates, the V-8 Cayenne diesel runs $98,830 in Germany, or about $20,000 more than the V-6 diesel. We’re going to call the premium worth it, given the higher specification of the equipment and the powertrain. Porsche has not yet decided if it will offer the V-8 model in the U.S., preferring to first monitor the success of its lesser V-6 sibling. If there is sufficient demand, the V-8 might be added. Tell everyone you know to buy the V-6 now, so you can park the V-8 in your garage later.

Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet

As master illusionists Siegfried & Roy demonstrated night after night—well, most nights anyway—the spectacle of?two sequin-studded Germans ordering around uncaged and hopefully housebroken lions and tigers can be riveting. Not nearly as gamy, but accomplished with equally Teutonic flourish, is the job Porsche has done taming its once-wild and still-exotic rear-engine flagship. Whereas existential consequences once awaited those drivers of early 911s too unwise or foolish to try lift-throttle maneuvers midcorner, today’s 911 is certainly more forgiving than an uncaged Bengal tiger.

With the Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S, Porsche rolls out the first four-wheel-drive versions of?its new, seventh-generation 911. Porsche claims the previous version of the Carrera 4 accounted for 34 percent of ?911 sales worldwide. Replacing last year’s 997-based models, the new Carrera 4 and 4S coupes will go on sale early 2013, with the cabrio iterations of both due in spring.

Compared with the rear-drive Carrera, the rear fenders of?the 4 and 4S each flare an extra 0.9 inch, and a 1.4-inch-wider or 1.7-inch-wider rear track (Carrera 4S or Carrera 4, respectively) and slightly?wider tires lurk under those zaftig hindquarters.

On the winding roads of our test route near Graz, Austria, the weather served up a soupy mess of fog, rain, and, in the higher elevations, some snow. It made it all the more…engaging to explore the dynamic limits of a rear-heavy sports car while darting around narrow, unfamiliar byways. Aside from the slight loss of?feedback in the Carrera 4’s electrically assisted steering, the 4 coupe and the 4S cabrio felt cool and collected sabering through the Austrian countryside. And that was on winter tires. With brake-based torque vectoring to manage any understeer that might crop up and the electronic torque-allocating overlords of Porsche Traction Management (standard kit on all C4 models) to clean up whatever potential instability might occur, the 4WD Porsches cut and thrust their way like lions augering through a herd of ?wildebeest. Or Las Vegas tourists. The cars simply go where they are pointed.

We could actually see the front wheels helping to pull the car out of?the corners. In the instrument pod of the Carrera 4 is a torque-distribution gauge, including two bar graphs that indicate how torque is apportioned to the axles as you manipulate the throttle, swap gears, and encounter different road surfaces. Or, indeed, trees or trucks, if?you give this bit of dashboard show business anything more than a quick glance.

The seven-speed manual’s gates are closely spaced, and it’s easy to select the wrong gear, particularly while pulling the lever back for upshifts. If you don’t coax the shifter to the right, you might do a five-four downshift instead of the intended five-six upshift. Porsche apparently has anticipated this and provides a gear indicator below the tachometer. It has also implemented software that prevents seventh gear from being selected without first going through fifth and sixth.

In urban driving, there’s an engine stop-start system that works as advertised—meaning it kills the engine when you reach a standstill and lights it just before you get moving again—but as in the Boxster, restarts are a little on the harsh side for our tastes. Owners will also want to watch their cars’ wider haunches on tighter streets, as we foresee more than a few scraped wheels. Carrera 4s with the PDK automatic have Porsche’s new Active Safe system, which uses the distance-control function of the adaptive cruise control to prevent rear-end collisions. If it detects that a crash is imminent, it will give visual and audible warnings; if those are ignored, Active Safe performs a quick stab at the brakes that will increase to full-ABS application if the driver is still asleep at the wheel.

It’s almost $15,000 to upgrade from a Carrera 4 to a Carrera 4S. For that, you get a car that’s about 0.4 second quicker to 60 mph. Increasing the bore of the standard 4’s 3.4-liter flat-six bumps displacement to 3.8 liters in the 4S and raises output to 400 hp from 350 and torque to 325 lb-ft from 287. That’s not a massive jump, but the C4S also nets the buyer larger-diameter front brake rotors, six-piston front calipers, wider rubber, an upgrade to 20-inch wheels from 19s, and standard torque vectoring. As in other 911s, there is available PASM with adjustable electronic dampers and a ride height reduced by 0.3 inch.

But if you’re going to the show, you might as well get the best seats. In both the C4 and C4S, it might be worth the extra $1850 for the Sport Chrono package. Manual-transmission models with Sport Chrono blip the throttle on downshifts when in Sport Plus mode, a new feature this year that somewhat echoes Nissan’s SynchroRev Match, introduced on the 2009 370Z as part of its Sport package option. And when you push the Sport Plus button on models with Sport Chrono, the sometimes annoying stop-start system is deactivated, the throttle map gets more aggressive, the dampers are firmed up, and, if ?equipped, the optional dual-clutch automatic transmission goes into a “race course” shifting mode. The intake sound symposer and the optional sport exhaust are also activated for a more robust blat.

Actually, robust might be an understatement. We took a Carrera 4S cabrio, top down, through a long tunnel and slowed to a sober speed before punching the throttle and holding it to redline. It’s definitely worth recording for your next ringtone. Automatic-transmission-equipped cars feature launch control for NHRA-worthy, 5000-plus-rpm clutch dumps that catapult you off ?the line like—yes—a scalded tiger.