DRIVEN: Porsche Cayman GTS Review
Following a short track test of the Porsche Cayman GTS, here is the first drive review on the impressive mid-engined sports car.
What’s the Porsche Cayman GTS all about?
The Porsche Cayman GTS is the current top of the range Cayman that you can buy. It has an additional 75bhp over the standard model and it is the ultimate representation of a mid-engined sports car from the Porsche manufacturer.
The Cayman is evolving as a well-defined mid-engined sports car and is becoming more and more of a direct competitor against Porsche’s own 911 model.
The body design of the Cayman is very impressive, and in my opinion there is very little not to like about it. The GTS includes Porsche’s Sport Chrono package and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) as default, giving you more control over both the car’s throttle response and its dampers and also lowering the car around 20mm all round.
The Porsche Cayman GTS is powered by the same engine as the Cayman S but has been tweaked to produce more power. The tweaked mid-mounted engine produces 340bhp and uses a 6 speed manual gearbox to drive the rear wheels. Because of this the car can get from 0 to 60mph in the 4.9 seconds and will go all the way up to 177mph. This is very impressive performance.
How does it drive?
Getting into the car you feel exceptionally low to the ground and are bang in the centre of the front and rear wheels. Turn on the ignition and you hear the sports exhaust fire up and that rumble from the V6 engine behind you. Moving off in the car in the default driving mode you are very much aware that you’re in a sports car, you can feel the road underneath you and the car just feels ready to fly straight from the off.
I took this car out on the handling circuit at the Silverstone Porsche Experience Centre. The first few laps were for warming the Cayman up, even driving the car slowly felt fantastic, and very encouraging to drive too, even in the normal performance mode. Once up to temperature I put it into Sport Plus mode, for the track, and this is where the GTS really came alive. Sport Plus mode adjusts the throttle response, firms up the suspension, and applies rev matching when changing down gears. So now as soon as you hit that right pedal the Cayman launches as if it has little to no weight about it. The more I got around the handling circuit, the more I could really feel how well the Cayman changes direction; it felt exceptionally well balanced and has a great turning ability.
The Cayman is only 10bhp away from the standard Porsche 911 and I find it interesting how the mid-engine Cayman compares to the 911. They’re both very different beasts but there is an element about the mid-engined Cayman that just seems to make sense, especially on the circuit. I wonder, if the Cayman had the same amount of power as the 911 would it be faster around the circuit?
What’s it like inside?
Inside the Cayman GTS it has a luxury feel top to bottom. The Cayman looks how you expect a sports car to look; there is lots of nice leather, well-crafted plastics, and plenty of highly polished aluminiums. The driver instruments look sporty and provide you with lots of information about the car using its nested digital displays.
For me I think the Cayman is one of my favourite interiors from Porsche. It pretty much has everything you need, and even better is that it is all where you expect it to be. It looks very modern and exceptionally sporty.
The Experience
The Porsche Cayman GTS driving experience is one that has really captured my heart. When you’re looking at sports car design there are a few things that are key in the recipe for a good car, one of them is rear wheel drive, another is plenty of power and the other is a good balance of weight distribution. The Cayman hits all of these points very well. There is so much fun to be had in this car and it doesn’t even have to be driven at high speeds to enjoy it.
Verdict
The Porsche Cayman GTS has around a £15,000 premium over the standard Cayman, which is a considerable amount of money, but what you are actually getting is Porsche’s ultimate mid-engined car, which is not just a monster on the track but is also a brilliant everyday usable sports car.
Specification
Porsche Cayman GTS
- Price: £55,397
- Engine: 3.4-Litre V6
- Power: 340bhp
- Torque: 380Nm
- Transmission: 6-speed manual
- 0-62mph: 4.9 Seconds
- Top speed: 177mph
- Weight: 1,450kg
- Economy combined: 31mpg
- CO2: 211g/km
Author: Paul Hadley
