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66 | FireFlyz
Car
Review
Performing to Perfection
ZacharyHo
stretches out the PorscheCayman S’ legs and
knows for certainwhat hewants for Father’s Day.
W
hat
canonesay
about Porsche
cars? In my
opinion, the
old ones look
like flattened
B e e t l e s .
There’s nothing wrong with that since
they both came from the mind of the great
automotive genius, Ferdinand Porsche.
But for years, I’ve thought of Porsches
as a whim of midlife crisis. I even teased
a friend who bought a used 911 until he
decided to hand me the key one day.
That’s when I prized the pull of a
Porsche. That car had a refined engine
sitting at the back that was gentle enough
in traffic, but gave you white knuckles
when you’re careening the country roads.
I never made fun of him after that day and
he never handed me the key again. That
was my first Porsche experience. And this
is my latest…
LOOKS
This second generation Cayman S –
internally designated 981 – supersedes
the 987 (I never comprehended their
quirky coding). The ‘S’ stands for ‘Sport’
or ‘Special’ and is differentiated from the
regular Cayman by a bigger engine and
wider rear track; hardly noticeable visual
traits.
This car is a complete redesign with a
newstiffer, lighter chassis and lighter body.
To expound the improvements, it now has
a longer wheelbase, wider track, shorter
front overhang, as well as lower height and
weight. Yet, it still looks unmistakeably
Porsche proving that you can still wring
out more performance froman old design.
POWER
Unlike the 911, the Cayman S is a two-
seater rear-mid-engined ride. On paper, the
911 is still the big brother in relative terms.
The Cayman S with its 3.4-liter 6-cylinder
engine produces a paltry 325ps compared
to a 911 Carrera S’ 400ps.
But since the Cayman S is about
300kg lighter, it still manages to run from
standstill to 100km/h in 4.9 seconds – only
slightly slower than the Carrera S. The
seven-speed PDK gearbox aids the power
delivery in a slick, swift manner. The
smooth engine will happily let you rev
up to the red line – just a shave under
8,000rpm – showing its beauty when you
want it to be a beast. But straight line
speed isn’t the most important draw.
DRIVE
It’s the overall performance of the Cayman
S on the road that gives it brownie points
despite its ‘Junior Porsche’ image. The
balance is as spot-on as you can get,
helped by having the engine placed closer
to the centre of the car. This results in
the car’s handling being very neutral
and able to take corners with hardly