Automatic Sport Cars

There is no doubt that the Porsche 911 has been long ordained by Stuttgart as the family flagship sports car. However, when the Cayman made its appearance in 2006, more than a few folks in the industry raised their eyebrows and thought the buttery-smooth handling character of the mid-engine Porsche could outrun its older brother, especially given equal power. To keep the 911 on top, Porsche intentionally kept the Cayman’s engine output below that of the Porsche icon. But now with the introduction of the lightweight 2012 Cayman R, could the little brother encroach on the 911’s territory?

At the interior side, Porsche Cayman base and S has equipped with air conditioning system, two-sport seats, electric windows, windscreen washer system, electrically exterior mirror and interior lighting. While for the top trim level, Porsche Cayman R, added with cruise control, windshield and an adjustable sport steering wheel design. For the entertainment system, the Cayman has been featured with Bose surround sound system, AM/FM CD player and MP3 compatible also universal audio interface at the Cayman R. At the safety terms, Porsche Cayman has equipped with airbags, seat belts, braking system and many high technology of safety system.

The base Cayman has a 2.9-liter six-cylinder engine that produces 265 horsepower at 7,200 rpm and 221 pound-feet of torque. The more powerful Cayman S features a 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine that makes 320 horsepower at 7,200 rpm and 273 pound-feet of torque. With a maximum speed of 175 mph, the Cayman R is the most powerful and fastest model. It has a 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine that produces 330 hp at 7,400 rpm and 273 pound feet torque.

Porsche claims that the base Cayman has a top speed of 165 mph and can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds. The Cayman S trumps the base with a top speed of 172 mph and a 0 to 60 acceleration time of just 4.9 seconds.

All models have a standard six-speed manual transmission. The Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) transmission is optional on all models, but isn’t cheap. The PDK costs $3,420.

According to the EPA, the base Cayman gets 19/27 mpg city/highway with the manual transmission and 20/29 city/highway with the automatic. The Cayman S nets 19/26 mpg city/highway with the six-speed manual transmission and 20/29 city/highway with the automatic. There is no fuel economy data available for the Cayman R.

To emphasize the seriousness of the Cayman R as a sports car, it comes standard without air conditioning or stereo system. Aluminum doors, carbon-fiber interior door panels and seats also contribute to the car’s svelte curb weight of just under 3000 lbs. That’s 121 lbs lighter than the Cayman S. Porsche engineers lowered the R’s ride height by 0.8 inches, and added custom anti-roll bar and stiffer springs with a limited slip differential for reduced roll angle and improved traction through the corners on the road or track.

Technical specs aside, the Cayman R road manners are impressive—at least to the extent we can sample the car’s limits in rain soaked and at times heavy hail downpour roads in Malloraca. While the R’s ultimate performance limit was not fully explored, its predictable wet-handling character perhaps was more telling about the car’s drivability. Either with Porsche Stability Management (PSM) system on or off, the Cayman R showed good stability at all speeds. And any time traction was reduced, the behavior was progressive allowing you plenty of time to react with steering input or throttle modulation.

reference:inopowers.net,www.roadandtrack.com,www.caranddriver.com