Anytime you drive a Porsche (sorry for those who haven’t!), you feel like you’re sitting behind the wheel of one of the world’s finest automobiles… provided, of course, that you dig the brand’s extreme sportiness and racing tradition. The 911 Carrera, the Boxster and my recent tester, the Cayman S, all have a distinct personality. However, I must say that the latter did not prove to be as satisfying as I initially hoped.
I’m sure most of you are already screaming: "That guy has become a snob, spoiled old writer! How dare he disregard a Porsche?" Yet, prior to this road test, I recalled the Porsche Cayman as one of the most balanced and best-handling cars I have ever driven in my life.
But a full week and hundreds of kilometres later, my opinion is not quite the same. Sure, the Cayman is a real beast on the track. Having said that, the high-end S model seems to have sacrificed some of its good manners and overall comfort for a more aggressive and hardcore driving experience.
It’s not a bad car by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s somewhat harder to live with on an everyday basis (although, honestly, one would probably get used to it).
PDK
The hot new feature from Porsche that everyone is talking about falls under the acronym "PDK" (I’ll spare you the complete German name). It’s a twin-clutch transmission and, as some auto historians will remember, Porsche once used a similar type of gearbox in the 965, although for a brief period only.
Of course, this modern unit benefits from the latest and most advanced technologies, making it impressively quick and precise at shifting gears. In fact, the Porsche Cayman S is faster from 0 to 100 with this seven-speed autobox than with the standard six-speed manual transmission.
The problem with the PDK is the size and shape of the shift buttons. These metal pieces are essentially built in the steering wheel for straight thumb actuation (pushing forward upshifts and pushing back does the opposite). This setup does the trick but is not exactly user-friendly. Call me old-fashioned if you want, but I would have preferred a simple lever or paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.
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| You can’t really be disappointed by a Porsche, certainly not the driving part. |
I’m sure most of you are already screaming: "That guy has become a snob, spoiled old writer! How dare he disregard a Porsche?" Yet, prior to this road test, I recalled the Porsche Cayman as one of the most balanced and best-handling cars I have ever driven in my life.
But a full week and hundreds of kilometres later, my opinion is not quite the same. Sure, the Cayman is a real beast on the track. Having said that, the high-end S model seems to have sacrificed some of its good manners and overall comfort for a more aggressive and hardcore driving experience.
It’s not a bad car by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s somewhat harder to live with on an everyday basis (although, honestly, one would probably get used to it).
PDK
The hot new feature from Porsche that everyone is talking about falls under the acronym "PDK" (I’ll spare you the complete German name). It’s a twin-clutch transmission and, as some auto historians will remember, Porsche once used a similar type of gearbox in the 965, although for a brief period only.
Of course, this modern unit benefits from the latest and most advanced technologies, making it impressively quick and precise at shifting gears. In fact, the Porsche Cayman S is faster from 0 to 100 with this seven-speed autobox than with the standard six-speed manual transmission.
The problem with the PDK is the size and shape of the shift buttons. These metal pieces are essentially built in the steering wheel for straight thumb actuation (pushing forward upshifts and pushing back does the opposite). This setup does the trick but is not exactly user-friendly. Call me old-fashioned if you want, but I would have preferred a simple lever or paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.
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| It’s always nice to have a cavalry of 320 horses (25 more than last year) at your disposal, just waiting to be unleashed. |