Porsche Cayman morphs into 718 Cayman with flat-4 turbo and new position
Porsche Cayman morphs into 718 Cayman with flat-4 turbo and new position
Porsche Cayman morphs into 718 Cayman
Just as the Boxster recently became the 718 Boxster, the Cayman now morphs into 718 Cayman.
Porsche has restored order – where the coupé Cayman was slightly more powerful, more torquey, and priced higher than a roadster Boxster, the 718 Cayman now takes its rightful place in the sports car hierarchy where coupé ranks below roadster. The 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster engines will now share the same power and torque outputs.
Say 7 18, like 9 11
To bring the Cayman and Boxster closer together (after all, these are essentially the coupé and roadster bodies of the same car) these are now grouped under the 718 name.
Just like Porsche 911 is pronounced 9 11 (not nine-one-one, but nine-eleven), don’t say 7 1 8 but rather 7 18 (seven-eighteen).
Howling flat-6 dropped for turbo flat-4
The howling flat-6 will be sorely missed… it is dropped, replaced by an all-new turbo flat-4. Sure, Porsche did what it could to make the sound sporty, but it just cannot give that high-rev 6-love aural thrill.
Performance is better, though. The new smaller engines are both turbo – the 718 Cayman gets a 220kW 2.0 turbo, while the 718 Cayman S uses the 257kW 2.5-litre turbo engine, replacing the previous 2.7 and 3.4 sixes. Torque, thanks to the turbo blower, is up markedly, and fuel consumption and emission are much lower.
Still, if Porsche is so good at making a flat-6 turbo (all the Carrera models are now also a 3.0 flat-6 turbo) which they can pack into the rear of a nine-eleven, why can the 718 pair not get a smaller version of it – a 2.5 flat-6 turbo, perhaps – mounted in the 718’s mid-rear engine bay?
Local cars will have the 7-speed PDK automatic gearing as standard, though overseas markets have a manual option.
Redesign
The 718 Cayman is also the Cayman facelift. It gets a redesigned nose profile, ultra-slim front lights above the air intakes, and new-look bi-xenon headlights with integrated LED daytime running lights as standard. Optional is LED headlights with the the Porsche-look 4-point LED daytime lights. The rear gets an accent strip across the rear with naming between new 3D 4-brake-spot taillights.
The interior revisions are visible at first glance, including a new upper dash panel with integrated air vents, new sport steering wheel as per Porsche 918 Spyder, and the Porsche Communication Management (PCM) is now standard.
SA prices out
Porsche Centre SA confirmed the new 718 Cayman and 718 Cayman S are available for order now, with market launch end of September 2016.
| Local pricing with the 3-year Drive Plan maintenance contract is: | |
| Porsche 718 Cayman | R 854 000 |
| Porsche 718 Cayman S | R 934 000 |
| These slot in below 718 Boxster pricing: | |
| Porsche 718 Boxster | R 868 000 |
| Porsche 718 Boxster S | R 947 000 |