The Porsche Cayman is one of the entry-level models to Porsche’s ever-expanding range of products. Introduced here in 2006, it came with a mid-mounted engine, like its open-topped 2-seater sibling, the Porsche Boxster. The larger, faster, more expensive 911, with an extra row of seats has a rear-mounted engine.
What this mid-engined location meant was that you were in touch with a lot of the engine noise In the Cayman. And considering that a Porsche flat-6 has a wonderfully evocative engine note, many enthusiasts loved this factor. They also loved the immediacy of the car’s handling, despite the fact that it had less power and speed than a 911.
Cayman evolution
Since then the Cayman has been revised twice. The second-generation Cayman arrived here in 2014, with a comprehensively re-jigged body shape and up-rated engines. The base model used a new 2,7-litre flat-6 engine, while the S was fitted with a revised 3,4-litre engine of similar configuration. You could order it with a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed PDK (dual-clutch automatic) transmission. Once again, the second-gen model was lauded as one of the best-handling sports cars you could buy!
A change to the 718 model
The big change for the Cayman came in late 2016 when the car was restyled and re-badged as a 718 Cayman. This name referred to a classic Porsche 4-cylinder racer of the early 1960s, and the reason for the name-change was that the Cayman had been re-engined with a 4-cylinder turbocharged flat-four motor, replacing the flat-6. However, more recently the flat-6 engine (still endowed with that sonorous engine-note) made a re-appearance in the 718 Cayman range in the GTS 4.0 and GT4 derivatives.
The current Cayman range is available in 4-cylinder form with a PDK (automatic) gearbox, while the potent 6-cylinder models are fitted with a 6-speed manual gearbox.
Is the Porsche Cayman good for new drivers?
The quick answer is that this is a ridiculously fast and expensive car to learn on. On the other hand the Cayman has many attributes that make it easy to drive. So here we present a “for” and “against” list, regarding its suitability for a novice driver:
For
1. Passive safety
The Porsche Cayman has an extremely rigid body shell constructed of high-strength steel, and comes with a total of 6 airbags. So if you are in an accident in this car, you will be well protected.
2. Active safety items
The Porsche Cayman comes with a superb braking system, as well as fantastic handling and road grip, with all the latest traction-control systems. In this sense it is a far safer car than your average low-priced hatchback.
3. Easy to operate
Despite being an exotic sports car, it is amazingly easy to drive, requiring no special techniques to drive it briskly and efficiently.
Against
1. Power
Even at its initial launch in 2006, the lowest-priced Cayman was endowed with 180 kW. With the latest model, power outputs range from 220 kW to 309 kW. This means that if an inexperienced driver freezes with the accelerator pushed to the floor, things happen awfully fast.
2. Speed
The Porsche Caymans accelerates to 100 km/h in less than 5-seconds and has a top speed ranging between 275 km/h and 301 km/h. Most people would concur that this speed potential could be lethal in inexperienced hands.
3. Price
The Porsche Cayman currently costs between R1-million and R1.6-million. And replacement parts are expensive. You would need to check whether your insurance policy covers a young or inexperienced driver. If not, you could be in for an expensive learning curve.
Conclusion
Unless the learner driver you are coaching has been racing karts since the age of 5 and has a fundamental understanding of vehicle dynamics and speed, we would heartily recommend you start the learning process on an older car costing less than R200 000. Ideal for this purpose is an older, larger sedan with a solid shell that is equipped with basic safety devices such as ABS brakes and airbags. AutoTrader currently lists over 30 000 examples of New and Used cars costing less than R200 000.
We are generally in favour of learner drivers starting out on manual transmission cars. These are more difficult to master at the initial stages than a two-pedal automatic. But if you start on an automatic, you may never learn to properly master the art of pulling away using a clutch pedal and changing gears manually.
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