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New Models
DRIVEN: Cayman R For Speed, Not Comfort
Hard-core version of Porsche's mid-engine coupe gets lighter and faster for performance on street or track.
The 2012 Porsche Cayman R cuts a mean profile even when painted tree-frog green. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
There’s a certain short but spicy road just northeast of Phoenix that clings to the edge of a ridge, dives into hairpin turns across stream beds, then rises in a torturously crooked two-lane path narrowly sandwiched between a steel guardrail and a sheer rock wall.
In other words, the perfect spot to flog a quick and agile Porsche Cayman R. About two miles of pure magic, with the sound-and-fury interchange of exhaust-pipe music and violent changes in speed and direction. Then the paving ends, the road turns to dirt, and you get to turn around and do it all over again.
Cayman R is Porsche’s lighter, tighter version of the Cayman S for 2012, resulting in a no-holds barred track-day sports car that can be driven on the street every day, if you have the kidneys for it. The suspension is brutally stiff, the brakes are massive and the steering is frightfully quick.
Porsche pushes the sinuous Cayman S up a notch in pure performance by shedding 121 pounds through the use of aluminum door skins and carbon-fiber-backed seats and door panels, and other slimming tricks, even replacing the standard inside door handles with canvas pull straps (which results in more of a psychological than an actual weight reduction).
Even the audio and air-conditioning systems are axed to reduce weight, although they can be added as options, which thankfully our test Porsche had. That’s a little too much purity, in my book, unless the R is heading for track duties only.
Engine power is boosted slightly to 330 horses compared with 320 for the Cayman S, and the whole package is lowered nearly an inch over 19-inch spoke wheels, which were painted glossy black with bright-red brake calipers showing, and shod with foot-wide Michelin Pilot performance tires. It’s a treatment similar to that of the Boxster Spyder that came out last year.
Cayman R is definitely an aggressive-looking beast, with the sleek, minimalist profile of the mid-engine coupe hunkered low over those huge wheels and blazing calipers.
Apparently, the signature color is tree-frog green, which Porsche calls Peridot Metallic, the hue of our test car. The paint job was pretty controversial, enough so that my neighbor up the street – a professional hot-rod builder – called me up just to point out how ugly he thought it was.
My viewpoint was not quite so reactive. Besides, the exotic-looking Cayman R turned out to be an extreme attention getter everywhere I drove, frog or no frog. I can’t tell you how many times I spotted young guys pointing their cell-phone cameras, even while they were “driving.” The coupe’s look is over the top to be sure, but it certainly gets a lot of love.
In classic Porsche fashion, what the R might lack in raw engine power it more than makes up for in handling finesse. Not that 330 horsepower is puny, especially when it’s motivating a 2,855-pound car. But Cayman R must take a back seat to the common run of 500-horsepower-plus supercars and muscle cars that have been making their appearances in recent years.
Of course, its fuel mileage is a whole lot better.
The sounds from the horizontally opposed six banger placed just behind the seats are intoxicating, making it just that much harder to keep your foot out of it. Porsche says R will hit 60 mph in 4.7 seconds with the manual transmission or 4.6 seconds with the paddle-controlled PDK automatic. Top speed is rated at 175 mph.
Speaking of which, I was glad that Porsche lent me a Cayman R with the superb six-speed stickshift. I am so sick of sports cars with paddle automatics only, no matter how good they are. The Cayman’s shifter made me feel sorry for those drivers who choose the PDK because they won’t experience the silky wrist-action precision of the short-lever gear changer. It reminded me once again why I love sports cars.
The steering is very precise with a turn in that’s so quick you need to be wary until you get used to it. The braking power feels almost supernatural.
The engine is also wonderfully flexible, easy to lug around in traffic and with a wide power band that makes shifting fairly subjective.
In other words, the perfect spot to flog a quick and agile Porsche Cayman R. About two miles of pure magic, with the sound-and-fury interchange of exhaust-pipe music and violent changes in speed and direction. Then the paving ends, the road turns to dirt, and you get to turn around and do it all over again.
Cayman R is Porsche’s lighter, tighter version of the Cayman S for 2012, resulting in a no-holds barred track-day sports car that can be driven on the street every day, if you have the kidneys for it. The suspension is brutally stiff, the brakes are massive and the steering is frightfully quick.
Porsche pushes the sinuous Cayman S up a notch in pure performance by shedding 121 pounds through the use of aluminum door skins and carbon-fiber-backed seats and door panels, and other slimming tricks, even replacing the standard inside door handles with canvas pull straps (which results in more of a psychological than an actual weight reduction).
Even the audio and air-conditioning systems are axed to reduce weight, although they can be added as options, which thankfully our test Porsche had. That’s a little too much purity, in my book, unless the R is heading for track duties only.
Engine power is boosted slightly to 330 horses compared with 320 for the Cayman S, and the whole package is lowered nearly an inch over 19-inch spoke wheels, which were painted glossy black with bright-red brake calipers showing, and shod with foot-wide Michelin Pilot performance tires. It’s a treatment similar to that of the Boxster Spyder that came out last year.
Cayman R is definitely an aggressive-looking beast, with the sleek, minimalist profile of the mid-engine coupe hunkered low over those huge wheels and blazing calipers.
Apparently, the signature color is tree-frog green, which Porsche calls Peridot Metallic, the hue of our test car. The paint job was pretty controversial, enough so that my neighbor up the street – a professional hot-rod builder – called me up just to point out how ugly he thought it was.
My viewpoint was not quite so reactive. Besides, the exotic-looking Cayman R turned out to be an extreme attention getter everywhere I drove, frog or no frog. I can’t tell you how many times I spotted young guys pointing their cell-phone cameras, even while they were “driving.” The coupe’s look is over the top to be sure, but it certainly gets a lot of love.
In classic Porsche fashion, what the R might lack in raw engine power it more than makes up for in handling finesse. Not that 330 horsepower is puny, especially when it’s motivating a 2,855-pound car. But Cayman R must take a back seat to the common run of 500-horsepower-plus supercars and muscle cars that have been making their appearances in recent years.
Of course, its fuel mileage is a whole lot better.
The sounds from the horizontally opposed six banger placed just behind the seats are intoxicating, making it just that much harder to keep your foot out of it. Porsche says R will hit 60 mph in 4.7 seconds with the manual transmission or 4.6 seconds with the paddle-controlled PDK automatic. Top speed is rated at 175 mph.
Speaking of which, I was glad that Porsche lent me a Cayman R with the superb six-speed stickshift. I am so sick of sports cars with paddle automatics only, no matter how good they are. The Cayman’s shifter made me feel sorry for those drivers who choose the PDK because they won’t experience the silky wrist-action precision of the short-lever gear changer. It reminded me once again why I love sports cars.
The steering is very precise with a turn in that’s so quick you need to be wary until you get used to it. The braking power feels almost supernatural.
The engine is also wonderfully flexible, easy to lug around in traffic and with a wide power band that makes shifting fairly subjective.
The Lyonheart K
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