The New Turbocharged Porsche 718 Cayman Is Here

Porsche’s latest coupe is even cheaper than its sister car, The Boxster.

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Porsche‘s lovely lozenge-shaped two-seat sport coupe, the 718 Cayman, emerged at the Beijing Motor Show in refined form, with tweaked sheetmetal and an engine transplant delivering a 25-horsepower boost.

Photo: Porsche Cars North America

As in the 718 Boxster we recently tested in Portugal, the 718 Cayman employs either of a pair of new turbocharged flat-four engines in place of the flat-sixes that have been used to date. And as in the Boxster, the Cayman eases the pain of the loss of the beautiful orchestra provided by those two extra cylinders by being faster.

Photo: Porsche Cars North America

The 718 Cayman’s 2.0-liter turbo four cranks out 300 horsepower, while the 2.5-liter engine in the 718 Cayman S produces 350 hp. This means that the base car accelerates to 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds en route to a 170 mph top speed, and the Cayman S sprints to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds flat and tops out at 177 mph.

Photo: Porsche Cars North America

And how about the stiffer springs and shocks? Those always seem to help, and the steering borrowed from the 911 Turbo is 10 percent quicker than before, which should sharpen the Cayman’s already-keen reflexes.

Photo: Porsche Cars North America

We loved this car in the drop-top 718 Boxster edition, so coupe fans can expect more of the same, but with a slightly lower price tag than the Boxster’s $56,000 starting price. 

Whether its hard top in the 718 Cayman or topless in the 718 Boxster, the sight and sound from behind the wheel will be pretty much the same. And that’s a good thing.

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