 2009 Porsche Cayman S. Click image to enlarge |
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2009 Porsche Cayman
Ottawa, Ontario – When I was 13 or 14 years old, my grandfather started feeding me a steady diet of back issues of Car and Driver magazine. I’d get a stack of copies every time I went to visit my grandparents in Toronto with my folks, who would then spend the rest of the weekend telling me to “be polite and get your nose out of that magazine!”
That would have been a logical time for my obsession with cars to begin, but the truth is that I’d been a car nut since I was old enough to, well, breathe, I’m pretty sure.
What those first glossy car mags did, though, was make me even more certain that I knew everything there was to know about cars just because I’d read a whole lot about them (keep in mind I wasn’t even old enough to drive yet).
These days, I’m a lot more humble about my level of knowledge, but I was reminded of that old know-it-all attitude recently when Porsche lent me a 2009 Cayman S to test for a week.
“How much is that car worth?” asked one of the neighbourhood kids as I idled past in the parking lot.
“About $90,000″ I replied.
  2009 Porsche Cayman S. Click image to enlarge |
“Wow, that’s expensive!” he exclaimed, which meant that he either had an uncanny grasp of personal finance for a fourteen-year-old, or he was faking it to show off for his friends.
“That’s some kind of Elise!” I heard him say, to his friends, as I drove off.
It was like listening to myself, circa 1991.
It’s pretty clear why kids – young and old – get so excited about cars like this (even if they have no idea what they’re called). The Cayman S (and its droptop Boxster S sibling) is serious fun. The 3.4-litre flat six makes 320 horsepower this year, a 25 hp boost over 2008 that comes thanks to the addition of direct fuel injection. Torque is up 22 lb-ft too, and while an eight per cent power bump doesn’t sound like much, the extra juice is very noticeable.
(Non-S Caymans and Boxsters get a new, 2.9-litre six-cylinder making 265 hp/221 lb-ft, increases of 20 each, compared to 2008’s 2.7-litre engine.)
Despite the fact that peak power and torque both happen at higher engine speeds, mid-range pick-up feels stronger. The improvements are more apparent when punching the throttle from a stop, though; you’ll want to warn your passenger before you do so, or they might need medical attention for whiplash afterward.
With even family cars and minivans approaching the 300-horsepower threshold, it has started to seem, recently, like a rather ordinary figure, instead of one reserved for high-dollar sports cars. But, somehow, Porsche manages to make it special all the same, as if horsepower is worth more in Germany, so that this car’s 325 are equal to some higher number in a car built anywhere else. It just seems fitting that a car bred for the fast-as-you-please Autobahn feels faster than its numbers would suggest.
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at 9:33 am
As much as I agree with you that I would choose the manual over the PDK despite the performance disadvantage, I do have to disagree with you about one thing.
The PDK’s shift pattern (forward upshift, back downshift) is not “backwards”. Frankly, the forward / downshift pattern seen on BMWs and my wife’s Mazda3 is what is backwards, if there is a “right” way at all.
Remember, Porsche originated the Tiptronic transmission twenty years ago in the 964. All others followed them.
at 10:06 am
Its a shame that more and more sport cars are moving toward the dual clutch automatics. Sure they are quicker and more fuel efficient, but they are not as involving. Proper sport cars have a manual.
BTW, I agree with the authour, the pdk is backwards. It is counterintuitive to push forward to shift up, instead of pulling back. Oh well besides that flaw, it is a dynamic and expensive car-when you add on the options.
at 3:32 pm
Porsche sure is doing a bang up job pushing the PDK. every article you see has a “PDK” section, extolling the virtues. I’d like to see more tests with the proper transmission….I could care less about tenths of a second on a track, I don’t race for money.
Awesome car, and i would love to have one. More sexy than a 911, damn the pedigree!
at 4:03 pm
The forward/downshift, back/upshift just seems more logical to me. Think of the 1-2 upshift when you’re accelerating hard from a stop, and the 4-3/6-5 downshift when you need to accelerate at speed (the argument there falls apart when shifting 5-4, but whatever).
Those two shifts, to me, have always “defined” the “proper” direction for up and downshifts in a standard car. That’s why I have a hard time getting used to the setup Porsche uses, and is why I rarely use the manual shift function in cars with shiftable automatics.
I love Mitsu’s TC-SST, because it uses the manual shift pattern I prefer. I used the manual mode in that car almost the whole time I had it, where with the PDK, I only used it a few times to see how well it worked.
at 11:05 pm
I have to completely agree with the writer in that pulling back for upshifts is the ‘right’ setup.. k, perhaps there is not right/wrong but pulling back, to me, is more intuitive..
This is how I view it: Starting from a standstill and accelerating thru the gears, it makes sense to pull back a lever towards you versus pushing a stick in the opposite direction of motion for the next gear.. In an extreme case, say hard G’s are pushing you back into the seat, it just seems natural and easier to pull on a lever versus forcing a stick in the opposite direction of the natural forces of the vehicle..
Ah whatever, I am obviously in the minority here as most automakers i’m sure have studied this.. Their findings: People feel that ‘pushing a stick forward to go forward’ makes sense.. If you think about it, Mr. Chase makes a lot o’ sense..
at 1:37 am
Re: shift setup, I played a car racing game back in the late 80’s/early 90’s. It was a Formula 1 racing simulator and was actually quite well done back in the day.. It had only one stubby shift knob on the right – pull back for upshifts, push forward for downshifts.. Worked really well.
Out of curiosity, any one know the name of this game? Has been a long time since I last visited an arcade..
at 2:19 am
Cayman is a tight little ride.. Tho if I could afford a 90K Cayman, I might save up a little extra and go with a base 911..
at 8:12 am
I think the “forward for upshifts” seems more natural to many since that is how you plain out automatics have been since forever – you manually downshift by pulling.
That being said I prefer the opposite.
at 9:03 am
For every 1-2 upshift, there’s also the 2-3 upshift accelerating onto the straight after some tight S curves.
I don’t think either way’s really more “proper” than the other, I just think Porsche should be given a free ride for being the first to come out with it 20 years ago and not straying from their shift pattern since.
at 5:35 am
not sure i like it – looks like a squat VW beetle
at 9:33 pm
Why not end all debates by using paddle shifters instead of the PDK? Upshift with the right hand and downshift with the left hand? I think most would agree that this setup would make the most sense (and you wouldn’t have to take your hands off the wheel!)
I have a soft spot for Porsche. I would gladly take this over any flashy Italian car twice/thrice the price. I would only have to get used to starting the car with my left hand. (Unless Porsche is going with a push start like every other car manufacturer …)
at 7:46 am
Dang. 90k. As much as I love the CaymanS, my BMW 135i looks like the deal of the decade.