Porsche Cayman 2.7 PDK

What is it?

This is the all-new 981-spec Porsche Cayman, representing the first full makeover of Porsche’s cool mid-engined, two-seat coupe since the beginning, back in 2005.

For the new Cayman, Porsche has reworked the complete package, cutting weight by up to 30kg, introducing a fresh set of more powerful and efficient flat-six engines, all housed in a significantly stiffer, new look body with longer wheelbase. 

At heart, though, the Cayman keeps to the existing formula within the Porsche family and your decision, as before, rests on whether you go for the standard Cayman (now 2.7-litre) or the more powerful 3.4-litre Cayman S.

Next up, it’s 6-speed manual box or double clutch 7-speed PDK auto.

Then, it’s an extensive and tempting list of Porsche options to mull over, but even in ‘base’ form, the new Cayman is still a serious, well sorted driver’s car (as we discovered over the scintillating Highland roads in north west Scotland).

It’s a car that appeals to the head as well as the heart, thanks to Porsche’s typically strong residuals, the car’s high build quality and reasonable running costs for the class. BIK is still 27 per cent for this Cayman 2.7, however, and a P11D value of £41,616 needs to be borne in mind, so a conventional company car, it is not.

For this all-new Cayman, Porsche has brought in styling cues from the Panamera saloon and indeed some high grade equipment from top end Porsches has now filtered down to the Cayman: features such as Adaptive Cruise Control and high-brow Burmester audio system.

And yet despite this and the full ground-up makeover, prices have not ballooned skywards. Porsche says it costs £487 (1.3 per cent) more than the previous generation Cayman. For the Cayman S, it’s 2.2 per cent and £1134. But if you choose to buy one as your business car the first year write down allowance is only 8 per cent since the changes this month.

What’s hot?

• Sleek and sexy, the new Cayman has all the style you’d expect from a cutting edge Porsche coupe, yet it also has the pure bred sports car engineering to match.
• Based on an all-new platform, the new Cayman is up to 30kg lighter than the outgoing 987 model, yet the body is 40 per cent stiffer.
  

  

• The new Cayman covers 0-62mph in just 5.6 secs and hits 164mph. The new Cayman S naturally is even fleeter. 
• Despite having a smaller capacity than the outgoing 2.9, the new Cayman 2.7 ‘boxer’ engine has more power (275PS) and is up to 15 per cent more fuel efficient.
• CO2 emissions down 34g/km (from the 987) to 180g/km
• Beautifully balanced, agile and responsive mid-engined chassis is arguably the best that Porsche makes.
• Fabulous brakes and precise new electro-mechanical steering.
• Smooth, fast-acting twin clutch PDK box is well worth the extra cost (£1977).
• Auto stop-start is standard equipment  

What’s not?

• The Cayman remains a strict two-seater so there’s no space at all behind the seats. If you need a Porsche +2, you’ll need to trade up to a 911….
• PDK steering wheel shift buttons are too fiddly
• Some rumbly tyre noise over poor surfaces
• The Cayman starts to get expensive when you set about speccing it up with desirable extras that co-incidentally will help resale value. Leather interior with sports seats, for instance, are £3630 and Porsche Communication Management (PCM) is £2141.
• If you buy one the first year write down allowance is only 8 per cent
• Some keen drivers may prefer the simpler, more open feel of the 987-era Cayman cockpit

Business Car Manager car review verdict

After eight years on sale, the Porsche Cayman has now grown up in every way.           

While the outgoing 987 model was a really well conceived car, highly rated by experienced drivers, this new gen 981 looks and feels more upscale, especially inside, has more kit, goes harder, uses less fuel and has lower CO2. Just what the doctor ordered for 2013 duty, then.

Having driven both Cayman and Cayman S versions in Scotland, we’d say this 2.7 model is ‘enough’, and the PDK box is probably the one to have given the density and drag of modern UK traffic.

Any Porsche will be outside the usual UK company car world, but if budget permits, we can see a rational case being made to run a Cayman 2.7 such as this one as a company car. On the assumption that the driver is a 40 per cent tax payer the annual bill for company car tax would be £4661, rising to over £5000 in 2 years time. It’s not peanuts but it beats, say, an Audi TT RS.

All round, though, the new Porsche Cayman is certainly a car to covet – and many would say, shows Porsche at its best.

The Low Down…

…and what it costs