International debut of the 2013 Porsche Cayman
Porsche has just debuted the new generation of the Porsche Cayman – the most affordable sports coupe from the German carmaker – to the international audience. According to the automaker this is the third generation of the Cayman however, from a technical stand-point the second generation was only a major update.
The first generation of the Cayman debuted seven years ago as a hardtop twin to the Boxster convertible that played a major role in the financial recovery of the automaker in the 1990s.
That connection is still very apparent in the new generation of the Cayman, the model sharing about half its parts with the most recent version of the Boxster, including some of the bodywork – but not the roof or the rear, because the proportions will adjust for the different size of the sports car.
The length of the new Cayman was extended by 33mm to 4380mm, but overhangs are reduced while the wheelbase was stretched by 60mm. The windscreen has also been moved forward by 100mm.
With these increased dimensions, the ride height is reduced by 10mm, and the front and rear tracks widen to make the Cayman sit lower to the ground.
The body is forty percent stiffer than the second Cayman generation even if the body is moving from all-steel to incorporating 44 percent aluminium – this leads to the entry-level Cayman weighing 20kg less than the previous generation while the sportier S variant will shed somewhere around thirty kilograms.
The available engine options mirror those in the Boxster but they come with a bit of extra power: a 2.7-litre flat six-cylinder that loses 200cc but gains direct injection to produce 202kW and 290Nm, and a 3.4-litre flat six with 239kW and 370Nm that is practically the same one used in the base 911.
The base Cayman can do 0 to 100km/h anywhere between 5.7 and 5.4 seconds – this time depends on the transmission and whether or not the optional Sports Chrono package is installed.
