2017 Porsche 718 Cayman: Face of an angel, voice of indigestion
The 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman S sure is pretty, but man does it sound bad. And it has a silly name.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Meet the new Porsche 718 Cayman. The 718 bit of the name comes from races car from the early days of Porsche.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
They, like the new Cayman, have four-cylinder engines and go rather quickly.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
That's about all the two have in common though.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
The new Cayman gets a sharper look to it. Most notably its nose.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Apparently it's almost completely new. Parts like the roof carry over from the old car, but that's about it.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Even the door handles are new.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
The rear is rather fine, save for the black strip with 'PORSCHE' written across it. That looks a touch tacky.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
The main story here is the engine - it's a four-cylinder turbo. In the S you get 2.5-liters to play with, the non-S gets 2.0.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Power is up for both models, the S getting 345bhp and 310lb-ft. 0-62mph, in a car with the PDK auto and Sport Chrono fitted, takes 4.2 seconds. That's as quick as a base 911.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Feeling brave? The S will hit 177mph if you've got the space.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
The car rides wonderfully in normal mode, but flip a switch and it turns MEAN.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
The throttle becomes more agressive, steering heavier and all-round wonderful. Apart from one thing...
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
It sounds dreadful. The old howl is gone, replaced by a din that's unpleasant at any speed.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
A shame, because one of the reasons for buying a sports car is the sound it makes.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
And because you've got a closed off roof, there's no way to escape it. You're tapped in the cabin with it. Or... is it trapped in the cabin with you?
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
The stick shift is fantastic. As they go, it's up there for fun. The PDK is, well, a Porsche double clutch auto. So... awesome!
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Inside you now get a seven-inch touch screen interface with Apple CarPlay. It's slick and works really well.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Though you don't have to use the touch screen if you don't want to. There are buttons glore to play with.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
There's loads of luggage space as well. Both the trunk and the frunk are room enough for a surprisingly large amount of stuff.
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
The extra power is good, the ergonimics are great, and the handling sublime...
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
...but will the noise put people off? Will there be a spike in used Cayman values?
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Time will tell...