2014 Porsche Cayman: A Religious Experience

True driver's cars are rare on the ground, especially in our modern era of electronic nannies, leaden luxury features, and a sharper focus on fuel economy.  It's this scarcity that makes such an outstanding vehicle like the all-new 2014 Porsche Cayman stick out from the rest of the pack, even when compared against its sports car brethren.  In a world where the vaunted Porsche 911 Carrera has been pushed upstream in an effort to satisfy comfort-seeking performance fans, we're lucky that the German automaker still cares enough to build such a pure and nimble steed like the Cayman for those of us more concerned with the next apex than with scoring points with the restaurant valet.

It's All About Balance

What makes the 2014 Porsche Cayman so special?  Obviously, there's more than one factor at play here, but if I had to boil down the car's driving characteristics to a single word, it would be 'balance.'  The engineers at Porsche have managed to give the Cayman a chassis that is so remarkably well-weighted that one has to work very hard to get the compact coupe out of shape - even when traveling through a corner at a high rate of speed.  The placement of the Cayman's engine immediately behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle (instead of trailing behind the car as in a 911) allows the vehicle to pivot quickly and with very little drama.  As a result, understeer is out of the picture, and while tire-shredding oversteer is available for those willing to put in the wheel-and-throttle effort, 99 percent of the time the Porsche Cayman goes where you point it without any complaint or cuss.

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The Cayman's balancing act is complemented by one of - if not the - best electric steering racks on the market, a curb weight of just over 1,350 kilograms, and a suspension that has been tuned to adhere to the tarmac like maple syrup on a waffle.  The Porsche Cayman wraps around you like a second skin, responding to your every command with slavish devotion.  Altogether it's a thoroughly impressive package that would probably be satisfying to pilot even if it was powered by your own two feet sticking through the floorboards, Barney Rubble-style.

Quick But Not Hyper

A chassis this supple deserves a drivetrain that can take advantage of it, without overpowering the more subtle aspects of its performance bouquet.  The 2014 Porsche Cayman delivers in the form of a 2.7-liter, horizontally-opposed six-cylinder engine that revs willingly to a redline of 7,400 rpm.  275 horses and 213 lb-ft of torque answer to call of your right foot when you're deep in Cayman country, and while that might not move the dial when compared to the mechanical boast of its 911 sibling - or even the specs shown off by the 325 horsepower Cayman S - it's certainly more than enough to entertain, and indeed, educate all but the most hardened drivers.

It certainly helped that the Cayman I drove for a week was outfitted with Porsche's slick and precise six-speed manual transmission, which helped me make more of a spiritual connection with the symphonic wail of the car's flat-six engine singing out directly behind my ears.  Having piloted dual-clutch editions of the Cayman and the Cayman S back-to-back this past summer on a track, I have to say that my heart had originally been stolen away by the more muscular version of this sports coupe, but time spent with the more modest Cayman in manual tranny trim re-upped my estimation of Porsche's entry-level hard top.  The Cayman won't out-drag a Corvette down the back stretch, but it will out-engage - and out-handle - the vast majority of pretenders at its price point.  And it must be said: 5.7 seconds to 100 km/h from a standing start 'feels' much quicker in the Porsche than the numbers might indicate, an important distinction in our age of Novocaine-injected, ultra-fast performance appliances.

It's What's On The Inside That Counts

My love affair with the 2014 Porsche Cayman goes beyond shallow first impressions.  I'm actually not particularly fond of the coupe's styling, as I find its elongated proportions - while more graceful than the first-generation of the car - somewhat awkward when viewed head on.  The Cayman's profile, however, is respectably sleek, and from the rear quarter view it also invites the eye to linger.  Throw in novelties like a deployable wing,  whose motor was strong enough to break through a couple of centimetres of November ice, and the coupe's race-ready attitude is impossible to ignore.

I am much more enamoured with the Cayman's cockpit.  With a driver-focused cockpit that lifts its styling cues from the well-received Panamera sedan, the Cayman's array of gauges, switchgear on the center console, and useful LCD touchscreen make it easy to interact with the car - although honestly, most of the time my attention was on the large tachometer positioned directly behind the wheel.  The leather seats and high end trim in my base Cayman tester were excellent, imparting a premium feel, and although I would have liked more interior storage (you get a small compartment between the front buckets and one each in the front door panels), if you are willing to stack items on the engine cover you can actually haul a respectable amount of cargo using the Cayman's front and rear 'trunks.'

The Entire Package

There are always going to be compromises when considering a two-door, two-passenger automobile as a daily driver.  In my opinion, however, the 2014 Porsche Cayman represents the most complete sports car experience on the market, and if you can swing a lack of a rear seat, then the Cayman provides one of the more engaging, entertaining, and exceptional drives you will ever experience.  If you've got room in your driveway for a second car, and you're the kind of person who enjoys taking the long way home on the weekend - or rocketing around your local road course - then the Cayman is an even more enticing proposition.

If there's one downside to the Cayman experience, it's its pricing structure.  While the base car is relatively affordable, adding options or stepping up to the S model requires deep pockets, veering quickly into 911 Carrera (and Chevrolet Corvette Stingray) territory.  While these alternatives might beat the Cayman on sheer numbers, they are aimed at a very different customer.  The Porsche Cayman, and its sibling the Cayman S, offer more soul than any other member of the automaker's line-up, and being called to worship behind the wheel of this coupe is well worth the price of admission.