DAVID KHOO AT THE ALDENHOVEN TEST CENTRE, GERMANY – Driving performance isn’t always about upping engine power – the car’s intrinsic balance should be enhanced or at the very least, preserved as well. Of course, for the contingent of turbocharged cars these days, all you really have to do is to wind up the boost, since the spurty sensation you get when the turbos kick give most people enough of a thrill that they don’t even wonder how the car will handle dynamically.

Depending on whom you talk to, the concept of a ‘fun’ car can mean many things. Most superficially, it could boil down to model hierarchy or dollar value. If we dig a little deeper, there are some who prefer to have a car that covers all manner of roads at an effortless and stupendous pace, even though in most cases it is more the car than the driver. And then you have the sort that prefers to really work at it, to perfect that holistic balance of steering, throttle and brakes to really work a car through its paces. These are the types who appreciate that it isn’t how quickly you complete the journey, it is rather, the journey itself that lends itself to the joy of driving.

Which kind of brings us to the Cayman and Boxster family. The mid-engined Porsches have provided us with tonnes of fun on both road and track on many occasions – till today, we still reminisce rather fondly of the time spent in the last generation Boxster Spyder and Cayman R, and of course, the current models. Dynamically, there’s already an innate balance to the Cayman (and S), so there was some consternation when the GTS variant was announced – after all, how much better could it get?

This is also the first time the ‘GTS’ tag (for Gran Turismo Sport) is used on the Boxster/Cayman class (Panamera and Cayenne are the other two in the line-up with GTS variants), although it is intended to provide enthusiasts with a best-of-both-worlds scenario – don’t forget, only the mid-engined models get two storage bins, which make it ideal for touring purposes. In case you have to ask which ‘both worlds’ we’re talking about, it’s road and track.

Apart from the smidgen more engine performance from the 3.4-litre flat-six (+15bhp), the dynamics of an already great performer are further sharpened up and the GTS equips itself with all the driver’s-car goodies that are cost-optional on the standard S, so the $45k+ difference between the two is going somewhere, even if the visual differences aren’t all that obvious to the untrained eye: PASM, Sports Chrono, Sports Exhaust with black-finished tailpipes, 20-inch alloys and Xenon are among the GTS’ standard items. Of course, with both PDK and Sports Chrono, it also means the car gets Launch Control, which takes an additional 0.2 seconds off the acceleration times.

Visually, both front and rear lights are smoked and the GTS gets a redesigned front-end with larger air-inlets and modified spoiler lip, the latter of which makes the overall length 30mm longer. There are also black highlights around the rear-end, which complement the black-finish Sports Exhaust tailpipes. In PDK guise, the Cayman GTS tips the scale at comfortably under 1.4-tonnes, which sees power to weight improving to 247bhp/tonne (versus the 237bhp/tonne of the S).

We hogged the Cayman GTS for a long duration on the technical circuit during the shakedown at the Aldenhoven Test Centre. There’s a brief straight-ish section that lets you stretch its legs, but the GTS is more than just a straight-line performer. The quick barrage of direction changes and on-off camber bits really let you play with the car’s balance, especially since we had ample opportunity to really hammer the car under both wet and dry conditions.

The added grunt and soul-stirring soundtrack add a new dimension to the joy of flogging the GTS hard, especially since the car’s natural agility lets you take the most outrageous liberties with it, yet you can still carry a lot of speed through the circuit; even when things threaten to go pear-shaped, there’s so much feel from the seat-of-pants and steering that it’s never tricky to gather everything up neatly. PDK shifts are explosively fast with the recoil to go with the speed-shifting experience and there’s an altogether more natural feel to the GTS compared to the almost-clinical S. – Photos: Porsche

NEED TO KNOW
Porsche Cayman GTS PDK
Engine 3,436cc, 24V, flat 6
Power 340bhp at 7,400rpm
Torque 380Nm at 4,750 – 5,800rpm
Gearbox Seven-speed PDK
Top Speed 283km/h
0-100kmh 4.6 seconds (Launch Control)
Fuel efficiency 8.2 L/100km
CO2 190g/km
Price from S$356,688 w/o COE
Availability Now
Website: Porsche Singapore

Also Consider: Boxster GTS for similar thrills… only topless!