They say money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy a 2018 Porsche 718 Cayman GTS and the two are basically the same thing. It’s quick, responsive, agile and fun as hell. Ours was canary-yellow, which only made it better. Here are five things you should know about it.
1. Functional Side Scoops
There is no shortage of poser cars out there, and one thing about them that drive me crazy are fake vents and scoops. These cars are made to appear aggressive because they have “extra ventilation,” but if you get in for a closer look, you’ll see that the vents don’t actually lead anywhere.
The Cayman doesn’t play such bullshit games. It’s side scoops are quite functional, helping to channel air into the mid-mounted engine. After a long drive, you can feel heat coming from those scoops if you stand next to them.
2. Carbon-Ceramic Brakes
Porsche paints its carbon-ceramic brake package calipers yellow, so if you ever see a Porsche running around with yellow calipers, then you’ll know someone dropped some serious cash on their brakes. Carbon-ceramic brakes are usually found on high-performance cars because they dramatically reduce brake fade under hard usage in places like track driving.
They are also expensive; the set on the Cayman was a $7,410 option. And unless you truly do a lot of tracking, you don’t need them. They don’t really affect day-to-day performance. Unless you want flashy calipers to show off with. In which case, why don’t you just spray paint them yellow in your garage and save some money?
3. Turbocharged Flat-Four Engine
Of all the car communities that whine about departures from tradition, the Porsche community is one of the worst. When Porsche switched the Cayman from a naturally aspirated flat-six to a turbocharged flat-four, not everyone was happy about it. Admittedly, the switch from free-breathing to forced induction is usually a hard pill to swallow, but it’s not an issue here.
The Cayman, even with its new engine, is still quick and responsive. It doesn’t have the same sound anymore, but it actually kind of sounds like a Subaru now. That’s neat.
4. Minimalist Steering Wheel
What is it about modern steering wheels that makes them all entertainment systems of their own? Most steering wheels now have controls for the stereo volume, radio channel and cruise control settings. It makes the wheel itself an extremely busy space, full of buttons.
Refreshingly, the Cayman’s steering wheel isn’t like that. There are no buttons on it, unless you count the little toggle that switches the car’s driving modes. But that’s it. The only thing that wheel is designed to do is steer. You’ve got a center console for everything else.
5. Two Trunks!
When people see a mid-engine, two-seater coupe, they balk. They talk about the car’s impracticality. Sure, the Cayman is no SUV, but it does come with two trunks.
There’s a shallow trunk behind the engine, which can carry a backpack or a small suitcase. And the frunk is actually quite deep. It could fit bags of groceries, some stuff from Costco or even a person, if you need to give someone a ride in a pinch. (We don’t recommend you do this, it’s extremely unsafe.)