Porsche Cayman 981 test drive since 2012

Keep it seven!

The test drive of a small, but very evil coupe Porsche Cayman. The first-generation Porsche Cayman, which appeared in 2005, was jokingly called a car for those who did not have enough money for the 911th. The new Kaiman is more refined, but still average, now he is able to set the nine hundredthly realweed. And not only on public roads, but also on the track. 7 minutes and 55 seconds: during such a time the new Porsche Cayman drives the northern loop of Nyurgurgring. To make it clearer this territory of real supercars: Porsche 911 Turbo of the last generation (7:56), Ferrari F430 (7:55) and Nissan GT-R (7:54, the time shown in 2008). So, Kaiman is no longer just an entrance ticket to the company of lucky ones, in the pockets of which the keys to the brand new Porsche are tinkled, but a very, very fast ticket. The new Cayman looks great: more interesting details appeared in his appearance. The stamping on the back went deeper, side air intakes increased, the front and rear wings became more relief. And the sloping line of the roof lives on the lively than in the photographs at the base of the Kaiman still lies the Porsche Boxster relatives platform. According to the engineers, this cart was originally created for use on models and with a roof and without, but Cayman’s closed body turned out almost three times tougher than that of its open fellow. Compared to the predecessor, the new Kaiman lost 30 kilograms, and his body is now 44 percent made of aluminum. And this despite the fact that the compartment has become larger: the wheelbase increased by 60 millimeters, the front track, depending on the modification, has become wider by 36-40 millimeters, the rear by 2-12 millimeters. The chassis of the front and behind is the MacPherson on longitudinal and transverse levers that has not been fundamentally changed, however, more compact shock absorbers with aluminum supports appeared in the front suspension. More aluminum details became in the rear suspension, and the hydraulic steering wheel amplifier, as on the backer and on the 911th, is replaced by electromechanical. A little details about the new Porsche Cayman The motors are the same as Boxster, only a little more powerful. The basic 2.7-liter opposite develops 275 horsepower (against 265 horsepower at the Bocsteror), and the 3.4-liter Cayman S can boast of 325 forces (the same 10 forces more than that of the Rodster). Six -speed mechanics are in the database, but for a surcharge you can order a cool seven -speed PDK robot. The list of options has a lot of tasty. There is both the adaptive PASM suspension with two stiffness options, and the traction vector control system (PVT), which is available only with the rear mechanical self -block, and which helps to fill the car into the turn due to the electoral braid of the wheels. Moreover, it works even with a fully turned off the stabilization system. Well, real fanatics will be able to install carbon-ceramic brakes on Cayman, which, however, cost a fortune of 355 thousand rubles! Among the new options for Cayman: adaptive cruise control, unknown access to the salon and advanced Burmester music with a subwoofer integrated into the power structure of the body and outwardly Porsche Cayman has noticeably buried. The front headlights have become almost vertical, and now a small compartment in front is even more like a supercar Carrera GT; The roof line lengthened a little, which ends with a short duck tail of an active spoiler. The basic wheels now have a dimension of 18-inchs (19-inch for Cayman S), and there are also huge 20-inch wheels in the list of options. The interior of Kaiman has been updated even more radically: goodbye to a dull architecture with a vertical central console, hello Haytek. A luxurious cockpit with a high central tunnel and exemplary ergonomics turned out to be almost better than that of the 911th. A low, tenacious seat with an endless set of adjustments and an almost vertical steering wheel suggest the only possible landing on the floor and with very elongated legs. Unusual sensations: Cayman covers you like a nylon glove in general, climbing inside, I want to say: Come on, give us a couple of 911s to be torn apart! 1. The interior of the New Kaiman is in quality: expensive materials, excellent layout and many decoration options. That's just the multimedia complex, or rather, its navigation software, is already mentally inhibiting, and the graphics are rustic. 2. Such seats are not the most sports option. Real buckets, light and very deep are available for surcharge. 3. In the right pipe on the dashboard, a color display is located on which you can display the data of the on -board computer, the hints of the navigation system or the readings of virtual overload sensors, the oil temperature or the current circle (with the Sport Chrono package). 4. The climate control block with a monochrome display is both beautiful and convenient. 5. In the central tunnel, just below the gearbox lever, all the main buttons of control of mechatronics are located: the modes of operation of the motor and suspension, disconnecting the stabilization system, the rear spoiler control key, and so on. 6. The clock-chronograph is the same as on Porsche 911. 7. The Cayman S overlap on the thresholds can be decorated with any inscription: Vasya, Petya or just the king. Okay, the program is this: there are two groups of four cars on the highway at the same time, which follow the Porsche 911 instructors, the Porsche employee explains to reporters the scheme of riding on the Kaimans along the Avtodrom Algarve, the most three -dimensional track of Europe. The first circle is introducing, the next four combat, during which each of you will be able to drive in a circle for the instructor. The last circle is cool. Any questions? In what mode of insurance electronics to go choose yourself. This is what I understand! And you have no tape on the button of disconnecting the stabilization system and harsh instructors on the right chair On the last fragment below the right is the display on the dashboard, which can in real time show, for example, overloads must be said that small, light medium -engineer cars like a kayman are as exciting in management as complex. They are very sensitive to a change in the dynamic balance and require increased attention to whether controlled or drivers are loaded at one time or another. However, after the first circles driving a new Kaiman, it became clear that this compartment has simply a stunning reserve of clutch. Especially in fast turns and high -speed ligaments. The starting is straight (speed at the end of more than 220 kilometers per hour), a powerful slowdown, two right -wing turns, a hairpin in which Cayman S still tries to slip out the front axle out even with the slightest error in choosing a speed, high -speed left through an overprices with gas or steering wheel Here it can turn into a sharp breakdown of the rear wheels and loss of speed at the output to the next high -speed straight line. Slow left, fast left, two right -wing turns and then a fantastic three -dimensional ligament of a quick left right right, which must be passed in gas in the floor. Only in this case, after the tickling lower abdomen, the car dives sharply down, plunging into the asphalt with all four wheels with such enthusiasm, as if a concrete slab was suddenly dropped on it. Further, braking in the bend, during which the kaiman remains amazingly stable, 90-degree right, fast left, short straight The neutrality of Kaiman's riders on such a complex highway as Algarve is impressive incredibly. Where the instructor 911th clings to the wide rear wheels with all his might, and this is clearly visible in the way, under the traction, its feed is slightly supported, balancing on the verge of the adverse properties of the tires, Cayman S seems much more unflappable. Yes, he slightly lacks the clutch at the output and power on straight lines, so the posterior Carrera S breaks off in high-speed sections, but then the kaiman with frightening lightness overtakes the 911th in corners. At the same time, even the basic, red brakes Cayman S without obvious signs of fatigue carry four fast circles along the algars, and composite yellow, with six -piston mechanisms from Porsche 911 Carrera, have an even larger reserve of endurance. The seven -speed PDK robot in sports mode is so effective that the manual transmission mode here is simply useless electronics unmistakably. But the usual mechanics on Cayman S is magnificent: the long clutch with fast driving can not be squeezed completely, and there is not a single claim to the selectivity and clarity of the mechanism, unlike the seven -speed checkpoint installed on the Porsche 911. Besides with the Sport Chrono package He knows how to do the most accurate bitterings when switching down, helping to maintain the correct balance on braking. Half an hour after the end of the races on the track, these same cars (the mechanics only wiped the glass, but checked the external condition of the tires and brakes) rolled out to the site in front of the boxes, and we went to public roads. On the high -speed suburban highway, Cayman S with an active suspension rides unexpectedly comfortably. In the normal mode of the mechatron chassis, he copes well with small bumps and swallows the irregularly larger, but even in the sport mode, does not turn into a exhausting rodeo. With the standard graduation system, Kaiman was also quite quiet, especially if you hold the speed on the left side of the tachometer scale. But with an optional sports release, the ESCA mutters so that even an expensive Burmester audio system becomes bad. However, what the hell is music when you have your own orchestra behind your back! In Sport+, with an open damper in the exhaust tract, a 3.4-liter opponent is irritably bubbled, mutter and sipit in all ways. And what a crazy cannonade is heard for the discharge of gas! Hey, this is definitely a civilian motor, not an engineer engine? Modernized atmospheric motors on Cayman and Cayman S are drawn well at low speeds, but seem a little lazy. But as soon as the arrow of the tachometer exceeds the mark of 5000 revolutions per minute, the compartment tears off the gray suit into a strip, turning from an ordinary doctor into an irritated green (in our case of yellow) a growling monster the more winding and uneven are the roads on the path of Kaiman, the more concentrated he becomes. The right-and-leve-left-left-left turning are strung on tight Portuguese mountain serpentines like shrimp on a wooden stick in a Japanese restaurant. You can only take a breath in rare circular interchanges, and then again a frantic race under crazy shoots from a muffler. It is easy to imagine how uncomfortable it would be to maintain an equally high pace at a large, heavy and wide 911th. Compared to Cayman S, Porsche rear -engine sports car on local roads that iron trawler is against the canoeing of the canoe cork tree. It seems that Kaiman changes the direction of movement even faster than the hands reject the steering wheel from the zero position. The rear spoiler on Cayman has become larger and is able to advance to a large corner. This happens either automatically, or at the command of the driver pressing the corresponding button on the central tunnel, it is on ordinary roads that it becomes clear how balanced the new Kaiman turned out. And how easy it is to go on it not just quickly, but very quickly. In the maximum modes, Cayman S shows not only fantastic speed, but also amazing effectiveness: for the entire trip, the stabilization system has not worked, it seems, never once. The rear -wheel drive nature of the controllability of this car is manifested very gently under the traction of the compartment is eagerly screwed into the turn, but the kaiman responds only to a very rough error or conscious provocation insufficient or excessive rotation. According to the level of the fan and, at the same time, the academicity of the habits, not one of the direct competitors of the Kaiman, and this is the rear-wheel drive compact compact compartment from BMW and Mercedes-Benz are suitable for him. Because they go an order of magnitude easier and as slowly. Kaiman prices are already known: the base coupe with the 2.7 engine and a mechanical transmission will cost 2,555,000 rubles. Supplement for the PDK robot 135 thousand rubles. Cayman S 3.4 costs at least 3,129,000 rubles for a version with mechanics, however, having rummaged in the configurator, its price can be easily increased to 5 million rubles. The list of options has everything: carbon brakes, robot, Sport Chrono package, racing buckets even a new -fashioned Toyota GT86 and Subaru Brz, for which it was Cayman that was a reference car, although it is comparable with the pleasure of driving, but it unequivocally loses in clean speed and dynamics. However, they cost half the cheaper. But the current Cayman is also good because it is now possible to collect the perfect small compartment from Porsche to your own taste. If you want to choose the basic version with a 2.7 engine and mechanics at the price of a Korean SUV or a Japanese medium -sized sedan and honing the control skills of a medium -measurement sports car. If you want to order a stylish and practical 325-horsepower Cayman S with a robot, 20-inch wheels and expensive music, you can finally look closely with the hardcore option for a compartment with mechatron chassis, a Sport Chrono package and carbon brakes. And it will be a car that in full -time sparring can exhaust even such an experienced professional as Porsche 911.

Source: Motor magazine [March 2013]