Porsche Cayman

The Porsche Cayman and Cayman S is the latest luxury sports car to be produced by Porsche. The Cayman is 2 seater, mid-engined, rear wheel drive thing of beauty. The Cayman is essentially derived from the very popular Porsche Boxster as they share many parts, but the Cayman has a fixed roof.

The Cayman went on sale in July of 2006 and has been received very well. It has won numerous awards and continues to be a highly rated and reviewed car.

• Automobile – All-Star 2007, Best Sports Car 2006
• Car & Driver – One of the 10 Best Cars 2008 & 2007
• World Car of the Year (WCOTY) – World Performance Car of the Year 2006
• Top Gear – Sports Car of the Year 2005
• Auto Express - Greatest Drives & Best Sporting Car 2007 & 2006
• Frankfurt Motor Show - Autoweek Editors' Best in Show 2005
• Playboy Magazine - Car of the Year 2006
• J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study, Best Compact Premium Sporty Cars 2006
• J.D. Power's Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout Study, Best Compact Premium Sporty Cars 2007 & 2006
• Wheels Automotive Design Awards, Best Exterior 2006
• Car Plus Magazine Car of the Year Award, Best Sports Car 2006

While the Cayman isn't as awesome as the famed and loved by all 911, it does perform quite admirably! Here are some numbers from Porsche for the Cayman and the Cayman S:

0-60 (mph) - Cayman - 5.8 sec / Cayman S - 5.1 sec

1/4 mile - Cayman S - 13.3 sec @ 106 mph

Top Speed - Cayman - 160 mph / Cayman S - 171 mph

Fuel Eco - Cayman - 26 mpg / Cayman S - 23 mpg

Horsepower - Cayman - 245 hp @ 6,500 rpm / Cayman S - 295 hp @ 6,250 rpm

So the big question is how much will it cost you to own a Porsche Cayman? Well, here's the latest MSRP's from Porsche:

Cayman - $ 49,400

Cayman S - $ 59,100

These are of course just base prices and you can expect to add-on at least $5,000 - $10,000 more in options.

There was also a special edition Cayman released by Porsche in very limited numbers called the Cayman S Porsche Design Edition 1 in early 2008. It is a model designed by Porsche Design, commemorating 35th anniversary of Porsche Design. The all black car features black leather and Alcantara upholstery, black center console, dashboard, and door trims, black Alcantara steering wheel, the gear lever, the handbrake grip, and the roof lining, standard Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), 19-inch 911 Turbo wheels with 235/35 ZR 19 front and 265/35 ZR 19 rear tires. The body was also lowered by 10mm and some of the standard equipment included an elegant briefcase containing the Flat Six Chronograph, a pocket knife, a pair of sunglasses, a pen, and a key ring which were all in black. Only 777 of these vehicles were produced as 2008 models.