Porsche adds more bite to Cayman line-up with ‘R’

The “R” version of the Cayman will attract new fans.

PORSCHE is to launch a high performance version of the Cayman, called the R.
On sale from February 2011, and priced from £51,731, it will be 55 kg lighter than equivalent Cayman S model and have a more powerful 330 hp flat-six engine.
The Cayman range was launched in September, 2005, and 7,000 of them have been sold in the UK.
This new model will be the third version in the Cayman line-up, joining the standard Cayman and Cayman S.
Weighing 55 kg less than the equivalent Cayman S, and boasting the most horsepower available in a mid-engined Porsche, the 330 hp Cayman R has been created for one reason: pure, distilled driving dynamics, according to Porsche.
With its highly-tuned sports suspension and vigilant attention to weight savings, the new Cayman model offers a driving experience even more precise than that of the acclaimed Cayman S.
Tracing its lineage back to the famous mid-engined 904 coupes of the 1960s, the Cayman R celebrated its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
The newest member of the mid-engined Cayman family features the highly efficient 3.4-litre, flat six-cylinder Direct Fuel Injection (DFI) boxer engine found in the Cayman S, but it has been tuned to produce an additional 10 hp. With a six-speed manual transmission, the Cayman R sprints from a stand-still to 62 mph in 5.0 seconds, two-tenths of a second faster than the Cayman S. With the optional seven-speed dual-clutch PDK (Doppelkupplungsgetriebe) transmission and the Sport Chrono package, the exercise is reduced to 4.7 seconds.
Top speed with the manual transmission is up by 3 to 175 mph (282 km/h), 174 mph (280 km/h) with the PDK.
Porsche says the main objective in the concept and execution of the Cayman R was to improve the already energetic two-seater through a systematic reduction in weight, thereby increasing performance, driving dynamics and agility.
With an unladen weight of 1295 kg. Porsche engineers were able to achieve a power-to-weight ratio of 255 hp per tonne, and 250 hp per tonne with the PDK.