Porsche 718 Cayman

With the 718 Cayman, Porsche offers a more affordable sports car with all the driving brilliance of the more expensive and famous 911. It's the cheapest way into a Porsche sports car. While it doesn't have the same iconic shape as the 911, the Cayman's 15 years on Earth mean it's earned its owned famed status. It's not a copy of the 911, so you'll love the design for its individuality.

The 718 updates make the Cayman the most attractive it's ever been. It's a two-seater coupé, so it's low, muscular, and sleek with the flyline you'd expect from a mid-mounted engine. The back is wide and powerful and gives a sense of the car's speed and performance. The automatic rear wing is one of the nicest design features on the car.

The ride and handling - even for the entry-level 718 Cayman - comes as close to faultless as possible. Considering the starting price point of the Cayman, the engagement and agility are sublime, as is the balance of the car. All Caymans up to the GTS come with 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engines, and the turbo engines have some series kick. 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds and 300hp - this car is fast and reactive off the line. Top speeds of 170mph won't disappoint either. The engines are a little quieter than before but the drive is more exciting and playful, so we'd say it's well worth it. Despite how low the car is, and how powerful, the ride is remarkably smooth. Even on bumpy country roads, the Cayman isn't perturbed, so it really is a sports car that you can enjoy anywhere, anytime. The Cayman is a two-seater that blends a clean design with neat storage tricks to make it as practical as possible.

It's easy to customise the navigation and dials, so you can change between navigation, media and computer setup.The option of Apple CarPlay if you don't fancy using Porsche's system. You can opt for the ISOFIX child seat mount. For a parent and teenager or two adults, there's plenty of space for two. There are 425 litres of space split between the front boot and the back boot, so you'll need to pack a few smaller bags rather than one or two big ones.

The four-cylinder engines are, on paper, more efficient than the previous six-cylinder engines, but the WLTP figures manage between 31.-4-32.8mpg for the most efficient engines.

Went to look at this 718 at Porsche 70th anniversary.

First looks. Impressive though similar linings to the other sporty Porsche's.

Inside is simple yet reachable gadgets and buttons you have. Plus a poach of luxury sports coupe you can expect to see in a Porsche.

Take off or pickup was excellent, drive was great in gear shifts, stability, cornering and handling.

Only thing is price unless you have a deep pockets to own and maintain it.

Overall. It's a great piece of German engineering to have if you want a sporty drive.

Before I get into the whole V6 versus Turbo in-line 4 that journalists loved to loathe about, the most important thing to note is that the 718 is actually an asset to own! As the world's most customizable brand, Porsche eventually listened to the purists droning and decided the next 718 will be the most powerful yet - and have a V6. In actual fact, it is now clear that Porsche has started to ensure that their car value, unlike other brands, will appreciate with time due to each model's uniqueness.

I must say that I only had a chance to drive the Cayman S. From a test drive perspective, it was much easier to impress a potential buyer with those exhaust crackles in the tunnels and lip-smackingly remind you of the roast meat stall aunty running her knife over crispy pork skin. The last thing i remember looking this good and sounding as good are the Phantom speakers by Devialet. Ofcourse Porsche knew someone would draw such parallels and came up with their own 911 Soundbar. Also, if I was really such an audiophile, I would have driven the Boxster top down.

I love the hard top Cayman - I may not be much of an audio nut and hence don't really miss the V6 hymns. Plus the minions in Orchard Road carparks are atas enough to develop a penchant for pooping on soft-top canvasses.

The new addition to the whole Porsche feel is the added face-rip torque that comes from turbo kicking in. Strangely it feels awfully similar to cruder small turbo-engined cars like the VW GTI - which is great as a driver, but not so much as a passenger. As with most of its predecessors, it also feels very planted - gripping somewhere in perfect harmony between the Toyota 86 and the Nissan GTR. The whole 50-50 weight distribution is still rock solid despite turbo redistributing forces towards body roll departments.

Although for this price point, it attracts the kind of buyer not fuelled by bitcoin wealth and more of a success story kind.The 718 is definitely for the long-term keeper. Unless, if you happen to be a fan of David Attenborough's narration of wild Jaguars hunting river Cayman - do take a look at the new 2.0 Jaguar F-Type as well.

Test drove the 718 CAYMAN S and BOXSTER S. Was comparing these vehicles to the BMW M2, M4 and others.

As a more dedicated sports car with less storage space and seats, the 718 truly delivers a sublime experience in terms of handling and feel that was unmatched by every other vehicle i test drove.

The noise was also better than the other currently available vehicles i was comparing to, after reading the reviews, i was pleasantly surprised but how good it sounded.

New new in-car entertainment system is also a huge step up from those in previous models.

The options are expensive, but i guess that is to be expected. Purchased the 718 CAYMAN S in the end.