Yahoo Autos Lightning Lap 2018: Porsche 718 Cayman GTS
Lap Time: 2:56.7
Class: LL3 | Base Price: $92,280 | As-Tested Price: $96,310
Power and Weight: 365 hp • 3161 lb • 8.7 lb/hp
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, F: 235/35ZR-20 (92Y) R: 265/35ZR-20 (99Y)
Even with barely more than half the power of the 700-hp 911 GT2 RS, the 365-hp Cayman GTS offers a remarkably similar experience. Okay, its acceleration times and peak speeds aren’t close, but when fitted with carbon-ceramic brake rotors, the GTS stops with the GT2 RS’s security and pedal firmness. Inside, you sit behind the GT2 RS’s Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel, which dances and tugs at your sweaty palms the same way it does in the top-shelf 911. Porsche’s dual-clutch ’box downshifts into the correct gear under braking and upshifts with the same snap. Supercar body control and chassis balance set your mind at ease as you charge into the uphill esses at 126.2 mph.
And therein lies the greatness of the Cayman: high-priced, high-speed sensations but at a lower price and speed. Not that the GTS is slow. Its 2:56.7 is quicker than a 640-hp Cadillac CTS-V. But a 700-hp 911 tends to redefine these things.
Before staring down the Corvette ZR1 on our final day at VIR this year, we first went out in the Cayman. Like starting your day with a cup of coffee or stretching before a run, a lap in a Cayman is the preparation you need before a big mental and physical challenge. And while it might not have supercar power, it has the magic.
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