Porsche will release a new model called the Porsche Cayman S to fill the segment between the Boxster S and the 911 Carrera. It'll fill that segment in both performance and price. The Cayman S will be based on the Boxster platform. It'll use a 3.4L 6 cylinder boxer engine which produces 295 bhp. Like the Boxster S, the Cayman S will have a mid-engine layout, with the engine just fore of the rear axles.

In terms of looks, it'll be essentially a coupe version of the Boxster S. This means it'll be even more rigid than the Boxster, thanks to a solid roof. It could even weigh less than the Boxster, since it won't need the extra support to compensate for the lack of a roof.

Porsche’s eagerly anticipated take on a Boxster coupe will emerge as an all-new model, a new two-door named Cayman, positioned squarely between the Boxster S and the 911.

Porsche will begin to produce the Cayman in August prior to its world debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September, and will pitch it as an out-and-out driver’s car, more focused than both the 911 and Boxster from which it is derived.


Not only does the sleek new coupe carry a new name, it also receives a unique 295-hp version of Porsche’s classic flat-six engine, and a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive chassis honed at the Nurburgring by ex-rally ace Walter Rohrl. Porsche insiders say the Cayman has already lapped the legendary 14-mile German race circuit faster than the latest 911.

Developed under the codename C7, Porsche conceived the new coupe to combine the best traits of the 911 Carrera and Boxster: the inherent rigidity of the 911’s closed body design and the favorable weight distribution offered by the Boxster’s mid-mounted driveline.

These scoop photographs, taken as the Cayman hit public roads after more than two years of secret testing, expose the curvaceous appearance the new coupe will carry into production.

According to an AutoWeek source, the initial Cayman model will feature a newly developed 3.4-liter, 295-hp version of Porsche’s four-valve-per-cylinder flat-six. A range-topping 305-hp Cayman S model will follow, positioned halfway between the 280-hp 3.2-liter Boxster S and the 325-hp, 3.6-liter 911 Carrera.Porsche will also launch a cheaper, 3.2-liter Cayman model patterned after the Boxster lineup.


Also under development, though not likely to see showrooms until 2006 at the earliest, is a lightweight Cayman Club Sport. Inspired by the much-loved 968 Club Sport, it is not likely to be more powerful than the Cayman S, but a series of weight-saving measures, including special body panels and a stripped out interior (no air conditioning, audio system or sound deadening), will improve its power-to-weight ratio and extend performance even further. Once introduced, Porsche sources say the car may serve as the basis for an extension of Porsche motorsports activities (AW, Dec. 6, 2004).

Although the Cayman shares its mid-engine platform with the Boxster, Porsche made significant changes to allow the adoption of a fixed-roof and a practical hatchback-style rear window. Porsche designers, headed by recently retired Harm Lagaay, gave the Cayman a voluptuous shape and uniquely styled rear panels, but also included a number of classic styling cues from the 911. Cost concerns ruled out a complete re-skin of the Boxster, so the two cars share the same hood, headlamps, front fenders, doors and taillights.

Subtle styling changes, such as uniquely shaped bumpers and wider side sills ensure further differentiation, but the key distinguishing features are the roof, small rear windows behind the doors and a larger rear spoiler that automatically deploys at speed. Inside, the Cayman shares its dashboard, switchgear and seats with the Boxster.


The new Porsche uses the same MacPherson strut suspension as the Boxster, although there are myriad changes to the geometry that promise improved dynamics. Unique springs, dampers and bushings are all designed to take advantage of the improved levels of rigidity in the coupe’s closed steel body.

The steering incorporates recent developments brought to the Boxster with variable rate assistance, offering a ratio that alters between 17.1:1 and 13.7:1, depending on the amount of lock applied.

As with the Boxster, Porsche will offer Porsche Active Suspension Management as an option. It uses adaptive dampers that vary through two settings, normal and sport. In sport mode, the engine management system is automatically re-mapped to provide sharper throttle response.

Along with a standard six-speed manual transmission, Porsche will offer its five-speed Tiptronic automatic and, in time, a new dual-clutch unit known internally as Porsche Doppel Kupplung (PDK)—a name derived from the system applied to the company’s Le Mans winning 962 sports car.

What can you expect from all this? Nurburgring tests have seen prototypes besting the 911 Carrera’s lap time of 8 minutes, 15 seconds. This can be attributed to the new coupe’s lower center of gravity, more compact dimensions and the huge benefit of not having the engine slung out behind the rear wheels.


With the roof reducing the typical wind buffeting experienced in the Boxster at high speeds, the Cayman also promises to be a highly accomplished long distance grand tourer. And owners won’t have to worry much about skimping on their luggage, with space up front, in the rear trunk and on a parcel shelf behind the seats.

With demand for the 911 keeping production at full capacity at Zuffenhausen, and with the Leipzig factory running at full tilt with the Cayenne (which now accounts for half of the company’s sales), Porsche is expected to engage assembly specialist Valmet to assemble the Cayman alongside the second-generation Boxster at its plant in Finland.

With just five months left until its planned world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Porsche’s eagerly anticipated Cayman is slowly but surely being stripped of its disguise.

This prototype, spied testing at the Nürburgring, reveals more than ever before the definitive appearance of Porsche’s upcoming two-seater. Now clearly visible is the Boxster-inspired front-end styling and fixed roof, although Porsche continues to hide the heavily sloping rear under a sheet of cladding. Mechanically based on the Boxster, the Cayman receives a newly developed 3.4-litre version of Porsche’s four-valve flat-six engine delivering 295bhp – just 26bhp shy of the company’s new 3.6-litre 911 Carrera.

The interior is also lifted from the Boxster, that car’s design preferred over the more expensive 911 dash layout.

Further into the future, there’s still no concrete news on Porsche’s widely discussed large road-car project. With the Cayman attracting all the attention, any official news on the fifth model line may have to wait until 2006.

Porsche Cayman S
Power: 295 HP
Top Speed: 275 kph
Performance: 0-100 kph in 5.4 sec
Max. Torque: 340 Nm between 4400 and 6000 rpm
Price tag in Germany incl. 16% VAT: 58529 Euro

The Cayman S has 18'' wheels and PSM as standard
PASM and Tiptronic S are available as options
Variocam Plus comes with the engine, this seems to indicate the probability that the Cayman S engine is based on the 996 M96 engine.

Porsche today revealed the first official images of its anxiously awaited new sports car -- the 2006 Porsche Cayman S. Based on the Boxster® series, the two-seat coupe incorporates dramatic new styling, a powerful 295 hp (SAE) engine, and features and options made popular by Porsche's current range of sports cars. It is positioned and priced between the Porsche 911® Carrera® and Porsche Boxster S.
While easily recognizable as a member of the Porsche sports car family, the Cayman S has its own distinctive look. Among its unique styling features are its dynamic new coupe silhouette, aerodynamic upper windshield sill, curvaceous rear fenders, fog lamps integrated into the front air intakes, exclusively designed side air intakes, automatically extending rear spoiler, and newly styled dual sport tailpipes. Beneath the new model's distinguishing hatchback is a rear storage area twice the size (9.2 cu. ft.) of that found in the Boxster.

The Cayman S's muscular 3.4-liter, flat-six cylinder engine propels the car from 0 to 60 mph in a quick 5.1 seconds and to a top track speed of an impressive 171 mph. The engine is equipped with the same VarioCam® Plus variable valve timing system as found on the 2005 911 Carrera. It allows the engine to produce its maximum torque of 255 ft. lbs. between 4,200 and 6,000 rpm.

This engine power is transmitted through the Boxster S's standard six-speed manual transmission that has been enhanced for the Cayman S with shortened and more precise shift travel. Offered as an option, the five-speed Tiptronic® S automatic transmission system has been tuned specifically for the new model, incorporating unique electronic and hydraulic control maps.

Handling and safety are enhanced with the fitting of 18-inch wheels and tires and the Porsche Stability Management (PSM) system as standard equipment. The Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) system, which allows the driver to select between the comfort of a grand touring car and the track-ready precision of a genuine high-performance sports car at the touch of a button, is available as an option.

The Cayman S will go on sale in the United States and Canada in mid January of 2006 at a price of $58,900 US.

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), based in Atlanta, Ga., and its subsidiary, Porsche Cars Canada, Ltd., are the exclusive importers of Porsche sports cars and Cayenne sport utility vehicles for the United States and Canada. A wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche AG, PCNA employs approximately 250 people who provide Porsche vehicles, parts, service, marketing and training for its 206 U.S. and Canadian dealers. They, in turn, provide Porsche owners with best-in-class service http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cf...id/2050523.001

2006 PORSCHE CAYMAN S
ON SALE: 2006
BASE PRICE: $60,000 (est.)
POWERTRAIN: 3.4-liter, 295-hp, 255-lb-ft H6; rwd, six-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 2948 lbs
0 to 62 MPH: 5.4 seconds (mfr.)

Porsche’s new Cayman S, revealed here officially for the first time, is poised to raise the German company’s already haughty standing at the sharp end of the sports car ranks.

The 3.4-liter 295-hp flat-six-powered coupe is scheduled to make its first public appearance at September’s Frankfurt motor show before reaching North American showrooms early next year.

The two-seat Cayman S slots into the Porsche line slightly above the new 2005 Boxster, and in doing so it bucks Porsche tradition of pitching coupes at a lower price point than their more complex convertible siblings. It’s a strategy that has required Porsche to provide the Cayman S with greater firepower than the 3.2-liter 280-hp Boxster S simply to justify its positioning. At the same time, Porsche has been careful not to let its latest model—named after the caiman breed of crocodile found in Central and South America (rather than the Caribbean tax haven)—encroach on the territory ruled by the 3.6-liter 325-hp 911 Carrera.

In both power and straight-line performance, the Cayman S remains a respectable distance from its more expensive Carrera stablemate, although if word from the Stuttgart grapevine proves correct, Porsche is already considering a racing-focused stripped-down Clubsport version of the Cayman, possibly to receive the historical GTS designation. A less expensive base Cayman is also planned, running either the 3.2-liter from the Boxster S, or a 3.0-liter 260-hp flat six.

In a move aimed at trimming development costs and streamlining production, the Cayman shares up to 40 percent of its components, including a good deal of its exterior, with the second-generation Boxster. The two cars share the same hood, headlights, front guards, doors and taillights.

However, a close inspection reveals some interesting styling changes that, from certain angles at least, help give the Cayman its own distinctive visual character. Inspiration for many of the changes comes from Porsche’s classic 904, which evolved from the company’s racing activities to become a road car in 1965.

Up front is a modified bumper with larger air ducts below each headlight. The fog lamps are housed in round units rather than the rectangular ones found on the Boxster. The windshield shares the same angle as its open-top Boxster sibling, but extends farther up into the roof. The roof itself is heavily curved and not unlike that found on earlier incarnations of the 911. Small fixed windows are incorporated behind the tailing edge of the doors, while the air ducts that cool the mid-mounted engine receive a different graphic with vertical strakes. The rear hatch opens remotely via a button on the key fob to offer newfound levels of practicality for a Porsche sports car. It can be lifted to a nominal 50-degree angle or extended through to 68 degrees.

The Cayman is slightly longer than the Boxster, all concentrated in the rear overhang. The heavy curvature in the roof also increases height over the Boxster, but width remains the same. The addition of the fixed roof has brought added rigidity—and insiders say Cayman is even stiffer than the new 911 Carrera.

The car is more aerodynamic than a Boxster, and to regain rear-end downforce lost through the incorporation of the sloping rear hatch, Porsche has provided the Cayman S with a unique rear spoiler assembly that deploys hydraulically at speeds greater than 75 mph.

The steel-bodied Cayman tips the scales at 2948 pounds, just 11 pounds more than the Boxster, much of the increase to do with the packaging of the hatchback. In comparative terms, however, the new Porsche can be considered somewhat of a lightweight in the sports coupe segment. Nissan’s 350Z weighs in at 3146 pounds and the all-wheel-drive Audi TT at 3300 pounds.

As with the exterior, the Cayman’s interior borrows heavily from the Boxster. The dashboard, instruments, switchgear, seats and door trim are identical. The creation of a parcel shelf in the space behind the seats boosts rear trunk capacity. Combined with the front trunk, Cayman offers what Porsche describes as class-leading cargo space.

Powering the Cayman S is a newly developed version of Porsche’s horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine, the same unit in the Boxster S, only with a slight increase in bore to push displacement to 3.4 liters. Also included is Porsche’s Variocam Plus system, as used on the 911. It employs electrohydraulic tappets to constantly vary the timing and lift on both the inlet and exhaust valves. As a result, power swells to 295 hp at 6250 rpm, a 15-hp increase over the Boxster S’s 3.2-liter engine. Torque peaks at 255 lb-ft on a powerband that stretches from 4200 rpm to 6000 rpm.

As with the Boxster, power is fed to the rear wheels via either a standard six-speed manual gearbox or an optional five-speed Tiptronic automatic featuring steering-wheel shift buttons. Word out of Stuttgart indicates Porsche will begin offering a new double-shift gearbox similar to Volkswagen’s unit on its latest model, though according to AutoWeek sources, it isn’t likely to become available for another 18 months. In manual guise, Porsche says the Cayman S hits 62 mph in 5.4 seconds, and tops out at 171 mph.

Underpinning the new car is a lightly reworked version of the Boxster’s MacPherson strut suspension. The two cars also ride on the same wheelbase and share the same track measurements. Porsche’s chassis engineers have gone over every component in a bid to provide the Cayman S with its own unique handling character. Changes are fairly straightforward: firmer springs, stiffer dampers, larger diameter antiroll bars and more resilient bushings. The threshold for the standard four-channel ABS antilock and PSM (Porsche stability management) systems has been extended slightly.

As a measure of the Cayman’s ability, Porsche claims a prototype version lapped the Nürburgring’s North Loop in eight minutes and 11 seconds in the hands of former rally ace Walter Röhrl—an improvement of seven seconds over the time he recorded in a similar specification Boxster S late last year, and four seconds faster than the 911 Carrera.