Porsche presents Cayman R in Los Angeles

Today Porsche will be presenting at the Los Angeles Auto Show a new member to the Cayman family: the Cayman R. Standing for responsive and refined, as always the R letter on a Porsche model represents a special sports car with a more racy character.

The Cayman R has a power output of 330 hp, ten more than the Cayman S, the new mid-engine coupe from Porsche has been designed to deliver a good response on the road. Its sports chassis has been specially adapted and provides an even more precise driving experience than the Cayman S.

Powered by a tuned-up 3.4-litre six-cylinder engine with an output of 340 hp, the new Cayman R has its power transmitted to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox, giving the car the ability to accelerate from a standstill up to 100 km/h in 5.0 seconds. The Cayman R will also be available with the seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) that reduces its acceleration time to 4.9 seconds.

As for the top speed the R version can reach 282 km/h (175 mph) with manual gearbox, or 280 km/h (174 mph) with PDK. In terms of fuel consumption, Porsche states that the Cayman R with the six-speed spends 9.7 l/100 km (29.12 mpg imp.) and 9.3 l/100 km (30.37 mpg imp.) with PDK.

While developing the Cayman R, Porsche focused on consistent weight reduction in order to improve the two-seater even further in its performance, driving dynamics and agility. The result is a 1,295 kilograms vehicle where engineers were able to reduce the power-to-weight ratio to 3.9 kilograms per horsepower (in the manual gearbox version) and to 4.0 kilograms per horsepower (in the PDK version).

Most of the weight reduction was achieved thanks to the use of lightweight components and doing without convenience equipment.

In terms of design the Cayman R has an extended silhouette and is 20 millimetres closer to the ground than the Cayman S. Its individual appearance is ensured by the combination of the distinctive fixed rear spoiler, the high-quality silver-painted wheels and numerous sporting highlights on both the interior and exterior.

The Cayman R shows design cues from classic Porsche racing cars that can be found on the black-framed headlights, black exterior mirrors and the "PORSCHE" lettering on the side.

The new Porsche Cayman R will go on sale from February 2011.