Cayman R PDK (Germany, 2011)

Porsche presented at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show a new member to the Cayman family: the Cayman R. Standing for responsive and refined, 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 340 hp, ten more than the Cayman S. Its sports chassis has been specially adapted and provides a more precise driving experience than the Cayman S. Powered by a tuned-up 3.4-litre six-cylinder engine, 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 in its performance, driving dynamics and agility. The result is a 1,295 kilograms vehicle, 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. It shows off a distinctive fixed rear spoiler, 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 goes on sale from February 2011.