Spy Shots: Cayman with bigger wheel arches, a mule for the S Sport?
by Jonathon Ramsey on Sep 11th 2008 at 8:58AM 
The Cayman has two events to get ready for: the Cayman S Sport, and a facelift. A blacked-out Cayman with larger wheel arches and bolt-on fender flares was spotted recently, and it could be a tester for either car. With the rumored suspension tweaks for the Cayman S Sport, this could be making room for a serious set of rubber to take advantage of, not to mention 303 hp. Or perhaps the next Cayman will get some bigger shoes... and that wouldn't be such a bad thing either. [Source: Global Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lou 9:19AM (9/11/2008)
OK, Porsche, please make a super Cayman (read turbocharged) and price it slightly above a loaded Carrera S. I find it ridiculous to keep the Cayman at a lesser performance level than the 911, which I adore. Remember, Porsche was mid-engine before rear engine (see Porsche #1). I figure a 550-600 horse Cayman in a GT2 or GT3 suspension tune should about destroy the competition. I am sure Ruf or someone else already has built this.
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tankd0h 11:09AM (9/11/2008)
It's all about not owning up to your mistakes, which engineers hate doing. the whole rear engine thing should have been scraped the first time a 911 went spinning into a tree.
Mobius_1 9:34AM (9/11/2008)
Black wheels are nice :) If only Porsche would give this a turbo engine
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hoyaCS08 9:34AM (9/11/2008)
The face-lifted cayman has already been shown in several different spy shots and renderings. This is not the face-lift, it's a 2006 model (aluminum-look front spoiler is the tip-off) with wider wheel arches and bigger tires. Also note the non-stock exhaust. Based on the above I'd say it's more likely a mule for some faster cayman. The Cayman S Sport is just a regular S model with the uprated PSE exhaust, a fancy paintjob, and a collection of sport options already available. No wider wheel arches. Here's hoping that Porsche has finally come around and this is a Cayman RS or Cayman Turbo mule
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Homeboy 9:40AM (9/11/2008)
Guys. This is a test mule for brand new Cayman coming in 2011. What Porsche are doing here is testing the underpinnings for the new car such as the chassi and other critical components. Development for the new car has started and it applies to the 911 as well.
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Patrick 11:41AM (9/11/2008)
Could those be carbon ceramic brake rotors too? They have the typical matte-gray look to carbon ceramics...
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notYou 11:12AM (9/11/2008)
While I dig the fact that the cayman as a platform is arguably better than the venerable 911, I've never been a fan of it's style.
I really like the idea of the rear wheel arches (especially as a style advance beyond the 911 look), but they don't play well visually with the slope of the roof to the hatch in the back . The rear 3/4 of the car just isn't cohesive, it looks almost jumbled...almost awkward. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it has to do with the top line of the rear window not lining up with the rear notch line in the side windows - that just looks weird from a lot of rear angles.
I want to like the cayman stylistically; I like the face, the front 3/4, and the profile, but everytime I get back around to the 3/4 (where the 911 is rump-liscious) it just looks, well, weird.
My .02 ... back to work.
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BoxerFanatic 4:35PM (9/11/2008)
I almost agree with you.
The fenders are gorgeous. The change in angle at the bottom of the rear window, inside the buttresses. It would be better if it were a bit smoother.
The rear quarter window upsweep is the other thing... This car would look so good with 996/997-style quarter windows, albeit shorter, and following the curve of the rear fender.
The other thing I don't like is the huge bubble in the roof. The roof side rails are either slightly too low to have adequate headroom with a lower profile roof shape, or something. The visual height of the roof, viewed from the front, or the sides, is very thick. I almost wish they had gone with a double-arch roof, like Zagato likes to use, and other cars like FD RX7 and Viper use.
I know it is named after a crocodile, but I wish it looked a tad less like one, just a tad.
I can understand needing a compound curved roof for headroom, but you don't need headroom in the center of the roof in a two seat car, and that is where the real excess seems to be.
But chassis and layout wise, build quality and technology are all huge plusses that outweigh a few design niggles.
I can only imagine what this car would be and look like if it were not under 911's shadow, and was their real prime-time offering, rather than their entry-level offering.
All that being said, I still badly want one, or some sort of mid-engined preferably-boxer-powered sports car.
If only one of my all-time favorite mid-engine car, the Ferrari 288 GTO had employed Ferrari's Boxer 12... not that the twin turbo V8 was anything less than glorious...
It would still be unobtainable. The GTO was so much better looking than the 80's Testarossa. And I prefer redheads, most of the time.