2009 Porsche Cayman Walkaround Review at Automotive.com
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2009 Porsche Cayman Review: Exterior

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2009 Porsche Cayman Review

Major upgrade with new engines, transmissions, suspensions.
Walkaround
The Cayman looks the road-going equivalent of a race car, no surprise given Porsche's success on the world's racetracks. Yes, it has wipers, lights and street-worthy tires but the overall impression is a shape designed to most efficiently cover the working parts and two people.

The hood, front fenders and doors are similar to those on the Boxster, but the remaining bodywork is different. Some refer to the Cayman as a Boxster hard-top but this in inaccurate on many counts, both cosmetic and mechanical, and therefore unfair to either car. They have different missions and appeal, illustrated perhaps by no better means than Porsche offers a fixed hardtop for the Boxster.

A Cayman somewhat resembles the animal it shares a name with (a crocodilian reptile), especially in the tail that slopes down below the hips formed by the rear fenders. From the head of the windshield the top surface nearly duplicates a droplet, the low-drag aerodynamic shape found in everything from blimps to dry-lake speed cars. You could run a straightedge from the top of the rear window to the rear spoiler and barely fit a thumb under it, the sides protected with ridges to direct airflow and stiffen the hatch frame.

Aerodynamically, the Cayman is a slippery car. The least aerodynamic model, the Cayman S with PDK, has a coefficient of drag of 0.30 and less than two square meters of frontal area. A rear spoiler ahead of the back bumper breaks airflow to keep the car on the ground, and at 75 mph the spoiler rises for increased stability in high-speed turns.

Horizontal rows of LED tail-lamps reminiscent of the Carrera GT frame the rear end and a central exhaust outlet, one for the Cayman and two for the S, nestles between small-scale diffuser panels.

At the front the headlight clusters also remind of the Carrera GT and the classic 550 of decades earlier. A horizontal LED light tube serves parking light duty, the signal is in the light cluster, and rounded fog lights are in the outer grilles. The wider center grille bottom sweeps up to define the inner edges of those outer grilles, with a spoiler lip on each side.

In profile the Cayman is enhanced by fenders and roofline gently merging together, this particular aspect vaguely familiar to Maserati and Aston Martin owners. The line defined by the door bottom sweeps upward aft of the door, becoming the rear edge of the vertically-slatted engine compartment air intakes, and almost mirroring the line along the side window that sweeps the quarter window to the roofline.

An optional rear wiper parks vertically on the left side where it least-disturbs the driver's rear view and adds the least wind noise. Aerodynamics will clear most water at speeds above 40 mph but the wiper is handy for reversing and urban driving. Next Page



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