Cayman RS Ready To Blast In

[BMWDave]

Link

Cayman RS Ready To Blast In


Minimum weight, maximum thrills - that's the philosophy behind what promises to be one of the most thrilling cars Porsche has ever built.

The mag's s spies caught a high-performance version of the recently unveiled Cayman undergoing testing around the N?rburgring circuit in Germany. And the mag's exclusive main picture gives the world its first glimpse of the hot new RS variant in showroom-ready form.

Complete with trademark white paintwork - along with evocative red side decals and alloy wheels - the stripped-out newcomer will fit into the company's line-up as an understudy to the stunning 911 GT3 RS.

As with that model, the Cayman RS won't use a turbocharged powerplant. Instead, it will rely on a tuned version of the 3.4-litre six-cylinder 295bhp unit found in the existing S variant. Likely to produce around 340bhp, the car will complete the benchmark sprint from 0-60mph in less than five seconds. That will give the Porsche all the performance it needs to take on the fastest version of the forthcoming BMW Z4 Coup?, which is scheduled to go on sale before the end of next year.

With all unnecessary trim removed from the cabin and special racing bucket seats, the extreme variant of Porsche's smallest hard-top will sacrifice comfort for performance. A stiffer suspension set-up and uprated ceramic brakes will make the hot Cayman among the best drivers' cars around.

Porsche officials remain tight-lipped over future variants of the new car, but these spy shots are all the proof you need that the RS is on the way. And our sources in Germany have hinted that the machine could be on sale as early as 2007. For those looking to buy at the other end of the scale, an entry-level, lower-powered car is also likely to join the range in the future.

Although exact details and prices are still top secret, bosses at the Stuttgart company are conscious of avoiding overlap with the existing Boxster, Cayman and 911 line-ups. As a result, the RS will probably be produced in small numbers so as not to have any impact on sales of the larger 911.
Chris Thorp

[TBR]

0-60 will be well under 5 seconds, possibly even under 4 if the weight is low enough. In fact, I suspect that the regular model will probably manage a 4.8-4.9 0-60 time.