Porsche likes to keep the best for last, so we won’t see the high-performance versions of the all-new Porsche Boxster roadster and Cayman coupe until August this year.
Tagged as GTS, (Gran Turismo Sport) the Boxster GTS will be priced from just $146,000; with the Cayman GTS starting at a very reasonable $161,400. They really do provide excellent value for money in this sub-supercar bracket.
Porsche Australia is describing them as, “The two most powerful and fastest mid-engine sports models from Porsche,” the distinction being that the most powerful 911 variants, are rear-engined.
The six-cylinder Porsche boxer engines are developments of the 3.4-litre units from the Boxster S and Cayman S respectively. They now deliver an additional 11 kilowatts of power. The Boxster GTS now has an output of 243 kW, the Cayman GTS provides up to 250 kW.
Impressively, torque has increased by 10 Newton metres in each model (370 Nm Boxster GTS; 380 Nm Cayman GTS). It’s much harder to tune an engine to produce extra torque than it is more power, so even this apparently small increase will prove handy in real world driving.
The Porsche Sport Chrono package is a standard feature on both models. Using the Sport Plus mode and the PDK double-clutch gearbox the Cayman GTS sprints from zero to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds, the poorer aerodynamics of the Boxster means that run takes an additional tenth of a second.
Using Porsche’s PASM (Porsche Active suspensions Management) and the Sport Chrono package lets the driver switch between progressive sportiness on the one hand, and long-distance comfort at the press of a button.
Changes to the style at the front and rear are relatively subtle, the blackened bi-xenon headlights are probably the most obvious feature of the new GTS ranges. The final cue is exterior GTS lettering in silky black gloss.
Porsche Dynamic Light System (PDLS) is standard.
The tyres are 235/35 at the front and 265/35 at the rear. They sit inside 20-inch Carrera S. The sports seats and leather interiors as standard, as with other GTS models from Porsche they have Alcantara elements.
Not only are the Porsche Boxster roadster and Cayman coupe the most affordable in the range, but also purer than the 911 models. The mid-engined of the layout of these semi-affordable Porsches gives them superb balance, with excellent control even when pushed to the limited by drivers without a huge amount of sportscar experience.
