Driving pleasure in its purest form - or Touring - is what the T moniker is supposed to be all about when attached to a Porsche. Although, it seems more a marketing ploy than anything when emblazoned on the rump of an iconic 911 - you might as well just spec a Carrera how you want it. So PR jargon aside, is the Cayman better with a T? For a start you get the 鈥榣esser鈥?2.0-litre flat four turbo, and not the bigger 2.5-litre. Still, although it sits on the bottom rung of the image ladder, the water-cooled 1988cc flat four is actually a decent unit. It鈥檚 happier to rev and with 220kW and 380Nm pushing around 1350kg, the boosted four is not slow. A 0-100km/h time of 5.1sec (with the preferred six-speed manual) and a 275km/h top speed is the proof in the pudding. Select the rapid-fire seven-speed PDK and the 0-100km/h claim drops to 4.7sec with Sport Plus.
Thanks to the impressive real-life performance of the downsized engine, the 718 Cayman T doesn鈥檛, unlike the 911 T, feel like an otherwise complete athlete with a weak heart. The T pack combines Sport Chrono and PSM with an in-between semi-hooligan-like Sport Plus mode, boasting PTV torque vectoring and a mechanical diff lock. The steering rack, borrowed from the 911 Turbo, is 10 per cent faster and the sports exhaust is bimodal. Launch control and the Sport Response turbo boost button is fitted with the PDK 鈥檅ox. Handfuls of extra money buy carbon-ceramic brakes, which this Cayman requires about as urgently as Clive Palmer needs another 鈥楳ake Australia Great鈥?billboard. Inside there鈥檚 sport seats (anything from the standard pews to the expensive 918-style lightweight carbon-fibre buckets), Sport-Tex upholstery and fabric loops for door handles. PCM is a no-cost option.However, you pay extra for air-conditioning, sat-nav, Power Steering Plus, dynamic LED headlights, an Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel and a shortened shifter.
There鈥檚 something about Porsche sports cars that no other manufacturer can match. It doesn鈥檛 really matter whether you are driving a 718 Cayman T, a 911 GT3 RS, a Cayman GT4 or a 911 Turbo S - they all handle, respond and communicate in a totally involving fashion. Yes, the steering might be a little quicker in the GT cars, the suspension softer in others and the handling more neutral in the mid-engined models. However, there isn鈥檛 much variation in your inputs; the ratio between cornering grip and entry speed, or the lift-off attitude, remain largely the same. Irrespective of engine size and position, power and torque, weight and performance, all two-door Porsches are spun from the same dynamic ilk. When warm, the bigger tyres (235/35 ZR20 front and 265/35 ZR20 rear) instil more lateral grip as well as fierce traction, but the price you pay is a well-below par ride on country roads. In crosswind conditions and when following ruts, the directional stability can be unsettling at times, and those carbon-ceramic brakes don鈥檛 like rain or sub-zero temperatures. Active transmission mounts cushion abrupt tip-in and tip-out manoeuvres. The four-cylinder engine鈥檚 soundtrack isn鈥檛 quite as throaty and strong-voiced as the old six, but the reality is that the acoustics aren鈥檛 really an issue, nor is the somewhat underwhelming on-paper performance. Ultimately the Cayman T sounds meaner and answers more promptly to throttle inputs, but it is also harder sprung and more firmly damped - even before you dial in Sport. Still, the T feels like a somewhat brawnier and, subjectively, faster car. The do-it-yourself manual ties in with the back-to-basics nature over the ruthlessly efficient PDK, because at the end of the day, the Cayman T is all about a pure, raw and involving experience.
Los Angeles 2018 was the auto show that shocked - for good and bad reasons. Let鈥檚 start with the shockingly bad. The decision by General Motors - the US鈥檚 troubled, old-school vehicle maker - to announce 14,000 job losses plus at least five plant closures during the week of the show was appallingly timed. On the one side, the LA show was proudly trying to do its bit to showcase America, Americans and the American auto business. On the other, GM was ripping much of the heart, soul and hope out of the country, its people and its industry. Caught in the middle were blameless victims - those 14,000 tearful and fearful, cruelly dumped employees who鈥檝e just had to tell their families that Christmas and pretty much everything else is cancelled. 鈥淯nallocated鈥?is the haunting word being used to describe these unfortunate souls, their gone-forever positions, plus the now-redundant factories that were, until a few days ago, their second homes. Meanwhile, recent and eeringly hollow broadcasts from President Trump declaring that American motor industry jobs are 鈥渁ll coming back鈥?to America and Americans can, and should, be categorised as fake news.
But his threat to cut 鈥渁ll鈥?subsidies to GM are for real - as are the chances that The General will flirt with bankruptcy again, because its brand and products are simply too weak globally. Not so straightforward is whether the important, next-generation Mazda 3 looks as good as the version it鈥檚 about to replace. On stage in LA I feared it didn鈥檛, but it must be seen on the road before its presence and beauty (or maybe not) can be properly assessed. Conversely, Volvo鈥檚 car-free LA stand attracted hardly anyone. Which was no surprise. A vehicle manufacturer with a stand at a motor show that contains no vehicles makes about as much sense as a restaurant without food. In LA, some established auto industry firms were obsessed with being cool, promoting untried/untested tech, turning their backs on conventional cars and drivers. Customers buying, leasing, owning and driving petrol and diesel personal mobility machines are here to stay - for decades yet. These are the very consumers who鈥檝e allowed most mainstream makers - GM included - to make billions in annual profits. Such loyal, high-spending motorists deserve more recognition, thanks, respect and reassurance. What was your highlight of the 2018 Los Angeles Motor Show?
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