From seemingly the moment it released the Cayman Porsche was criticized for holding it back so as not to outclass the 911. As we often heard, the Cayman’s inherently better balanced mid-engine layout should easily be able to outperform Porsche’s icon, if only Porsche would truly unleash it and give it a proper engine. Regardless of this criticism, the Cayman has been widely praised; it followed in the long footsteps of Porsche’s racing history providing excellent performance and refinement in the same package. With the release of the Cayman R criticism was abated. With the new Cayman GT4 we have a glimpse of what the Cayman truly can be. Here we have an example of the former, a Speed Yellow 2012 Porsche Cayman R, located in Texas, with 12,726 miles on it. The Cayman R didn’t really add much in the horsepower department – gaining only 10 hp over the standard Cayman S – but when combined with its lighter weight – some 120 fewer pounds than the Cayman S – the results began to take shape. Marry extra power and lighter weight with more performance-oriented suspension tuning and the Cayman R stood apart from its mid-engined siblings and finally bit at the heels of the 911. Was the R akin to the 911 GT3 RS in its track focus? Not quite, but it pointed in that direction and gave many critics what they had clamored for.
