There’s something intensely satisfying about an object whose sole focus is to do one thing very well, whether that’s a delicate Swiss watch or a pit miner. While completely different on the surface, both share a complete lack of compromise. You wouldn’t expect the watch to do your taxes, nor expect the pit miner to shuffle the kids to school.
Such is life with automobiles as well. Up until a few years ago, sedans were what you bought when you matured, SUVs were built to go off road, and sports cars were only meant for warm summer days with little chance of breaking down.
Now, we have supercars that you can use in all four seasons, SUVs that can turn laps faster than sports cars, and sedans lapping the Nurburgring faster than Formula 1 cars of 50 years ago. Porsche is as guilty as anyone in this department thanks to the all-wheel drive 911 Turbo, g-force-inducing Cayenne GTS and, soon, the ultra-rapid Panamera sedan.
It’s amazing to consider that the company’s latest sports car is also its purest. Launched in 2005, this ‘Boxster With A Roof’ has become widely recognized as the Porsche to drive if you love driving. Its mid-engined construction and nimble manners were melded with more powerful engines, and the result was near perfect. Only by blatantly ham-stringing the Cayman with fewer horses than a 911 and no mechanical limited-slip diff was Porsche able to keep the less-expensive two-seater from cramping its big brother’s style.
For 2009, Porsche buckled under pressure and uncorked the Cayman with a bunch of mid-cycle improvements that taken together push the ‘S’ version higher up the performance chart.