Porsche Cayman and Boxster 2009 Review

The '09 update to the pocket rockets in the Porsche playpen includes everything from a new engines to extra equipment and some minor visual tweaking - as well as an available seven-speed PDK gearbox - but the bottom line is all about the bottom line.

The Boxster is now effectively priced at the same level as when the baby droptop first hit the road in Australia - in 1997 - and the Cayman is just as sharp.

We're not talking a Hyundai-style $13,990 ticket, so the starting price for the 2009 Boxster is still a lot of money at $113,00. And the top-line Cayman S tips the scales at $160,800, without dipping into the optional equipment.

But compare the new numbers with the $109,900 the Boxster cost more than a decade ago, and factor a value improvement which puts as much as $12,000 more equipment into the '09 cars, and the dollars look like a deal.

So, too, does the performance upgrade which takes the basic Boxster up to 188kW and 290Nm of torque, and the top Cayman S to 235kW and 370Nm.

Anyone struggling with power potential can easily translate the engine work into a 5.6 second sprint to 100km/h and 274 km/h at the top end for the Boxster and 4.9 and 277 for the Cayman S.

Those are seriously big numbers for a car which has done a solid job for Porsche sales, particularly a Cayman S which is now a real threat to the classic 911.

And Porsche Cars Australia needs those sales. Its results are down by 45 per cent after the first two months of 2009, although company chief Michael Winkler is expecting a rebound - helped by new models including a diesel-engined Cayenne SUV - by the end of the year.

"We're hoping for 1000 registrations this calendar year. It's a very interesting situation, now, in the marketplace," Winkler says.

"We've looked at the basic substance of the cars but also the equipment. There is a value story to tell on Boxster and Cayman."

So there is a lot riding on the new babies, which are called the 'Generation 2' models of the 987 series and pick up a lot of the changes from last year's updating work on the 911.

Visually, the biggest tweak is the new headlamp cluster with two separate reflectors. The grilles in the nose, mirrors and tailpipes are changed, but only a Porsche fanatic would notice.

Inside, the only real difference is the shift stick for the PDK twin-clutch gearbox. But there is a major upgrade of the system behind the dash, with satnav and a touch-screen monitor as standard.

So the real work is in the new engines, tweaked suspension and the transmissions.

Porsche claims it has achieved the extra performance while cutting emissions and improving fuel economy. It's a similar deal to most major makers in 2009, but took a lot of work.

"There are a whole lot of changes that add up to big things. Porsche has always been good at bringing the detail together. We are a detail company," says technical chief Paul Watson.

That detail work even includes lowering the centre of gravity of the engine, as well as PDK gearing which means seventh gear is so tall - for economy - that top speed comes in sixth. A limited-slip differential is now available for the Cayman S.

And the work is reflected in lap times at Porsche's ultimate test track, the Nurburgring in Germany.

The '09 Boxster is now a massive 31 seconds quicker than the original.

Driving

Windswept Melbourne, in a state where speeding is almost a hanging offence, is not the right time to be pushing hard in a new Porsche.

Things were so bad with lashing rain showers during the preview drive that I never got a chance to take the top down in the Boxster . . .

Even so, the basic Boxster and the Cayman S - top and bottom of the update efforts - showed that Porsche has pushed again to get the best from its cars. They barely look any different, but Porsche people will see the changes and that is what really matters.

Both showed more response in the chassis and engine, driving inland down towards the Great Ocean Road, with more a slightly more fluid feeling through the suspension and better drive from slow speed up to solid overtaking pace.

It is hard to say what the changes really means because the roads were damp and crowded with all sorts of traffic, including caravan parades and gawking overseas tourists.

But the Boxster was a sweet drive, with the incredible mid-engined grip I have come to expect and a little more go from the bottom of the rev range.

And the Cayman S, on the few occasions I could crack the throttle, remained as pin-sharp as I remembered with even more of a thump in the back. The PDK gearbox is an excellent device, with sweet auto changes and excellent response in manual mode - although the touch-change buttons on the wheel are a silly fiddle and hard to use, with a gearlever which is set for changes the wrong way (pull back to downshift) for brisk driving.

Porsche has given the coupe more go than the droptop because the Cayman chassis can handle the extra, but also because there are a growing number of people who want more from a car they are genuinely choosing ahead of a 911 for driving enjoyment and not just a cash saving.

It will take more time with the cars to pin down the exact improvements, but Porsche has put the real emphasis on the dollars and rated against any value-for-money measure in the sports car class the newcomers are winners.

Porsche Cayman and Cayman S

Price: from $122,200 to $160,800

Engine: 2.9-litre flat six 195kW/300Nm (Cayman); 3.4-litre flat six 235kW/370Nm (Cayman S)

Transmission: 6-speed manual, 7-speed PDK

Economy: 8.9L/100km (Cayman); 9.2L/100km (Cayman S) Porsche Boxster and Boxster S

Price: from $113,000 to $145,900

Engine: 2.9-litre flat six 188kW/290Nm (Boxster); 3.4-litre flat six 228kW/360Nm (Boxster S)

Transmission: 6-speed manual, 7-speed PDK

Economy: 8.9L/100km (Boxster); 9.2L/100km (Boxster S)