First Drive: 2009 Porsche Cayman S

By: Richard Meaden

Pity the poor Porsche 911. Wounded by challenges from brands as diverse as Aston Martin and Nissan it now faces the sternest test of all: that from its own flesh and blood. Richard Meaden drives the revamped Cayman S.

Conspiracy theories, don’t you just love ’em? You know, like the one about Porsche deliberately hobbling the Cayman by not fitting it with a limited-slip differential, just to protect the 911 from getting a kicking.

Trouble is, it would have been much easier to laugh at the preposterousness of such paranoia, were it not for the fact that in a dark moment even the most diehard 911 fundamentalist would confess to thinking there was more than a grain of truth to the speculation.

Well now Porsche put an end to the conjecture by offering a new revised, revamped and reinvigorated Cayman and Cayman S with an optional limited-slip differential. Unfortunately, Porsche also chose to launch the car in southern Spain, on a route heavily frequented by articulated lorries and largely covered in this layer of crud.

Foul Play? I’ll leave you to decide…

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First Drive: 2009 Porsche Cayman S: