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Driven

First impressions are that the car is very solid and well made. The interior can look a little cheap in places, but actually, when you get used to it, it grows on you. It has a certain functional style about it. Very German. Over all though, the car feels like a quality item.

The seat and wheel have a vast number of adjustments so it's easy to get a very comfy seating position. Everything is where it should be and the pedals are nicely spaced for heel & toeing, if a little offset to the left. The gearbox is a little notchy when cold, but is fine when it warms up and is easy to get used to. Steering is very communicative considering it's power assisted, and it's very nicely weighted. Likewise the brakes just feel right. In fact it all just feels right.

It handles very well indeed and does a very good impression of a bigger heavier Elise. It's nowhere near as tactile, but very familiar. One area that the Elise really does have it however is ride. The Cayman is set up very firmly, which means on good roads it handles flat and feels great. But on bad ones it can be jarring. On the upside it doesn't bang and clank like an Elise when you hit a pothole.

The engine is torquey and can lazily pootle around at low revs. It has a very mechanical noise that I love at low speeds, a bassy bellow if you press on, finally rising to a howl when you get into the higher rev band. It really does sound superb and totally adds to the experience. Having a soulful engine is a lot of the battle with a sports car, and it's thankfully something the Cayman has no problems with at all.

Other than the sometimes harsh ride on badly maintained roads, I'm strugging to nit pick the car at all. I'm massively impressed with it all round and I can't think of any other cars out there (that I can afford) that come even close to the package Porsche have here. Really, it's that good.

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