The sat nav was infuriating, I somehow opened the boot every time I turned the ignition, and you could hardly store a suitcase. It was probably the best car I’ve ever driven.
But that’s the infuriating brilliance of this German head turner.
It wasn’t just the sheer beauty of this elegant Maritime Blue Cayman – which had even the most staunch white van man drooling – it was fact I was in bona fide sports cars that loved attacking corners even as I did the mundane things like drive to Asda.
The Porsche 718 Cayman GTS was unlike anything I’d driven before (well, I used to own an Austin Allegro).
It made every journey fun – but only you can say if that unmeasurable pleasure is actually worth the top of the range £80k price tag.
Let’s cut to the chase – the ride is fantastic.
Despite being low the road you don’t feel it, just the precision of the car when it tackles turns and bumps making it a pleasurable driving experience almost every time.
However due to all the computers involved – and quite a long gear ratio the top end power isn’t always there when you need it, but more of that later.
And even though it delivers sports car performance, it does it in the lap of luxury with hand-crafted interiors that oozes class.
The ride may be low but you don’t feel it in the bucket seats and you have all the mod cons you desire from a perfectly sized on-board display – leaving the dashboard uncluttered and susicint.
Yes it has its problems.
I had the automatic and without using the paddle gears it was not the most responsive.
The lag when you put your foot down was noticeable as the car worked out the correct gear and only then delivering the power.
The storage space is tiny at the front. With the engine taking up the rear seats much of the traditional boot the front section for storage is sparse.
You could perhaps get take one medium-size suitcase for that weekend away in front and similar in the back – but prey your partner is a light packer.
There was also some more mundane problems – although I’m not discounting human error on these.
Firstly due to the angle of the ignition and the design of the key fob I managed to open the back lid nearly every time I fired up the Cayman.
Thus became the extravagant dance of me trying to turn it on, then climb out of it, pop down the back and only then drive away.
Also the sat nav drove me up the wall, making me reprogramme it every time moved from away it, wantubg to do something else on the dash like change he radio station.
But these are minor quibbles to the overall look and feel of the car that drives perfectly. And let’s not discount the fact that on a car I only had a for a week it could just be done to me not being used to it.
They say you can’t put a cost on perfection.
Well you can, you just need to make out a cheque to Porsche for around £80,000.
THE FACTS
Price: £78,119
Engine: 2.5ltr 4-cylinder
0-62mph: 4,3seconds
Fuel consumption: 34mpg
THE RIVALS
Jaguar F-type
Lotus Evora
Nissan GTR
BMW i-8