Sports car bargain of the year

The new Porsche Cayman is not just a visual and technical advance over its predecessors, says Giles Smith in The Sunday Times, it has also benefited from something that many of us see the wisdom of, but few of us ever get round to achieving the loss of a few kilos.

By shedding 30kg, the Cayman has become "an inspiration". The 911 may be the Porsche range's trophy car, but, in its own "quiet, humble, and sustantially cheaper way", the Cayman is now "the driver's Porsche".

It's so good Porsche could have created a problem for itself, says AutoExpress. Not only is it as fantastic to drive and as quick as the firm's flagship 911 Carrera, it undercuts its legendary brother by nearly £24,000. When you look at it like this, the Cayman is actually one of the performance-car bargains of the year. And on the move, it is "quite simply sensational".

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Thanks to its mid-engined layout, the Porsche always feels well balanced, while the levels of grip allow you to attack corners with confidence. The new electrically assisted steering is also "beautifully weighted and full of feedback". Powerful and progressive brakes, rock-solid body control and a precise six-speed gearbox "complete the masterclass".

AutoExpress was testing the more expensive, more powerful S' version of the Porsche Cayman. And Porsche will want you to dig deep and go for the bigger engine, the leather, the options, and the bells and whistles. Don't, says Andrew English in The Daily Telegraph. Buy the standard 2.7-litre model instead.

"It's a car that encourages you to drive it better and rewards you when you do. The Cayman wasn't a bad car before. But this is a world beater."

Price: from £39,694 (£48,783 for the S model)

Engine: 2,706cc, flat six (3,436cc)

Power: 271bhp (321bhp) @ 7,400rpm

Top speed: 165mph (175mph)

0-62mph: 5.4 secs (5.0 secs)