Car of the Year Awards 2025: Sports Car of the Year
More than anything, sports cars need to thrill you. Acceleration is important, but it’s finesse and feel through corners that matter most...
Porsche 718 Cayman GTS
On Masterchef, using all the right ingredients in exactly the right amounts is what’s required if you’re to take the trophy home, rather than watching the final in front of the telly with a Pot Noodle.
If the Cayman GTS had been cooked up in the Masterchef kitchen, Porsche wouldn’t just win; it’d be asked to become one of the professional judges. Every ingredient that goes into this incredible sports car is not only perfectly measured, but it’s also of the very best quality you can get.
The 395bhp 4.0-litre engine is a particular highlight. With no turbochargers to potentially delay response, and with two more cylinders than more junior versions of the Porsche Cayman, it rewards with instant, explosive shove when you put your foot down, building enthusiastically all the way up to its near-7800rpm rev limiter and sounding divine on the way.
What’s more, every time you reach that limit, you get the joy of using an excellent six-speed manual gearbox, which makes swapping cogs an absolute pleasure. We’d go as far as to say that it’s the best on the market right now. Of course, you can also get the Cayman with a PDK automatic gearbox, but we’d stick with the manual, which adds extra involvement to an already engaging driving experience.
And that’s before you even reach the first corner, where the GTS outshines even the Alpine A110 and BMW M2, with its standard- fit adaptive suspension (PASM in Porsche speak) ensuring almost zero body lean. It’s sensational on a twisty road; the feelsome steering tells you exactly how much grip you have left to take advantage of – and the reserves are very deep.
You could argue that the lighter A110 is more playful at normal road speeds, but the Cayman gives you more confidence and is ultimately way more capable.
Impressively, when you aren’t taking advantage of the Cayman’s athletic abilities, it feels just as much at home tootling around town as it does through sweeping corners, making it easy to live with. Given its sporty nature, the Cayman is on the firmer side, but it’s still comfortable enough at all speeds, taking the edge off all but the harshest imperfections.
Completing Porsche’s recipe of sports car perfection is the interior, which feels suitably special, mixing sportiness and high-quality materials effortlessly. In fact, while you’ll find scratchy plastics almost immediately in the A110, most of the surfaces in the Cayman are covered in a mix of dense, soft-feeling materials. What’s more, the driving position is fantastic; you’re perfectly aligned with the steering wheel and pedals, and the driver’s seat holds you in place through corners, even if you don’t go for the optional full bucket seats.
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