New Cayman to take on Beemer?

The makings of a prestige two-seater coupe skirmish are in the offing. Hot on the heels of the international launch of the coupe variant of BMW’s Z4 sportscar (click here for details) comes news Porsche will offer an entry-level Cayman in Australia.

Based on the recently introduced Cayman S (see CarPoint’s seven-day test next week), the new car will be badged Cayman and feature a 180kW/273Nm 2.7-litre engine.

Priced from $118,000 – over $30K shy of the Cayman S – the new mid-engined Porsche hardtop arrives in August.

Aimed four-square at BMW’s new Coupe, the Cayman will be faced with a significant price handicap it seems. In 3.0si form, the front-engined Z4 Coupe will pack 195kW and likely kick off from under $90,000 when it arrives in September.

Like its Roadster stablemate it will be available in both six-speed manual and auto versions.

The Cayman on the other hand gets the prestige of the Porsche badge and sweet mid-engined handling. Sound like a battle brewing? We think so too…

For the record, the Cayman’s VarioCam-equipped Cayman six is mated to a five-speed transmission. A six-speed manual will be offered as an option (packaged with in conjunction with Porsche Active Suspension Management) as will the Tiptronic S five-speed automatic transmission.

The new Porsche will roll on 17-inch alloys and feature a comprehensive equipment list including climate control air conditioning, leather steering wheel, fully-adjustable leather seats with electric backrest function and nine-speaker sound system.

Porsche’s performance stats have the Cayman posting a 0-100km/h time of 6.1sec on the way to a top speed of 258km/h. The 37kW more potent S is good for a top whack of 275 and gets to three figures in 5.4sec. In comparison, BMW claims 0-100km/h of 5.7sec for the Z4 3.0si Coupe which is electronically limited to 250km/h.