If an invigorating sports car driving experience is what you're after, the 2014 Porsche Cayman is one of the best options at any price.
The current generation Cayman, which kicks off with the 2014 Porsche Cayman, is a nearly perfect sports car. It's usually easy to see how a car could be improved, even when it's considered the segment's latest and greatest, but this Cayman has us scratching our heads. Short of giving this coupe wings, or perhaps making it amphibious, we're not sure how Porsche could do any better.
If you're shopping for a new sports car, the 2014 Porsche Cayman merits strong consideration. Notably, it's the only mid-engine coupe in this price range. Potential rivals include the new 2014 BMW M235i, the new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the Nissan 370Z, and arguably the 911 itself. All are interesting cars, but if you want to own the purest vision of a Porsche sports car, there's no substitute for the 2014 Porsche Cayman.
The base Cayman is powered by a 2.7-liter horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine (also known as a flat-6 or boxer-6) that produces 275 horsepower and 213 pound-feet of torque. Like every Cayman, the base model employs rear-wheel drive and comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission. For fuel economy the base Cayman gets an EPA estimated 24 mpg combined (20 mpg city/30 mpg highway) with the standard six-speed.
The 2014 Cayman comes standard with antilock brakes, stability control and an array of eight airbags that includes two side airbags and a knee airbag for each passenger. In Edmunds testing, a base Cayman halted from 60 mph in 103 feet. That being said unless track days are part of your ownership experience, the standard brakes are more than sufficient.