Porsche 718 Cayman Acceleration Testing: PDK Leads the Way
Turbocharged four-cylinder engine offers stellar performance figures.
We came across an Edmunds video of the acceleration testing they did with the 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman. This is the base model, with the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and the turbocharged 2.0-liter flat-four that’s pumping out 300 hp. The host is Carlos Lago, one of Edmund’s senior writers. We remember being mighty skeptical when Porsche dropped the base flat-six in favor of this turbo-four, but the numbers were there. Watching the video does encourage us a bit too, since the 718 sounds just fine. It’s no flat-six, but in the interests of improving fuel economy, it’s hard to argue with.
The first run, which Carlos calls “key up,” is basically the settings you’d get if you had just hopped in the car, turned it on, and mashed the accelerator to the floor. 60 mph comes in 5.2 seconds and the quarter-mile mark in 13.3 seconds at 108.5 mph. That’s pretty impressive, especially with since the launch is relatively soft and drama-free.
Then Carlos turns a few knobs and sets the dampers to “firm”. The car is now in Sport Plus mode, which includes the built-in launch control. The steps to activate launch control once in Sport Plus appear to be dead simple: left foot hard on the brake, right foot pin the throttle to the floor, left foot up. The results? 0-60 mph in 4.3 seconds, and a 12.6-second quarter mile at 110.2 mph.
That’s right, flip a couple switches and the 718 Cayman drops more than half a second off its quarter mile time and almost a second off of the 0-60 mph time. Yeah, that’ll do! What’s most impressive to us is how drama-free a 12.6 second quarter mile ends up being, especially in a base-model Porsche!
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