Porsche 718 Cayman Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

Emphatically, yes. If you’re even considering a sportscar then the Porsche 718 Cayman should be on your list, and, really, it should be right at the top of it. To drive it betters all its rivals, though we concede that the Alpine A110 does run it close here, the allure of the Porsche badge allied to the Porsche 718 Cayman’s good looks, as well as the easy availability of Porsche dealerships and specialists to maintain it, makes the Porsche 718 Cayman difficult to ignore. 

Add a degree of practicality, within the constraints of a two-seat sportscar, and we’re surprised anybody buys anything else. Indeed, one of the only things going against it is its omnipresence, buying a Porsche 718 Cayman (or its Porsche 718 Boxster relation) not exactly marking you out from the crowd – if you want that then the Alpine A110 is more likely to appeal. We’d buy the Porsche, though, and we’d heartily recommend you do so, too.

Obviously there’s the option of its Porsche 718 Boxster relation, if you’re after an open-topped car, but otherwise direct rivals are relatively few if you’re after a small coupe.

The Alpine A110 is the closest rival, to drive at least, it lacking the brand pull of the Porsche, and its interior is woeful in comparison, likewise anything from Lotus in the Porsche 718 Cayman’s price bracket. Others you might consider are the BMW 2 Series Coupe and its BMW M2 flagship, the Jaguar F-Type coupe, or Audi TT coupe. Both the BMW and Audi rivals are more practical choices, as they come with a pair of additional seats (albeit in a +2 guise in the TT).

It wears a premium badge on its bonnet, and the interior largely lives up to that billing. You do have to spend some extra money on options for it to look and feel its very best, though. We’d recommend the extended leather interior package, as it replaces the top portion of the dash, as well as the tops of the doors inside with leather, lifting the interior considerably. It’s not a cheap at a little over £2,500, but it elevates the cabin from merely nice to something very special. 

The materials used throughout all feel of high quality, the fit and finish very well executed, feeling like it’s built to last. The only exception is the cupholders, which pop out of the dashboard above the glovebox, and feel flimsy and aren’t great at their intended purpose. Best stick to having your coffee in, rather than to go, then. A fine mix of driver focus and ease of use, mixed with certain longevity and nice tactile materials throughout, otherwise, the Porsche 718 Cayman’s cabin is an appealing place to be.

As standard all Porsche 718 Cayman feature a 7-inch touchscreen called Porsche Communication Management. It’s easy to operate, either via the screen itself, with some of its functionality replicated within the supplementary screen in the instruments - though you need to option the multifunction wheel to do so - as well as some additional controls underneath the main screen. 

Its functionality includes navigation, mobile phone connection, audio connection and a voice control system, with additional features under Porsche’s Carfinder subscription service adding remote vehicle status and vehicle tracking. There’s Apple CarPlay as standard, too, Porsche not supporting Android Auto, because it states that the majority of its customers use Apple smartphones. 

As you might expect there’s the ability to upgrade the standard audio system from the 110 watt, six-speaker DAB system to a BOSE option which ups that output to 505 watts and ten speakers, or a range-topping Burmester surround sound system for 821 watts and 12 speakers with surround sound. 

If you’re ordering a Porsche 718 Cayman T, don’t forget to re-check the option box to have the stereo re-instated, it coming as standard without it in a bid to save weight, but it’s a no-cost option to have it fitted. 

The Porsche 718 Cayman is a sportscar, and that brings with it a certain expectation of some compromises, but for two adults it’s perfectly comfortable and not lacking in space. 

A decent-sized glovebox is ahead of the passenger, with the doors have bins for oddment storage with useful pull-out sides, but even with the easy access, the space behind isn’t huge. There’s a little recess in the transmission tunnel between the seats, too, but again, it’s not hugely useful, though one option is, Porsche offering a little storage net in the front passenger-side footwell that costs nothing on the options list to add. Do so.  

Where the Porsche 718 Cayman gains over its Porsche 718 Boxster relation is in luggage space. It shares the same usefully shaped 150-litre capacity front luggage compartment which will swallow a couple of carry-on bags, but also gains in the rear compartment due to its obvious lack of a folding convertible roof. Not only is the rear boot larger (by 150 litres) to offer 275 litres of volume, but it’s accessed by a large opening hatchback. 

That rear boot still won’t swallow a bike (like you can manage in a TT), but with clever packing and soft bags you’ll get a surprising amount in. Being a coupe, too, there’s always room for a bike, or skis, on a roof-rack, and because sportscars look epic when they’re carrying your gear on the roof. 

As a daily, useful driver, then the Porsche 718 Cayman is capable with a few provisos, and if you need to do the school run (with one child only, admittedly) then there’s the option of an ISOFIX child seat mount on the passenger side seat – though not if you’ve optioned the more extreme bucket seat choices.

The Porsche 718 Cayman dimensions are 4379mm long, 1994mm wide and 1295mm tall.

Die-hard Porsche fans might have lamented the company’s decision to replace the six-cylinder engines with four-cylinder ones, and the corresponding 718 badge addition, but for most buyers it’s unlikely to be an issue. Indeed, both the 2.0-litre and 2.5-litre turbocharged flat-four engines deliver more useable performance, with greater low rev flexibility, but still allied with an appetite for revs that appeals to more enthusiastic drivers. 

The 2.0-litre engine provides 300PS and 380Nm of torque, while the 2.5-litre engine ups that to 350PS and 420Nm of torque. The four-cylinder engines sound better (though still not brilliant) when optioned with a sports exhaust. For sound, and superb high-revving flat-six thrills, only the awesome GTS 4.0 will do.  

Optioning Porsche’s Sports Chrono package increases the performance and focus in all, upping shift speeds in the PDK automatic transmission, adding a Mode Switch for the drive modes to the steering wheel, blipping the throttle for smoother downshifts with the manual and adding a bit more configurability to all the systems. 

Sports Chrono also adds Launch Control mode and various options that are useful if you want to take your Porsche 718 Cayman to a circuit. Sport Chrono/PDK equipped cars are slightly quicker to 62mph as a result of the additional features, but none are slow, with even the Porsche 718 Cayman able to reach 62mph in 5.3 seconds and manage a 170mph top speed. 

The Porsche 718 Cayman S with PDK and Sport Chrono is actually marginally quicker to 62mph than the GTS 4.0, despite the 4.0’s 400PS, that down to the GTS’s standard fitment (for now, a PDK due late 2020) of a manual transmission. 

The manual transmission might be a touch slower, but if you miss old-school driving fun then you’ll love the six-speed gearbox in the Porsche 718 Cayman. It’s quick and light, and the clutch, and other pedals well positioned and weighted to really allow you to enjoy it. PDK adds convenience, and another ratio for a total of seven gears, it an excellent transmission if you prefer the ease it brings. 

Given its driver focus all Porsche 718 Cayman offer decent refinement, both from wind and road, as well as self-generated sounds from the engine. They’re there when you want them, adding the Sports Exhaust bringing more aural excitement, though being switchable, means you can mute those more overtly sporting sounds when you’re on a longer drive. 

Wind noise is well suppressed, it quieter here than its open-topped Porsche 718 Boxster relation, though the Porsche 718 Cayman still suffers from a degree of tyre noise, particularly on rougher road surfaces. It’s a touch more obvious with more focused cars like the T or GTS, riding on larger wheels and tyres, but that small trade off in refinement is more than compensated for by the gains made in the way it drives. For a sportscar though, the Porsche 718 Cayman is refined.   

No independent crash tests of the Porsche 718 Cayman have been undertaken, but it complies with all global standards for crash protection. There are a pair of front and front passenger full-sized airbags, while all Porsche 718 Cayman models also feature Porsche Side Impact Protection (POSIP). 

This comprises of side impact protection elements in each door, a thorax airbag in each outer backrest side bolster and head airbags in the door panels. If you option Sports Bucket, or Full Bucket seats, you lose the thorax airbags, as well as not being able to option an ISOFIX child seat mount for the passenger seat. 

In addition to those safety devices the Porsche 718 Cayman’s stability and traction control systems should help you avoid an accident in the first place, as should the standard anti-lock braking system. Tyre pressure monitoring comes as standard, as do standard bi-xenon headlights with LED daytime running lights, Porsche offering a number of headlight upgrades on its options list. 

There’s the option, too, of parking sensors or a rear parking camera, and if you’ve specified the PDK automatic transmission you can also option Adaptive Cruise Control. A camera-based traffic sign recognition system is also available, but the Porsche 718 Cayman isn’t able to be specified with the sort of advanced driver assistance systems that take over, though Lane Change Assist, a blind-spot warning system is now available. 

Porsche insurance is never going to be cheap, but if you can park it overnight in a garage, or at least off the street it’ll help. All are in the mid- to high 40 insurance group. Other costs will be more than its rivals, Porsche servicing not inexpensive, though there are plenty of specialists who can service it for you if you’re unconcerned about main dealer stamps in your service book, or it’s a little bit older.

Every model is in excess of the £40,000 list price VED penalty charge, so you’ll pay an additional £355 a year – so £520 annually – for the first five years of ownership, after that it’ll be £165 a year. The first year payment in all the four-cylinder cars is £1,420 with the GTS costing £2,015.  

The Porsche 718 Cayman and Porsche 718 Cayman T are both fitted with a 2.0-litre 300PS turbo engine. 

The Porsche 718 Cayman S has a 2.5-litre turbo engine with 350PS

The Porsche 718 Boxster GTS 4.0, from 2020 onwards, has a 4.0-litre flat-six engine with 400PS. Until late 2020 it’s only available with the six-speed manual transmission, after which a seven-speed PDK   

Standard equipment in all models includes Porsche’s PCM infotainment system, alloy wheels, air conditioning, a manual transmission and Sports Seats with two-way electric adjustment (Sports Seats Plus in the T and GTS).