Techart 718 Cayman S: Forest Screamer
TECHART 718 CAYMAN S
FOREST SCREAMER
Words: Alessandro Marrone
Photography: Giorgia Rossi
What is life, if not a set of emotions that drive through our heart and mind? Experiences that attack us daily and that help shape the character that makes us unique among billions of other human beings. The same emotions we are pursuing in a constant search for happiness, working and affective satisfaction, love for someone or something, in the fatal attraction towards an object that identifies our deepest desire to experience creating that shining that enlighten us. And so I head down into the forest just outside Renningen (near Leonberg, just a couple of miles from Stuttgart), and as I try to put in the game all the courage I can, I realize how much Techart accomplished here, making an already spotless performance car even more effective, even faster and above all even more beautiful. I have a soft spot for the Cayman – who knows me knows that well – but I think it’s just something everyone have after having driven one, whether it’s a 987, 981 or the new controversial 718. Being honest, talking about the new model with the four-cylinder turbo boxer, I have only driven the Boxster S (I hope to remedy soon), but aware that between the two changes very little things, I had great expectations for the refined version of the German tuner, which celebrates thirty years of activity offering us a more personal and more performance focused alternative to Stuttgart’s models. The 718 Cayman S made by Techart has an extra ingredient that makes it even more interesting than it already is – we are talking about the aesthetic kit, which adds drama to the upgrades obtained with the power kit. Just as I see that squatting look on those big 21-inch Formula IV wheels and the rear spoiler reminiscent of the already legendary GT4, a wild instinct is awaken in me, the one that kicks every logical desire for rationality and which starts spinning my mind, waiting for the engine to be hot enough to allow me putting on the floor the throttle and sense the difference with a traditional 718.
The road is fairly wide and free of traffic, so the devil on my shoulder takes control by activating the Sport + chassis, opening the exhaust valves and moving the gear lever in manual, controlling the 7-speed PDK through the paddles behind the steering wheel, now covered with a thin (incredibly thin) sheet of alcantara. The leather seats are equally comfortable, but have a more sophisticated look thanks to the contrast stitchings that recall the racing yellow of the exterior – other yellow touches are here and there all over the steering wheel, dashboard, center tunnel and gear lever. Porsche’s compactness remains perfectly intact, but the sense of sportiness is much more pronounced in here, and as soon as I move the first meters at the wheel, I realize that the suspension (also thanks to the larger wheels and the reduced shoulder of the tires) communicate way more precisely, harder, and make every move sudden, a pinball game with my skull box. There is space in front of me, more and more, too much for not taking advantage of it and while the clouds play hide and seek above my head, I decide to enjoy the moment and create one of those intense emotions I grew greedy for. The right foot falls to the pavement and with an instant thrust I get pressed to the seat while the tachometer moves fast and forces me not to lose sight of it even for a second. The scream of the small 4-cylinder is furious like that of a wild wolf to which the tail has been pounded – it goes mad, cries out loud and seems wanting to break everything, but through a rigid surgical precision I am launched down for a quick section, a couple of curves and I soon find myself in the heart of a dense forest. What better playground I would have hoped to find for a similar driving day, with trees that seem to create walls that bounce off the boom of the double sports exhaust.
I think I’ve upset more than some squirrels family, blasting up and down like a madman and trying to understand that gap between the 350 horses of the standard 718 S and the 400 of this Techart. 50 horses, which in other situations are pretty intangibles, but here come in a more pronounced, linear and seemingly homogeneous delivery, with a peak torque of 480Nm (+60), which complete the performance upgrade of the power kit. The revs scale is not as wide as on a naturally aspirated engine, we know it, and it is therefore good to play with the tachometer in the right way, going to recall the previous gear only when it is really necessary and letting the turbo do its tricks. The 718 Cayman S is a bullet on the loose that literally sticks to the ground thanks to a setting that kisses every change of the tarmac – it does not break up and when you tighten a narrow corner and induce oversteer, it assists you, but tends to bite the asphalt well before what I remember I was able doing with the 718 Boxster S. It gains torque with the same ease with which it devours meters and speed, sitting in a cabin full of every comfort, so much leather, alcantara and carbon fiber, but that surprisingly has the primary purpose of transmitting a sense of stiffness more like that of an Exige than your random Cayman. This reptile is an alpha male and the Renningen forest knows it well, which is why when the woods see the yellow silhouette, remain silently waiting for its passage. As a flash, under a blazing sky, one time after the other, I have the confirmation that turbo is not pure evil and that Techart is welcoming me with an extraordinary surprise, but that won’t be exclusive of a few elected.
We do not talk about coins, because you need € 5.275 for chassis and wheels, € 5.940 go for the power kit and € 14.475 for the aesthetic package. Upgrade of the passenger compartment, however, requires € 20,165 for a total of € 45,855, which is enough for bringing home a specimen specced as the one here – obviously already having a 718 Cayman S. The work done at the workshop and in the production department is extraordinary and hand-crafted – you can follow every step of the customization and choose any color, material and pattern imaginable. The care for detail is at its best and the result is simply amazing, transforming a great sports car like the Cayman into something even more intriguing and performing than a standard 911. The aesthetic kit, which among other things includes front splitter, side skirts , bumpers and air vents, finds its climax in the big rear spoiler that raises the overall look and the relationship that you feel from the moment you approach the car for the first time.
That yellow lightning starts crushing eardrums again, screaming almost to redefine the concept of decibels and disappearing into that forest that has been violated several times and thus has become the ideal counterpart to its wildest nature. A creature that you can tame, thanks to the ability to drive in Comfort mode, without taking care of the Sport Response and allowing the PDK to handle the gears as it likes, perhaps turning on the stereo and relaxing the 2.5 boxer behind your head. But truth is that everything will be reduced to a short wait, as long as you need to put the wheels where only the trees will be able to watch the drizzled orgy that you will create, leaving impetuously traces of a passage that acts as a preamble to a lap on the most exciting roller coaster you’ve ever experienced. Each curve seems to be tackled on a rail track and a single day is not enough to figure out where the grip limit is – every hard braking makes you realize that the acceleration power is directly proportional to the deceleration one, and knowing that you can touch 300 per hour with a 4-cylinder confirms that turbocharging is not the evil of the 21st century, but rather a different way to get what we eventually look for in a sports car: speed, adrenaline or the so-called just strong emotions.
TECHART 718 CAYMAN S (2017-)
Layout – mid-rear engined, rear wheel drive
Engine – 4 cylinder 2.5cc – turbo
Transmission – 7-speed automatic gearbox
Power – 400 hp / 480Nm
Weight – 1.385 kg ca.
Acceleration – 3,9 sec.
Top Speed – 296 kph
Complete Kit Price – € 45.855 (+ VAT)
Tested Car Price – € 121.920 (+ VAT)