After a two-year absence, the reÂdesigned Boxster reappeared on our 10Best list last year, like a player triumphantly returning to the big leagues after some seasoning in the minors. It returned stronger, faster, better. The Boxster’s comeback was further enhanced by a first-place performance in a comparison test whose list of combatants included a Corvette convertible.
So, barring another major redesign, how do you top that? Nothing to it: You simply expand the family. Although the Boxster and the Cayman differ — one offers the allure of a wind-in-hair component, the other has a solid roof — they’re essentially identical below the beltline: a robust flat-six engine bolted in behind the cockpit and ahead of the rear axle, adding up to mid-engine balance and mid-engine agility.
The Cayman was initially offered as a more potent S model (295 horsepower), but it arrived too late for our 2006 10Best derby. In the countdown to ’07, it bolstered its credentials by scoring top marks in two comparison tests, one of them against an archrival from Munich [“BMW Z4 M Coupe vs. Porsche Cayman S,†C/D, August 2006]. As families go, this one goes better than most.