I've just done a great deal on a new 718 Cayman today for my better half. I sold her 981 Boxster S in December after 2.5 years of ownership so was looking for a suitable replacement for her. She has always loved the Cayman and wanted to go back to one now that we have the targa and my 981 Spyder for open top duties.

I too was sceptical about the flat 4 engine and really didn't car for the 2.5 Boxster S I was loaned for a couple of days last summer. It was fast without a doubt - I had a bit of a spirited tussle with a 981 Boxster GTS driver on a lovely stretch of dual carriageway and could easily pull away from him when we came to roundabouts etc thanks to the low down torque. His car sounded much, much better though.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and there was a glitch with the new 991.2 targa 4S I was due to collect so my dealer gave me a 718 2.0 Cayman as a loaner for 2 days whilst the issue on my car was sorted out. I had read press reviews that said the smaller engine is the one to go for in the 718 models and after driving it have to agree. Yes the noise in no way compares to the 6 cylinder but is far nicer than the 2.5 and pulls extremely well. The Cayman still has a much noisier cabin as there is little Porsche can do in that regard when the motor is right behind you and the coupe bodywork acts like a speaker cabinet. The Boxster is much better for cabin noise levels with the roof up but to my eyes the 718.1 styling suits the Cayman better. There is something about the squared off front bumper design that just looks awkward on the Boxster whereas the curvy roofline of the Cayman seems to take your eye away from it. Doubtless the 718.2 styling will be better.

The sluggish sales of both models gave me a very good negotiating hand so we chose a pretty low spec car from dealer stock that should retain more of it's value over the next 2 to 3 years. It would have been easy to spend 20-25% more on cars with unnecessary options but for once I did not give in to temptation.