2023 Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman: Car and Driver 10Best
We would never forgive this in any other car. The screen is tiny, the cargo room is stingy, backup cameras are grainy, and the cupholders are functionally nonexistent. Yet it’s worth spilling coffee on your best pants for a chance to commute in any of Porsche’s 718 variants. Piloting a Cayman or a Boxster resets everything you thought you knew about cars, giving you a perfect baseline. This is how it should always feel from the driver’s seat. We don’t care that there’s no massage option and the gauges aren’t digital and customizable. We’re here because we love driving, and so does the 718.
With the bump in spending power for this year’s 10Best, we are finally able to include almost every 718 variant, from the base turbo flat-four up to the Cayman GT4, the lightweight 718 Spyder, and the kick-up-the-revs Boxster and Cayman GTS 4.0. The $150,550 GT4 RS remains out of contention, but we have plenty to love.
Like the Honda Civic, it’s a car that can delight all the way up and down its trim and options sheet. The flat-four doesn’t kick or sing with the force of the 4.0-liter six, but the four-banger will yowl if you step on its tail. And it’s no slowpoke. The Cayman T hits 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds. The automatic Cayman GT4 can do it in 3.3.
It’s not just good engine choices; there’s no wrong combination on the 718’s order form. We’re still old-school enough to prefer a stick, and the manual couldn’t be better: short throws and clean clicks matched to a clutch that offers feedback all through its arc while still being light enough for stop-and-go commutes. For those more accepting of technological advancement, the dual-clutch automatic is quick as a shooting star and never busy or abrupt. The 718 handles so well that your time on the brakes will be limited—just turn in and drive through. When you do need to stop, you’ll find the brake pedal firm and even, no matter which rotor and caliper configuration is optioned. Somehow, Porsche has figured out how to send feedback through the electrically assisted steering rack in a way that communicates the smallest change in topography to your hands even as the chassis travels over it unbothered.
Most modern cars are designed under the assumption that we’re all plodding along like geese in formation, to the pond and back, needing downy-soft comfort and constant connection to the world outside as we honk our way through life. Not so this Porsche. The 718 is a hummingbird: light, focused, and sparkling, a joy to behold.
You Might Also Like
