Porsche Cayman

Porsche Cayman

Engine: 2,706cc in-line six cylinder

Power: 275bhp and 214lb.ft. of torque

Performance: 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds and 165 mph

Economy: 36.7mpg (combined)

CO2 emissions: 192g/km

Price: £39,162

Such is the outright top speed of the man who feasts on McDonalds' fast food prior to record setting runs that he can afford to start poorly before powering through the field to take victory by a clear margin.

Bolt also claims to be a decent footballer, but put him on a pitch with Lionel Messi and we would see the little Argentinean run rings around him...

Messi might not be the fastest man in the world but he is possibly one of the most agile.

No sooner has he dropped a shoulder than his direction has changed and even the most highly-rated, highly paid players in the world are left floundering.

David Beckham admits that he knew it was time to hang up his boots when the most agile man in football showed him a clean pair of heels in this year’s UEFA Champions League.

Enter the new Porsche Cayman, a car every bit as much at the top of its game as Bolt or Messi and a creation that emulates the latter of those two iconic sports stars by being built for balletic twists and turns.

With just 275bhp the £39,162 two-seat coupe from Stuttgart is comprehensively out-gunned by an BMW 135i or Audi S3.

Work its six-speed manual gearbox hard and it should reach 62mph in 5.7 seconds on its way to a 165mph top speed.

But this is not a car about outright pace...and it is all the more bewitching for the direction it does take.

As ever with Porsche, the styling changes that come to the Cayman after its first seven years on sale are subtle yet significant.

In profile its longer wheelbase is immediately evident, along with A-pillars and a windscreen have been positioned further forward and and a slightly more arcing, Carrera-esque rear as opposed to the previous version’s flat screen which plunged between prominent wheelarches.

Each flank is now dominated by the same large air intakes that were introduced to the new Boxster and at the rear a petite duck-tail rear wing flicks up, forming a broad fin which interlinks the two rear light clusters.

There are less bulbous curves and more creases and defined edges. All-in-all it’s a more cohesive, confident piece of automotive architecture.

Inside the new Cayman becomes the last Porsche in the range to receive the broad, switch-lined centre console that harks back to the Carrera GT supercar.

The effect is a more premium-looking cabin which cocoons without evoking a sense of claustrophobia. Light floods in through the Cayman’s ample glasshouse and 360 degree visibility is excellent.

Porsche’s baby coupe has the same reassuringly weighty steering, clutch and mechanical-feeling gear-shift as its bigger brother, the Carrera.

At low speeds this can feel a little cumbersome, but the rewards when the pace rises make the sacrifice worth making.

Limited power, and indeed torque (214lb.ft. from 4,500rpm to 6,500rpm), means that getting up to speed might not be as easy as anticipated after perusing those mini-supercar aesthetics.

At 101.6 hp-per-litre, the 2.7-litre flat-six engine breaks the magic 100 hp per litre displacement barrier and there is all the more opportunity to enjoy the upper echelons of the rev range without getting into serious trouble with the law.

Dry and rasping at part-throttle openings, the engine note hardens above 6,000rpm as the Cayman begins to hit its stride.

It’s an enjoyable process, but it will never leave you wide-eyed at the pace you’re piling on. Instead, adding speed soon becomes a process required to make the most of the new Cayman’s true party piece...cornering.

Around 30kg lighter than its predecessor — at around 1,310kg — and 40 per cent stiffer, as well as boasting a longer wheelbase and wider track, the new Cayman tacks into corners with precision and while it grips hard it never feels tied down or inert.

Bereft of an array of Porsche’s optional dynamic wizardry, including dynamic transmission mounts and active damping, my largely standard test car was alive with communication through seat and steering wheel.

Intuitive responses to steering and throttle inputs see the Cayman dance through corners loaded up with understeer or oversteer but flatters with the immediacy but transparency of its responses when mid-corner adjustments have to be made.

I’ll not deny that more throttle adjustability might have brought a dollop more fun — something the 325bhp Cayman S should address — but for outright, confidence inspiring agility the Cayman is without a rival on the current market.

There might be faster cars out there but, where I live, the roads are rarely straight.

Porsche’s entry-level Cayman might not be the fastest car on the roads but it boats one of the most alive chassis of any car, in any class, at the moment.

In sheer, driver-focussed rewards it leaves many faster, more powerful rivals standing like David Beckham in the wake of a fast-jinking Lionel Messi.