CAYMAND R HI-RES IMAGES HERE

ONE OF THE principal reasons Porsche chose the Spanish island of Majorca to launch the Cayman R is its reputation for fine weather regardless of season. Throw thrilling mountain roads and a challenging racetrack into the mix and you have the ideal set of conditions to demonstrate the merits of a stripped out, mid-engined road-racer.

And so far, my hour in the Cayman’s passenger seat has been spent watching my co-driving South African scribe punch through the six-speed manual gearbox, listening intently to the raspy roar of the 3.4-litre flat-six as it bounces off the rev limiter at 7500rpm through tunnels. My right arm’s cramped up from gripping the door pull as we dive into corners, attack apexes and blast full throttle on to the next sweeping left-right combo. The little Porsche has given a commanding performance, full of power, precision and agility, all in perfect harmony. It seems to me the Cayman R is the full orchestra, and I’m itching for a turn in the conductor’s chair.

At last we pull off onto a dirt verge and I grab the red canvas door strap where a regular Cayman’s heavier metal handle would have been, and swap from one glass and carbon fibre-reinforced bucket seat to the other. Surprisingly comfortable, the seat construction and restricted adjustment – fore and aft only – shaves 12kg off the weight. My colleague is chatting to a pair of Norwegians trying in vain to find adjacent flat sections of Cayman bodywork for mounted photography, so I take my time setting up mirrors and Alcantara-covered wheel, while trying not to hate the optional leather interior in bordello red. I’m told it goes down a treat in the Middle East. Thankfully a black interior is standard, complemented by a transmission cover and a horizontal strip of dash trim, both in body colour. Contrasting seatbelts and door pulls in red or black, depending on exterior paint, liven the look even more. The effect is undeniably sporty, so long as you avoid the red cow disease.

For the Cayman R, Porsche stripped various items from the standard equipment list, so there’s no cup holder, no door pockets and no main instrument cowl. Ditching the aircon and radio saves 15kg, a mass-reducing figure matched by replacing steel doors and bonnet with aluminium ones. Other notable items include the lightest 19-inch rims in Porsche’s portfolio and the option of a lithium-ion battery a la Boxster Spyder. Naturally you can still order your Cayman R with all manner of niceties, from Porsche Communication Management (including touchscreen navigation) to a full-leather interior to climate control to bi-xenon headlights with dynamic cornering and daytime running LEDs. But then you’d be messing with that 22mm lower centre of gravity and hard-earned weight loss.