They build on a solid dynamic foundation and exhibit an underlying characteristic you’ll find even in the base-model machines: that is, a driving experience that feels carefully honed on a circuit, with braking performance expertly tuned to the power output, steering which feels beautifully dialed in against the weight of the car and the stiffness of the chassis, and a package that’s big on overall balance. No part of the performance spectrum overwhelms any other. And it all comes together at the driver’s fingers and toes with a polished feel you won’t find as abundant in a performance car built on a volume-model chassis with some add-on parts. Boxster and Cayman were designed as pure sports cars from the get-go, remember.
  2015 Porsche Boxster GTS, Cayman GTS. Click image to enlarge |
Notably, the steering is quick and eager and playful, the chassis is delightfully sensitive to weight transfer and easy to pitch and rotate with the pedals, and it all rewards smooth and gentle inputs, which contributes to a world-class handling experience that’s not exhausting or tiresome for its driver, even many laps in.
With the S, and especially the GTS variants of the Cayman and Boxster, the premise of this frisky and effortless confidence remains fully intact – though with more braking capability to match the additional power output, and more grip from the tires to match the sportier, self-optimizing PASM suspension. Result? The same balanced overall character, but with higher speeds, added stability, deeper braking, and a higher likelihood that the seatbelt is the only thing holding your spleen inside of your torso as g-forces build in fast corners.
Steering is quick enough to capitalize on the front-end’s lightness, but without being hyperactive or nervous. It loads up nicely in corners at high speed, directing the chassis with a sense of playful precision, and communicating what’s happening at the contact patches, as well as the weight of the car, to the driver clearly.
  2015 Porsche Boxster GTS, Cayman GTS. Click image to enlarge |
In the GTS machines, the added power is delivered alongside a huge increase in engine volume with the standard Sports Exhaust, and the little added width in the tires turns in a lot more overall grip, assisted by the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) system which takes active control of suspension and body movements to keep things even more stable. This system now uses more sensors to make better, faster decisions about real-time damping and body motion control, so it’s more effective than ever.
There’s a downshift auto rev-matching function if you go with the manual transmission, and a new Torque Vectoring system that helps pitch the rear of the car into bends with inner-wheel braking and overdriving of the outside drive wheel. In GTS grade, then, Cayman and Boxster offer more grip and agility, do much more for their driver, and still deliver the trademark mid-engine driving feel, but in higher quantities. It all feels remarkably dialed-in, tuned, calibrated, and set-up.
