THE SPECS
257 kW (350 hp)
4-cylinder turbo
Acceleration from 0-100 km/h in 4.6s
Rear-wheel drive
THE CAR
In a city awash with black SUVs travelling bumper to bumper on the Imagination Bypass, the Miami Blue Porsche Cayman 718 S is a total blast. The colour harks back to an era when car manufacturers were more playful with their palette — pick your high-performance sports car in pink, red, baby blue or emerald green. In truth, this particular hue is like the whole of Miami dropped acid and went to a block party, rather than the innocent, tender, baby blue version of, say, the 1964 Porsche 911 2.0 coupe. But anyway, you'll be a blur to everyone if you hit the sport button (like it needs one) and open up the Cayman 718 to its maximum potential (about 300km per hour). This is not a discreet, on-the-down-lo kind of car. It makes noise, in terms of the colour and presence and ... that motor. The engine, when it starts, sounds like a monster growling and laughing. Inside, the seats are black leather and the super-flush, streamlined infotainment system is easy to use. It has a rear and front boot, but no rear seats. So, just the two of us. Sorry, kids.
THE DRIVE
We want to get out of town, in case Auckland's most famous Porsche owner — Mike Hosking — spots us and, in a fit of car-club collegiality, wants to dust-bust our interior. I am a lint-roller kind of girl. It would never work. Once we are free of the chaos of the Southern Motorway, and on the back roads of Ngaruawahia to Raglan — we get it. Suddenly, it's like we can breathe again. Our Miami vice is not so much hugging the road as embracing it passionately and promising to never let go.
Cornering has never felt like this. Nothing has ever felt like this. We are low, sleek and fast and we probably look like a couple of prize wankers. We feel like a couple of wankers and it's absolutely fantastic, I'm telling you. I am driving at around 10.30pm, on an unfamiliar, windy road, and I have never felt safer — nor more flamboyant. You can build your own Porsche, of course, to your own wanty little specs. But if you go with the standard model (which is not, by anyone's definition remotely standard) you'll be forking out around $150k. Growl, laugh.
