718 Cayman

The Costa del Sud provincial road, between Chia and Porto Teulada, is narrow, technical and suspended above the sea: here a two-metre-wide supercar is forever asking permission, while the Cayman threads through as if it had been tailored to the route. Blind corners, switchbacks over the granite, Spanish watchtowers appearing behind every headland: we covered it metre by metre in our Cagliari–Chia–Villasimius itinerary, and the Cayman is the car that tells the story best.

Starting from the capital has its advantages: Porsche rental in Cagliari, delivered to your hotel or to Elmas Airport, puts the Sella del Diavolo, the Capo Spartivento lighthouse and the dunes of Chia within an hour's reach. A compact footprint and the mass right at the centre: in the island's south, those qualities are worth more than an extra hundred horsepower.

The 6-speed manual is the heart of the experience: short, mechanical throws with that precise clack that turns every heel-and-toe downshift into a small ritual. The clutch is progressive, never tiring, and the 2.0-litre turbocharged flat-four answers with a hoarse, almost angry note, punctuated by the whistle of the turbo arriving from behind the seats, inches from your shoulders.

With the engine amidships, the Cayman rotates around you: clean turn-in, neutral balance, steering that doesn't interpret — it reports. And 300 hp is the right amount for the real road: enough for a theoretical 275 km/h, modest enough to use all of it, flat out in third climbing away from the hairpins above Teulada. That is the difference between owning power and actually being able to spend it.

If you want more voice, the GTS answers with a naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six: full-bodied delivery, a long, deep stride, a sound that recalls Porsches of another era. It remains a touring car, but with greater intensity at every point on the rev counter — the ideal pick for those alternating coast and inland passes without wanting to compromise.

The GT4 RS is another story altogether: a 9,000 rpm engine derived from the GT3, intakes behind the side windows breathing beside your ears, a track-bred chassis. It is the definitive Cayman, conceived for days of pure driving rather than the run to the beach. Our WhatsApp concierge will help you work out which of the three personalities matches your itinerary: check availability.