Latest member of the family to go streaking down the ebony excitement trail, the 2012 Porsche Cayman S Black Edition parallels the cosmetic and functional upgrades found on the recently announced Porsche 911 and Boxster S Black Editions. Like its Black Edition kin, the new Cayman S variant will be a high-content, limited-production piece, with about half of its 500-unit series world build likely heading for the U.S. market
As its name implies, the 2012 Porsche Cayman S Black Edition is an exercise in maximum monochrome, with the exterior and interior going back to black on virtually all levels. Sole brightwork in the mix appears on its "Black Edition" inscribed stainless-steel door sill plates and the aluminum-look spokes on its SportDesign steering wheel. The standard feature list includes a combination of popular option packages starting with the Design Package which brings much of the blackout trim bits. Also in the mix are the Convenience Package that nets bi-xenon headlights with dynamic cornering function, auto-dimming mirrors, rain-sensing wipers and automatic climate control plus the Infotainment package that adds a touch-screen Porsche Communication Management system with navigation, Bose surround-sound audio and XM Satellite Radio with NavTraffic.
Functionally, the 2012 Porsche Cayman S Black Edition benefits from the same changes found on the Boxster S Black Edition, with its 3.4-liter flat-six engine making 330 instead of 320 horsepower and a plus-one wheel/tire fitment that wraps the lightest alloys available in the Porsche lineup with Z-rated 235/35 performance rubber up front and 265/35-spec shoes in the rear. The Cayman S Black Edition will be available with either the standard six-speed manual transmission or optional seven-speed PDK sequential dual-clutch automatic transmission. While the former will serve up 0-60 mph in 4.8 seconds, hit a top speed of 173 mph and return 19-city/26-highway mpg, matching the PDK with the available Sport Chrono Package will add Sport/Sport Plus shift mapping that trims the 0-60 mph interval to 4.6 ticks while sacrificing just one mph of maximum velocity. Going the PDK route also bumps the car’s EPA numbers to 20/29 mpg.
The first of the 2012 Porsche Cayman S Black Edition models will go on sale here in late summer and carry a starting price of $68,450 for cars with the manual transmission and $71,870 for those fitted with the PDK automated manual gearbox. Both figures represent relative savings of $3,845 over comparably equipped 2012 Cayman S models.
