Porsche adds power to its Cayman S sports car

The company has invested some money in its potent mid-level sports car, the Cayman, which debuted in 2005 as a 2006 model. Four years into the model run, Porsche has freshened the 2009 Cayman with a mild restyling of the front and rear — headlights and taillights mostly — and has added power.

The base Cayman gets a larger, 2.9-liter six-cylinder engine, with 265 horsepower. And the uplevel Cayman S now has a 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine, with horsepower boosted from 295 to 320. The Cayman S still isn't playing in the same league as the flagship 911, but it's closer than ever.

On the Cayman S test car, that new engine is matched with a new seven-speed "Doppelkupplung" transmission — that translates to "double clutch," meaning that while this transmission operates as an automatic, it can be shifted manually, thanks to internal clutches. It's an effective update of the Tiptronic transmission, but whether you think it's worth the $3,420 option price over the six-speed manual is up to you.

There is no denying, though, that this new transmission maximizes the engine's muscle, and it feels like more than 320 horsepower, pulling strongly from a standing start, up through and well past legal limits. And fuel mileage is surprisingly good: An EPA-rated 20 mpg city, 29 mpg on the highway, thanks in part to that seventh speed that lets the engine lope along at freeway speeds.

The handling is excellent and the ride is surprisingly good. Steering is quick but not twitchy. Brakes are superb.

Nissan goes head-to-head with German sports cars

Nissan Korea launched the sports car 370Z on the local market Tuesday. The 370Z is the second sports car Nissan has introduced locally in less than a month, the first being the supercar GT-R launched on July 14. The 370Z beefs up the Japanese carmaker's local lineup to five vehicles. The 370Z is the sixth generation of the Japanese carmaker's Z-car line that made its debut in Japan and the United States with the 240Z in 1969. Since then the car has become something of an icon for Nissan with more than 1.7 million units of the series having been sold across the world. Introduced here for the first time, the 370Z will be taking on other high performance, imported cars the likes of the BMW Z4 and the Porsche Cayman in the Korean market. In terms of prices, the 370Z has its German competition beat hands down. At 56.8 million won ($45,800), the 370Z is at least 22.9 million won cheaper than any of the Cayman or Z4 models available locally. Porsche's website says that the Cayman fitted with manual transmission is priced at 85.26 million won while the Cayman S is priced at 98.61 million won. The price of the Z4 ranges from 79.7 million won-89.5 million won. With a 3.7-liter engine that generates 333 brake horsepower, the 370Z is also a step ahead of the competition in terms of power output. The Cayman S comes with a 3.4-liter, 6-cylinder engine that puts out 320 brake horsepower while the cheaper Cayman comes with a 2.9-liter engine with maximum power output of 265 brake horsepower. The gap separating the 370Z the two BMW Z4 models is even larger. The Z4 sDrive 30i is fitted with a 3-liter engine that puts out 258-brake horsepower and the Z4 sDrive 35i comes with a 3-liter twin turbo engine that generates 306-brake horsepower. Local competition Hyundai Motor Co.'s Genesis Coupe is the only sports car manufactured by a local carmaker and therefore the only comparable vehicle Korea has to offer.