THERE’S been a bit of a mix-up and we’ve been given the wrong car.

Porsche said we were getting a green Cayman R fitted with a manual gearbox, optional ceramic discs and no air-conditioning or radio.

Instead we’ve got a red one with an automatic PDK gearbox, standard steel brakes and a radio. Oh, and a satellite navigation system and air-conditioning.

To complain would be like going on a date with Angelina Jolie and then whingeing that you didn’t like colour of the shoes she was wearing.

Trust me, a few days with the new Cayman R, whatever its colour and specification, is pretty special.

Last year Porsche produced a car called the Boxster Spyder. Instead of the heavy standard electric roof it had a simple fabric top that was more difficult to erect than a tent in a storm on the side of Mount Everest.

It had a lowered chassis and lightweight alloy wheels and a little bit more power than standard, but only 10bhp.

And Porsche’s engineers had gone over the car removing excess flab.

The changes were few but when added up they gave you the best Boxster ever made and one of the best Porsches. Now Porsche has used the same recipe on the Cayman and the result is the R.

CLASSY LOOK

It looks fantastic. Our red one especially so with the tasteful Porsche script in black along the sills. The R has its own front bumper and on the tailgate there’s a fixed rear wing that adds quite a bit of downforce at speed.

The wheels are the same ones as used on the Boxster Spyder and are the lightest alloys that Porsche makes.

Inside there are a pair of carbon bucket seats that look a bit uncomfortable but aren’t, even over a long journey.

And even if they were you’d put up with them because they look so cool.

Instead of door handles there are red straps to pull on. It saves weight, you see. The doors have aluminium skins instead of the ordinary Cayman’s steel ones.

There’s more red in the car, with body-coloured plastic on the centre console and a slash of red along the bottom of the dashboard which also carries a ‘Cayman R’ script.

Already the Cayman R is looking like it’s worth the £51,728 that Porsche will ask you for it (that’s £4,124 more than the Cayman S) and we haven’t driven it yet.

SPORTY

Although this Cayman R has got a satnav, music and air-conditioning, it’ll still be 54kg lighter than a Cayman S fitted with the same kit. The air-con is basic non-climate control but would you really want a car without air-con at all?

Lots of people will take their Rs on to race tracks but perhaps for a few hours or days per year. The rest of the time you’ll be overheating in traffic. Surely a radio doesn’t weigh that much?

Besides, it’s not as if adding these options makes the Cayman R less sporty.

Although 54kg less weight and 10bhp more power doesn’t sound much, the 326bhp R feels noticeably quicker than the S. It sprints to 62mph from zero in 5.0sec and feels even quicker.

It’s a bit noisier inside the R than the S, probably because Porsche has thrown away some of the sound deadening material. A sports exhaust system with switchable flap is standard and sounds fantastic.

PUSH THE BUTTON

Plenty of cars have Sport buttons that can make a slight difference to the engine response and gear change. The Cayman R has two buttons: Sport and Sport Plus. Press the second one and it’s like putting a Motorhead CD in the player instead of Beethoven.

In Sport Plus the PDK gearbox holds on to gears until the 3.4-litre flat six is screaming its head off.

But best of all is the way the Cayman R loves to straighten out the curves in a winding road. Few cars handle as well as a Cayman and certainly no Porsche.

The R’s suspension has been lowered by 22mm all round and fitted with stiffer springs. Also, it has a limited-slip differential which, although it makes the car understeer a little going in to corners, gives the car fantastic grip coming out of them, even with the traction control switched off.

There’s not much you need to say about the steering because it’s about as accurate as you will find on any car that carries a number plate.

The Cayman R is one of the best Porsches ever made.

To own one go into a Porsche dealer, open your mouth wide and say R.