2011 Porsche Cayman R

The Cayman R is essentially a fixed-roof version of Porsche's undisputed King of Fun, the Boxster Spyder. Nestled amidships is the same 3.4-liter boxer six-cylinder engine found in the droptop, putting out an additional 10 horsepower over the standard Cayman S. That 330 hp peak comes in at 7,400 rpm – 200 rpm higher than its lesser siblings – while torque remains unchanged at 273 pound-feet (accessed at a rather lofty 4,750 rpm). The extra grunt is thanks to a new head pipe, tweaked ECU and reworked exhaust that's instantly transformed with a quick push of a dash-mounted button.

But the Cayman R story isn't about power. It's about finesse, focus and – most importantly – weight reduction. Porsche's engineers have managed to strip some 121 pounds from the R, swapping out the doors for aluminum units (33 pounds), lightening the wheels (11 pounds) and fitting masterfully supportive and all-day comfortable carbon fiber-backed buckets (26 pounds), along with nixing the sat-nav/stereo and air conditioning (another 33 pounds). Porsche says another 15 pounds have been removed by stripping some sound deadening material and a few other non-essentials, like the door handles, which have been swapped with silly fabric pulls.