I must be one of the few people who can spend two full days in Hampi and not visit a single monument. In a town that is essentially an open-air museum of a lost empire, that almost sounds sacrilegious. Hampi, after all, was once the glorious capital of the Vijayanagara empire, a UNESCO World Heritage site scattered with crumbling temples, ornate mandapas and giant boulders.
Hampi is where most tourists come to time-travel through history. I, instead, came to lose myself in the present – in the company of an outrageously good sports car, with like-minded owners and some of the finest driving roads in the country.
That “something better to do” was a heady mix of chilling at Evolve Back Hampi, an uber-luxurious resort, and driving my Porsche 718 Cayman GTS on the fabulous roads around the temple town. Between long, lazy breakfasts in the fabulous surroundings of Evolve Back and long, but not-at-all lazy drives at full revs, there was simply no space in the sightseeing schedule. I may have left Hampi culturally poorer, but every kilometre spent unleashing what I believe is the best sports car in India on those incredible roads made me feel richer in a way only a driving enthusiast can understand.
And it wasn’t just me. This was a gathering of my fellow Cay men – a small, exclusive tribe of 718 Cayman GTS owners. Only a handful of these cars ever made it to India before allocations dried up. Porsche, in the midst of its slightly messy and emotionally complicated transition to electrification, has now discontinued the 718 Cayman GTS. As line-ups everywhere are reshaped by batteries and emissions rules, this naturally aspirated, old-school-at-heart machine suddenly feels like an endangered species – and therefore a future classic in the making.
The Cayman has always lived in the shadow of its big brother – the 911, the poster car, the icon everyone says they want. But on our roads, I’m convinced the 718 Cayman GTS is the perfect sports car for India. It’s compact, whereas the 911 has grown wider and bulkier with every generation, so it threads through traffic and narrow village lanes without feeling like a supertanker. Its 4-litre naturally aspirated flat six is the kind of engine on the brink of extinction: 400 horses, a throttle that responds like a reflex, and a soundtrack that builds from a rich growl to a full-blown wail as you chase the 7,800rpm redline. Being mid-engined, it has that near-telepathic balance; the front goes exactly where you point it, the rear follows faithfully, and the whole car feels like it’s pivoting around your hips. Few cars pull you into the driving experience the way this GTS does.
The plan to enjoy it was straightforward. Leave Porsche Centre Bengaluru at 7:18 am – the only acceptable flag-off time when you’re in a 718 – and drive roughly 400km to Hampi. Joining me were Karan Chandiok, Vikram Damodaran and his daughter Diiya, turning the run into a three-car celebration of the mid-engined Porsche. The Bengaluru dealership played perfect host, sending along a Macan support car with a mechanic. A big, big thanks to Prekshith of Porsche Centre Bengaluru for providing backup to let us focus purely on the drive.
The road surface from Bengaluru to Hampi was, for the most part, brilliant – smooth tarmac. Traffic was the only spoiler, thick early on, thinning as we left the city behind. As the road opened up, the Cayman came alive, feeling rock steady yet surprisingly pliant for something this focused.
It’s the analogue nature of the Cayman that steals my heart. The dials are exactly as they should be, with proper needles sweeping across clear, legible fonts, and buttons for pretty much every function. The only digital interface is an outdated touchscreen that would be an embarrassment even in something like a Swift. The infotainment is more info than entertainment, and even that info is pretty basic. Want more? You have to resort to Apple CarPlay, which I’m glad it has, mainly for Google Maps – and no, the absence of wireless connectivity doesn’t really bother you here.
Because this is a car with no unnecessary distractions. It’s just you, the road, a sublime 4-litre engine and a 7-speed PDK that thinks it’s a manual, blipping beautifully on downshifts and holding each gear all the way to the rev limiter. And with the exhaust flaps open, the sound it unleashes is nothing short of spine-tingling – the kind that gets under your skin, gives you goosebumps and stays with you long after the drive is done.
The last 10km to Evolve Back felt like pure Cayman country: billiard-smooth blacktop, sharp corners, quick direction changes and flowing switchbacks that showed off its sublime chassis. Practicality wasn’t an issue either; between its two boots, the Cayman swallowed a cabin bag and more. The three cars together made quite the sight everywhere we went and, parked in the atmospheric grounds of Evolve Back, looked every bit like modern classics on a pilgrimage of their own – proof that in Hampi, you don’t always need to chase history to have a truly memorable trip.
