A green Porsche parked on a countryside road
A green Porsche parked on a countryside road

The Porsche 718 Cayman GTS’ mid-engine layout offers distinct handling characteristics and balance compared to other GTS models

In the second of our series on Porsche, a company with a unique place in the automotive canon, we focus on two of its mid-market cars, the 718 Cayman GTS and 718 Boxster GTS, driver-focussed versions of the company’s acclaimed entry-level two seaters. We review them as part of our series, a tribute to a brand which is synonymous with German engineering and carries with it a geeky spirit that appeals to those who might collect mechanical watches

Part two Porsche 718 Cayman GTS and 718 Boxster GTS

The 718 Cayman is a closed-roof two seater car, which in the first few years of its existence was seen as the car you would buy if you couldn’t afford the more upmarket 911 model.

For the moment we got into this car, there was no doubt that we were in something quite special in its own right.

Unlike many fast cars of today, the 718 feels small and lightweight. The controls are also light, including the steering, and – wonderfully – the manual gearstick, which is lined, like much of the interior, in Alcantara, a suede-like material that imparts extra sportiness to the company’s GTS models.

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Porsche could have done what Ferrari did 15 years ago, and banished the manual gearbox to the history books. Automatics, controlled through paddles on the steering column, are much faster and more technologically advanced. No serious racing driver today drives a manual on a racetrack.

And yet many of the heroic drivers in F1 history and those who drive manual shift cars. A gearstick gives you an extra sense of connection and control which is lacking when you know the car can do the work for you, even if you are shifting manually with paddles.

The gearshift in the 718 is light and easy to negotiate. combined with a relatively light clutch pedal with a clear bite point, it means that even in town, this is a car that you don’t mind driving and changing the gears yourself.

Out on a country road, it becomes a delight, as you can balance the agile steering, the willing engine and the gearshift – not just in order to go fast (a Tesla could do that), to feel like you are with a dance partner – your car.

Black interiors of the gear shift and wheel inside a Porsche

The interior of the 718 models are fully geared towards enjoyment and comfort for the driver

The engine also has a serious part to play here. Most new cars, if they are not electric or hybrid, are turbocharged, which increases both power and efficiency. But turbo engines by nature tend lack that dramatic buildup of power and noise as the revs rise.

So combine a manual gearbox with a non-turbo charged engine along with the 718’s delicacy of handing, and you get a car that you can keep discovering with joy, because as a particular curve taken at 45 mph feels different to the same curve taken at 50 mph, or at 40 mph in a different gear, in terms of the responsiveness of the car. There is so much to discover.

The interior is comfortable, but also as compact as you might expect for a car seating only two. Plenty of room for you, but don’t expect to take five incidental bags into the cabin with you. On the plus side, it does have a boot (trunk) both in the front and the back of the car with a surprisingly positive amount of total space, as long as you are happy to travel with numerous small bags rather than a big suitcase.

Do we have any criticisms? Not really. Perhaps the only thing we felt is that Porsche’s engineering is too brilliant, and the engineers had restrained themselves from making this car the real monster it could be. It could be louder, faster, and have even more clarity and precision and sharpness – and danger – in his handling. But then it would be a racing version of the car, and that’s a different type of Porsche all together. Meanwhile, bravo Porsche for making what is close to the perfect sports car at a price that is a positive bargain.

A red Porsche parked on the side of a road next to a field

The Porsche Boxster 718 GTS is targeted towards enthusiasts and drivers seeking a pure and engaging sports car experience with the added enjoyment of open-top driving

Closely related to the 718 Cayman is the GTS edition of the Porsche Boxster. These open and closed cars share the same excellent engine, and the interiors are very similar although our Boxster had two crucial differences: automatic gear shift, in the form of Porsche’s PDK transmission, which allows you also to shift via paddles located on the steering column, and a roof that opens to turn the car into a convertible.

The Boxster is very lively and agile, but a touch, less sharp, a little more laid-back than its closed-roof sibling. That doesn’t mean it’s less fun, because it’s so easy to lower the roof, and enjoy the smells, sights and sounds of driving in the open air. Many convertibles these days, including those offered by Ferrari, feel semi enclosed due to the architecture of the car. This feels like a full, old-fashioned convertible. Delightful.

A birds eve view of a red convertible Porsche

The Boxster’s open-top design and mid-engine layout contribute to its unique driving dynamics and handling characteristics

You would, in fact, be perfectly justified in having both: the Boxster for when you want to have fun in good weather, and on roads were, you won’t be expecting the ultimate drive. And the 718 when you know the driving has huge potential.

Read more: Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Review

Both have a likeness, and a joy about them, feeling of supercity brought on by very sophisticated engineering that hides its light smartly. They are not cheap alternatives to a more expensive 911: they are different types of car, two seats only adventure. They are both a delight.

Find out more:

porsche.com/718-cayman-gts

porsche.com/718-boxster-gts

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In the fourth part of our Driving Force series from the AW 2022/23 issue, LUX’s car reviewer gets behind the wheel of the Maserati Levante Granlusso

As the car industry moves into its new phase focused on electric and, in due course, autonomous motors, presumably there will be shifts in priority for consumers. Previously, you may have chosen a car for its exciting engine noise and performance advantage over rivals. In an autonomous, electric-car future, these factors will be uniform: all cars will go at the same speed and make the same (lack of) emotive sound.

So how will they be distinguished? Or will they not be distinguished at all? Will cars become like road-going versions of train carriages, the space inside them hired out by passengers?

It would be logical to presume that personal (as opposed to shared) automotive transportation will continue for the wealthier consumer and, with differentiation in the performance stakes no longer possible, design and luxury will come more to the forefront.

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Designing a car’s interior to look striking is not as simple as creating a fashion collaboration for a sneaker, though. Like a plane’s, the interior of a car has to adhere to specific stipulations for safety, space, comfort and security. Materials also need to handle years of being sat on and scraped by (luxury) behinds. Which is why, we reflected, as we sat in the Maserati Levante Granlusso, it is rare to see an interior with this much style. The most luxury car interiors are fairly interchangeable. Not so this one.

It was designed by the Italian fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna – a special edition that is worth seeking out. There were swathes of what looked like men’s suit fabric along the seats and doors, and it had a delicious boudoir feel.

We subjected the Maserati to a longer test than usual, over a period of weeks rather than days, because this is a car designed as everyday luxury transportation, just as your Birkin is designed as an everyday luxury carrier of stuff. If you’re going to be using the car every day and will be seeing a lot of its interior, then it deserves serious consideration on this alone from anyone in the market for a mid-size luxury SUV. Everyone who experienced the car – friends, relatives and so on – commented on the interior. It’s a comfortable car under any circumstances, but the design touches give it a distinctiveness that is unique to this edition.

brown and leather and black car seats and a steering wheel

Embodying function and Italian flair, Maserati’s new mid-size luxury SUV is particularly distinctive for its fashion house-designed interior

Before we go further, let’s elaborate on the term “mid-size luxury SUV”. A few years back cars came in simple categories. Now there’s an infinite variety of what the industry calls “crossovers”: vehicles that are fluid in terms of categorisation, sometimes the better for it, too, and sometimes not, if you look at the more curious attempts at merging luxury, high-performance and bling. Fortunately, Maserati does not fall into this trap. It is a relatively simple, medium-sized (that is to say, pretty big by European standards and quite small by American standards), sporting off-road vehicle, the type seen on school runs and in luxury shopping streets globally.

Its shape is more quiet and harmonious than out-there and ostentatious, and all the better for it, unless your primary aim is to be noticed. It has a touch of Italian flair – more so than its Germanic rivals, like the Porsche Cayenne and BMW X5 – but not so much that it shouts at you. Unusually for an SUV, it attracted many compliments from people we encountered, and no inner-city anti-car hostility.

To drive, it felt a bit bigger than it is. The flowing shape means that it is hard to judge where the ends of the car are (the 360-degree camera was an advantage here). In a car with a Maserati badge, we expected something focused on performance and agility (as much as possible for a large, tall car) but, actually, the Maserati is aimed more towards the comfort end of the spectrum. This was fine most of the time, except occasionally the ride did get more lumpy than in a true luxury car, such as a Mercedes E-Class, and it was a shame not to have a bit more excitement on a twisty road. That is the essential compromise of these sport- utility vehicles – they encompass engineering challenges for the way they drive and ride. Still, it hasn’t hurt their sales and it would be a very sensitive driver or passenger who noted this.

Read more: Driving Force: Porsche Panamera 4S E-Hybrid

One thing you may notice, depending on how mechanically aware you are, is the engine. If you are part of a (now dwindling) demographic for whom an Italian car brand means a glorious, smooth and powerful engine, you will need to readjust for the diesel engine. It gets the car around effectively enough, but it’s not going to make you feel like a racing driver. It is functional, which is slightly out of kilter with the car’s flair.

And it is flair that we keep going back to. In a world of increasingly homogeneous cars notable for their efficiency, Maserati has succeeded in making a comfortable, functional, spacious everyday car with a splash of luxury. That is an attractive trait in itself, and a very nice place to be when you are sitting in everyday traffic surrounded by your Zegna-fabric interior.

Find out more: maserati.com

This article first appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2022/23 issue of LUX

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Hands drawing on pieces of paper in a workshop setting with shoe insoles
Pain of black high heels pictured in front of medical bottles

Maison Baum heels are fitted with a pain-free insole

Newly launched shoe brand Maison Baum combines French luxury design with German medical expertise to create a high heel that’s as comfortable to wear as it is stylish. We speak to co-founder Christof Baum about their patented pain-free insole, sustainable fashion and recycling

A man and a woman wearing lab coats in an old shop

Co-founders Sophie Tréhoret and Christof Baum

1. What inspired you to start Maison Baum?

I’ve seen a lot of women around me suffer from pain in high heels, including my sister. My dad is an orthopaedic surgeon, so the idea came about naturally to explore how to apply his knowhow and make beautiful shoes with it.

In addition, French was my first foreign language and having grown up in a city just next to the border, it felt like the brand should combine my love for France while at the same time valuing my family’s German heritage.

2. How does your pain-free insole work exactly?

The insole involves seven cushioned elements that support your foot bones in just the right places to prevent your foot from slipping forward. Together with my father, I have identified the key anatomic areas which you need to relieve. Due to the anatomical insole and a couple of other measures, our shoes reduce forefoot pressure by around fifty percent and are a lot easier to keep on your feet compared to other heels.

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3. What’s been the most challenging part of setting up a fashion start-up?

Defining a vision and believing in it when no one else does. New challenges come at you every day and you have to cover a broad range of topics, such as accounting, design or even foot anatomy. Nevertheless no matter what happens, it’s important to focus on the work you can do to improve the situation in that moment, think ahead and surround yourself with the right people. I’ve been very lucky to work with people I value both on a professional and personal level, and this is what makes all the difference.

4. How are you tackling issues of sustainability?

Sustainability is a heartfelt desire for me. We only have one earth to live on and to take care of and as shoemakers we belong to one of the most polluting industries. Nevertheless the world we live in is complex, and you need to think sustainability from various ways.

For Maison Baum, we try to implement environmentally sound materials wherever we can and combine them with social and economic long-term sustainability. Hence, we manufacture with selected European suppliers and family-owned companies only and make 90% of our packaging from recycled cardboard. Our designs are classic and timeless and we focus on creating ever-green design superstars that you can wear for many years instead of only following the latest fashion trends that will make you throw away your heels after a few months of wearing them.

However, combining feminine design with the largest medical soundness to make them “sustainable” for the body remains our utmost priority.

Read more: Designer Mary Katrantzou on the business of fashion

Hands drawing on pieces of paper in a workshop setting with shoe insoles

Inside the Maison Baum workshop

5. If you could change one thing about the fashion industry, what would it be?

It would be to have internationally-binding and actually enforceable standards on the potential disassembly of shoes. We humans throw away and burn an insane amount of fashion and footwear every year. The number one reason why shoes are so rarely recycled is that most are glued together and can’t be easily separated into their constitutive materials.

6. What’s the longest period you’ve spent wearing  Maison Baum heels?

10 hours straight at home. But I wouldn’t repeat that in public.

Find out more: maisonbaum.com

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