Porsche is back at the Melbourne International Motor Show for 2006 with its brand new Cayman S coupe, which will be the centrepiece of the Porsche show stand.

Derived from the Boxster but equipped with more power and a hatchback coupe body style, it offers performance midway between the Boxster S and the flagship Porsche 911 series.

Although it is a hatchback, Cayman S is unlike any ordinary hatch. In Australia, it will compete with models over a wide price range, including the Audi TT, Lotus Exige, Mercedes-Benz SLK and the planned Lotus Europa S, Jaguar XK and BMW Z4 coupe.

Its 3.4-litre boxer six delivers 217 kW of power and 340 Nm of torque for a 0-100km/h time of 5.4 seconds and a top speed of 275 km/h.

Porsche says the Cayman S body is 50 per cent stiffer than the open-topped Boxster and sets new standards for torsional stiffness in the sports coupe market.

The $148,500 coupe is practical too, with 260 litres of luggage space under its hatch to supplement the 150 litres up front where Porsches traditionally hold their luggage.

Porsche expects Cayman S to win about 100 to 150 Australian owners in the course of its model life, with demand likely to outstrip supply for quite some time.

Melbourne International Motor Show runs from Thursday 9th February to Sunday 19th February at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, and is organised and promoted by the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce through its dealer division the Australian Automobile Dealers Association (Vic).

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