SPORTSCARS are often about making headlines and achieving quick sales spurts before volume tapers. Think about a certain hot hatchback with Drift Mode or sports sedan claiming coupe-quick sub-4.5-second 0-100km/h times.

The 981-generation Boxster and Cayman have never needed to shout from the rooftops about marketing flashpoints and straight-line statistics, however, with those models effortlessly reigning as sportscar benchmarks since their 2012 release. But now their successors – wearing a new ‘718’ prefix in a nod to the four-cylinder 550 Spyder’s race-winning 1960s ways – might have to.

That is because the 718 Cayman and Boxster have ditched the 981’s 2.7- and 3.4-litre six-cylinder engines, replacing them with smaller but now-turbocharged 2.0- and 2.5-litre four-cylinder units. Power, torque, and performance are all up, while fuel consumption has fallen.

While such dot-points make for good headlines, can those on-paper triumphs be matched by a heightened on-road experience?