Sometimes I am very thankful for being born an only child. Because if I had an older sibling, I would probably be living in their shadow right now; relegated to obscurity by his or her success.

You know, like Ralf and Michael Schumacher. Yeah, Schumi Major may have received that unfortunate jaw line, but where it really counted, like on the racetracks of Formula One, he was miles ahead of his younger brother.

There's a similar situation in that great American rock 'n roll band, The Beach Boys. For a while, Carl and Dennis Wilson were good musicians, although they never really came close to the musical genius of their older brother, Brian.

But like so many brilliant musicians, Brian went AWOL - spending the next two decades in a downward spiral; a breakdown fuelled by food and drugs.

See the pattern emerging here? That's why I thank God that I'm alone in this world.

Now, when it comes to the Porsche family, you would expect a similar dynamic to play itself out between the evergreen 911 and the young, upstart Cayman that was born to the world back in 2005.

I mean, come on, how on earth could anything compete against the 911, one of the most celebrated sports cars of all time - an icon with nearly 50 years under its bonnet?

First introduced in the early 1960s, let's not forget that the 911 is the car that turned Porsche into the celebrated marque it is today.

So you see, with all this pedigree riding behind its name, the battle-hardened 911 was always going to overshadow and outgun its little mid-engined brother; the so-called "poor man's Porsche" of the modern age.

I myself was sceptical, until I was invited to get on the good foot behind the wheel of the all-new Cayman R.

Now it's easy to write this car's boastful suffix and aggressive, racing-style side stripe off as marketing frippery. But in truth that subtle "R" badge adds more than you could ever imagine. And it does this simply by taking away.

Yes sir, to make this the quickest Cayman money can buy, Porsche have burnt exactly 55kg of fat in a brutal crash diet. In layman's terms, this means you don't get cup holders, air-conditioning, satellite navigation or a stereo. Cloth straps take the place of conventional door handles and adjustable sports seats are now replaced by the racing variety.

Topped off with aluminium doors and a bonnet to match, all this culminates in a car that makes you feel guilty every time you ask for second helpings.

To most people, this probably sounds like way too much of a compromise. After all, why would you want to pay more and get less? The trick is that what you lose in comfort you gain in driving pleasure.

For there is nothing I've piloted in the last two years that comes anywhere near the Cayman R in terms of fun and feedback.

So detailed are the controls, so exquisitely balanced is the chassis, it feels as if this Porsche is, like some four-wheeled body snatcher, wiring itself deep into your central nervous system.

In the same way that a giant HD television rekindles your love for movies, the Cayman R reintroduces you to the thrill of driving and makes you fall in love with it all over again.

And not just in the way it pivots through corners. Endowed with an extra wodge of power and an exhaust system designed to wail and pop and rumble like the devil's own racing car, the sonic pantomime that erupts every time you mash that throttle pedal to the floor is infinitely better than all the dirtiest, sweatiest carnal fantasies your filthy mind could ever conjure up.

As those super-aggressive bumpers and that fixed rear spoiler already suggest, the Porsche Cayman R is a sports car of infinite occasion. It is also responsible for a paradigm shift in family values.

Believe it or not but this stripped-out piece of supersonic eye-candy is now commandeering the very top spot of my own personal Cool Wall - a place that was once reserved for the all-conquering 911 Turbo (its current price is R2033000).

Sorry big fella: you may be faster in a straight line, but with all the driving excitement for R1194000 less, your kid brother has you beat.