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The perennial 10Best winner arrives with serious street cred. But will its reputation survive 40,000 miles in our hands?

The very first day our new Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 went into long-term service, it got snowed on. Heavily. Six inches of powder, the kind skiers live for, piled atop a crust of ice from a blast of freezing rain that had arrived in Michigan earlier in the day. Welcome to your new home, Cayman!

Why would we subject a car this nice to weather this harsh? Because we praise Porsches for being everyday-drivable sports cars. Testing that belief requires living with one of our favorites from Stuttgart—we know, tough duty—long enough to experience it in a multiplicity of driving situations. A Cayman owner in Los Angeles might decide to take his or her car up to Big Bear for some skiing; a Michigander might want to do a little slip-sliding on a snowy day. We happen to know that a former C/D editor-in-chief bought a new 911 a few years ago and proceeded to use it as a daily driver in winter.

So, as we do with all our long-term test cars, we fitted the Cayman with winter tires when it arrived in late winter and proceeded to break it in. We'll keep it long enough to rack up 40,000 miles through all four seasons and learn things about it that a short stay could never reveal. We'll take it on cross-country trips and trundle down to the corner grocery in it to pick up a dozen eggs. We'll lean on it hard on gnarly two-lanes. We'll bring it to the dealer for service. And we'll record every penny spent on maintenance, fuel, and repairs.

Snow or no snow, our Cayman will not remain parked for long periods, and with good reason: It's the quintessential driver's car. After all, the Cayman earned a spot on our 2022 10Best list—its 16th straight year—for its "shimmering combination poise, grace, and grit."

Our new Cayman arrived well dressed for its stay with C/D's staff of hot-footed drivers. It wears a coat of sweetly understated Aventurine Green Metallic paint—far better that than arrest-me red. This is the GTS 4.0, after all, which is Porsche-speak for "racy." It's powered by a mid-mounted, naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six that spins out 394 horsepower at 7000 rpm and 309 pound-feet of torque at 5000 rpm.

If that power curve sounds peaky, you're right. This motor gets a big jolt of caffeine at about 4000 rpm—typical behavior for an unboosted Porsche engine—and it fills the intimate cockpit with an exquisite baritone wail as the revs race to the 7800-rpm redline. As if we needed more incentive to go fast. We opted for the six-speed manual gearbox—of course—and the stubby shifter moves through the Cayman's tightly spaced gates with precision and delicacy.

Yes, Porsche's brilliant seven-speed dual-clutch automatic would chop a few tenths of a second from the acceleration times, but initial instrumented testing of our manual-equipped long-termer (conducted after easing it through its 2000-mile break-in period), confirmed that it's plenty quick. It's not the easiest car to launch—it doesn't like its clutch slipped off the line—but it still busted out a 3.9-second run to 60 mph and galloped through the quarter-mile in 12.1 seconds at 118 mph. It also circled our skidpad at 1.03 g's and stopped from 70 mph in 145 feet. That's appropriate performance for a car wearing a Porsche badge and a $99,070 window sticker.

Ninety-nine large is a lot of money, and our long-termer is actually lightly equipped for a Porsche. Our test car (base price: $88,750) has $10,320 in extras—a mere sprinkling by Porsche standards. The list includes the special green paint ($650), rich Espresso leather slathered on most interior surfaces ($3680), and ventilated seats ($740). We also added a Bose Surround Sound audio system ($900), brushed aluminum interior trim ($900), and gloss-black-painted brake calipers ($900). Wait a minute: plain black brake calipers for 900 bucks? Yep, this is a Porsche all right. At least Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM)—meaning, adaptive dampers—is standard along with Pirelli P Zero PZ4 summer tires, size 235/35ZR-20 up front and 265/35ZR-20 rear.

So now it's on to the driving, 40K miles worth. We expect to bask in the Cayman's sweetly intuitive steering; sharp, powerful brakes; and gutsy flat-six every time we climb behind the three-spoke steering wheel. What we can't be sure of but hope to learn is whether that special driving character is matched by an equal measure of reliability though every season and situation. We'll report back soon enough, with updates on how the Cayman's stress test is going every 10,000 miles.

Months in Fleet: 1 month Current Mileage: 3845 miles Average Fuel Economy: 20 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 16.9 gal Observed Fuel Range: 330 miles Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 Vehicle Type: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe

PRICE Base/As Tested: $88,750/$99,070 Options: Express leather interior and seats, $3680; Porsche Dynamic LED headlights, $1180; Bose speakers $990; black brake calipers, $900; black brushed aluminum interior trim, $900; ventilated seats, $740; passive entry, $680; Aventurine Green Metallic paint, $650; Wheels painted Satin Platinum, $600

ENGINE DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection Displacement: 244 in3, 3996 cm3 Power: 394 hp @ 7000 rpm Torque: 309 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm

CHASSIS Suspension, F/R: struts/struts Brakes, F/R: 13.8-in vented, cross-drilled disc/13.0-in vented, cross-drilled disc Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4 F: 235/35ZR-20 (88Y) N1 R: 265/35ZR-20 (95Y) N1

DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 97.4 in Length: 173.4 in Width: 70.9 in Height: 50.2 in Passenger Volume: 49 ft3 Cargo Volume, F/R: 5/10 ft3 Curb Weight: 3185 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS: NEW 60 mph: 3.9 sec 100 mph: 8.8 sec 1/4-Mile: 12.1 sec @ 118 mph 130 mph: 14.7 sec 150 mph: 21.2 sec Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec. Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 4.6 sec Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 6.2 sec Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 6.0 sec Top Speed (mfr's claim): 182 mph Braking, 70–0 mph: 145 ft Braking, 100–0 mph: 296 ft Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 1.03 g

C/D FUEL ECONOMY Observed: 20 mpg Unscheduled Oil Additions: 0 qt

EPA FUEL ECONOMY Combined/City/Highway: 19/17/24 mpg

WARRANTY 4 years/50,000 miles bumper to bumper 4 years/50,000 miles powertrain 12 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection 4 years/50,000 miles roadside assistance 1 year/10,000 miles scheduled maintenance