Throughout its history, Porsche has specialized in rear-engine sports cars. Witness the 911, a legendary rear-engine sports car with supreme balance and engineering. But the German automaker also has toyed with an even better-balanced mid-engine design from time to time.

In fact, the very first Porsche was a mid-engine car. In 1948, Ferdinand “Ferry” Porsche, son of Volkswagen Beetle designer Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, built a prototype sports car dubbed 356-001. But by the time the 356 saw production, economic realities dictated that it borrow heavily from the VW Beetle and use a rear-engine design.

The first Porsche to go into production with a mid-engine design debuted in 1970. Another alliance with VW helped produce the mid-engine 914, which was powered by a VW-sourced 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, and the 914/6, which featured a more-powerful Porsche flat six. A total of 118,976 914s were sold between 1970 and 1976, when Porsche decided to try front-engine cars.

Porsche returned to mid-engine design in 1997 with the Boxster. The spiritual successor to the 914, the Boxster was named for its boxer engine and roadster body style. It was and still is Porsche’s most affordable car. A higher-performance Boxster S followed in 2000, and together the Boxster and Boxster S would ultimately double Porsche’s annual sales volume. A coupe version of the Boxster called Cayman debuted for the 2006 model year. Both the Boxster and Cayman are more affordable, “entry-level” alternatives to the 911, but they also offer top-notch Porsche performance.

To show off that performance, Porsche invited journalists to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., for track time in its lineup of mid-engine sports cars.

Barber Motorsports Park is home to the world’s largest motorcycle collection and a 2.38-mile, 16-turn racetrack. It is also the North American headquarters of the Porsche Sport Driving School. Porsche paired several of its driving school instructors and race drivers with journalists to give us insight into the performance personality of its complete mid-engine lineup.

Following are the cars I drove with commentary on how they performed.

2008 Cayman/Cayman S

The Cayman starts at $49,400, and the Cayman S can be had for $59,100. The Cayman shares the Boxster’s mid-engine architecture. Base models of both cars use a 245-horsepower flat six-cylinder engine and S models have a 295-horsepower 3.4-liter flat six. Transmission choices include five- and six-speed manuals and Porsche’s six-speed Tiptronic automatic with a manual shift gate and paddle shifters. Every car Porsche made available for testing had a six-speed manual transmission.

At just less than 3,000 pounds, the Cayman is lithe and its 2.7-liter six-cylinder gets it moving with ease. On the track, though, it is important to be in the right gear when coming out of turns or you’ll find yourself wanting for power. That means downshifting and braking in a straight line before the turn to set up for the proper exit.

The Cayman’s handling is amazingly responsive. The mid-engine design creates balance, limiting both nose plow and rear oversteer. In fact, according to a Porsche representative, the Cayman’s balance makes it as fast around the track as the more-powerful 911 Targa 4S. The Cayman is also very communicative, allowing some body lean and tire squeal in aggressive cornering. This is actually a good thing for the 99 percent of us who aren’t professional race drivers because it tells you when to back off. Put simply, the Cayman is fun.

The Cayman S is even more fun, thanks to the extra 50 horsepower and extra 50 pounds to feet of torque. The extra power allows higher gear selections coming out of turns. The S model builds speed faster, which makes for quicker laps and higher speed driving. On the street, it will get you around traffic quicker and provide more immediate response in most every situation.

2008 Boxster/Boxster S

The Boxster is Porsche’s most affordable car, starting at $45,800 for a base model and $55,700 for the S. The Boxster weighs about the same as a Cayman, so it’s not surprising that the two engines delivered the same type of performance as they did in their coupe counterpart. Without an integral roof, however, the Boxster is less structural rigid than the Cayman coupe, making it slightly less sharp when exiting corners and less willing to change direction quickly, like in a slalom. The Boxster is still an excellent handling car, though, and the difference between it and the Cayman is only noticeable to experienced drivers in extreme situations like a racetrack.

2008 Boxster S RS 60

Priced at $64,900, the RS 60 is a higher-performance version of the Boxster S. Limited to just 1,960 examples worldwide (only about 800 or so are coming to the United States), the RS 60 commemorates the Porsche Type 718 RS 60 that won the 1960 12-Hours of Sebring. It is offered with GT silver metallic paint and a carrera red leather interior with matching top. A black top and dark gray interior are optional. Other changes from the standard Boxster S include a hoodless instrument cluster, a dash plaque, a more aggressive front fascia, body color rollover bars and red taillights. Also standard are 19-inch wheels with 5 millimeter spacers to increase track width and standard Porsche active suspension management (PASM), which lowers ride height and has adjustable shocks with normal and sport settings. The 3.4-liter flat six engine benefits from optimized exhaust flow with twin-branch tailpipes, increasing output to 303 horsepower.

On the track, the RS 60’s wider tires and track width increase grip in fast turns, and the standard PASM makes the car slightly more responsive to changes of direction than the Boxster S. Like the Boxster S, the RS 60 is capable of a 5.1-second 0-60 mph time, but the additional power can be felt on a racetrack, especially at higher rpms and higher speeds, where the engine is able to breathe better. It also has a deeper, richer version of that familiar bawdy Porsche exhaust note.

Wrapup

After 15 laps of racetrack driving, we were convinced that Porsche’s mid-engine sports cars are very capable. All of the cars steered sharply, braked with ease, gripped the pavement with tenacity and generally left us smiling. Then it was the instructors’ turn to take the journalists around the track and it soon became clear that these cars can perform at higher levels than 99 percent of us will ever hope to achieve. Not bad for an “entry level” line of vehicles.