PORSCHE PRODUCES EVEN BETTER LOOKING VERSIONS
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND Rain is falling hard at Scotland’s Knockhill Racing Circuit, and yet here we are in the 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 cresting the main straight at 180 km/h before reaching Duffus Dip, a blind, downhill right-hander regarded as “one of the most challenging corners in the United Kingdom.”
We have also been warned: Stay off the paint on the apex, it’s like ice in the wet.
But there is nowhere else to go as gravity and momentum jockey for control over this $113,800 sports car. Downshifting the GT4’S six-speed manual to third and standing hard on its ceramic brakes, I fully intend to stay off the apex. But that means taking the corner too wide, given my speed and determination not to become a Duffus.
Somehow the GT4 holds its line. We are not going to die today. We are not going to become a Twitter embarrassment. But we are already reaching the next slippery corner and speed has built up fast.
Over and over, the GT4 never fails. Oh sure, racing this divinely balanced mid-engined GT car in the rain results in plenty of slips, slides and drifts, especially on Michelin Pilot Sport tires, but each lap becomes successively quicker than the last.
Speed, it becomes clear, is embedded in this car’s soul. A true and honest clansman to the formidable and much more expensive GT3, the GT4 is that rare combination of playful and fast.
At the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife, the GT4 clocked a 7:28, and sits among such fine company as the Mclaren MP4-12C or the Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 for speed at the track. And yet it is nothing like those expensive supercars.
It is, however, a lot like the Porsche 911: forgiving, friendly, and quick to understand. Both the Spyder and GT4 get the same engine block and connecting rods from the new 992-gen 911, although the engine in the GT4 and Spyder is not turbocharged like the 3.0-litre in the 911. Like the GT3, the GT4 and Spyder are naturally aspirated, drawing 414 horsepower and 309 pound-feet of torque from a larger bore, longer stroke flat-six now displacing 4.0 L and sporting a new valve train and piezo direct injection, among other enhancements.
That, of course, means the boxer engine sounds divine in all gears, but especially so near the 8,000-rpm redline. The all new exhaust delivers a seductive pitch not far off that of the GT3.
The engine is also designed for efficiency, able to shut down three cylinders, which it does when the engine is not under load. Alternating between shutting off the left and right bank in order to keep the catalytic converter hot, the sound of the engine noticeably changes when the switchover occurs, but for drivers who might find it annoying, the system can be shut off.
Both cars hit 100 km/h in 4.4 seconds on their way to 200 km/h in 13.8. Acceleration feels instantaneous, the car leading a hard charge through a long third and fourth gear. Few will demand more power.
Only 1,420 kilograms, the GT4 also gains a 50-per-cent reduction in lift over the old car, most of that coming from a rear diffuser that fights for space between two oval exhaust tips and a fully panelled underbody, but 20 per cent of the downforce comes from the new rear spoiler.
Both cars also look better than ever, with larger front splitters and aprons, functional side intakes, new 20-inch wheels and that new spoiler on the GT4, giving the 718 its clearest identity yet. They also sit 30 millimetres lower, each car receiving a GT chassis that makes use of front and rear suspensions developed in racing. A mechanical limited-slip rear differential along with torque vectoring and stability controls that can be completely shut off mean these cars will be just as happy beating on chicanes as they will cracking the silence of curving country roads.
The Spyder becomes the king of the Boxster family with a manually operated top that’s much easier to open and close. The Spyder’s dual streamliners handsomely parallel the look of the new 911 Speedster, and its retractable rear spoiler lifts into action at 120 km/h.
Starting at $110,500, the Spyder can also be ordered with a twotone interior, whereas the GT4 comes only in black and alcantara. The real estate inside has not changed much or adopted the more minimalist look of the new 911, still having proper buttons and analogue instruments.
The steering wheel and short shifter feel excellent.
The clutch will not make you pine for a PDK automatic that is expected some time after the first cars arrive just in time to start anticipating those first track days of spring.