Cayman GT4 is a new hardcore hero
We hit the track in the German company’s new ‘brutal driving machine’
ACCORDING to Porsche, the new 414bhp 718 Cayman GT4 is “a brutal driving machine that is perfectly irrational”. It’s also a car that is “razor sharp in its responses, which has been designed for people who take their fun seriously and who would rather sit in a sport seat than a leather armchair”.
That’s the reason it has a six-speed manual gearbox, like it or not (although a PDK version will be offered next year), plus an enormous wing at the back that helps to generate 122kg of downforce – a full 50 per cent more than in the previous GT4, despite a near-identical drag figure.
There’s also a serious-looking diffuser underneath that “demands respect” – whatever that might mean – while tech from the 911 GT3 has been employed extensively not just for the mid-engined chassis but also throughout the pared-back interior.
Reading between the lines, what we are talking about is a thinly disguised racing car that’s been fine-tuned for more than just occasional use on the road. The ride, says Porsche, is far more comfortable than before, and having driven it, Auto Express concurs.
At the GT4’s heart, sitting amidships behind the two sports seats (full buckets are optional, at £3,788) is a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six engine that produces 414bhp and revs to an earmoment piercing 8,000rpm. Its maximum 420Nm torque is actually the same as in the old GT4, but developed over a much broader rev range, between 5,000 and 6,800rpm.
The engine is a development of the new 992’s 3.0-litre flat-six turbo, but it’s bored out to be one litre bigger in capacity and is not turbocharged. In other words, it has nothing to do with the engine from a GT3.
The new GT4 weighs a touch more than of old, Porsche admits through gritted teeth. Its kerbweight has risen by around 35kg to 1,495kg, due mainly to the new particulate filters in the huge new rear silencer that will allow it to be emissions-friendly for many years to come. Even so, the latest GT4 is still potent enough to hit 62mph in a mere 4.4 seconds, and it has a top speed of 188mph.
Around a track, however, it is far faster than the old car thanks to a combination of that increase in power, further refinement of the GT3-influenced chassis, and fitting even gripper Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. The GT4 has lapped the Nürburgring in a faintly astonishing seven minutes 28 seconds – exactly the same time posted by the 997 GT3 RS 4.0-litre not so long ago.
Subjectively the GT4 is one of those cars that feel right – perfect, even – from the you climb aboard. The sports seats clamp you in place behind a round steering wheel swathed in Alcantara suede and, thanks to the vast range of adjustment to position it just where you want it, the driving position is brilliant. And on the move things get better still.
The star of the show is unquestionably the new 4.0-litre flat-six engine, which is loud-ish on start-up but only reveals its true genius when you rev it beyond 5,000rpm. The throttle response at those revs is absolutely fantastic, and the extra feeling of torque in the mid-range is obvious the first time you put your foot down at anything above 3,500rpm.
But it’s only over the final 2,000rpm that the real magic happens, when the acceleration takes on another level and the sound that accompanies it becomes
“The precision of the GT4’s turn-in and the steering response in general are breathtaking”
magnificent. This is a proper Porsche GT-car engine in feel and delivery, and it combines with the frankly brilliant six-speed gearbox – which has a useful auto-blip function on downshifts – to make for a quite giddy driving experience to begin with.
It’s easy to get very carried away, very quickly, in the GT4, and that’s before you’ve so much as aimed it at a corner. At which point things get better still. The precision of the turn-in and the steering response in general are breathtaking, the body control virtually faultless, even around a tight and twisty circuit such as Knockhill up in Scotland, where we drove the car.
The brakes, as ever with Porsche GT cars, are superb in both feel and power. There’s quite a lot of grip available, too, so much so that the GT4 is not a car that slides easily, even if you switch off its driver aids.
All in all, it’s hardly surprising that the GT4 is as quick as Porsche claims around the Nürburgring. And even with a price tag of £75k, it’s nothing short of a bargain.