Thereturn oftheking

£64,088

Porsche has never been afraid of a public U-turn. Its latest – and perhaps greatest – backpedal comes in the form of this new 718 GTS 4.0. This is Stuttgart waving the white flag and acknowledging that, for enthusiasts at least, putting a four-cylinder turbo in Boxsters and Caymans wasn’t cool.

Mind, the flat-four engine continues in lower trim levels. Its diminutive engine size is so compliant with China’s stringent tax rules that the 718 now holds an almost 90 per cent market share for two-seater cars there, while it’s snared an unlikely amount of first-time Porsche buyers elsewhere, as fans of effortless turbo power delivery step up from Audi TTs and Golf Rs.

But Porsche knows people like us were left pissed off. So the 4.0-litre flat-six engine from the Cayman GT4 and 718 Spyder has had 20bhp lopped off its peak output before being tucked betwixt driver and bootspace. Immediately, the Cayman we know and love is back.

It’s about so much more than noise, our love for this set-up; it’s about how the more natural, turbo-free response complements one of the best-handling cars. Alpine may have turned our heads with the A110, but having a proper engine back in the Cayman makes it a class-leader again. Four-cylinder 718s have their own character, an unsubtle pile of torque opening up their cheeky side at regular speeds, though not always when you’ve planned for it in bad weather.

Power is spread in a far more linear fashion, so if you like easy performance, then the stock 718 remains your best call. This is the one to choose when you want to hunt every last rev, where you’ll be admonished for choosing the wrong gear but rewarded for the right one.

The 4.0 launches with a six-speed manual only, but a seven-speed PDK paddleshift transmission will appear towards the end of 2020. At which point it’ll take the vast majority of GTS sales, as it always has. But please, don’t be a sheep: this is a joyous, joyous stick-shift and you’ll be swapping ratios just for the hell of it. Good job, really, as this is as frustratingly long-geared as most recent Porsche sports cars.

The GTS sits 20mm lower than standard 718s, gets its own, specific 20in wheel design and all the Alcantara inside we’ve come to expect from those three letters. Want to spot a GTS 4.0 from the outgoing GTS 2.5? Look at how the exhaust pipes sit (split on either side in the 4.0, paired together centrally in the 2.5) and how many fins are on the side air intakes (one on the former, two on the latter). Carbon ceramic brakes and a softer suspension set-up, which sits 10mm lower than standard, are among the options, but Porsche has otherwise ticked all the important boxes, not least the Sport Chrono system that brings a handful of driving modes, rev-matched downchanges and a Sport mode for the stability control.

You’ll particularly relish the latter and how it frees up even more access to one of the best chassis ever made. Crucial, though, is what this 718 GTS will make you do at lower speeds, when rambunctiousness is off the table: you’ll once again relish pushing the sports exhaust ‘binocular-button’ and nipping the windows down an inch to hear the flat-six burble against the nearest building. Phew.