► We drive fastest Cayman yet
► 493bhp flat-six from 911 GT3
► Watch the video review, here
Welcome to the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS – otherwise known as a car that many thought Porsche wouldn’t dare build. Why? Well there’s long been a suspicion that Porsche’s held back its Cayman sports car so that it doesn’t tread on the toes of the more expensive 911 range.
After all, it’s lighter, smaller and doesn’t have to fight the laws of physics thanks to its more conventional mid-engine layout. You got the sense that, if Porsche really wanted to, they could get the Cayman to within an inch of its big brother. So now, in possibly one of the last petrol-powered Porsche sports cars, that’s exactly what they’ve done. The result? Predictably mind-blowing.
Read on for our full Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS review…
How does it differ from the 718 Cayman GT4?
Starting with the looks, the RS makes the ‘regular’ GT4 look decidedly pared-back, despite its sizeable wing and intakes. NACA air intakes sit atop the lightweight bonnet and provide brake cooling without disrupting drag, a four-way adjustable front diffuser increases front downforce, underbody deflectors improve rear downforce and slatted wheelarches (first seen on the 911 GT3 RS) prevent lift on the front axle – the list of aero additions and tricks is long and comprehensive.
None, however, are quite so immediately noticeable as the swan-neck rear wing. First seen on the 992 911 GT3, its presence alone is enough to indicate the intentions of the GT4 RS. Adjustable through three different stages, its CFRP construction and aluminium struts look Le Mans 24h worthy. Together with the rest of the aero kit, it’s worth an extra 25% of downforce over the GT4, says Porsche.
And that’s only the start. OK, so the GT4 RS doesn’t get the double wishbone front suspension set-up from the 911 GT3, but on current evidence there’s a strong argument that it doesn’t need it. Compared with the GT4, the body has been lowered by 30mm, the front and rear track are 6mm and 8mm wider respectively, and the rear axle camber has been upped by a quarter of a degree.
Meanwhile, the adjustable Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) chassis and Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) is standard, plus RS-specific spring rates and damper tuning have been introduced. It’s also had total kerbweight cut by 35kg to 1415kg, while bigger standard brakes (plus optional ceramics) aid stopping power. Clubsport and Weissach upgrade packs are available and offer track-day temptations such as a six-point harness, sports exhaust system made of titanium and forged magnesium wheels.
What about the 4.0 RS engine?
Remember that masterpiece of a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six that Porsche stuck in the 911 GT3? Well somehow they’ve manhandled it into the Cayman, kept the power almost exactly the same and made it even louder. That’s 493bhp at 8400rpm with a max engine speed of 9000rpm. The benchmark 0-62mph sprint takes 3.4 seconds, 0-120mph is dispatched in 10.9sec and top speed tops 196mph.
The figures are undoubtedly staggering, but it’s the sheer noise that steals the show. Air intakes replace the two side rear windows and channel air straight into a central airbox, meaning the car’s occupants enjoy the full spectrum of awe-inspiring intake sound delivered directly into their ears. Even wearing a helmet, it’s almost GT3 racing car loud. Revs build with staggering alacrity, while the almost violent sound delivery eclipses anything we’ve experienced from a road-going Cayman. We can still hear it days after driving it…
Although, in all honesty that applies to most aspects of the GT4 RS. Throttle response is as sharp as one of Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen knives, while the power delivery is as buttery smooth and linear as a margarine ski slope. Some may be disappointed by the compulsory presence of a seven-speed PDK gearbox (there won’t be a manual version), but the consolation prize is that it’s a darn good one.
Upchanges are crisp and sharp, yet not overly violent, while shifts down the box (either via the paddles or selector lever) are celebrated with a flare of revs and a burst of glorious noise.
Does it feel like a smaller 911 GT3?
Yes, and no. Of course, there are similarities (it’s very clear that they share the same engine), yet boiling it down to the phrase ‘baby GT3’ doesn’t do the 718 Cayman GT4 RS justice. And that’s certainly saying something.
For starters, while the GT4 RS undoubtedly feels a more capable, more incisive machine than the GT4, it stops short of emulating the 911 GT3. In the latter, you’re very aware of its big, widebody hips hunkering the car down and providing prodigious levels of stability and traction on corner entry and exit. In many ways, the sheer ability of the car can be intimidating.
Not so in the Cayman GT4 RS. The car is smaller and the balance inherently better, allowing the driver to gain a greater understanding of where the limit is and at which point their own talent runs out. It may sound odd or perhaps expected, but the GT4 RS delivers handling that’s less identifiably Porsche than any RS that’s come before it.
The noise, the responses, the speed – everything suggests 911 until you turn the precisely trimmed Race-Tex wheel into a corner and note how it’s more willing to rotate on its axis and oversteer on exit. Feel through the brake pedal is utterly superb, and while the steering feedback can’t quite match it, the speed and directness of the rack is brilliantly judged.
Having only driven the car on track, it’s hard to ascertain how this translates onto the road, yet despite all the upgraded hardware, it feels like the least track-focused RS model we’ve seen. Saying that, it didn’t appear unsettled or misplaced on Anglesey circuit’s bumpier sections, the softer damper settings delivering enough compliance to suggest it’ll be usable on your average bumpy British B-road.
Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS: verdict
Many of us will no doubt have wondered what a no-holds-barred Cayman would look and drive like, yet as the end of the internal combustion sports car looms closer it seemed unlikely that we would find out. Well, full credit to Porsche – they’ve thrown everything at the 718 Cayman GT4 RS and boy are we glad they did.
It is a magical machine full of noise, outright speed and good old-fashioned fun. Yes, it can lap the Nürburgring in 7 minutes and 9 seconds, but for the first time in a RS-badged Porsche nobody should really care. The GT4 RS is a celebration of more than a mere laptime on a stopwatch and instead offers a thrillingly different take on the exclusive ingredients that made us fawn over 911s for years. In short, it’ll surely go down as one of Porsche’s greatest ever RS models.
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