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In 2015, Porsche announced the car we all thought Porsche would never build. It has been a few years since it has been released and the excitement It was the first time Porsche introduced lets the motorsports guys in Weissach sprinkle their magic on a Cayman. With components sourced from the 911 GT3, an engine carried over from a Carrera S and a tweaked and tuned chassis, brakes and aerodynamics, Porsche’s engineers did their best to produce the perfect mid-engine sports car for road and track use. Compared with the standard Cayman, the GT4’s chassis was lowered by 30mm and bigger brakes were added, with many aspects of its suspension carried over from the 911 GT3. Some serious motorsport kit. One of the best ever.
The 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 is everything you could possibly want in a sports car. The sublime combination of a legendary chassis and naturally aspirated 6-cylinder Porsche engine is accentuated by the emphasis that less is more when done right - and nobody does this better than Porsche’s GT division. No one will make the argument that these are objectively inexpensive cars, but for those in the market for an introductory dose of supercar sensory-overload, the GT4 checks all the boxes, and then some. Need a track car and daily driver in one package? Then the 718 Cayman GT4 may be the car for you. An absolute blast.
For testing purposes Porsche Motorsport built a few tarmac rally cars based on the Cayman 981 GT4 racing version. The Cayman rally car was the course car for the WRC (World Rally Championship) 2018 ADAC Rallye Deutschland. The FIA R-GT Cup was contested on tarmac rounds of the ERC and WRC, like the German WRC event. For Porsche, the entry of a concept study based on the near-production GT circuit race car was a critical test under real conditions.
New for 2022 is the most exciting Cayman ever, the 718 Cayman GT4 RS. The GT4 RS is equipped with the same scintillating flat-six engine that powers the 911 GT3. It's a 4.0-liter unit that makes 493 hp and 331 lb-ft of torque in the GT4 RS. Porschephiles will notice that those figures are not quite as high as in the 911 GT3, which packs 502 hp and 346 lb-ft. Big numbers for a small, lightweight car. It is only available with a seven-speed dual-clutch to optimize lap times further. Nobody has driven it yet from the motoring public, but we eagerly await that day and will report back here.
The most significant change is the 4.0 litre six-cylinder boxer engine. This high-revving powerplant has been taken directly from the 911 GT3 Cup race car and develops 500 PS in the 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport – 75 PS more than the previous GT4 Clubsport model. In addition to many upgraded details, the focus in developing the new 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport was on further improving overall performance. The standard 7-speed dual-clutch transmission (PDK) fitted to the car now uses all seven forward gears, rather than six.