Porsche Cayman GT4 - the 911 assassin from within?

ONE of the most sacred truths about Porsche is that it won’t build a Cayman that is faster and therefore better than the fabled 911. Certainly not for the road anyway.

Since the mid-engined coupe’s debut almost a decade ago, the unspoken agreement has been that the company would protect the sanctity of the rear-engined sportscar that is the very definition of the Stuttgart-based car-maker’s image.

Look out – here comes what promises to be the stickiest and speediest Cayman in the model’s decade-long history.

And then this news comes through. Clearly, what goes on within the confines of a racetrack stays on the racetrack! That’s the unofficial line anyway, but who’s going to actually not drive what you’re about to read about on their favourite piece of winding road?

Not being able to help itself, Porsche has crossed a 981 Cayman GTS – the two-year old series’ current flagship – with the extremely race-bred 991 911 GT3, to come up with the equally track-obsessed Cayman GT4.

Get used to this view, because the Cayman GT4 is capable of hitting 295km/h. 

Brandishing a mid-mounted 3.8-litre flat six from the nearly $250K 911 Carrera S, the 1340kg limited edition coupe pumps out an impressive 283kW of power at a heady 7400rpm and a very respectable 420Nm of torque between 4750rpm and 6000rpm.

Don’t be misled by the name, for the GT4’s 3800cc powerplant drives the rear wheels rather than four wheels, and exclusively via a six-speed manual gearbox at that, enabling it to hit 295km/h (on a closed road of course), with the zero to 100km/h marker dispatched in just 4.4 seconds flat. That’s half a second faster than the existing Cayman GTS flagship.

Mounted ahead of the rear axle – unlike in a rear-engined 911 – the 283kW/420Nm GT4 is the first Cayman to have a variation of the Carrera S’ 3.8-litre boxer six shoehorned in there.

And 0-200km/h? That’s arrived in 14.5s. Clearly, as a driver’s race tool, the Germans saw no need to offer the PDK dual-clutch automatic alternative. Bravo, we say!

Porsche is justifiably proud of its track-racing Cayman firecracker’s flexibility, stating that it will accelerate from 80km/h to 120km/h in only 5.5s while in fifth gear. That it can also average 10.3 litres per 100km (for a carbon dioxide emissions rating of 238g/km) is testimony to the engineering brilliance going on behind the hallowed walls of the Weissach motorsport division’s skunkworks.

Porsche’s motorsport department engineers have added extra cooling and better front-end downforce to aid the GT4’s formidable cornering capabilities.

Anyway, as the fastest and rawest 981 coupe to date, the Cayman GT4 has already lapped the famous Nurburgring circuit in a lightning-quick seven minutes and 40 seconds, and that is a world record for this class of car.

Porsche says the GT4’s chassis is “nearly entirely” 911 GT3, with a 30mm lower ride height, formidable steel brakes (with ceramic items on the option’s list), and wheels measuring in at 20-inch alloy items, shod with 295/30 tyres on the rear and 245/35s up front.

To get this level of performance from a 911, you need to spend up on the $250K+ Carrera S PDK Coupe

Interested? You’ll be able to spot the newcomer by its unique front bumper treatment, bringing a trio of grille openings to help keep the oily bits behind cool. A sizeable fixed rear wing, aiding a second boot lip spoiler and rear diffuser, further brings differentiation compared to lesser Caymans. All are designed to do one thing – keep the Porsche glued to the tarmac at speed. Downforce is vital staring at nearly 300km/h.

One detail we love is that titanium-coloured expanded-metal grilles protect the radiators from stone impact. There are also bi-Xenon headlights with an internal black theme, GT4 badges embossed within the side airvents, that 30 mm lower stance that is especially handy for keeping the handling as kart-like as possible.

While it is a stripped-down special, the GT4 does still present a luxurious feel inside, thanks to high-quality furnishings and that large central screen.

Inside, the eye fixes upon the racing-style seats that will be made available as an alternative to the standard leather and Alcantara items; they include carbon-fibre reinforced plastic. Another available piece of equipment is Porsche’s Sport Chrono system with its “track precision” app, so owners can have their own personal telemetry of their speed and g-force prowess.

The tachometer includes the ‘GT4’ motif, with yellow needles and increment markings that are said to improve high-speed data recognition. To help save weight, the door openers are belt straps. 

The Cayman isn’t the first mass-production mid-engined Porsche coupe, as the now-forgotten Porsche 914 shared with VW from 1969 to 1976 shows.

Interested? The stripped out high-performance Cayman will arrive in time for the Aussie spring from $190,300 plus on-road costs, putting it at around $30,000 more than the $160,900 GTS, which delivers its still exceptional performance from a smaller (3.4-litre) six-pot boxer packing in 250kW and 380Nm.

And, potential 911 buyers, please note: the Cayman GT4 costs approximately $18,000 less than the cheapest 911 Carrera, which at the time of writing kicks off from $208,600 for the 257kW/390Nm 3.4-litre seven-speed manual 2+2-seater coupe...

Tempted?

Byron Mathioudakis goauto.com.au

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