Visceral driving experience: The newest baby in the Porsche sports car fleet boasts a carbon fibre bonnet with aerodynamic Naca ducts. Photos: Rossen Gargolov
To the less well-informed, Porsche’s Cayman is not a “proper” sports car. They rather heap that praise on the perennial 911. There is more than a whiff of truth to that statement: the 911 continues to be the benchmark sports car, the one many enthusiasts aspire to own.
In my experience, the original Cayman was not the most desirable in its segment when it first broke cover. Yes, it was oddly proportioned, sitting as it did among the more elegant lines of the Audi TT Coupe, BMW Z4 and the Mercedes-Benz SLK, which may have put some people off.
But what it lacked in overall kerb appeal it more than made up for with its performance and dynamic handling, thanks to its mid-ship engine layout, which inherently gives it a superior setup.
Those design anomalies, however, were duly addressed with the second-generation model (codenamed 981), which offered a longer wheelbase and wider track for both better practicality and handling.
The Cayman S version and the subsequent GTS variants were proper performers, while the crowning GT4 version, in my humble view, moved the model to an even higher level of desirability.
This was also true of the current Cayman GT4 and, while it remains a hoot to drive, it never quite fizzed with the effervescence of the 911 GT3 as far as its engine chatter was concerned. For those who felt underwhelmed by the GT4, I’m glad to report that there’s finally something even more special in the range.
I jetted off to Lisbon, Portugal, which was the launchpad of choice to introduce what can only be described as one of the most anticipated sports cars of 2022. How so? Let me take you through the motions.
Let’s take the Cayman GT4 as a base and give it more aerodynamic addenda, including a more aggressive front splitter, a carbon fibre bonnet — replete with Naca ducts and carbon fibre air intakes in place of the three-quarter rear side windows. Introduce a swan neck spoiler and a rear diffuser with a pair of titanium exhausts to leave you under no illusions about this model’s pecking order.
That racy theme spills into the cabin, with several sporty elements such as the plush Alcantara-bedecked dash and cowling — ditto the three-spoke steering wheel. Overall, the GT4 RS’s cabin is devoid of frills, boasting only a driver-centric architecture, so that you can concentrate on the job at hand — driving.
Nestling mid-ship just below the carbon fibre airbox is the now renowned 4.0-litre, normally aspirated flat-six engine from the GT3, only in this application it has been turned 180 degrees so that the intake and exhaust manifolds swap spaces compared to the layout of the GT3. The gearbox, which comes exclusively in PDK (Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe — German for double clutch transmission) in this instance, is impeccable in the way it responds and is easily the quickest dual clutch I’ve yet experienced. In case you are wondering, there’s no manual option.
But don’t be perturbed by this in any way, because the entire package works in such unison that you would be hard-pressed to wipe that wide grin off your face.
The crown jewel of this package is its race-inspired engine. It makes 368kW at a heady 8 400r/min and 450Nm at 6 750r/min and will rev to a dizzying 9 000r/min ceiling, something that never ceases to leave one stupefied.
My first encounter with the car was at the historic Estoril Circuit outside Lisbon, which is a fast track with flowing corners for the most part. Slip behind the slinky wheel, turn the ignition, and that flat-six engine barks into life in a timbre not far removed from the 911 GT3 Cup race car.
Once ensconced into the body-hugger seat, I slot the gear selector into drive, switch the PDK gearbox button’s ferocity to “sport” and slowly nudge out of the pit lane. The first sighting lap is to get the tyres, brakes and engine vital fluids up to optimal temperature, all the while sussing out where to exploit the chassis and unwind that engine to its 9 000r/min rev ceiling.
With a warm-up lap done and dusted, I slink onto the main straight for a flying lap and pin the throttle to the floorboards. Being normally aspirated, the GT4 RS’s engine responds with the alacrity of a scalded cat. Meanwhile, the ram induction system does a sterling job of adding some aural splendour to the driving experience.
Imagine a front-row seat at a hip-hop or rock concert: you can hear every sonic element to the tee. The entire cabin is engulfed by an intake of noise that goes from a bass layer below 4 000r/min, becomes thrilling at 6 000r/min, and simply intoxicating at 8 000r/min as it transitions into a metallic staccato before reaching its 9 000r/min crescendo.
This is perhaps the best-sounding six-cylinder engine I have yet experienced. It truly is like a musical instrument, conducted by your right foot orchestrating what and when you want to hear it.
While the 911 GT3 remains the king of the roost, I rather enjoy the accessibility and playfulness derived from the GT4 RS. It thrives on being grabbed by the scruff of the neck and driven ragged to the driver’s heart’s content.
At a cool R2.5-million base price, I can’t think of any other sports car, fresh out of the box, that can give you such a visceral driving experience. One day soon, these types of cars will be relegated to the annals of history and become a distant reminder of a glorious bygone era.
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