The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS has plenty of bark and bite and is ready to rock around the clock

Photos: Porsche

ESTORIL, PORTUGAL

There’s a big jar of ear-plugs sitting on the reception desk at the Estoril Circuit, where we’re expected to spend a day putting Porsche’s latest 718 Cayman GT4 RS through its paces. If we had our wits about us that early morning, we should have realised this was a promise of things to come…

There have been ‘tweaked’ Caymans from before – the Cayman R and two generations of the GT4 – but this is the first-ever RS variant for the model range.

If you think this is a marketing ploy, you should consider two things: 1) Porsche never messes around with its RS models and 2) the 718 Cayman GT4 RS does drive like a proper RS model, which goes a long way towards justifying its price-tag.

The GT4 RS’s S$656,888 base price before COE and options is within spitting distance of the 911 GT3’s S$761,388 base price, but specc’d up in a cost-optional GT Silver, Weissach Package and forged magnesium rims, we’re already knocking on the door of S$800k before COE.

Notwithstanding the badge/model snobs, the Cayman/ Boxster has always appealed to driving enthusiasts who felt the 911 had grown too big. An eminently agile, compact mid-engined rear-drive sports car like the Cayman/Boxster is exactly what the doctor ordered for weekend excursions down winding B-roads and track outings.

At a glance, the GT4 RS is distinguished from the GT4 by the ginormous rear wing (with distinctive 992 GT3-esque swan-neck attachments), NACA ducts on the bonnet and if you’re really, really sharp, air-intake ducts in place of the regular Cayman’s rear windows.

On the Weissach Package cars that we drove around the circuit, these air-intake ducts are finished in carbon fibre bling (otherwise it’s just regular matte black), as is the top of the airbox to which these pods force-feed air into, which is engineered by BMC, an Italian air-intake specialist. Think about it, minimal insulation, no privacy panel to the luggage compartment, air-box just behind the driver at ear level… 

At this point, the big jar of ear-plugs is starting to make better sense. From this motorhead’s point-of-view, “Why though?” Why would anyone professing to be a petrolhead want to drown out the scintillating symphony created by the GT4 RS’s naturally-aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six as it sings to 9,000rpm?

Think of what it’ll sound like, then wind it up by a factor of ten, because it is sheer mechanical music when you’re pedal to metal as the air-intakes gulp in air at ferocious pace for the bespoke BMC air-box to perform its orchestral manoeuvres.

All the aero elements on the GT4 RS are optimised to provide ample downforce, yet enable the car to cleave through the air without interference from the wake of ‘dirty’ air. It inherits the front fender louvres from the 991 GT3 RS, which cleans up the air in the wheel well to reduce front-end lift.

NACA ducts on the carbon fibre bonnet provide airflow to cool the brakes, but don’t affect the car’s drag coefficient (there are another two on the flat underbody). The GT wing is three-way adjustable to provide up to 25 per cent more downforce than on the GT4 when used in conjunction with the front diffuser (adjustable to four positions).

The lean and lithe GT4 RS is the perfect embodiment of sex and violence with its scalpel-sharp reflexes around the circuit and eager responses to direction changes. With the engine in the mid-ship (and no weight over either axle) and little inertia to speak of, your inputs need to be precise and considered, especially around the wonderfully flowing Estoril Circuit.

Driven in anger, you’ll discover that the controls – from brakes to steering and even the feel of the paddle-shifters as you hammer your way up/down the 7-speed PDK gearbox – are perfectly weighted to yield ample unadulterated feel and only the best sensations.

Even when left to its own devices in PDK Sport mode on a flying lap around the circuit, the gearbox proves staccato-sharp, authoritative and perfectly judged in crisply shifting to the required gear without any driver intervention or second-guessing.

The GT4 RS isn’t the sort of stomp-and-spurt car that anyone can get in and drive quickly. It isn’t easy to drive fast, but that’s not what driving enthusiasts are after: they want something that is challenging to master, because that’s a reward in itself, but this also means the car’s dynamics have to be predictable, because any flaws become quickly apparent.

Like all of Porsche’s RS models, there’s plenty of feel and an addictive, raw edge to the GT4 RS’s drive proceedings that leaves you not just wanting more out of every drive, but wanting to drive more with every drive.

The RS models are not just big on dynamic ability, they’re also big on visceral feel and man and machine really start to come together when you’re able to push a RS to its limits. After spending decent seat time on both winding road and race-track in the GT4 RS, it’s very clear that this ‘croc’ is ready to rock around the clock.

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS

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