Item: Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 2016-2020
Rating: 4.5

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The Porsche 718 Cayman is a sports car in search of a missing Autocar road test half star.

Throughout the life cycle of the current Porsche 718 Cayman’s two predecessors, the original 987 generation and the succeeding 981 were hailed as outstanding five-star affordable sports car class champions on these pages. Their dominance was utterly complete and largely unchallenged and even encompassed two outright wins in our annual Britain’s Best Driver’s Car supertest.

For traffic behind, there’ll be no mistaking who builds this car thanks to the ‘sweatband’ logo Porsche has introduced for the 718-generation Cayman and Boxster models
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

But since this 982-generation version came along two years ago, with its choice of slightly unlovely boxer four-pot turbocharged engines, something has been missing. Enough that, when we road tested the 2.5-litre 718 Cayman S in 2016, the enthusiasm of our recommendation was checked by that crucial half star.

So is now the time for the Cayman to reclaim its old status? Step forward the subject of road test number 5370: the new top-of-the-range 718 Cayman GTS.

This is the second Cayman to get a GTS derivative, but if you’re a little unsure of exactly what that badge means and where this car will ultimately rank in the hierarchy of high-performance Caymans, think of it this way: Porsche intends its GTS derivatives to be cars of enhanced performance and handling precision, but delivered in a style suited to everyday road use.

It also distinguishes them with a generous standard equipment level and with some unique design and material touches to broaden their appeal. And so the long and short of it is that this won’t be the ‘ultimate’ hot Cayman of the current crop: another GT4- or R-badged range-topper will come along eventually with even more power, grip and track-ready purpose.

Porsche’s history with the GTS nameplate runs back to a version of the 904 from 1963 and includes versions of the 924 and 928 coupés of the 1980s and 1990s. The derivative was revived, defined in its current ‘high performance meets high style’ philosophy, on a Porsche Cayenne in 2007 and then on a version of the ‘997’-generation 911 three years later.

DESIGN & STYLING

Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 2018 review hero rear

Straight away, you can tell a GTS apart from its lesser Porsche 718 Cayman and Cayman S siblings by its dark accents and restyled bumpers.

The tinted lenses, blackened tips of the centrally mounted exhaust and dark intake blades sitting within the opened-up nose imbue the car’s familiar prettiness with a more confrontational tone.

There’s no bad choice when it comes to picking a PDK or manual ’box but, if you’re worried about convenience, the manual features a rev-matching function for when you can’t be bothered to smooth things out with a pivoting ankle
Richard Lane
Deputy road test editor

With 361bhp at 6500rpm, the GTS gets a slightly more potent iteration of Porsche’s new-generation 2.5-litre twin-turbocharged flat four. That figure represents a 16bhp improvement on the Cayman S and twice that over this car’s six-cylinder predecessor, and it’s the result of a newly developed intake plenum and some fettling to the twin-scroll turbocharger of the dry-sumped boxer engine.

But is a 16bhp power hike, coming without any improvement in torque at all unless you opt for a car equipped with a PDK dual-clutch gearbox, enough for the GTS – especially given the step from Cayman to Cayman S is worth three times the power hike? It’s certainly a valid question.

The car’s electromechanical steering is unchanged from the Cayman S’s and there remains a choice of either a six-speed manual transmission or a seven-speed dual-clutcher. Opting for the latter drops Porsche’s 0-60mph acceleration claim from 4.4sec to as low as 3.9sec, although both cars will hit 180mph without the need for an optional package that uninhibits the ECU. We opted to test the manual.

Even with a trio of pedals and a compact engine squeezed between the cabin and the rear axle, this isn’t quite the back-to-basics sports car purity you might imagine. Opting for a GTS means torque vectoring and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) as standard, and the car rides 10mm lower than a regular Cayman S.

To lower the centre of gravity further still, optional PASM Sport suspension places the aluminium and steel monocoque another 10mm closer to the road, and our test car was so equipped. This chassis uses MacPherson struts for suspension at each corner just as any other Cayman’s does, although the GTS’s anti-roll bars are stiffened on account of the less compromising, precision-led GTS mission statement.

You also get Porsche Torque Vectoring, a mechanical limited-slip differential, dynamic gearbox mounts and 20in alloy wheels as standard, all of which would come at extra cost on an S.

INTERIOR

Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 2018 review cabin

If there’s anything the Cayman does better than its rivals within the cabin, it is to blend simplicity and functionality with a luxury touch.

In the case of our test car, were you to close your eyes and reach out in any direction, the overwhelming likelihood is that your fingertips would meet leather, Alcantara or optional carbonfibre. As always with Porsche, it’s possible to specify a broad range of fabric combinations – from Alcantara for the top of the dashboard to a leather-clad fuse-box cover – but whatever you decide, you’ll not find a stitch out of place.

Alcantara-festooned GTS cabin manages to feel simultaneously cosseting and spacious. Seatbelts that match the exterior paint colour are a nice touch
Simon Davis
Road tester

Furthermore, any plastic will be of high quality and limited largely to switchgear, stalks and cowlings. Perceived quality ranks alongside that of the Porsche 911, which is itself a strong performer in its own elevated class.

That’s the luxury. As for functionality, look no further than the brace of big storage boots at either end of the car, making this so much more practical than most two-seaters.

Simplicity, meanwhile, comes in the joy of a GT sport steering wheel – diameter just 360mm – that is entirely devoid of clutter save for a drive mode dial that’s part of the standard-fit Sport Chrono package on the GTS.

Beyond it sits the tachometer, central in the instrument binnacle. Either side are the speedometer and a digital dial that can scroll through navigation and media menus as well as the trip computer and interesting snippets such as boost pressure and instantaneous torque output.

The Porsche Communication Management system’s screen in the Cayman GTS might be only 7.0in in diameter but it sits nicely flush within the dashboard and, frankly, you don’t need anything larger in a small sports car.

Connect Plus comes as standard and includes Apple CarPlay, internet access and a tracking system for which a subscription is required. A reversing camera will set you back just over a grand, though.

With physical dials for the volume and the zoom function of the satellite navigation but impressive little latency when you do use the touchscreen, this system is both quick and intuitive to use. Our only significant criticism is that although the matt finish looks good in low light, it catches the sun easily, rendering the display unreadable at times.

Atop the high transmission tunnel sits the perfectly placed gearlever for the manual transmission. The GTS gets two-way adjustable sports seats as standard, with the option to upgrade to 18-way adaptive sport seats for £1990.

Our car’s £2315 sports bucket seats look marvellous and are tremendously supportive but can pinch at the base of the rib cage if your composition differs from what Porsche has catered for. But whichever seat you choose, the low-slung driving environment of the GTS delivers everything you would expect of a mid-engined sports car, with plenty of material quality and practicality to spare.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 2018 review driving

To anyone who has been wondering exactly what 16bhp is worth to a 2.5-litre Cayman in terms of straightline speed, we’ll spare you the big build-up. The truth is, it’s not much.

When we recorded the performance of the Cayman S in 2016, we tested a car with 20in alloy wheels and a manual gearbox (in both ways, a match for our GTS test car); and it needed 4.8sec to hit 60mph from rest, 10.5sec to reach 100mph and 13.4sec for a standing quarter mile.

The optional ceramic-composite brakes let you brake harder and later into tight corners, lap by lap, and get away with it
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

The GTS suffers with a similar restriction to engine power during initial launch (which we’ll come on to describing) and needs precisely the same 4.8sec to hit 60mph as its lesser sibling. It goes on to shave 0.3sec off the S’s time both to 100mph and over a standard quarter, of course; but that’s far from exceptional pace for a £60,000 sports car.

The BMW M2 we tested in 2016 was quicker in some respects, and the Audi TT RS quicker across the board.

We might have seen a stronger accelerative showing, of course, if the Cayman’s electronics weren’t at such pains to protect its transmission from harm. Just like the Cayman S, the GTS won’t let you use what feels like more than 50% throttle and about 4000rpm while the clutch is disengaged.

Since the car’s rear tyres are sufficiently wide and first gear is sufficiently tall that it could plainly handle more torque than the ECU will allow to freely flow until such time as the clutch is fully ‘out’, that must have cost the car at least a couple of tenths of a second against the clock.

It also continues to seem unlike a Porsche to deny its driver ultimate control of any of its major mechanicals. Thankfully, on both road and track, the powertrain is far less of an impediment.

That new induction system makes the engine slightly keener to work at high crank speeds than in a 2.5-litre S, so it revs with pleasing freedom and always feels potent enough. But if you didn’t like the way it sounds in an S, you’re unlikely to go a bundle on the irregular, vaguely spluttery rortiness of Porsche’s flat four in the GTS.

If, on the other hand, you think a four-cylinder motor with a responsive and linear delivery that revs all the way to 7500rpm can’t be bad in a compact sports car, you’ll likely find little to dislike here. Our testers were split down the middle.

The shift quality of the six-speed gearbox is great, so it’s a pleasure to row up and down its intermediate ratios, but you do need to do plenty of rowing to make the car feel genuinely fast. There is a lovely symmetry to the spacing of those intermediate ratios, but at times you do wish the car was simply shorter-geared.

RIDE & HANDLING

Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 2018 review on the road right

The truest measure of a sports car’s greatness is always going to be the manner in which it rises to the challenge set by a particularly testing stretch of B-road. In this respect, the Cayman GTS rises and shines as well as you’d ever hoped it might.

The car’s combination of narrow body, short wheelbase, low centre of gravity, mid-engined weight distribution and rear-drive layout works spellbindingly well. It makes for a car that feels supremely agile and delicately balanced and poised at road speeds and one that juggles body control against bump absorption breathtakingly well.

A bit of lift-off oversteer can be often be a helping hand, but the GTS’s rear axle won’t indulge in it readily
Richard Lane
Deputy road test editor

The steering rack, at 2.5 turns lock to lock, manages to feel responsive without quite adding a note of nervousness to the car’s handling, and it’s also well weighted and fairly communicative despite its electromechanical architecture. It doesn’t have the unfettered feel of, say, a Lotus Evora’s helm but blends feedback against ease of use cleverly.

The optional PASM Sport suspension, meanwhile, does a superb job of keeping the car’s lateral body roll in check and making reactions that were already keen even more immediate. It also works in partnership with those wider tyres to provide an order of outright sticking power that is way beyond the level of most sports cars.

However, the caveat is that a modicum of the handling adjustability and playfulness for which the Cayman is famed is missing in the GTS; or, at least, is much harder to access, even on a circuit.

The GTS has enormously tenacious grip on a dry track. That it set an identical benchmark lap time as the Cayman S we road tested in 2016 surprised everyone. However, the GTS felt ready to be driven a fair bit quicker – albeit only with greater commitment than we were ready to supply on the day.

The car’s stability on the limit is formidable, its rear axle able to carry as much apex speed as your bravery will permit without breaking away – and declining most attempts to unstick it for the purposes of amusement. In PSM Sport mode, meanwhile, its stability control system allows plenty of slip angle before intruding.

In the wet, the GTS felt a little more direct and highly strung than we’re used to from a Cayman. It didn’t handle standing water as well and its handling wasn’t as forgiving beyond the limit of grip. By sports car standards, though, it coped well.

Some will value the more serious disposition that the uprated chassis lends the GTS, but there was a sense among our testers that the regular Cayman S’s combination of more supple chassis and slighter grip level made for a sports car that was more fun more of the time.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 2018 review hero front

In a very simplistic sense, spending £60,000 on a 361bhp sports car may not seem like great performance value – but it isn’t terrible, either.

Moreover, if you invest a bit of time messing around on Porsche’s online configurator, you can quickly convince yourself that a 718 Cayman GTS is an utter steal.

The high-end Cayman is expected to hold its value very well indeed over a typical three-year ownership period
Simon Davis
Road tester

Matt Saunders

Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.