New Porsche 718 GT4 receives the engine it deserves

Much of the new Cayman GT4’s mechanical make-up seems familiar. The last-generation version had a Porsche GT department suspension overhaul and an aero kit that could develop downforce over both axles.

What it didn’t have was its own atmospheric Porsche flat six, using instead a motor donated by the contemporary Porsche 911 Carrera S. The new engine, more than anything else, is what should make this 982-generation GT4 feel so special, given that the rest of the 718 range switched so controversially to four cylinders three years ago.

New Porsche 718 GT4 and Spyder revealed with 414bhp flat-six

Interestingly, it’s not the 3800cc flat six used by the GT4 Clubsport track car but is related instead to the 3.0-litre turbocharged boxer engines used by the bigger 992-series 911. Porsche confirmed that it’s healthy enough to take the Cayman through the 400bhp barrier for the first time while revving to 8000rpm.

It’s different from Porsche’s high-revving engine mould in that it’s unusually emissions-friendly. It uses piezo direct fuel injection and also has a gas particulate filter. Although that might make us all wonder whether it’ll sound and feel quite as raw as the flat six in a 991-series 911 GT3, I don’t think we need to worry too much.

Porsche GT boss Andreas Preuninger recently told me how much his team concerns itself with the intangible qualities of the driving experience – sound, style of delivery and general sensory appeal in particular. With what has become a very highly regarded entry point into Porsche GT ownership, I don’t think Weissach will have overlooked that dimension.

Read more

Porsche Cayman GT4 2015-2016 review

Porsche 911 review

Next-gen Porsche 911 GT3 tipped to use 4.0-litre flat six

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.

used Porsche 718 Cayman cars for sale