Watch This 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 Prototype Get Flogged Around the Nurburgring
Its slow-sounding gear shifts definitely aren’t the work of a PDK transmission.
Ever since the four-cylinder Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster came on the scene in early 2016, Porsche enthusiasts have been buzzing over what the inevitable GT4 version would be like. Will it get a flat-six? Will it come as a manual? Will it be as good as its spectacular predecessor?
While we've yet to hear anything official in regards to those questions, a recent spy video of what looks to be a 718 Cayman GT4 test mule is giving us hints of what to expect.
Spotted getting caned around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, this all-black, uncamouflaged, Cayman-shaped prototype rocks the same big grilles and aero bits found in the GT4 Clubsport racer unveiled earlier this year.
Paying attention to the sounds this car makes, it becomes pretty clear the new 718 Cayman GT4 will come with a manual transmission—the shifts heard here are way too slow to be the work of a PDK. As for the engine note itself, we (along with many commenters) couldn't help but notice that this doesn't sound quite as loud and howly as the 3.8-liter, naturally aspirated flat-six found in the previous GT4 despite the video description and Road & Track‘s insistence that the new race-bred 718 would carry a 4.0-liter flat-six from the 911 GT3.
Reception to Porsche’s decision to lop off two of its entry-level sports cars' cylinders has been lukewarm, to say the least. Here's hoping we'll see a return to the mid-mounted six soon.
In any case, the 718 Cayman GT4 is expected to be the most powerful car in the 718 range and, like the last GT4, drop a considerable amount of weight thanks to stuff like lightweight glass and fabric-strap door pulls.
