---
title: "Watch This 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 Prototype Get Flogged Around the Nurburgring"
description: "Its slow-sounding gear shifts definitely aren't the work of a PDK."
date: "2019-04-21"
modified: "2019-04-21"
authors:
  - name: "Chris Tsui"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/chris-tsui"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/27571/watch-this-porsche-718-cayman-gt4-prototype-get-flogged-around-the-nurburgring"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Porsche News"
  - "Watch This"
tags:
  - "718 Cayman"
  - "car videos"
  - "Cayman GT4"
  - "Coupe"
  - "luxury"
  - "Nurburgring"
  - "porsche"
  - "sports car"
  - "sports cars"
---

# Watch This 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 Prototype Get Flogged Around the Nurburgring

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2019/04/porsche-718-cayman-gt3-nurburgring.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

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?](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/26371/rejoice-porsche-might-be-putting-the-flat-six-in-more-718-boxsters-and-caymans>) Will it come as a manual? Will it be as good as [its spectacular predecessor](<https://www.thedrive.com/supercars/2653/even-among-elite-metal-the-porsche-cayman-gt4-shines>)?

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.

https://youtube.com/embed/6lZCXwj7wbc

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](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/25785/2019-porsche-cayman-gt4-clubsport-lighter-faster-and-more-sustainable>) 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*](<https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/a25748846/2020-porsche-718-cayman-gt4-engine-rumors/>) 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.

## Author
Chris Tsui is *The Drive*'s former Reviews Editor and current freelance automotive journalist. He's based in Toronto.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/cltsuii/>)