2019 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
Some of you may remember back when the Porsche Cayman first came out people made the same jokes about it as they did with the Boxster. But that鈥檚 missing the point. 2019 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport is not meant to be an alternative for the top dog road car. It is a through and through track car, built for those who want a no-compromise racing car they can have a lot of fun with over the weekend. So yes, it鈥檚 a toy, essentially. But as far as toys go, it鈥檚 a good one. The new Cayman GT4 is also wiser and more 鈥渟ustainable鈥?in Porsche鈥檚 own words. That is fantastic, since the kind of people who can afford to spend top dollar on a track toy are usually the type who like to show off everything, even moral fiber. So next time you get together with your Cheshire motoring club mates for a track day, you can boast that your Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 features body parts made of natural-fibre composite material.
Granted, they are limited to the doors and the rear wing, and no, the engine is not a hybrid or anything. In fact, the 3.8 liter flat-six is even beefier than before with an extra 40 horsepower. But the very phrase 鈥渘atural-fibre鈥?has a nice, environmental tone about it. And that鈥檚 enough for most people. The 2019 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport comes in two 鈥淭rackday鈥?and 鈥淐ompetition鈥?variants. The former is for the more novice gentleman driver, whereas the latter is aimed at the more experienced drivers. That is why the Trackday costs 134,000 EUR, and the Competition 157,000 EUR. They share a 425 horsepower flat-six engine, Porsche dual-clutch gearbox with six gears and mechanical rear axle differential lock. What 鈥淐lubsport鈥?models represent is the true essence of Porsche. If you are a real Porsche aficionado you should steer clear of the road-going sports model. Just get a Cayenne or a Panamera for daily driving, and a Cayman GT4 or a track version of the 911 for driving fun. A regular Cayman is like a fine cigarette, whereas this Clubsport model is a full Churchill-sized Cuban cigar paired with a double espresso!
The new naturally-aspirated 4.0-liter engine is derived from the current 911 Carerra turbo engine. With displacement increased, power goes up from the last Cayman GT4 by 35 hp. The 718 Cayman GT4 will make 414 hp at 7,600 rpm, on its way to an 8,000-rpm redline. In the 718 Spyder, this represents an increase of 44 hp over the previous droptop. Torque peaks at 310 lb-ft from 5,000-6,800 rpm. However, one cannot assume that Porsche was unprepared for this. They would know that the 4-cyl engines would turn off some 718 model buyers, even if the cars were faster. From a technical standpoint, it is clear that the car was always designed to accept a 6-cyl engine. But building a new engine is a lengthy process, so it stands to reason that this new 4.0-liter was in development before the 718 models were even launched. The new powerplant adds adaptive cylinder control, which can deactivate the fuel injectors in one of the two cylinder banks.
Doing so during part-throttle operation reduces fuel consumption to improve efficiency. The 0-60 mph time for the 3,131-lb 718 Cayman GT4 is rated at 4.2 seconds. This is slower than the 2018 Cayman GTS鈥檚 time of 3.9 seconds, but that is likely due to the PDK transmission in the GTS, as well as the low-end torque provided by the turbo. It can be expected that the 718 Cayman GT4 and Spyder will perform better at higher engine speeds and in track settings. And let鈥檚 not neglect to celebrate the additional fun-factor of the standard 6-speed manual transmission! For the first time, the 718 Spyder and 718 Cayman GT4 will share their chassis setup. The Spyder goes more hardcore and gets the track-focused suspension of the Cayman. This includes ball joints in place of certain bushings, 30 mm lower ride height, recalibrated Porsche Stability Management (PSM), and a mechanical locking rear differential with Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV). Both cars have the Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) available as an option and they run on a new ultra-high performance rubber, though it has not yet disclosed as to what tire that is.