New Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 And 718 Spyder REVEALED
The new Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 and 718 Spyder arrive as the enthusiasts option for Porsche鈥檚 entry-level sports car - with naturally-aspirated 4.0 litre. Thankfully, although Porsche aren鈥檛 immune from playing the same game, the new 718 Cayman GT4 and 718 Spyder haven鈥檛 been infected by the buzz little toy engine virus. Not only do they have the same 4.0 litre naturally-aspirated four-pot, they also sport a manual gearbox because, as Porsche says, it鈥檚 all about the driving pleasure. Thew new 4.0 litre flat six engine in the new 718 manages to deliver 414bhp - despite no forced induction - revs to 8000rpm, has 310lb/ft of torque above 5000rpm and hits 62mph in 4.4 seconds. Porsche has fitted a particulate filter to cut NOx, there鈥檚 a neat trick of cutting fuel injection under light load and official economy sits at 25.7mpg. But if you drive as you should you鈥檒l never see it.
Even before we take off, at mile marker 0.0, the Porsche has some catching up to do. To match the Audi鈥檚 specification, it is fitted with the seven-speed PDK transmission, not the six-speed manual. In the TT RS, a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox is the only choice. Next, please erase everything you remember about previous Caymans, because this one is different. High revs required to deliver the goods? Not anymore. At 1,900 rpm, the single-turbo, 2.5-liter engine dishes up 309 lb-ft of torque, and this rich torque menu is available all the way to 4,500 rpm. At the word 鈥済o,鈥?the new four-cylinder boxer tears down the wall that used to separate cruise mode from instant grunt, which is no mean feat. The secret to this always-on-the-alert attitude is a variable-vane wastegate turbocharger. Even at part-throttle, it whips up enough boost pressure by synchronizing wastegate aperture, ignition timing, and throttle position. As a result, the 16-valver drops the hammer hard as soon as the driver puts a foot down.
In a very wise move, Audi鈥攗nder former research-and-development chief Ulrich Hackenberg鈥攄eveloped a new, low-friction, high-efficiency, all-aluminum five-cylinder unit that weighs 57 pounds less than its cast-iron predecessor. Rated at 400 horsepower in the TT RS, the 2.5-liter engine boasts a broader max-torque band than the Porsche engine, spreading its peak twist action of 354 lb-ft from 1,700 to 5,850 rpm. We expected awesome punch in any gear at any time, but there was a snag. When you coast along, for example, at 60 mph and suddenly feel the itch, throttle tip-in is painfully slow; the gearbox takes much too long to change down from fifth to third. Compared to this lengthy pause, normal turbo lag almost feels like a time-warp experience. Audi is aware of this problem and will reprogram the software for hard and fast downshifts. In the TT RS, seventh is normally a rev-cutting, waft-along gear. In Dynamic mode, however, the black box will zoom in on the bottom six ratios. Although you can slide the shifter across to the manual gate, the steering-wheel paddles are a much more intuitive option.
Porsche will change the shift pattern in an even more dramatic fashion than the TT RS. It has to do with how long to hold onto the gear you鈥檙e in through fast corners and at high or low revs, how to time upshifts and downshifts, and how to best manage the power and torque flow. When fitted with the Sport Chrono pack, the Cayman S features a so-called Sport Response button in the middle of the rotary drive-mode selector. Push it, for instance in preparation of a close overtaking move, and the drivetrain switches to high alert for the next 20 seconds. Also worth noting is the coasting mode, which automatically selects neutral under trailing throttle. Despite all the marketing efforts, these two coupes are not really brand-new cars. The TT RS鈥檚 genetic roots trace back to Wolfsburg where Volkswagen developed the MQB architecture now also used by Audi in the 2012 A3 and the current TT. The TT RS cabin is a nicer place to be.