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Brian M. Afuang
June 20, 2019    |    

The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 And 718 Spyder Are Pure Sports Cars

Flat-six engine. No turbos. Six-speed manual

KNOW this: The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 and 718 Spyder pack the 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six based on the same engine family as the turbocharged mills in the current 911 Carrera models. And these are bolted to six-speed manual transmissions. Remember, both are mid-engine cars, too.

So, yes, they are great.

In the 718 Cayman GT4 this engine puts out 414hp, 35hp more than in the previous models. In the 718 Spyder the figure rises to 458hp. The full 420Nm of grunt arrives just between 5,000rpm and 6,800rpm — this flat-six is a screamer, with a redline set at 8,000rpm. Paired with a manual transmission, it allows both cars to top 300km/h and sprint to 100km/h from a standstill in 4.4 seconds.

It’s also conscientious as it does all that. It is fitted with a gasoline particulate filter emission control system and adaptive cylinder control which could cut combustion in one of the two cylinder banks. The result is less fuel consumption, lower emissions.

Porsche
Porsche
Porsche

Porsche says the 718 Spyder benefits from the high-performance GT chassis of the 718 Cayman GT4. Both cars have tweaked lightweight spring-strut front and rear axles, like in race cars, parts of which connect to the chassis via ball joints. Their Porsche Active Suspension Management damping system is 30 millimeters lower, their track-specific designs letting the cars handle sharper. Plus, their Porsche Stability Management can be deactivated in two steps, so the better drivers can get more daring, while their Porsche Torque Vectoring with mechanical rear differential lock guarantees cornering abilities unusually high for cars eligible to have license plates.

A high-performance brake system found its way to the 718 Cayman GT4 and 718 Spyder, meaning both cars have aluminum monobloc fixed-caliper brakes. The Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake is also an option. The 718 Spyder now runs on ultra-high-performance tires which used to be part of the package which let the 718 Cayman GT4 crush the Nurburgring — its lap time there was more than 10 seconds faster than that managed by its predecessor.

Porsche
Porsche
Porsche

The 718 Cayman GT4, while being the entry-level GT road model in the current Porsche lineup, still has a Clubsport package available as an option. Included here are a steel roll bar in the rear, a hand-held fire extinguisher and a six-point seatbelt for the driver.

It benefits from more aerodynamic fiddling, too. The 718 Cayman GT4 creates up to 50% more downforce. A new single-chamber arch rear silencer made room for a diffuser which can allot as much as 30% of the downforce to the rear axle. At 200 km/h, the car’s aerodynamic features can generate 12 kilograms of downward shove.

For its part, the 718 Spyder boasts a lightweight convertible top that harks back to Porsche legends like the 550 Spyder and the 718 RS 60 Spyder. The roof can be used daily and can be stowed away under the trunk lid in just a few steps.

The choice is yours.

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