What you’ve got to remember is that Porsche’s original Boxster, 1996’s 986 version, was deliberately unthreatening. It was, intentionally, a little bit, well—”unmanly,” is how we Neanderthals might’ve put it in a less enlightened age. You don’t have to tell me how outdated that pejorative is, but that doesn’t change the fact the 718-cum-Cayman-nee-Boxster was purposefully softer and, well, cuter than the 911s that were then Porsche’s sporting mainstay.
The reason that said moderation was deliberate was that, while Porsche was looking to expand its audience beyond the “true believers,” the German engineers tasked with making the new mid-engined sportser were petrified of cannibalizing 911 sales. Yes, Porsche needed the incremental sales, but not at the expense of their profit-spewing Carreras.
Thus did we get an oddly-shaped little roustabout that shared absolutely no styling cues with its more purposeful predecessor — indeed, the original Boxster always looked like it might be more comfortable driving in reverse — powered by a pretty wimpy 2.5-litre 201-horsepower boxer six. What I am trying to say is that the 986 was more Mazda Miata than turbocharged Whaletail.
Thankfully, in 2003, the Cayenne came along and proved, once and for all, that no manner of cynical diversion from Porsche’s core history could shake the 911’s hallowed reputation. No longer worried that a sharp-turning, monster-motored mid-engined sportster would eat into 911 sales, Porsche’s finest were free to let the 718-cum-Cayman-nee-Boxster become the hard-edged (semi-)supercar it always should have been.
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
And none be harder-edged than the very latest version, the GT4 RS. Indeed, in its greatest show of confidence yet, Porsche has liberated the Mac Daddy of 911 engines, the GT3’s naturally-aspirated 4.0-litre six, and plumped it amidships into the 718. For those not familiar with the 992 GT3 powerplant, it’s a markedly different engine than the boxers that power turbocharged Porsches.
Based on the 911 GT3 Cup race car, it features six individual throttle bodies; a new finger-follower valvetrain that never needs adjustment; a 9,000-rpm red line; and a stainless-steel exhaust system that is soldered instead of welded, so dedicated were Porsche’s mandarins to cut weight as much as possible.
And the first thing you note when you start howling ’round a racetrack in the littlest RS is how truly melodious pistons and spark plugs can be. Not quite the tingling of spine that a fast-firing V12 might generate, nor on par with the electricity of a flat-plane crank Ferrari, the GT3 motor is still one of internal-combustion’s best feet forward. A little thrummy while poodling through the pits, it starts to bark around five grand, and by the time it hits the fun-spoiling rev limiter a few hundred revs past 9,000, it is quite literally howling, the sound both haunting and invigorating.
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
So much more authoritative than a 911 Turbo — whose bark is chastened by the dulling effect of the twin turbochargers clogging up its exhaust track — it sounds even better than its donor, the GT3, perhaps because the engine is schmucked so far forward in the chassis. Add in twin air intakes just aft of the driver’s left ear — where most Caymans have a small window — and the GT4’s sense of immediacy is only heightened. Unless you’re Elon Musk — and rumour is that even he has a soft spot for internally-combusting sports cars — the GT4 RS is automotive syncopation at its best.
OK, so it booms and barks. But is it fast? Or, more specifically, is it faster than the 911 Turbo that is Porsche’s yardstick?
Well, sorry to waffle a little, but the answer is kinda, sorta. Yes and no. It depends. Keep the engine cooking between its 6,250-rpm torque peak (331 pound-feet) and 9,000-rpm redline and the little GT4 is almost a match for Turbo mightiness. Porsche claims an 11.3-second quarter-mile for the RS, which is no slouching about.
Launch it out of a tight second-gear hairpin — like Turn 2 at the diabolically twisty Streets of Willow in California, where your author got to test the GT4 out — however, and there’s simply no substituting turbocharged grunt, a top-line Turbo S pulling away like two of those throttle bodies suddenly sprung a leak. You need to work natural-aspiration harder to get the most out of its 493 horsepower (down, by the way, some nine ponies compared with the GT3, because the exhaust plumbing is a little more convoluted).
Thank the Lord, then, for perfectly calibrated seven-speed dual-clutch PDK transmissions that keep the high-revving Boxer six in the meaty part of its powerband, that it might keep pace with turbocharged monsters. It works so well that even dedicated racers use its automatic mode, and once up to speed, there’s nothing lesser to the top-of-the-line 718’s forward progress.
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Photo by David Booth
No such supplication to deities is needed to get the breathed-on 718 to keep up with ‘pedestrian’ 911 Turbos when the track gets twisty. The GT4 RS is possibly the most trackworthy of street-legal Porsches yet. Certainly, it was no issue at all to keep up with the Turbo S ‘leading’ us round the Streets of Willow’s go-kart-like piste.
Credit a chassis that is stiffened substantially at the shock towers for less torsional deflection during hard cornering. Or the suspension that is substantially firmer – 50 per cent stiffer in front, and almost 40 per cent in the rear — compared with the regular GT4. Perhaps it’s the solid bushings that maintain a direct connection between suspension A-arms and the main body, or the fact that it rides 30 millimetres lower than the garden-variety Cayman. Certainly, the 25 per cent more downforce (without sacrificing aerodynamic slipperiness!) the RS claims over the garden-variety GT4 makes it feel more ‘planted’ at speed.
The highest compliment you can bestow on a track car is that it always does what you want and expect it to do—confidence is something this car inspires in spades
Whatever the source of the RS’s handling prowess, Walter-Mitty-me at the wheel had no problem making up all the ground — and more! — that booming Turbo gained on the straightaways. Describing how adroitly a supercar — or near-supercar — handles is always difficult, it being almost impossible to convey the feeling of stability engendered by a well-calibrated limited-slip differential, or the monstrous grip Michelin Cup Sport Cup 2 Rs. Ditto for superbly-coded vehicle stability control systems, or the direct connection of those aforementioned solid bushings.
Whatever the technology that gets it there, however, the highest compliment you can bestow on a track car — and, make no mistake, the GT4 RS is more at-ease flinging through apexes than busting over potholes — is that it always does what you want and expect it to do. Confidence is something this car inspires in spades.
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
Interestingly — and I say “interestingly” because such picayune details seldom make the differences claimed in press releases — I’d strongly recommend anyone shopping the new RS to opt for the $17,840 magnesium wheel set. Oh, I know you’ll get more visual bang for your buck with the carbon-fibre trim bits in the $15,110 Weissach package. But the magnesium wheel will actually make a an actual difference in performance when you’re hooning the GT4 round racetrack like you’re supposed to.
Officially, they cut 10.5 kilograms off the GT4 RS’s 1,466-kilogram curb weight. More important than that total weight savings, however, is that said avoirdupois is being removed from the wheels. Not only does that mean the suspension works better — reducing what’s called “unsprung weight” reduces the load on the shock absorbers — but the lighter wheels generate an actually measurable lightening of steering.
Normally, such benefits are more theoretical than real. But, in the RS’s case, there was a more-than-tangible improvement in its fleetness of foot. So, while you might not get immediate plaudits from passers-by — other than those Porsche anoraks who memorize every specification and package — for your 15 large, you will definitely appreciate that, so equipped, the GT4 RS may be the best of Porsche’s street-legal track weapons. Indeed, I will risk committing some form of unpardonable heresy in preferring this 718 to the full-boat GT3 from whence its engine was liberated.
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
That said, be careful what you wish for. As you may have gleaned from the preceding diatribe, most — actually, all — of our time in the new GT4 was spent on a race track, Porsche seemingly loathe to let us loose on normal crease-stained and potholed roads. That’s because — no surprise, here — the very same solid bushing and firm springs that make the RS such a demon on the track will punish even the heartiest of drivers in normal driving. It’s meant to be one of the cars in your fleet, not, like the original Boxster, your daily driver.
So, If you’re looking for a third or fourth Porsche, the Panamera (or perhaps, the Taycan) already handling daily duties, and the Carrera 4S doing yeoman duty as your street rod, then the GT4 RS is perfect for those rare moments when you can actually get away to a racetrack for an entire weekend. As indulged as that might seem to we proles, it makes the $166,600 GT4 RS something of a buy in the rarefied world of super(ish) cars. Just remember to get the magnesium wheels.
Keyword: First Drive: 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS