Porsche Cayman GT4 2020 Review

In a dynamic sense, there is no ‘off’ button in the Porsche Cayman GT4.

In fact, whereas rival sports cars promise owners 10-stage traction control settings and the like, Porsche’s entry GT car doesn’t even offer a basic ‘Sports’ mode.

For the uninitiated, it’s a small, slightly tokenistic gesture to stress that, if you’ve come this far having overlooked the large rear wing, 380mm iron disc brakes and fabric interior door-pulls, the GT4 isn’t simply partial to going fast. It’s made for it.

That much was already clear with the previous 981-series Cayman GT4 that was offered in Australia for a mere 18 months, whereupon enthusiasts tussled over the limited stock.

For 2020, the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 adopts a larger capacity 4.0-litre naturally-aspirated flat-six and a six-speed manual transmission, bumping power by 26kW and promising a more awe-inspiring experience than ever.

Unsurprisingly, the Stuttgart firebrand suffers some teething issues in adapting its one-track mind to the road, but it is a spellbinding machine nonetheless.

The Porsche Cayman GT4 is priced from $207,000 (plus on-road costs in Australia) – which is a great deal less than the rear-engined $326,000 911 GT3 with which it shares much of its front suspension. And like the GT3, the GT4 gets its own 4.0-litre flat-six.

That said, the GT4’s price is now within cooee of a base 911 Carrera ($229,500). And if you’re wedded to the notion of an atmo flat-six powering your German coupe, the forthcoming (less focussed) Cayman GTS runs the same powerplant and costs $30k less.

Irrespective of its sporty positioning, the Porsche Cayman GT4 gets by with its share of creature comforts and modern touches.

There’s tinted bi-xenon headlights with cornering function, LED apron lights with direction indicators, LED tail-lights, auto-dimming rear-view and side mirrors, dual-zone climate control, head-insulating glass, electric sports seats furnished in Alcantara, heated seats and steering wheel.

Infotainment is facilitated by a centre touch-screen offering Apple CarPlay (no Android Auto), digital radio and sat-nav, while the instrument clusters is a neat combination of a traditional analogue tacho and a 4.6-inch digital display conveying key trip, nav and infotainment information.

There are no steering wheel-mounted buttons or minutiae of lane-keeping this or blind-spot that – rather, a basic airbag count and judicious and clever electronics forms the GT4’s frontline safety. You can also option a roll cage.

Naturally, our test car had its share of tinsel, ballooning the as-tested figure to $230K with $6000 worth contrasting stitching on the seats and a $2500 BOSE sound system, among other items.

The Porsche Cayman GT4 is covered by a three-year factory warranty in Australia, while servicing intervals are 12-month/15,000km.

Buying into a Porsche Cayman GT4 lands you some pretty elite and, if we’re to believe Porsche, soon-to-be extinct componentry.

In the case of the 2020 model, that includes front suspension and a 4.0-litre flat-six adapted from the 911, a rear wing with spanner adjustment and grippy Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber.

The key talking point, for a couple of reasons that we’ll soon divulge, is the Cayman GT4’s six-speed manual transmission. It will soon be joined by a seven-speed dual-clutch PDK, says Porsche, though not exact timing has been provided yet.

Until then, the stick-shift offers an automatic blipping function during downshifts (though it can be turned off) and is linked to a mechanical locking rear differential.

Officially, the manual launches to 100km/h from rest in 4.4 seconds, enabling the Cayman GT4 to burst onwards to a top speed of 304km/h.

While the engine offers a solitary angry setting, the dampers can be configured two ways, while the suspension settings can be manually tweaked either via toe, camber or anti-roll bars. Active transmission mounts are also part of the standard fare.

All this chassis goodness connects to the road/track via super-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres measuring 245/35 ZR20 up front and 295/30 ZR20 at the rear. Those 380mm brake discs are clamped by six-piston front callipers and four-piston rears.

The GT4 gets a full-panelled flat underbody, NACA inlets and a new diffuser inspired by the Porsche 911 RSR wide-body endurance race car. It also gets a sports exhaust with dual outlets.

Inside, there’s a lot of GT3 in the hottest two-seat Cayman proponent, from the last-gen (yet still enamouring) switchgear-centric feel of the centre fascia, to the traditional turn-key starter.

The engine wakes to life with a familiar discordant combination of rasp and mechanical timbre, while the six-speed manual feels oiled and suitably mechanical, matched by a clutch pedal with adequate take-up and a firm yet metered brake pedal.

The Porsche Cayman GT4 is loud, raw and raucous, though given how loudly it shouts its track pretensions, it’s not as one-minded as you might expect.

In their softest setting the dampers take the bare edge off bumps in the road, and the body maintains control over mid-corner undulations and large washouts.

The GT4 a joy to drive slow or fast, and doesn’t induce stressful, grimace-worthy moments like a focussed Italian exotic around pockmarked surfaces. The one exception to the rule is driveways – the plastic front lip of the GT4 would really benefit from a hydraulic lift kit, such is its proximity to the tarmac.

Perfectly weighted steering embodies what the Porsche Cayman GT4 experience is about; almost willing you on to go searching for twisty tarmac, such is the tactility on hand.

The engine? It is a darling, earning its keep not through neck-snapping, horizon-reeling progress, but rather linear and tractable power, almost like a motorcycle.

Peak power arrives at a lofty 7600rpm, just shy of the 7800rpm cut-out, at which point the shrieking howl of the big-bore flat-six would reverberate through the cabin, but has been noticeably restrained in this application by tightening European regulations.

We can blame compliance for the other of the GT4’s foibles: gearing. The six-speed manual is geared way too tall in the earlier ratios – an order Porsche engineers quietly followed to comply with rolling emissions tests.

Hypothetically, of course, we could tell you that first gear revs out to 84km/h, second to 140-ish and third to about 195km/h. For a shift pattern that requires no second invitations, the GT4’s manual simply isn’t utilised enough for road driving.

Conversely, the top ratio holds the engine at a lofty 3000rpm at highway speeds, which is arguably too high for a casual Sunday open road gallop.

With all that said, there’s no denying the gearing allows the engine to naturally fall to its sweet spot, around 3000rpm.

Otherwise, the 1420kg GT4 is scalpel-sharp through corners, telegraphing even the subtlest movement through nicely honed steering or rotation through the driver’s seat.

It can’t emulate the voodoo-like magic of the larger, rear-engine 911 – a blueprint that has been incrementally perfected over eight generations – but the balance and poise on show here is something to be admired. A genuinely pleasing driver’s car.

The Porsche Cayman GT4 promises to be an unbridled firebrand in an era of increasingly compliant, forced-induction supercars.

Ultimately, its plight is hampered by dreaded red tape both in terms of gearing and noise. It means the Cayman GT4 is a merely excellent sports car, without reaching out-and-out Porsche nirvana.

Even so, a manual, naturally-aspirated Porsche coupe that is so focussed for close to $200K? We can only hope the supply of these raucous machines is never simply turned ‘off’.

How much does the 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 cost?
Price: $207,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 4.0-litre six-cylinder petrol
Output: 309kW/420Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 11.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 258g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not rated