Screenshot: Automotive Mike on YouTube
OK, so maybe it’s a little more of an open secret than a true secret, but the new Cayman GT4 RS has been spotted testing at the Nürburgring again. This time we got an even better taste of the gloriously sonorous exhaust note, and it’s making us rethink everything we know about the world, Porsche, and the Cayman. Thanks to Automotive Mike on YouTube we have a good idea of what this car will sound like in production trim. The car is shown here testing without much camouflage at all, so it’s probably within a few months of ready for prime time Porsche unveiling.
Interestingly, the Cayman GT4 RS is shot testing at or around the same time as a Ferrari F8 Tributo. The Ferrari appears to be a regular road-registered example, and it is well known that companies sometimes purchase competitors products to use as benchmark machines. Is Porsche benchmarking the Cayman GT4 RS against this $276,000 Italian supercar? If so, that would make for an extremely interesting low-six-figure mid-engine Porsche maniac. The Tributo employs a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 making 711 horsepower, and it’s unlikely that Porsche will ever give a Cayman anything like GT2 RS horsepower levels. No, I think Porsche is simply using the Ferrari as a handling benchmark, rather than a power and dynamics comparison.
Before we move off of the Ferrari as a subject, I think it’s worth pointing out that the Cayman GT4 RS is already head and shoulders above the F8 in terms of exhaust note. Porsche has never been one to shy away from a strong naturally-aspirated flat six exhaust note, and has been building cars that sound fantastic since at least 1963 (sorry 356 folks…) when the 911 was introduced. Given that the Ferrari here is a turbocharged model, it makes sense that it would be a bit more muted, but when juxtaposed with the little crocodile from Zuffenhausen, there’s simply no comparison. That NA flat six sounds pure and symphonic. I’d listen to that machine spout its exhaust note at me all day long!
Now, obviously nobody really knows what’s going on underneath that Cayman body, but you can see from the outside that it’s equipped with a special hood with a pair of NACA ducts, a special bumper, center lock wheels, and bigger brakes. Out back there is a huge swan-neck wing similar to the one found on the GT3. The rear quarter window glass has been replaced by a pair of massive intake ducts for what we must assume is a much more powerful engine. The current power king of the 718 lineup is the four-liter engine found in the Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder, which makes 414 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. For an RS model, it would make sense for Porsche to pump that power up to around 450.
This is going to be an incredible machine whenever it finally drops. Until then, we’ll continue to get excited about spy photos and videos of it testing.