Porsche Cayman GT4 review: New range-topping baby 911

Driving pleasure doesn’t get any better than the new Cayman GT4, a more affordable - but no less thrilling - alternative to the 911.

There is no sports mode in Porsche’s 718 Cayman GT4.

No buttons on the racecar-spec steering wheel, and no safety assistance such as lane keeping assistance or active cruise control. Forget about self-parking systems, drift modes, fake engine noise or multi-coloured mood lighting found in so-called “sports” cars.

Suede-like Alcantara and a manual gearshift lead to driving nirvana.

This car is purely focused on the sport of driving.

You get a steering wheel, three pedals, a gearstick and the necessary ingredients for driving nirvana. While it’s not the fastest or most technically advanced car on sale, it does represent a pure experience few can match.

The GT4 follows the ancient recipe of stuffing a large engine in a small car. This is Porsche’s second attempt at a big-motor GT4, bringing more power, extra downforce, focused suspension and other tweaks to hone its appeal.

The most expensive Cayman is the cheapest car from Porsche’s motorsport department.

Suspension largely pinched from the racecar-like 911 GT3 offers camber, toe and roll bar adjustment. Owners can break out the tools and tweak the angle of the huge rear spoiler, or have their car ready for Targa Tasmania with a roll cage, racing harnesses, ceramic brakes and no infotainment system.

Back in the real world, our test car is specified with more comfortable seats and a touchscreen with sat nav and Apple CarPlay.

The two-seat Cayman’s cabin feels dated alongside the four-seat 911.

Priced from $207,000 plus on-road costs (about $224,000 drive-away, and nearly $1000,000 more than a standard Cayman), the GT4 has a relatively skinny list of luxury features.

Instead, your money goes toward hardware such as enormous brakes, a torque vectoring differential, 20-inch wheels with gumball tyres, bespoke bodywork and the shift from a turbo four-cylinder engine to a magnificent 4.0-litre six-cylinder motor producing 309kW and 420Nm.

The 2020 Porsche Cayman GT4 thrives in the bends.

It’s not that quick in a straight line.

A claimed 0-100km/h dash of 4.4 seconds is about half a second slower than the Mercedes-AMG A45 hatchbacks which costs half as much while packing an extraordinary list of standard features.

But no hatchback can touch the Cayman’s carefully honed steering, brake and throttle responses. Freed from turbocharging, the naturally aspirated engine sounds sensational as it draws deep breaths from intakes placed behind your shoulders.

Crisp reactions make the Cayman a delight to drive.

There’s a clarity of connection which makes the Cayman feel more like a motorcycle than a regular car. Like a superbike, it has long-legged gearing which makes reaching the rev limiter in five of six gears a criminal act.

It scythes into corners with perfect balance, changing direction with a lack of inertia that makes you seek out winding roads to plot the next adventure. Available only with a manual transmission – for now – the Cayman’s precise linkages and well-weighted clutch make each gearchange a delight.

Standard 380mm steel brakes can be replaced with bigger carbon discs for about $16,000.

Impressive brakes ask for firm pedal pressure, which allows you to metre inputs with greater precision. While you can’t use all of its performance on the road, the Cayman encourages you to be more exacting with every input.

Think of each drive as a light training run in preparation for high-speed excursions on race tracks or closed roads.

Of course, such focused machines are bound to bring shortcomings. Low suspension and a tarmac-scraping chin spoiler can be tricky to manage on driveways and speed bumps.

There are far more practical cars for this money.

The shocks are quite firm, and tighter European regulations have robbed the exhaust of some pops, crackles and the all-encompassing howl found in last-generation models. Weekend warriors won’t come close to matching 10.9L/100km claimed economy, though everyday drivers will notice the car shuts down three cylinders to save fuel from time to time.

Then there’s the problem of being able to secure a car from Porsche dealers often over-subscribed with buyers for limited-production “GT” models, or the small matter of securing $200,000-plus needed to put one in the driveway.

The new Cayman GT4 will be revered as a analog experience prior to electric sports cars.

Porsche Cayman GT4

Price: About $224,000 drive-away

Engine: 4.0-litre 6-cyl, 309kW/420Nm

Safety: Not yet tested, 6 airbags, stability control, reversing camera

Thirst: 10.9L/100km

Cargo: 150 litres

Spare: None