Key considerations
- Available for £70,000
- 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six petrol, rear-wheel drive
- Fabulous chassis, 3-sec 0-62mph times in the PDK
- More refined than the 981 GT4, which you might not like
- Some early engine troubles, but very good support from Porsche
- They stopped making them in 2023, boo
A lot of cars have good powertrains, and a lot have good handling. There’s a growing but smaller number of cars that have both. As you continue going the wrong way down this particular telescope you’ll pass by a still smaller selection of cars that manage to raise this combination of talents to a special level of excellence. Go a little further still and you’ll find a tiny huddle of truly brilliant cars that add bonus features like character and everyday useability to the mix.
Many would classify Porsche’s Cayman GT4 as a member of that very select group. Today we’re looking at the gen-two (982/718) GT4, launched in mid-2019 alongside the 718 Spyder convertible as Porsche’s new entry-level GT road car.
This gen-two 718 GT4 had a tough act to follow. Its 2015 predecessor, the 981-platformed GT4, was the first mid-engined Porsche to be given the GT workover. Powered by the 3.8 flat-six engine from the 911 Carrera S, it was created by the same smart people who had been responsible for 911 trackday titans like the GT3 and GT2. Their goal was to build something with handling that was as near to perfect as a production car could be. By common consent, they achieved that in the 981 GT4, a car that was regularly described by journalists who had driven just about everything else as the best driver’s machine you could buy, and a bargain at under £65,000.
The start point of what Porsche hoped would be a similarly boss-level chassis package for the 80kg heavier gen-two 718 GT4 was strut-based suspension sharing many parts from the GT3, including the entire front axle plus some more GT3 stuff at the back end. To that starry start, they added just about every bit of chassis trickery from the Porsche toybox, including PASM active damping system, PSM stability management and more. We’ll get into the detail on that in the Chassis section.
At one point the new GT4 was going to be powered by a version of the Cayman’s 2.0 four. Thankfully someone important at Porsche decided that it deserved something rather meatier, so it ended up with another naturally-aspirated six, this time a 4.0 litre that was essentially a bored and stroked version of the 3.0-litre turbo engine used in the 992 911 Carrera. The 3.8’s cast sump was replaced on the 4.0 by a 36 per cent lighter plastic item, and start-stop made its first appearance in the Cayman. The 4.0 motor revved to 8,000rpm and incorporated one-bank cylinder deactivation below 3,000rpm for fuel efficiency, switching banks every 20 seconds to equalise engine wear and keep the cats clear.
When economy wasn’t your prime consideration the new car’s improved aero created 50 per cent more downforce than its predecessor. The 718’s rear wing played a major role in this by delivering 20 per cent more downforce than the old one but another big contributor was the new single-chamber arch rear silencer which made space in the rear body section for a very effective diffuser. Air curtains at the front of the car calmed the airflow around the front wheels.
The GT4 initially came out with a six-speed manual gearbox plus dual-mass flywheel but a PDK seven-speed twin-clutch automatic followed soon after. As per PDK tradition, the auto knocked an easy half a second off the manual’s 0-62mph time, enrolling the GT4 into another limited membership club, the 3-seconders.
Although the 981 GT4 was limited to 2,500 units, no such limit was put on the 982/718. It was still hard to get one though because there were only a limited number of build slots available. You could only join the GT4 waiting list if you had OPC purchasing history. In 2022, more than two years into the production run, buyers desperate to get into 718 GT4s were still having to stump up £15k premiums for used 2020 cars.
Today, nearly five years on from the start of the production run, used buyers in the UK still need to find at least £70k for a GT4, which is just £5k below the new 2020 base price. None of that has stopped the GT4 from becoming the second most popular 718 Cayman in the UK after the T, with around 80 examples for sale on the British used market at the time of writing in May 2024.
The lowest-priced car we found was a £69,990 2020 example with 13,000 miles on the clock. That represents just 3,000 miles a year – and we’re talking here about one of the two highest-mileage GT4s on sale. The overwhelming majority of used GT4s, many of them 2020 model year cars, have covered fewer than 10,000 miles. Porsche was expecting four out of five owners to use their cars on trackdays. Maybe they’ve been doing that to the exclusion, or the minimisation at least, of public road driving.
Slow-depreciation cars depreciate slowly for one of two reasons. One, because they’re brilliant and everybody wants them, or two, because the manufacturers are ending production. Sometimes, as here, both reasons apply. In the spring of 2023, Porsche announced that production of the GT4, 4.0 Spyder and T was stopping that year, with the entire 718 line due to come to a halt in March 2024. So if you want a 718 GT4 now, it’s going to be used or nothing.
The good news for the used buyer is that you don’t have to spend a lot more than the £70k entry price to get a sub-10,000-mile GT4 because there are so many of these low-mile cars to choose from.
SPECIFICATION | Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 (2019-23)
Engine: 3,995cc flat six 24v
Transmission: 6-speed manual or 7-speed PDK auto, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 415@7,600rpm
Torque (lb ft): 310@5,000-6,800rpm (317@ 5,500rpm PDK)
0-62mph (secs): 4.4 (3.9 PDK)
Top speed (mph): 189
Weight (kg): 1,495
MPG (official combined): 25.9 (27.7 PDK)
CO2 (g/km): 249
Wheels (in): 8.5 x 20 (f), 11 x 20 (r)
Tyres: 245/35 (f), 295/30 (r)
On sale: 2019 - on
Price new: £75,700 without options
Price now: from £70,000
Note for reference: car weight and power data is hard to pin down with absolute certainty. For consistency, we use the same source for all our guides. We hope the data we use is right more often than it’s wrong. Our advice is to treat it as relative rather than definitive.
ENGINE & GEARBOX
As mentioned earlier the 718 GT4’s VarioCam 4.0 six with forged steel crank revved freely to 8,000rpm, a redline that was 200rpm higher than the previous 3.8 litre GT4’s. The 4.0’s top speed of 189mph was 5mph up on the 3.8’s. Maximum power of 415hp (35hp more than the 3.8) arriving at 7,600rpm. Maximum torque didn’t come until 5,000rpm, which was later than in the 3.8, so you could make the mistake of thinking that you needed to keep the 718 on the boil for ultimate performance. In reality of course it had more than enough go even when you couldn’t be bothered to work the box. Overall midrange flexibility was better than the 3.8’s and in any case there was really no hardship in revving the engine out as the sound and feel in the upper reaches was magnificent.
Some thought that the 4.0 engine was a bit less soulful than the 3.8, which you could put down to the usual causes – particulate filters, noise regs etc – none of which were the 4.0’s fault. Again, it’s all relative. Anybody coming to a gen-two GT4 from pretty much anything else at the same or even quite a bit more money would be extremely unlikely to be disappointed by their purchase. Both transmissions played their part in making the driving experience special, the gearlever of the manual having been shortened for better feel. The 3.8’s switchable auto-blip feature was still present but the 718’s gearshift and clutch pedal were noticeably lighter than the 981’s, making it an easier drive not just in town but everywhere. Many thought it was one of the best manuals in the industry.
One potential shortcoming – if you could call it that – of the gen-one GT4 manual was its retention of Cayman GTS gearing, which felt overly long to many. The gen-two carried on with the same gearset. Having a second gear that wasn’t just something between first and third but that could properly be used as a ‘driving gear’ was a deliberate decision by Porsche GT’s Andreas Preuninger. A gear that you could stay in all the way through the Stelvio pass sounded like a good idea if it allowed you to keep your hands on the wheel at all times. It also meant you could hit 80mph in second, which was a novelty.
Some owners noticed what they described as a diesel-like rattle at speeds below the point at which tyre and exhaust noise drowned it out. There was plenty of online chat about it being injector noise or the sound of broken bits of ceramic inside the cat ‘can’. Neither was definitively proved to be the cause. Owners who took their rattly 718s in for inspection were told it was normal for the car and not to worry about it. Owners who were still complaining about it on the GT4 forums were told to fit a rortier over-axle exhaust system and not to worry about it. Akrapovic did a link-pipe set for around £2k.
There was a sales stop and recall in March 2021 for various 2021 4.0 Caymans and Boxsters (including the GT4) to put right a problem with cracking and/or loosening conrods. Dealers were replacing the bolts, rods or, if necessary, the entire engine. For their trouble affected owners in the US were given cheques for $4,000, warranty extensions and gift certificates. Not sure if something similar happened in the UK, possibly not, but in any case you’d definitely want to check that that work has been done on any pre-2022 car you’re thinking of buying. Cam bolts have been known to shear off too, and oil pumps have failed.
Surprisingly perhaps the standard battery was a conventional lead-acid type. Replacing that with a lithium battery saved getting on for 15kg. No recoding was needed to make sure it cooperated properly with the car’s electrical system.
Service intervals were 10,000 miles or 24 months, with new gearbox fluid recommended every 120,000 miles or 12 years, new coolant every 40,000 miles or 4 years, and new brake fluid every 2 years. Regular trackdayers were advised by other trackdayers to change the engine oil every third event and the trans fluid as often as they felt comfortable. Some went for a 3-year/30k schedule on that.
Independents would typically charge you £430 for a minor service, between £600 and £900 for a major (including spark plug replacement), and £90 for new brake fluid. Manual gearbox oil changes should cost around £150 but the fluid change on a PDK will be over £600.
CHASSIS
The 718 Cayman GT4 was faster around the Nordschleife at the Nürburgring than the Carrera GT supercar had been in 2004. More relevantly, it needed 12 seconds less to do that lap than the 3.8 GT4, which wasn’t exactly slow at 7min 40sec. Porsche reckoned that three of those gained seconds were down to the 4.0’s extra power. The other nine came from the chassis and aero package.
The GT4’s upside-down shocks, rear control arms and subframes and front axle were taken from the 911 GT3. Lots of rose joints were used, minimising play, and in the best racer style there was adjustability for the toe, camber and anti-roll bar end link settings. The ride height was 30mm lower than the regular Cayman’s. The PASM active damping had two positions, Normal and Sport. Most drivers found that Normal was all you needed. There was also PTV torque vectoring, a mechanical limited slip diff and PADM active engine/gearbox mounts. You could deactivate the PSM stability management system in two steps.
Get the recipe right and the result was exemplary body control and fantastically predictable responses. You needed to be quick on the draw to catch a wayward gen-one GT4, a car that could be disconcertingly light at the back end on very fast sweepers, but even your granny could notch up a respectable lap time in a gen-two without needing so much as a calming cup of cocoa afterwards. The 718’s electronic steering with the slightly disconnected feeling that was typical for its type was somewhat lighter than the 981’s rack and not as rich in ‘texture’, but it was perfectly faithful and in no way hampered by not having the unnaturally fast turn-in that has become fashionable of late.
Staggered 8.5/11 20-inch wheels in satin gloss platinum finish wore semi-slick Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres in an N1-spec that Porsche dubbed ‘ultra-high-performance’. Red calipers clamped six- and four-piston brakes onto vented and drilled cast iron composite discs. Yellow-calipered PCCB ceramic brakes were a £5,600 option with 410mm front and 390mm rear discs that were 50 per cent lighter than the iron ones. They took the GT4 to another level of trackday fun, not just because they felt great and worked superbly but also because they did that all day with no degradation. Depending on how many track days you planned to do the PCCBs could easily work out cheaper in the long run than metal brakes.
It was good advice to get the geometry looked at on a regular basis. You should be able to get that job done for under £250. If one of the PADM active drivetrain mounts failed, which they have been known to do, replacing it would cost you £850 for the part plus at least three hours’ labour. Or you could just leave it on the basis that they defaulted into the ‘soft’ state in which the car remained OK to drive (allegedly).
A recall was issued on many 2021-build Porsches, including the GT4, to replace suspension fasteners, some of which were found to have been incorrectly tightened. The recall work also included replacement of any surrounding components that might have been damaged by that.
INTERIOR
There were three seat choices: two sports plus one carbon-backed full bucket at £3,800 the pair. The Clubsport package of rollover bar, fire extinguisher and HANS-compatible six-point seatbelt on the driver’s side cost around £2,800. Alcantara was standard for the upholstery, gearlever knob, armrest and lower dash, with black leather as an option. Doors were opened by silver loops. The PCM system could be deleted to save weight. It was all very driver- rather than feature- or information-focused, and all the better for it. There were no distracting buttons on the just-so steering wheel. That helped to remind you that the wheel’s primary purpose was for steering, rather than acting as a platform for the operation of various other functions.
On graphics and connectivity the 718’s infotainment system felt light years ahead of the 981’s. Although the Chrono package was standard on the 718 Spyder it was a cost extra on the GT4. As well as the analogue and digital dashtop stopwatch, Chrono could display, store and evaluate lap times through the 4.6-inch Porsche Communication Management screen and was prepped to work with the more sharply-focused automated ‘lap trigger’ system that you could buy from Porsche Tequipment. A Porsche Track Precision app let you record and analyse laps on your smartphone.
BODYWORK
Porsche’s usual range of solid paint colours – black, white, Guards Red or Racing Yellow – was supplemented by nine metallics (including the ever-popular GT silver) and eight special metallics. These included Lava Orange, Python Green, and Crayon plus four shades of blue, viz Shark, Miami, Night and Gentian. The Individual Paintwork service, or Paint to Sample and Paint to Sample Plus as it was renamed in 2021, was eventually offered for the car.
The luggage compartment only held 150 litres so you had to get creative on weekend trips. Owners who fitted aftermarket wind deflectors to the bottom of the A-pillars immediately above the door mirrors reported positive results. You could also buy rear wing risers. They didn’t look right to everybody and the engineering department at Porsche was probably blowing a gasket at the idea but the risers did significantly improve rearwards visibility.
PH VERDICT
If you’re trying to decide between a gen-one and a gen-two GT4, well, you have our sympathy. It’s the kind of terrible position we’d all like to be in. For what we hope might be at least a partial answer to that may we refer you to Dan P’s informative video here.
From a reliability point of view the 718 GT4’s 4.0 motor did not have the best of starts but Porsche seems to have pulled out all the stops to make things right. They weren’t helped in that process by the untimely sinking of the Felicity Ace car transporter ship off the Azores in February 2022. Thankfully no humans died in that incident, but 590 Porsches did come to an untimely end along with who knows how many spare parts. We’re not aware of any further major issues beyond the ones mentioned in the Engine & Gearbox section.
As we all know, nobody buys a new Porsche without at least some options on it. With something like the GT4 there’s a good chance that the options bought will be functional rather than cosmetic. That’s great for anyone buying a used one for the same driver-orientated reasons as the first buyer. The extras you’d probably most like to see on a used GT4 would be the Clubsport pack, the carbon buckets and the ceramic brakes. That combination would have cost the first owner over £12k on top of the GT4’s £75k basic price, so bear that in mind when you’re looking at your budget and wincing at entry-level used GT4 prices.
The most accessible 718 GT4 on PH Classifieds at the time of writing was this 2020 Gentain Blue manual example with 6,000 miles on it at £74,995. A thousand pounds more would put you into this Racing Yellow 5.000-miler, also with a manual box. The cheapest PDK was another Gentian Blue car with higher miles (19,000) but one year less on the V5, yours for £77,995. For £83,000 you could go for this 2023 4,000-mile car in what looks like a paint-to-sample shade of green. Feel the need to push the boat out (not the Felicity Ace)? £97,500 will buy what must be one of the last cars built, this delivery mileage 2023 specimen in Arctic Grey.
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