GTS 4.0 or GT4?

[interstellar]

I have been toying with getting a weekend car for a while but have decided I just wouldn’t use it enough to justify it, I was close to getting an Emira. I have an X5 which I got new 18 months ago and it’s a “do it all car” so mountain bikes in the back, ski trip coming up, airport runs, business miles, 5 up etc. it is a great SUV. Mrs interstellar doesn’t care for cars so is running round in a leased juke which is due back in a few months but not something I would want to drive 25% of the time.,

I am thinking if I can get her a nicer lease car or something I don’t mind driving to the airport and at weekends if we need more than two seats then I change my car for something more sporty.

As it will be my main car I am thinking of the Cayman either a GT4 like this one

https://finder.porsche.com/gb/en-GB/details/porsch... (the side decals can be removed)

Or a GTS 4.0 like this one

https://finder.porsche.com/gb/en-GB/details/porsch...

What are the necessary’s on a GT4? I like the black one and am not fussed if manual or auto but is there some must haves for resale or is it just personal taste.

I can’t see anything else that would float my boat, had a Boxster and 911 before but not a Cayman so am pleased to be moving back.

Any help would be appreciated.

[BAMoFo]

If it is mainly for weekend use I'd recommend a GT4 instead of a GTS because it will feel a bit more special.

'Must have' options are a personal thing, but I think the most people want bucket seats, extended leather and automatic dual zone air climate control as a minimum.

[BlackTails]

If it’s mainly for road use, I would not go for a GT4. The theatre of the buckets, and if you have the CS pack, the cage and harnesses and extinguisher, is excellent. But (at least in 981 guise) it feels like a shell of a car with engine and transmission noise paramount - very much like a track car that is playing on the road. And it’s much more at home on track than on road. Maybe the 718 is a step change in refinement; I don’t know.

[interstellar]

The black car I added above car doesn’t have harnesses or buckets. Still too much for the road?

[maz8062]

Wow, I hadn’t realised that the prices of the 718 GT4 had dropped that low - at a Porsche dealer! You’d need your head tested if you chose a Cayman 4.0 over that black GT4.

[nammynake]

Can’t comment on the GTS but love my manual GT4. Ignore those saying you *need* buckets, extended leather etc. Mine is bog standard manual in white. You buy this car for the engine, chassis and external styling. Everything else is personal preference.

[DRH986]

My must-haves include PDLS headlights (bi-xenon or LED), dual zone climate (without this you only have basic aircon with no automatic temperature regulation) and Bose, though more for resale on a GT4. I don't believe GT4 is available with front parking sensors, if that matters to you.

Nice to haves include cruise, reversing camera, auto dimming mirrors, electrically folding mirrors and Light Design Package. In my own search for a 718 4.0 replacement for my well spec'd 981S Cayman, I'm struggling to justify spending an extra £30 - 50K on cars that don't have options I already have, though some can be retrofitted.

Lots of GTS cars appear to have the PASM -10mm option which means the car rides higher and softer than the PASM Sport -20mm standard spec.

I really wanted buckets until we had an extended test drive in Porsche Wolverhampton's GTS demonstrator recently when I found I could not get comfortable after about 30 mins so a no-no for Euro trips.

Most of the other options are personal taste.

[BlackTails]

interstellar said:

The black car I added above car doesn’t have harnesses or buckets. Still too much for the road?

Quite good an idea, having the sound clips. The interior sound clips makes it sound a little more refined than I remember my 981. You can still pick up the transmission whine, which I recall being more obvious, on the run offs towards the end of the clip.

I would take your wife for the test drive in both. Unless of course you plan never having to have her with you in whatever you buy. My 981 felt and sounded, as I say, like a stripped out track car. And didn’t have a forgiving ride. The upshot: I loved driving it, but every other member of the family hated being a passenger in it. It became a car that I could only use if I were going somewhere on my own (if it were dry: those Cup2 tyres on the GT4 aren’t really do-it-all).

The absence of harnesses and buckets will certainly dial back the theatre, but you still have something that is track rather than road focussed. I also think that they can be quite hard to sell. I don’t know why; I suspect that buyers think that they’ve spent a disproportionate amount of their lives being thrashed around tracks. BTW: if you want to track it, check the noise limits at your local track before you buy.

I now have a 991.1 TTS, and whilst disliked by some in the family for other reasons, is a far easier car for passengers, far more refined, and considerably quicker.