The 500PS Cayman GT4 RS could be the best Porsche ever

Everything gets a good motorsport-inspired workover here to endow what for many is Porsche’s best handling car with a sharper new focus on performance and agility in the search for quicker lap times

There’s no great secret to its RS recipe: more power, more torque, higher redline, more downforce and less weight. Oh, and performance body addenda – vents on the front guards, black front lid, air inlets instead of rear quarter windows and a swan-neck rear spoiler – all as beautifully executed as you expect. 

The 718 Cayman GT4 RS now boasts a nice round 500PS (368kW) which is 80PS up on the GT4. Torque is up too, from 450Nm (332lb-ft), and the engine will keep spinning all the way to 9,000rpm. 

As before it’s the naturally-aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six from the 911 GT3 that takes centre stage, hooked up to a seven-speed PDK; there’s no manual as was available with previous six-cylinder 718s.

In league with the extra power is a weight saving of 35kg over the non-RS GT4, taking mass down to 1,415kg. The diet is thanks to some major changes – such as the new carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic bonnet and front wings – and plenty of little things, including lightweight glass and carpets, and lightweight door panels with simple pull straps. 

The RS’s enhanced power-weight ratio is exploited for track driving by a boost to aerodynamic downforce, by around a quarter over the GT4, says Porsche. That’s mostly thanks to the 911 GT3-style fixed rear wing, an elegant swan-neck affair clearly not just there for show. A lower ride height, smooth underbody and reprofiled front spoiler and side blades all do their bit to help keep the RS glued down at speed. 

The suspension is ball-jointed and features RS dampers, spring rates and anti-roll bars, all in the cause of more circuit precision. As shown, the RS can be optioned up with 20-inch magnesium wheels and a Weissach package of carbon-weave finish to bonnet, air inlets and wing. All RSs get titanium tailpipes – said to be inspired by those on the Porsche 935 – as well as a titanium roll cage.

All the tasty ingredients then, but for what result? So you thought the 718 Cayman GT4 a paragon of circuit ability? At the Nürburgring Nordschleife at least, the RS is 23 seconds quicker. It will now get round in 7 minutes 9 seconds. 0-62mph takes 3.4 seconds, half a second quicker than the GT4, and despite the rear wing top speed is up, now 195mph. And the RS is not just faster but noisier too: those new intakes aft of the side windows are said to add a really fruity induction roar. 

An RS Clubsport race version is on its way, but for now we get just the RS road car which has joined Porsche’s UK range as the 718 flagship, costing from £108,370 with first cars arriving next spring. Still want that 911?