The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS is the most track-focused mid-engine Porsche you can buy. To nobody’s surprise, it set a blistering lap time on the Nurburgring Nordschliefe. Using the traditional Sport Auto timing method, Porsche factory driver Jorg Bergmeister set a 7:04.5 lap time in the GT4 RS, just 7.5 seconds slower than the otherworldly Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar. But both of those cars lag behind the 911 GT3’s 6:55.2.
How can that be? The GT4 RS uses the same 4.0-liter engine as the GT3, and doesn’t a mid-engine car have superior balance? In theory, yes, but reality is a bit more complicated. In a call with media, Andreas Preuninger, head of GT cars at Porsche, explained why the GT3 still beats the smaller GT4 around Germany’s most legendary track.
“With the GT3, we tried very hard and put everything on it we could,” Preuninger said. “It has rear-axle steering. This car doesn’t—it’s a mid-engine car, so it doesn’t need it, but it would surely make up a second or two or three.” Preuninger also pointed out the GT3’s double-wishbone front suspension, which the GT4 RS doesn’t get. Another factor: the GT3’s electronic limited-slip differential. “We don’t have the space [in the GT4 RS] for the hydraulic power pack for an electric diff, so we had to go with a mechanical diff.”
Preuninger also notes that the 911 GT3 makes more downforce than the Cayman GT4 RS, and the rear-engine car has room for wider tires. “It’s not only the engine [that makes you] quick on the Ring, it’s the rest of the car as well,” he said.
The GT4 RS wears ultra-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, which Preuninger says are good for up to 8 seconds of lap time improvement on their own. Overall, the new top-dog Cayman is almost 24 seconds quicker than the non-RS GT4. “That shows a big improvement here,” Preuninger said. A shorter final-drive ratio in the seven-speed PDK automatic gearbox, plus the inherent balance of the Cayman chassis, also help, Preuninger said.
Even though the GT4 RS couldn’t catch the 911 GT3, the car still exceeded Preuninger’s expectations. The sports car boss was hoping for a 7:15 using the new Nurburgring timing method, and got a 7:09.3. And if you’re about to suggest that Bergmeister left some room for improvement? “You should think twice,” Preuninger said. “He says himself he couldn’t do it quicker.”
(Note: the Sport Auto timing method cuts off the last 760 feet of track, while the new “official” Nurburgring timing method includes it. Porsche reports both times to allow comparison with previous lap records timed under the Sport Auto method.)
So while the GT4 RS couldn’t topple the Ring time set by its bigger sibling, Bergmeister’s lap time is still quite an extraordinary feat—especially when you consider that the underpinnings of the 718 Cayman date all the way back to 2011. The GT4 RS may not have beat the GT3 around the Ring, but on a normal-size track, it certainly seems like it would be a much closer race.
A car enthusiast since childhood, Chris Perkins is Road & Track's engineering nerd and Porsche apologist. He joined the staff in 2016 and no one has figured out a way to fire him since. He street-parks a Porsche Boxster in Brooklyn, New York, much to the horror of everyone who sees the car, not least the author himself. He also insists he's not a convertible person, despite owning three.
