The 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is a high performance, street legal racer which had its international debut at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb Event in the United Kingdom last weekend. The mid-engine 718 coupe was shown in a dramatic saffron yellow metallic multi-coat paint job, looking like quite a thrill to drive.
The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 at Goodwood Festival of Speed:
Blast-Off: The 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4
Developed by the Porsche Motorsport Division, the 2020 718 Cayman GT4 and 718 Spyder just might be the most aggressive compact cars available. The 718 features an entirely re-designed sport exhaust system that allows the 4.0 Liter naturally aspirated flat six engine to really shine.
This car roars with the fury of lions as its engine easily reaches over 8,000 rpm. With an estimated top speed of 190 mph and a 0-62 mph acceleration in 4.4 seconds, these are functionally designed compact cars with real guts.
Powered by an engine Porsche describes as 982 EVO which while derived from the 3.0 Liter Turbocharged Engine of the 992 Carrera, is actually better described as a bespoke, custom creation more closely related to the race car engine from the GT3 according to Andreas Preuninger, Project Leader for Porsche GT.
The all-new 781 is capable of 420 Horsepower, which is about 35 more than the third generation Porsche 981 Boxster/Cayman, its predecessor. It’s 4.0 Liter engine, Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), and various other components were pulled right from the Porsche 911 GT3 race car.
Designed as Porsche’s tiniest and most aggressive coupe of all time, the 2020 718 Cayman GT4 is meant to provide the kind of unmatched driving experience purists crave. According to Preuninger, the new 718 is “more than 10 seconds faster than its predecessor” in precision testing done at Nürburgring in Germany.
The famed Porsche Engineer Preuninger was on-hand at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to answer questions about the forthcoming 718 Cayman explained just how impassioned driving this sweet machine is: “Power you can use, power you can enjoy its a car you can dare to fully throttle sometimes in normal situations when there is nobody there, that’s about the chemistry of the GT4, you have this earthly power, this usable power and this balance of the car, this knife sharp reaction to everything.”
Check Out Andreas Preuninger discuss the 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4:
Importantly, Preuninger also emphasizes the amazing fuel efficiency gains the 718 project has driven. As fuel emissions standards tighten across many parts of Europe and continue to be debated heavily in the United States, it is notable that Porsche believes this sweet new ride is future-proofed enough to allow it to legally operate even with these tougher, environmental standards.
PDK Automatic Transmission On the Way
With many Porsche enthusiasts eagerly anticipating the inclusion of a possible PDK automatic transmission in a forthcoming Porsche 718 Cayman, Andreas Preuninger had some very positive news to share.
“People buying that car (Porsche 718 GT4 and 718 Spyder), want to work with the car, they want to have the additional interface with their foot and the clutch, to have one, is to have more ability to influence the car’s behavior, but we hear voices as well asking for a PDK in the car as well, shortly. While we can’t offer that at the moment, but we are working on it. We won’t bring it out this year but are planning to release a car with the PDK next year or in the near future. It’s always good to have choices. We don’t tell the customer what is best for him, he can make up his own mind.”
With the first GT4 long sold out, many automobile fanatics around the world are chomping at the bit at the thought of owning a totally re-imagined and optimized new version of the GT4. The fact that it might eventually be available in a PDK, paddle-shifting, automatic transmission is good news for anyone who prefers this kind of driving experience over what is afforded in a standard manual transmission.
An Inspiring British Success Story for a Storied German Automaker
Porsche took the opportunity to show off a number of its precision made German automobiles at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed:
“The open-top 911 Speedster, of which only 1,948 examples were built, will feature on the Porsche stand, while making its dynamic debut at Goodwood is the non-road-homologated 935, which shares a twin-turbo 3.8-litre flat-six and seven-speed PDK transmission with the street-legal 911 GT2 RS. The exterior, meanwhile, pays homage to historic Porsches, including the 1976 935 and the legendary 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’. And reminiscent of the 917 and 909 Bergspyder is the laminated wood gear shift lever.
And perhaps most excitingly of all is the Porsche Taycan’s dynamic debut in the First Glance category, with a camouflaged prototype of the all-electric model due to fly up the hill on Saturday, with Australian Mark Webber at the wheel. The four-door EV is propelled by two electric motors with a combined output of over 592hp (440 kW), meaning 0-62mph takes less than 3.5 seconds.”
All in all, it seems this year’s event was an inspiring success for Porsche with a number of high profile debuts and plenty to excite its fans around the world.
Source: Auto Express