#PORSCHE 718 CAYMAN GT4 RS FULL#

Modern Porsches are not for D-I-Y types, and you’ll find almost no access to the engine back here, but under the covers lurks the heart of a 911 GT3, shoehorned into the lighter, smaller mid-engine Cayman chassis.

The “Mezger engine” evolved into an even more hardcore RS (RennSport) line over the next decade, but until now the company has never put either the original design or any of its descendants into a Boxster, nor has there ever been an RS version of either the open-topped car or its Cayman coupe sibling. In 1999, Porsche engineer Hans Mezger designed a new dry-sump performance engine for use in the 911 GT2 and GT3 variants, developed from the mid-engine 1997 911 GT1 LeMans racer. Porsche never took this engine racing, however, knowing that its wet sump oil lubrication setup would cause oil starvation during hard cornering, among other issues. The company’s first totally new car in 19 years, the first Boxster was immediately popular and credited with turning around the company’s flagging 1990s fortunes.Īfter decades of air-cooled engines, purists scoffed at the Boxster’s water-cooled flat-six, codenamed M96, but a year later the Type 996 911 arrived with a larger version of the engine. That pricey model proved unpopular, but in 1996 Porsche went mid-engine again with the original Type 986 Boxster. The company built its first mass-production mid-engine production design, the 914, in 1969, complete with a six-cylinder variant with a 911-sourced engine, the 914/6.

While the flagship 911 and its predecessor the 356 are rear-engine designs, mid-engined cars go back to the company’s earliest days, when the 550 and RSK Spyder proved that lightweight, nimble racers could keep up with, if not beat, heavier competitors with higher displacement motors. Understanding the cheers that erupted after the GT4 RS debuted last year requires a quick dive into Porsche history. Michael Van Runkle Last Dance of the Boxster and Cayman The Gray car features the optional magnesium wheels and Weissach package, which reveals more carbon fiber on the hood and the wing. The news that a legit 911 GT3 engine capable of revving to 9,000 RPM redline might even fit into the Cayman at all prompted massive excitement among the company’s devoted following, though actually transplanting it into the 718 wasn’t easy.

#PORSCHE 718 CAYMAN GT4 RS FULL#

Porsche has already announced that the next-generation Cayman and Boxster siblings will transition to full electrification, which makes the GT4 RS a swansong of sorts for the internal combustion era. With a real motorsport-derived 911 GT3 flat-six shoehorned into the Cayman’s mid-engine chassis, the GT4 RS is a competition car for the road. A pair of cupholders are a concession to street use, but Porschephiles know exactly what this special 718 is all about. Nearly every detail on the new Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS prioritizes performance or weight savings, from strap pulls in place of door handles to ball joints substituted for suspension bushings. For the first time ever, Porsche shoehorned a true motorsport-derived flat-six from the 911 GT3 into the mid-engined Cayman chassis, resulting in a peak of 493 horsepower and a screaming 9,000-RPM redline.

Porsche 718 cayman gt4 rs