Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS - can a Cayman finally out-pace a 911 GT3? | evo LEADERBOARD

Porsche's 718 Cayman GT4 RS finally packs the full-house GT department flat-six into a compact mid-engined chassis, but will this potent combination translate into a fast time around Anglesey? Steve Sutcliffe took the GT4 RS back out after our first soaked wet session earlier this year to find out, answering the burning question whether it's finally faster than a 911 GT3 along the way...
Read our review of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS at the link below, and don't forget to buy your copy of evo from www.evo-shop.co.uk (because that's what pays the bills to make these films).
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[@deenoc3622]

No words, just the camera shot behind steves shoulder and the sound of that engine. Massive smile on my face. Superb.

[@Porschelover456]

Best modern Porsche! It is a master piece! It has no rear steering, it hasn’t double wishbone, the tyres are smaller, less downforce, the engine has 10 hp less. But it has a special heart and the engine is in the right place!

[@muldix]

Have you seen 992 GT3 RS? 😀

[@Porschelover456]

@@muldix yes i saw the car. It is my personal point of view. Gt3 rs costs double the money, it is the ugliest 992 porsche, it has a wing that can stop the earth to rotate, also is has no boot space, it has only 290 km/h vmax( like a bmw m3 e92) , is has 4 ugly butons on the steering wheel, and it has to big screen and digital cluster. If you want so much performance you can buy a gt3 cup car, a formula 4,3 or a radical on slicks. The sound is better in the gt4 rs, it is more simple, less digital, less complicated, more natural( no rear steering) and it is more beautiful, light and a smaller car with the engine in the right place. With the difference you can buy a rs6, m5, m3 , e63s, x5 m competition, or whatever Super daily car you want. Also with the gt4 rs you can go with someone in the mountains with a lot of luggage in the front and in the back. 99,99% of peopele will never know how to use the setup in the gt3 rs. So for me it hasn’t any logical point or advantage beside it is faster on a track with a lot of compromise. And faster dosen’t mean all the tine more fun. My last car is 991.2 gts so i know all the things i don’t like , the snapy rear at the limit, the understeer in slow corner etc. The 911 should be driven difrent from any other car. Also i like more than the 992 gt 3 rs, the 991.2 gt3 rs and 997 gt3 rs. So it is a thing of taste. For me is the most extrem rs but the worst rs in the daily usability. So gt3 rs has so many generations. With the cayman is simple is the first and the last. The next one is electric. So anyday i prefer having a gt4 rs with a m3 xdrive and some money in the account than a 992 gt3 rs. So i explain myself and my reasons. You don’t have to have the same opinion. For me that car dosen’t work at all.

[@jasonjulius9670]

GT4 RS is listed 120-150k over msrp.. just stupid

[@Porschelover456]

@@jasonjulius9670 i know man, all the new cars have stupid prices! But if you have luck and you are in an incredibile position to buy the car at 160-180 k euro. I think is a very good investment.

[@davidmcnulty1194]

The new GT3 is a work of art. To everyone who likes to ‘nerd’ out, it’s nothing but a wet dream

[@ktakashismith]

Wow, Sutcliffe really seemed to enjoy flinging this thing around. Brilliant piece of kit from Porsche, shame they're all sold and marked up to prices beyond reason.

[@Leowavekid]

playing with the transmission by manually shifting the PDK is a Huge part of the fun .. the rhythm,, the sounds.. etc.. :) !!

[@duncanbleak3819]

6min24sec of perfection with Sutcliffe & Cayman GT4 RS... Time well spent!

[@KootBear]

oh yeah, indeed

[@stevesutcliffe1274]

Suspension is struts front, multi-link rear. Not sure where my brain was at saying it has wishbones. Head is still fried from driving the Nevera recently i think. Sincere apologies folks.

[@bigchrislee81]

Steve. Amazing review, can you share the setup changes in detail please so that I can dial mine in like this. Assume some rake adjustments made?

[@jmartprjmartpr9944]

Rear is also Struts.....you need a vacation!

[@ryanpuryear]

God I want to see valkyrie’s time on this track...or any track which we can compare times.

[@abcdLeeXY]

Cayman and Boxster are the true Porsche products for the drivers.

[@AssassinoSighted]

A boxter is a porsche with panties

[@damachine3]

@@AssassinoSighted *Boxster

[@miamigt4922]

Great review Steve! My GT4RS is at the port and due at my dealer in 1 week, very excited to get it and out on the track (Sebring). I have to tell you, your comment at the end of the video concerning an upcoming GT4RSR has some people on the Porsche forums confused because this is the first we’ve heard of it. Can you talk a little more about a future GT4RSR?. Is it possible you were mistaking that with a Clubsport, track-only version?

[@PaulGraville]

Excellent track review Steve. Well done!

[@993mike]

Nice lap time on that tight track, but the much more sophisticated front and rear suspension of a GT3 will be a big benefit for a longer & faster track where the struts on a GT4RS will make it a lot more nervous. The crazy US dealer markup in the states on all GT cars is still a kick in the nuts to all enthusiasts who aren't flippers

[@wallstbull1]

In Wisconsin and didn’t have to pay a markup off MSRP for the 4RS🤙🏻

[@ormand3000]

@@wallstbull1 Wisconsin doesn't count.

[@wallstbull1]

@@ormand3000 😂🤷🏼‍♂️

[@iankirwan8156]

Please, please, please, can I go along for a look next time EVO are timing/testing a car there? It would be a bit of a trek for me, but very much well worth it. Merry Christmas to you Steve and all the team at EVO, thoroughly enjoyed reading the latest issue and especially ECOTY.

[@TBendez]

The incar footage was savage! So glad they finally put it together.

[@harrymc523]

The same as a 918 and a 600LT. Madness 😍

[@Francis-rs7zu]

At least on a short technical track. Longer, high speed tracks will not show the same results

[@911aircooled5]

mmm, well I thought, 'just another 4RS review', then it thought it would be by one of my 2 favourite car journalists, STEVE! Well done mate!! I totally respect your thoughts, and driving. Thanks for the review......but would you buy one? Couldn't get an allocation, and not paying the premuim aftermarket, so i'll have to wait. End of the flat 6 you say? Not so sure, yes in the 4, but I feel (rumours) the 3 992.2 will still be a flat 6.

[@bagelidis]

Thanks Steve! Viewing joy again ❤

[@VK6AB-]

Great work - you'll find its even quicker on CUP2 R. For perspective, the Porsche 718 GT4 RS did it in 1:12.4 on standard Pilot Sport Cup 2 with "only" 500PS.

[@MrRoyck10]

This GT4 RS is the pinnacle of Porsche craftsmanship and driving purity, it sits just below the Carrera GT and 918 hyper cars, what a machine that evokes so much emotions.

[@hovzzak8715]

Steve is one of the best journalists out there!!

[@Diebaas407]

Love the fact that my OG M2's DCT gearbox does exactly the same in Sport+ 2:17

[@tylerdurden5313]

Holy sh*t, that cockpit noise. Incredible.

[@15284750]

Evo with the highest quality content as always👍

[@GeordieAmanda]

The commentary in car does sound at least 8db down on the fx level as the car does its lap time. But it does look nice as always.

[@patricebaumel]

That's probably because the engine noise in car is clipping at 0dB on the same mic, you just can't turn up the overall volume any further.

[@GeordieAmanda]

@@patricebaumel The video has been edited properly. Therefore, the audio levels are available to correct in the dub/edit. You can tell they have done some work on the audio as there is a voice-over at the beginning. This has been done as a separate audio recording to the video, showing they can add and adjust audio on the video. It is possible that there has been some surround encoding at some point and the final dub went through a 'fold down' ratio that left the mono speech a little low, but that's pretty unlikely. I'd be very very surprised they didn't lower the lap time sound to match the quieter commentary laps and thus give us a constant level if there had been some strange clipping issue, plus they would then have lifted the all around level to peak correctly on You Tube. I think it's just been a poor edit where the sound is concerned. It happens and Evo's videos are normally pretty great imho

[@patricebaumel]

@@GeordieAmanda The problem is sound bleed. Engine noise (an insane 108dB in the cabin of the GT4RS) bleeds into the voice mic, capturing both voice and engine onto the same recording track. After that it becomes one signal and voice and engine levels can no longer be changed separately.

[@GeordieAmanda]

@@patricebaumel I understand that and I am not looking for an argument, but.... Running the audio through a Cedar or similar would probably help, if they own one?. But there is a difference in max levels between the two halves of the video. I had a look at the max levels of the audio of each half and there is a significant jump in level of several dbs. In fact there is a slight drop in Steve's voice between the voice over and the commentary in the car and this is when he is on a light throttle or even on the overrun, when the car is relatively quiet. The audio balance is plain wrong to my ears, not "end of the world" wrong, but not quite their usual standard. If the first half commentary was raised so match the second half, in terms of peak level, yes there would be more engine noise, but at no time was Steve's voice drowned out in this video by the engine really, so that level should have been brought up. I've been a broadcast sound engineer (Studios/OBs/Dubbing Suites) for 40 years and the edit/dub is not quite correct. It can be easily fixed in a dub/edit. It is not simply that the 'voice' has engine in the background. They may well have cut parts of Steve's commentary when he was on a wide open throttle, but that's something only the originators of the recording know. Have a look at the levels and you will see the Voice-over drops slightly for the commentary and rises significantly for the timed lap. Even if the idea was to give a visceral enjoyment of the engine sound in the timed section, the "voice over" compared to the "in car" level sound incorrect. In fact you can hear that Steve is NOT shouting as he chats to camera, owing to the gentle throttle he is using at the time.

[@derbigpr500]

Here it's close. On a track like Spa or Nurburgring, the 911 will have a pretty big advantage with the superior suspension, more downforce and outright more grip.

[@TheKoolaidekidd]

All of which are changeable. I'd like to see the one bold enough to do it.

[@Andrew-vx2ls]

I think what you really mean is that the Cayman platform, despite being very similar to its older sister (same suspension now?), probably still needs TLC despite mainly catching up with the "Tatra" 911. Mid-engined is the choice made for the 911 RSR GTE is mid-engined and the following (550, 904-6, 908, 917, 956, 962...) were mid-engined. So the hypothetical question is, could we expect a "RSR GTE" in mass production (unlikely as it involves a carbon body) or will Manthey develop the Cayman and/or a steel bodied RSR GTE? Manthey is probably too close to the factory, so this is a project for Herr Ruf.

[@michaelsummerell8618]

On a tight track like Anglesey, any suspension that is lacking will be quickly found out, so any argument about Spa or Nurburgring being much different I suspect is fairly moot.

[@miamigt4922]

The head of the GT Division said that the GT3RS is quicker around the Ring by 15 seconds because of wider rear tires (possible because of the rear-engine placement), 10 extra horsepower, a few extra kilos/pounds less weight due to a newer platform using more alloys, and front suspension. But the GT4RS was set up less about minimum lap times and more about the fun. I’m cool with that, and most of the time I spend on track is about my own enjoyment, practice and training. Been waiting almost a year for mine, should be in by the last few days of 2022.

[@Andrew-vx2ls]

@@michaelsummerell8618 Yes, for low speed corners as it is a kart track. The two you mention are in a very different category in terms of cornering speed. Wales deserves its own Nordschleife...

[@augustortiz]

That engine is just something else.

[@pilotsport3372]

I was thinking: "what's happening with the sound of the video, it's awfully low". Then the race began. What an engine.

[@ClubBlau]

Awesome! Love this car and the transmission.

[@markgtrheyes]

Re comparing with the gt3, reading the article, they were complaining the cup 2s were knackered on that car, plus, presume standard suspension set up, not tweaked, so not really apples v apples comparison. Amazing time by the gt4 nonetheless

[@FreestylerAlbert]

1:03: All around wishbone suspension??? The GT4RS have MacPherson Strut front suspension. (unfortunately)

[@Jacson4100]

This 21:9 format is awesome, congrats

[@ebdbdave]

if you dialed out all the understeer then you made it slower around the track. I did it too on my Cayman S. it was glorious but it was also slower

[@fptuning]

The less flickery video version 👏

[@assaultlick2169]

5:12 short shift up the hill to avoid shifting at the crest ?

[@TheChismillionaire]

Wow, faster than a 918 and a STO. Pretty sporty.

[@UTubeSL]

Awesome video!

[@greebuh]

It's crazy to think 500 crank horsepower is no longer a massive amount... feels pretty good in my car, I imagine that GT4 feels nice too.

[@adamgibbs505]

Great car do like the Anglesey track fast and flowing

[@Mathewmartialart]

wow they messed up on the audio didnt they, the voice over was nice and loud, and then the guy in the car was supper quite

[@Chris.Davies]

Can a Cayman finally out-pace a 911 GT3? No. Because if it could, you'd shout it from the rooftops. A classic case of you giving away the answer in the title, because you are unaware of Betteridge's Law of Headlines.

[@danielbrown4579]

Seemed like a very compromised entry into the S bend, the car was in the middle of the track?

[@MaggerGT3]

And he even shifted in 1st gear for that corner…pointless because the 2nd would be perfect for not unsettle the car for the next right corner.

[@icantrideslow]

I overtook this very GT4RS on the M4 coming back to London from Wales 2 days ago.. MY CRAFTER IS FASTER THAN A PORSCHE!! :)

[@THEDOPEYDAISY]

Whenever I hear sutters voice on a video I’m watching. Amazing car and legendary driver.

[@tanner1ie]

It's brilliant and perfect in almost every way, the one thing wrong with it is the fact that "just because" it's an RS, it's automatic only, so given the choice I'd either have to buy the "normal" GT4 with a manual gearbox or maybe this one and do a manual conversion!! 😯😀🤘

[@matthewwain9958]

Why is the audio about half the volume ? Please reupload with this corrected.

[@blindobserver]

1:01 What, all around wishbone suspension? Its got mcpherson strut front and rear? Isnt it a bit misleading to talk about wishbones?

[@ChristopherDooks]

That noise! 😍😍😍

[@eLw00d86]

Ultrawide format! 😍🥰😍

[@bigchrislee81]

Also how did this not win evo car of the year when Steve said this is the best car he has ever driven.

[@Rezcuz]

Volume was a tad low in this one

[@GeordieAmanda]

Yay! Thanks Santa. A Steve shaped Christmas present. Now if only you can bring me his car too please :) Still loving the wide aspect ratio too

[@JulienMPS]

Nice Corum watch mate 🫡

[@mortenberg2897]

Mine arrives april 🥰

[@mathieucossette9019]

This sound is even better than the GT3!

[@ormand3000]

Tell me you've never driven a GT3 without saying you've never driven a GT3

[@gigachad6162]

@@ormand3000 i mean it does sound better because the engine is right behind your head, that’s just how sound works dumbass.

[@ormand3000]

@@gigachad6162 obviously knows nothing about spacial sound 🔊 🙄 probably drives a straight pipe ricer

[@GTC4cam]

The battle for the fastest cars has gotten to the point now similar to the battle for the lightest road bike in the 2000’s. For about a decade, the cycling scene was obsessed with losing grams here and grams there, and people were bragging about how light their bikes were. But then, after a while, the real cyclists, the actual athletes who put the time in, were like “nice bike, yeah I’ll bet it’s super light and awesome, yeah I’ll see you at the top of the hill sparky, don’t worry, I’ll wait for you, I’ll just look for the slow guy on the $15k bike”. And suddenly people stopped focusing on the bike, because they were all pretty good by that point anyway, and they started focusing on the rider again. As it pertains to this obsession with lap times, I look forward to the day in car culture, when the thing that people focus on is who is the better driver, not which person friggin’ financed the car that someone else got a fast lap time with. Uggh your car is not as fast as mine. Great, get in your stupid car and do a faster lap than me, or piss right off. Someone else’s lap time is someone else’s thing to brag about.

[@andrew20195]

Bicycles and motorcycles rely much more on the skill of the rider than on the machine. In the early 2000s, Valentino Rossi drove the Honda F1 car and was faster around the track than their test driver. Honda fired him and he won the rider's championship in his second year with Yamaha, on paper an inferior bike. With cars, the equipment plays a larger part in performance than the driver.

[@bigchrislee81]

The lightweight battle never ended. The UCI just stepped in with 6.8.

[@nowayjose596]

@@andrew20195You're misremembering Rossi's flirtation with Formula 1, including which team he did a few test drives with as well as how fast he was.

[@mr8I7]

@@andrew20195 - Now that's a proper old wifes tale!

[@miguelvinayo6972]

Perfect track-day car 😅😅😍😍

[@iamamarb]

Amazing videography and even more amazing car!

[@markrhoden68]

A masterpiece. Is this the final hoorah of a full fat high revving petrol unit Porsche

[@JordanPayneLV]

Great race car, this

[@thierrypers1572]

Quelle auto!!! La meilleure de toutes les 997 GT3 RS, c'est la ptite GT4 RS... juste derrière la 991 2 GT3 RS. Quant à la 992...

[@topend2282]

Unpopular opinion: I had some seat time it the gt4 rs with the Weissach package and the electric steering still sucks and feels numb… numb like the regular gt4 and cayman s… the engine is fantastic of course but overall it felt too automated. I would like a hydraulic steering rack and a manual from the regular gt4…. It’s cool but not certainly not $200-$270k cool. Freaking fast though!!!

[@kaivaksdal]

Nice lap and the noise is fantastic. I have a modified Cayman turbo with 450bhp and 420lb/ft - I reckon it would be close due to the torque punching out of corners 😎

[@AutopiaUK]

Lmao, no way.

[@MrRoyck10]

Only if life was so simple.

[@KootBear]

lol

[@emerckx53]

One second from a P1. Worth the ADM any damn day. On the road this will be magic..

[@Dots4knots20]

Volume is only good for watching at work when you're not supposed to.

[@geobob3793]

Yeah there is an explanation, why gt4rs can out pace gt3 on this certain track layout, the answer is, it has mostly consecutive slow corners and many changes of direction, so the compact mid engined chassis can benefit more than the slightly longer but rear engined chassis of gt3, and that's why times are so close to each other. A bigger layout with mid-high corners is the place where time can be made and show the diffs of the aero and chassis

[@dennygamble4520]

Go back and watch the GT3 lap. It was raining and he had the wipers on. I think the GT3 would still be faster.

[@geobob3793]

@@dennygamble4520 ahh it's sad reading such a comment, it is not this lap of gt3's time... the time has been made under favourable conditions

[@michaelteret4763]

More Steve, please!

[@dennygamble4520]

I want to see a dry lap in the GT3. It would be a few seconds faster if it wasn’t raining.

[@karavogeorge5340]

AMAZING CAR..

[@oldsoulboy6483]

The auto gear box is very clever, but what is the point?. I thought that this was a drivers car?

[@alackofspeed]

All-round wishbone suspension? 🤔

[@waynedennett9064]

As anyone got any ideas of what watch Steve wears?

[@mortenberg2897]

Not my experience - watched it on Ipad pro. Worked fine…

[@berniewong1110]

a 718 has gone as quick as a 918!? what is happening in this world!?

[@KootBear]

Steve is great

[@erkdrey]

Do these still have front suspension turrets made out of chocolate?

[@bigchrislee81]

Can you please share the setup changes made to the car? I have a gt4RS and would love to be able to dial mine in like this.

[@augustortiz]

Rumored RSR version? That would be awesome.

[@antoniodias8088]

Why does everyone drive in manual when it's substantially faster in sport plus?

[@muldix]

Without cuts in that flying lap... Pleaaaase...

[@julienb71]

Where is this circuit located please

[@crimsonpirate1710]

Jupiter

[@julienb71]

@@crimsonpirate1710 Jupiter ?

[@martinconlon2673]

Anglesey, North Wales

[@julienb71]

@@martinconlon2673 thank you, nice circuit

[@ImpalaSS08]

It could if Porsche would let it. Mid vs rear is no comparison in handling. But Porsche ain’t ever gonna let there eco car out perform it’s iconic 911. 😂

[@flavioaraujo2120]

U hit rev limiter otherwise would be quicker then the gt2 rs aswell

[@kahless0173]

you dont need massive horsepower says the guy in a 500hp car that only weighs 1400kg with good aero. cmon now. 500 is still a lot, were just jaded.

[@Tential1]

I know people love manuals, but I'd rather just let the system do its thing and enjoy going around a track fast. I'll never outdo the system, and 90% of drivers never will. Pdk and manual shifting if you want is my preferred experience

[@sultanabran1]

if porsche made the cayman as good as it can be, then yes, it'll be faster than a gt3. but porsche won't let that happen

[@cj41079]

Oh Steve behave 🤣

[@fraenkli]

Nice Video But even my little cheap Renault Clio RS4 Trophy does the downshifts on breaking in RS-Mode. So doesn’t seams to be that hard and to be expected from a car that costs way more.

[@samreed50]

Fantastic. Too bad, like most GT models from Porsche, impossible to buy new one. Impossible. So many car companies’ halo cars, Type R, Golf R, GRMN, etc, are unattainable for ordinary folks. Unless you’re willing to pay 10s of thousands above retail for used. Damn shame.

[@marktummillo715]

Why do the European cars get the roll cage and we can’t in the USA? 😫

[@19NJS71]

Next time put the date of the lap time in the chart as well 5:46

[@jermainen7846]

THAT. WAS. EPIC!

[@mickwrinkles2318]

Still struts at the front not wishbones.

[@hiepphambui3941]

I don't think this car has double wishbones all around

[@tommiesturkenboom3862]

Bro why are you amazed by the fact that it will downshift agressive when in auto and braking, my volvo V60 litterly does this lol 😂

[@BACK2PORT]

Why is the volume so low?

[@sikkodehaan3265]

😍

[@maxjelley4055]

Faster than a 918!

[@HanLi1984]

yeh it beat the GT3 on the price alone.

[@chrispowell2232]

Faster than a 918....mental.

[@ziggerwebdesign1704]

From £113,700??!

[@Tential1]

This is definitely an amazing car for the price.

[@wallstbull1]

@@pistolfied not true. Paying MSRP here (Wisconsin) 🤙🏻