Porsche 981 Cayman S or 718 Cayman GT4 | Is the Price Gap Warranted?

[@miamigt4922]

I own both a GT4RS and 981CS now but had a 718 GT4 for 2 years. I can tell you the 981CS and GT4 are 2 different animals. Love my 981CS as a daily and the car that gets the most abuse on road trips and 4-5 track day/yr. The GT4RS is a weekend car and 1-2 track days a year for me. The GT4 is closer to the 4RS in terms of feel than the 981CS is to the GT4. If I could grade them in terms of intensity/excitement/capability I’d say the 981CS is a 5, the GT4 is a 7.5 and the 4RS is a 10. Most times in life you just want a 5 to get you to the store in comfort. Others times you feel like lighting your head on fire. It’s awesome to have both from one basic automotive platform and makes me a better driver in each because of the practice of being in both.

[@jubbalandcars]

Well said

[@theonlywinner]

I'm guessing the Blue Cayman has about 55,000 miles now. I put about 20,000 of those miles on it. I dailied it for a bit, but spent a lot of time in Southern California Canyons including Angelus Crest highway, Ortega highway, Mount Palomar, and the highway from Pala Casino to Valley View Casino. I loved that car, but when I got an allocation for a GTS 4.0 in July of 2021, I had to sell it. I got my shark blue with manual in December of 2021. I love the manual but I really miss the PDK! The sapphire blue metallic on the 981 is absolutely gorgeous!

[@steveo8424]

The blue car is mine now!

[@theonlywinner]

@@steveo8424 did you buy it before this video was made or did you just get it recently?

[@steveo8424]

@@theonlywinner after. I just picked it up a little over a month ago.

[@steveo8424]

@@theonlywinner just saw this video and your comment! Hopefully you treated it right! 😁

[@theonlywinner]

@@steveo8424 I took care of it while I had it, but that was over 2 years ago. The sapphire blue metallic is gorgeous on the 981. I would have switched the tail lights out though. I like the GTS ones better if you can get a set of those. It was a great car. I miss it. I did upgrade to a 911 a couple months ago though, it's a different vehicle. It's a beast.

[@Xxyion86]

Thanks for reviewing the car! It was awesome meeting you and hope to meet up again for more videos!

[@jubbalandcars]

Thank you for the opportunity and definitely!

[@denisvogel5155]

The 981 was available with an LSD which would go a long way in addressing some of your concerns and the GT4's Cup 2s wear out rather quickly so when replaced with PS4s will make the car more playful. I found the 981 to feel lighter, a little smaller and a touch more nimble. After 5 years of 981 ownership and 3 years driving the 718 GT4, I agree the latter is at least 40% better. Engine, manual gearbox, chassis, steering and even ride. My 981 had the X73 option which was a little bouncy and uncomfortable at lower speeds. Not so the 718 even with bigger wheels and larger, more aggressive tires. Enjoyed the video!

[@Mendra72]

FYI - the 4.0 in the 718 Cayan GTS 4.0 and GT4 is not related to the Metzger engines. They are related to the 992's 3.0L engine.

[@nls8520]

Saved me the trouble lol. Further, Mezger motor , named after Hanes Mezger, were sort of relics of the split aircooled 964 engine case, with heads from the GT1 racing program. The Mezger engines were last seen in the 997 series GT cars. Totally different animal.

[@flat6croc]

One of the major overlooked reasons why Caymans handle so well is the flat six. Its mass is very, very low, and especially so compared to the Evora which not only has a taller V6 but which also somewhat sits on top of the gearbox, raising the mass even higher.

[@Brian-or2jy]

Does LEGO make a Cayman? That's the Cayman I could afford.

[@ruturaj47]

Lol, yes, that's the one I have 😂

[@michaelp8928]

Wondering if you know why reprogramming EPS software isn't more of a thing? I'm pretty sure alot of Porsche trims have the same hardware but are just programmed differently.

[@TT92348]

I’ve wondered this as well. In all the years of people cracking ECUs and doing things like throttle tuning, shift tuning, engine tuning, I’ve never heard a single instance of someone tuning EPS. When in many cars that’s all that’s needed to improve the steering. Why?

[@flat6croc]

People are now remapping 981 steering with the map from the 991.1 GT3. Etc

[@timw308]

There is no comparison period. You pay for performance. You Don't get a GT badge for nothing. To answer the question yes it's worth it. Carbon buckets are a must IMO to complete the experience. I own a 981 GT4 and IMO at the time of purchasing my car the 718 was not worth a 25,000 premium. IMO the 981 GT4 is more special, limited production, Manual only, a clutch you can feel, a more raw experience. The 718 GT4 rear diffuser aero were adapted from the Spyder. I'm nit a fan of the rear look and definitely like the center exhaust on the 981 better.

[@GTC4cam]

I just realized why pulling down/back is intuitively an upshift. In a conventional manual, straight back is always an upshift. Ie; 1/2, 2/3 in a dogleg, 3/4, 4/5 etc. Doesn’t matter what car, what gear box or what situation. Straight back is always an upshift, and straight up is always a downshift. Never really occurred to me before, I just knew anything else felt wrong somehow. Edit: also realizing that in an aircraft pulling the stick back pitches the nose up, pushing it away pitches the nose down. So why anyone would do “stick forward” to upshift is a bit mystifying.

[@jubbalandcars]

I never thought of it that way. You could argue 5 to 4 is a downward motion and that’s a downshift. The reason I see forward to downshift and back to upshift as intuitive is g forces. When you’re braking you want to push the lever away from you to downshift for a more natural motion. Similarly when you’re pushed back in your seat accelerating you want to pull back on it to upshift

[@GTC4cam]

Yep G forces/momentum makes sense as well. 5/4 would be a downshift but it’s not straight down the Y axis. It’s obviously down-across-down. I’m assuming the idea was push up for an upshift, down for a downshift, which is fine but it’s opposite of every manual gearbox for the last 70 years or whatever.

[@rickhayner2514]

Let's face it the 981 Cayman S is a GT car that you can track. The 718 GT4 is a track car you can drive on the street. If I were going to drive from LA to Las Vegas I would definitely pick the S. And since I don't do track that is indeed the one I picked. 🙂

[@jubbalandcars]

The gap is bigger than I expected

[@SW-hn8np]

👍🙏