► 718 Cayman GT4 RS spied after Porsche hints
► Bosses confirm there's room for an RS
► Details, likely power and pictures
The GT4 is about to be usurped as the range-topping Cayman. Stuttgart is developing an even hotter RS model of its mid-engined sports car, and a new release reveals the car has entered its final phase of testing.
Read our review of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4
The latest pictures show the GT4 RS at the 'Ring, but also reveal development driver Jörg Bergmeister lapped the 20.6 km circuit in a near production car in 7:04.511 minutes – 23.6 seconds faster than the standard GT4.
'The 718 Cayman GT4 RS is an uncompromising driving machine. It feels as nimble as a go-kart on mountain roads, yet is impressively stable and well-balanced on the racetrack. Otherwise, such a lap time wouldn’t even be possible,' said Bergmeister. 'The GT4 RS is one of the sharpest cars Porsche has ever developed. And you really have had to experience the breathtaking noise it makes for yourself.'
Keep reading to find out more about the new Porsche Cayman GT4 RS.
Andreas Preuninger, who heads up the GT department, admitted there was potential above the GT4 for an even more focused road car. 'There’s always room, if you create the room,' he told Wheels. 'There are lots of ideas that we have at the moment, and the good point is we have a lot more ideas than we can really carry out and realise. But I would say, yes, sure. Stay tuned on this channel.'
The pictures above show he's making good in his promise. YNACA ducts at the front of the mid-engined GT4 RS snatch air for brake-cooling, and Porsche engineers are also funnelling extra air into the uprated flat-six with louvres in the side rear windows. It's a mean-looking thing, and the effect is only multiplied by that huge testing-spec wing on the back.
We'll update this article when we know more.
Review: we drive the new 2019 Porsche Cayman GT4
Porsche 718 Cayman GT4: more potential from 4.0 flat six
Porsche's engine guru Markus Baumann said that pilfering the GT3's parts bin would liberate tech to take the GT4's flat six even further. Adding a dry sump, new valvegear and titanium internals would 'enable this engine for more power and more revs,' he added. Chassis mods would be likely to include new tyres, race-spec suspension components and new aero fixtures to create extra grip in corners.
Preuninger warned that this confection of high-tech parts would considerably raise the price of a potential GT4 RS over the regular car (above). 'To give this engine more RPMs, you give it more components that become really costly,' he said.
This alone poses a marketing - and ethical - conundrum for Porsche. It wouldn't want to push the Cayman too deeply into 911 territory. And it's already copped some flack for increasing the price of the new GT4, which rose from £64k to £75k in the UK.
Would you be up for an RS version of the Cayman? Be sure to sound off in the comments below.
Read the full Wheels interview with the Porsche GT chiefs here