2025 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS.

Back at PEC, this time in GTs.i It’s July, it’s Toronto, it’s 21ºC with mixed sun and grey-decked clouds, and we’re pitting the PDK version of my 992.2 GT3 Weissach against the now-discontinued “PDK only”ii 718 Cayman GT4 RS. Something about this duelling duo imposed upon my bespectacled mug a punchable self-assuredness if ever there was. And indeed, it seems the concept of “masks” can never be entirely elided when discussing multi-hundred-thousand-dollar playthings…iii

So let’s get to it, and fuck me if the 718 isn’t the perfect size on this tight, technical 2km circuit. Like spandex running tights keeping your thighs warm on a cold winter’s jog through the river valley, the 4RS wraps around your body with utter ergonomic efficiency, and inspires absolute confidence in the process.iv Its pointability is exacting, its compact front end gulping down spare inches like a cougar at Calgary Stampede. But y’know, for anally-oriented middle-aged men. In comparison, the 992 platform feels like going for the same winter jog wearing a sumo costume… with kabuki facepaint.v Solid, to be sure, but also faintly ridiculous.

Then there’s the superlative-depleting 4RS engine… and oh lawdy in the not-too-distant-future we’ll look back on pre-Lambda-1 flat-six designs the way we revere Mezgers.vi The market hasn’t woken up to this yet, but trust me it will. For its scintillating aria between 8`000 – 9`000 RPM, the 718 GT4 RS (and 992.1 GT3) will go down in history alongside the 997.1 Turbo as swan songs of their respective generations. Rightly so. The crescendoing mountain peak of revs here is Puccini-levels of perfection.vii The 992.2 engine offers no such comparable theatrics, being merely content to fizz along in what feels like another zip code behind you. Shame.

Even the Cayman interior design is utterly timeless and tactile in that mid-2010s high watermark way,viii with those delightful little temperature rockers reminding you how satisfying physical switchgear can be. The steering wheel is likewise unadorned and infinitely more focused for it. The newest-gen 911 interior is everything you wish your new S-Class Coupé would have in terms of layout, and with a little more leather and wood it’d be there, but against the 718 it’s too distant from the driver, leaving him feeling much less cocooned and much more detached.

The net result of this quick little escapade at PECTO is that I’m now a little bit less in love with my 992.2 GT3, if I ever really loved it,ix and so I’ve spent the last few days concocting specs for my “Dream Combo”, which currently looks like so:

From 992.2 GT3:

  • Suspension, double wishbone front, multi-link rear
  • 6MT gearing

From 718 GT4 RS:

  • Exterior design, dimensions
  • Interior design, dimensions
  • Engine, intake, exhaust sound

From 981 GT4:x

  • Clutch weight and feel
  • Shifter weight and feel

From 992.1 GT3 RS:

  • Aero package

Of course the mere notion of such a “Dream Combo” is inherently retarded and compromised, particularly when my objectives are in such tension, viz.

  • Fast lap times (the social currency of SCR)
  • Street legality (because towing is one more nuisance)
  • Driver engagement (manual transmission)
  • Engine sound (6+ cylinder NA)
  • Curb appeal (because I’m young-ish and still vain like that)xi

And the even more nonsensical part of all this daydreaming (and willy-wagging) is that I barely even drive any of my three cars these days, at least not in summer when I can instead choose one of my lovely Schindelhauer Friedrich bikes, a Lime scooter conveniently left across the street from my house, or use my own two highly-capable legs. I regularly go days at a time without getting behind the wheel at all, and that’s when I’m sleeping in my own bed, which is only about 60% of the time these days, what with all the philandering jetsetting.

So I dunno man. It’s more like what do I want to look at in my garage? And the answer is usually just “more.”

 

  1. Last time was solo in 992.2 Carrera 2S. ↩
  2. You have to be slightly unhinged to piss away CAD$ 100,000 on a “manual swap” 718 GT4 RS from BGB Motorsports in Florida, but this is definitely no dumber than buying jpegs you’ll never look at much less admit to owning to anyone in meatspace, and I think we all know a few people capable of that… ↩
  3. Particularly when surrounded on “track” by literally ancient Chinese ladies doddling around in 700 hp AWD barges like they’re chauffeuring poodles between Hermès and Tiffany’s. And you thought traffic at your local circuit was bad? ↩
  4. At least for those of leggy 6’1″ height and 190 lbs of athletic frame. ↩
  5. Without E. Honda’s supernatural strength and hip mobility, of course. Really JB nailed it in his recent 992.2 Turbo S review, which I didn’t want to be true for fairly obvious reasons upon first reading a month ago, but now must grudgingly concede:

    First impression: the current 911 has genuinely massive proportions to go with its massive price. The 991 and 992 have never felt like Nine Elevens to me. They don’t even feel like Porsches. Way back in the air-cooled days, Porsche didn’t build its own bodies. They were supplied by BMW and Mercedes-Benz. In 2026, the firm has its own presses but the cars feel vibe-stamped, if you will, by those other manufacturers. This 911 is like an M6 or something: vastly wide with high doorsills and an intergalactically complex dashboard. […] I continue to think that the Porsche 911 is more suited for luxury-liner Turbo S purposes than it ever will be for GT3RSR-Burgerkingring trim.

    But then of course Jack comes around to my conclusion that the 296 is even better still, for essentially the same money as the Turbo S. For whatever that’s worth. ↩

  6. The A-profile cams of the 718 GT4 RS and 992.1 GT3 (MA275) give the most glorious top 1000 RPM on the planet. The newer B-profile cams combined with EU Lambda-1 engine calibration pretty much completely neuter the transcendent aural step change at the top end. It’s a travesty, one that even CAD $40,000 Dundon Power Packages is unable to entirely resolve, and one that CAD $8,000 M-Engineering tunes probably can’t complete overcome either? though the latter is yet to be confirmed by your humble author. ↩
  7. As performed by Pavarotti, no less:

    ↩

  8. The 718 (982) Cayman was in production from 2016-2025, so the fundamental interior design really dates from 2013 or so… the golden age! I swear 2013 was the best year of the last four decades. ↩
  9. Respect the 992.2 GT3? Yes. Love it? Hmm not quite sure. It’s 8.25/10. Impressive, sure, but not historically significant, neither in my own personal story, nor Andy P’s, nor any other. ↩
  10. Mr. Smiles!↩
  11. All my regular track buddies have formula cars because they’re all in their 60s and have nothing better to do all day than diagnose broken shit, order new parts, install it in their big garages on their bigger acreages, tow their fixed shit to the track, share their wife’s homemade rhubarb crumble with us, etfc.. I’ll get there eventually, in all likelihood, but they all drove Murcielagos and 911 Turbos back when they were my age so I’ll be damned if I start skipping important chapters in this book. ↩