Exclusivity. Attached to a sense of uniqueness, it is something that many people aspire to. The desire to set yourself apart from the herd is something as old as mankind itself. Whether it be the style of clothing that you wear, or your taste in coffee (Starbucks has 37 different drinks because of this), perhaps it’s the way you text. The point I am trying to make is that there are precious few areas of life that we humans haven’t customized. Try and think of one; we challenge you!
Here we break down all the best details of the new Porsche Cayman.
In Pursuit Of Individualism
Cars are not immune (excuse the pun) to this pandemic either. Back in the dawn of automotive history it was simple. Ettore Bugatti, for example, would hand-build cars to order. Production runs of more than 30 vehicles were considered large. Fast forward to the twenty-first century and just the sheer global population size alone makes this virtually impossible.
So, what do you do if you are a mainstream brand? I mean there is nothing unique about a pair of Levi 501s. Turned out by the millions, jeans can be found on everyone from your local ranch hand to Steve Jobs.
The Japanese, some of the world’s biggest auto manufacturers, faced this dilemma back in the 1980s. By that time brands like Nissan, Toyota, and Honda had established themselves as manufacturers of excellent, reliable, fast, yet somewhat ordinary, cars. The Japanese were simply too good at what they did; no matter how hard it tried, a Nissan could never give you the same cold shivers or get your heart racing like an Alfa Romeo. Sure, it fired up reliably even in the deepest winter, ran smooth and hardly used any gas so to speak. Japanese cars were faithful companions; more like the family dog than the Chihuahua next door.
So began a series of valiant attempts by the Japanese to break into the elusive and exclusive category in a bid to get more market share. Exactly who came up with the idea is history, but around ‘89 we saw the entry of Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti. In case you don’t know; these are the luxury brands of Toyota, Honda and Nissan. What the Japanese basically did was create a premium brand devoted to solely producing vehicles that would appeal to those looking for that little bit extra. That something more unique. As usual, they did very well at it, so well, that their German competitors got a little worried.
Their recipe was simple and is still used to this day. Take a base model car (for example a Toyota Camry) and modify it completely. Add custom interiors, performance tuned motors, different suspensions and tech wizardry. Then resell it at a premium price point. The Germans were quick to cotton on. This resulted in BMW’s M, Mercedes AMG and the VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) R division. VAG owns Porsche and this brings us to their new kid on the block: The 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS.
The New Porsche Cayman GT4 RS
So, what all have Porsche managed to cram the two extra letters? Well, for one, the flat six has been extensively modified to produce around 500 ponies; about 100 more than the standard GT4.
Additional power is nothing without two things:
- Weight Saving through the use of specialized premium materials like carbon fiber and aluminum make the RS considerably lighter than its older sibling.
- A beefed-up suspension that is both lower and sharper to properly transmit that added power to the asphalt.
It is interesting to note that the new Porsche Cayman will be roughly 120hp more powerful than the 911 base model, but that’s kind of like saying the Nissan 370Z is 180hp more powerful than the Datsun 240Z, if you get my drift.
The current Porsche Cayman doesn’t offer a PDK transmission, but this double clutch auto trans performs so well that we are unsure whether the RS will buck this trend or not. What we are pretty sure of is that there will definitely be a stick option, either way.
The only other two questions are really, when and how much? Expect the RS to be roughly $30,000 more than the GT4; approximately double the base Cayman price. When is more difficult? With the current global situation, we’d tend to be more conservative and say towards the end of 2020 or beginning 2021, but it could be as soon as September.
What is Porsche’s intent with the new RS? I’m sure many owners have wished their GT4 was a little more track-nimble; this may well be Porsche’s answer to that. Then there are always those looking for that little bit extra, for the higher definition that will set themselves apart. That is the RS destiny.