good news and bad news: ‘Thegear ratios are the same. They have
to be. Emissions,homologation,all thatstuff. But the 4-litre motor
mitigates this withmore mid-range torque.’ We’ll have to wait and
see on thatone,for althoughthe bigger motor shouldpull those
intermediate gears withmore conviction,it was always theirreach
thatbugged us because you’d be well into licence-losingterritory
before you got out of third gear.
The onlyotherboneof contentionwiththe originalGT4 was
availability. Or ratherthe lackof. Preuninger has already gone on
record as saying he and Porsche were caughtout by the number
of GT3 and 918 customers whoboughtthe ‘baby’ Motorsport
departmentcar, and thatthe situationwas regrettable. So will it be
different this time?
‘We don’twant to make these cars unobtainableor inaccessible
for everybody. I thinkone thingwe learned from the last one is a lot
of peoplecouldn’tget one,especiallythe enthusiasts, whowanted
to buy the cars and use them.We want these enthusiasts to buy
the car, not write letters! Thisis very important, as is stickingin a
certain price range, because the value package shouldnot be totally
different thanit was before.’
Pricingremainsin the same ballpark, but it is different, startingat
£75,348 for the GT4 and £73,405for the Spyder. Consideringwhat
you’re getting, thatseemslike good value.
There’s no question the new GT4 promises to hit the bullseye
so far as cars this magazinelikes to get excited about, but withits
newfoundedge – perhaps somethingthe omissionof the ‘Boxster’
namethis timearoundis meant to emphasise – the open-cockpit
Spyder mightjust be the truespecial-occasioncar of the pair; a 911
Speedster-like machinefor a third of the price.
We’ll fi nd out how bothcars drive soon enough,but for now
let’s just enjoy the fact that, despite the growing march of
technology and the increasingenvironmental pressures placed on
car manufacturers, the new GT4 and Spyder continueto place the
things thatmatter at the heart of the drivingexperience.
Porsche718 Spyder
EngineFlat-six, 3995ccPower414bhp @ 7600rpmTorque310lb ft @ 5000-6800rpmWeight1420kg (296bhp/ton)0-62mph4.4secTopspeed187mphBasic price£73,Porsche718 CaymanGT
EngineFlat-six, 3995ccPower414bhp @ 7600rpmTorque310lb ft @ 5000-6800rpmWeight1420kg (296bhp/ton)0-62mph4.4secTopspeed188mphBasic price£75,‘THESPYDER
MIGHT JUST
BE THE TRUE
SPECIAL-
OCCASION CAR
OF THE PAIR’
IGNITION