Few cars sound as good as the 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4. It’s as simple as that. There’s no fake noise piped through the speakers, there’s no extra crackling and popping for show … it’s just genuine, old-fashioned excellence courtesy a unique engine and brilliantly tuned exhaust. There’s just no way my meager video and sound capabilities could do it justice above, but even with limitations, the GT4’s audible brilliance shines through.
The GT4 is the only Cayman with six cylinders and the only one without a turbocharger. However, this is not a case of pulling one of the Cayman’s old flat-sixes out of mothballs. It’s a 4.0-liter flat-six unique to the 718 GT4 and its 718 Boxster Spyder sibling, good for 414 horsepower and 309 pound-feet of torque, that was derived from the turbocharged engines found in the 911. It sings to 8,000 rpm. It’s paired, for now, with only a six-speed manual transmission with the brilliantly executed Auto Blip function. There’s a dual-note exhaust that sounds pretty damn great regardless of whether “loud mode” is engaged.
This car is an instant classic. Our full road test is coming soon, but in the meantime, let this be a little sneak peek … or whatever the sound version of a sneak peek is.