Tuesday 6th October 2015

Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport confirmed

Thought the GT4 couldn't be any more desirable? There's a racing car coming!

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So perhaps this is what Andreas Preuninger meant about taking weight out of the Cayman GT4. There isn't an RS - yet - but there will be a Clubsport, developed for club level motorsport and set for an LA show debut next month.

As you might well have guessed, the spec for a GT4 racing car is very exciting. Weight is down to 1,300kg, there's a full welded-in cage and the 'lightweight suspension strut front axle' is taken from the 911 GT3 Cup. Brakes are steel, 380mm all round.

Same front suspension as the GT3 Cup

The GT4 Clubsport is described by Porsche as a 'near-standard racing version'. So that means the same 3.8-litre flat-six and manual gearbox of the road car, right? Nearly. The 385hp engine is carried over unchanged but now the only gearbox option is a PDK. Oh. As purists it's hard to be a little sad at the news, but having paddles does at least mean the gearbox can't be lunched with a mistimed shift on track. It will of course make the GT4 Clubsport a little quicker as well.

The aim for the Clubsport is have it homologated for racing in next year's Pirelli World Challenge, Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and, the Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA. It should be approved for club racing across the globe too but details have not been released yet. We're still without pics too, but those are promised on November 18 when the car is shown to the world.

As for actually buying a GT4 Clubsport after the huge demand of the road car, they are available to order now. Although given the press release was out half an hour ago, they could well be hard to come by... Make your enquiries at Porsche Motorsport in Weissach or California. More info as it's released!

 

[EricE]

Now they just need to remove the welded cage, drop the 430 PS powerkit in the engine, make the thing road legal and then guess what we have here..

[P4ROT]

Considering the curb weight those 4x380mm brakes must really rip your face off...Shame on the lack of manual box though.

[Ryvita]

EricE said:

Now they just need to remove the welded cage, drop the 430 PS powerkit in the engine, make the thing road legal and then guess what we have here..

I'm either not quite getting it, or not up to date enough on the state of play with Porsche's model hierarchy to spot what you mean there. Is it a reference to the weirdly artificial way that the Cayman has been hobbled to be under the 911? I'm guessing this breaks that rule?

Or would do if you could buy one, because based on the previous GT4 this thing is going to be unicorn wee in an unobtanium klein bottle.

[Charlie Michael]

Ryvita said:

EricE said:

Now they just need to remove the welded cage, drop the 430 PS powerkit in the engine, make the thing road legal and then guess what we have here..

I'm either not quite getting it, or not up to date enough on the state of play with Porsche's model hierarchy to spot what you mean there. Is it a reference to the weirdly artificial way that the Cayman has been hobbled to be under the 911? I'm guessing this breaks that rule?

Or would do if you could buy one, because based on the previous GT4 this thing is going to be unicorn wee in an unobtanium klein bottle.

I understand What EricE meant was you'd have a GT4 RS?

[RacerMike]

Just to be clear, this will be the FIA GT4 homologated car. Whilst I'm sure with a set of road tyres, you could drive it on the road, this is definitely not a road car unless you're very friendly with a chiropractor and have no hearing left. You'd also have to get it through an IVA which would be pretty amusing given the 'sharp radii' on all the interior parts!

I suspect this will be a serious challenger to the Ginetta and Aston in GT4 racing......

[CerberusRogue]

Hey, here's a whacky idea. Why not compare this car to the VW Golf R? Seems that's what all the other PH journos insist on doing. No doubt you'd also conclude that the Golf is somehow better...

[Dale487]

CerberusRogue said:

Hey, here's a whacky idea. Why not compare this car to the VW Golf R? Seems that's what all the other PH journos insist on doing. No doubt you'd also conclude that the Golf is somehow better...

3 more seats

[kambites]

If it's a racing car, why didn't they fit a proper sequential manual box?

[braddo]

kambites said:

If it's a racing car, why didn't they fit a proper sequential manual box?

It's at least £10k cheaper for a start! Forums are suggesting this car is more a club racer (Clubsport ) than a full spec GT4 racer.

If Porsche want to go for outright GT4 results, perhaps there will be a sequential in a factory team?

[RacerMike]

braddo said:

kambites said:

If it's a racing car, why didn't they fit a proper sequential manual box?

It's at least £10k cheaper for a start! Forums are suggesting this car is more a club racer (Clubsport ) than a full spec GT4 racer.

If Porsche want to go for outright GT4 results, perhaps there will be a sequential in a factory team?

This is 100% the FIA GT4 car. The support for GT4 has grown hugely in the last 3 years. Half of this years British GT grid was GT4, there's a well supported European GT4 series and the Pirelli World Challenge uses effectively a GT4 spec vehicle. Currently, Aston Martin, Lotus, Ginetta and Toyota all have competitive and eligible GT4 spec race cars, but Porsche lack any serious factory effort, which for a company who base themselves on motorsport, is a big gap in the ladder. Currently, the only option to race a Porsche in GT4 is a hamstrung 997 Cup Car, with a cutdown rear wing, 100kg of ballast and a detune to 360bhp.

As for the gearbox.....GT4 is 'supposed' to be a way into GT Racing with a 'modest' budget (although you're still looking at around £120-180k per car per season EXCLUDING the cost of the car). For that reason, an expensive sequential is not generally the preferred option. The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 makes do with the AMT (automated manual) 6sp, although it gets an upgrade to the 7sp AMT for 2016. Gearbox rebuilds are considerably cheaper (circa £5k) compared to the £18k for a Porsche sequential in the Cup Car. The choice of the PDK 'box is a sensible one, as it will offer 95% of the performance of a full sequential with much less cost.

If anyone's interested, the car was spotted testing at Monza about 5 months ago. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsKNGQCu_to

Edited by RacerMike on Tuesday 6th October 15:37

[braddo]

Interesting, thanks.