Wednesday 18th November 2015

Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport - official!

LA debut for race version of a certain, much discussed Cayman variant

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Before you ask, no, it's not road legal. As previously discussed, this is a proper racing car, sold by Porsche Motorsport in Weissach and seeking homolgation approval for use in events like the VLN (and, by extension, Nurburgring 24-hour), Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA, Ultra 94 GT3 Cup Challenge Canada and the like.

Gifting the Cayman GT4 some genuine 'derived from motorsport' credibility was probably not entirely necessary given they've not exactly struggled to shift them as-is but it can't do any harm to the car's already stellar reputation. Or the smugness levels of those who secured one.

Ooh, get you, showing a bit of sidewall...

Turning it into a race car hasn't seemed to require a huge amount of work either, the Clubsport getting front suspension struts and additional rear components from the 911 GT3 Cup car, 12-step adjustable ABS for the 380mm steel-rotored brakes, full welded in cage, a racing seat and harness and choice of 70-, 90- or 100-litre tanks according to need. Some quirks of making the GT4 into a racing car include ditching the signature manual gearbox in favour of a six-speed PDK transmission and running a bit of sidewall on the 18-inch, Michelin shod five-stud wheels.

Power remains as per the road car at 385hp from the 3.8-litre (pre turbo) Carrera S flat-six, Porsche claiming a weight of 1,300kg without detailing if this is dry or with fluids. For reference the road car's DIN kerbweight without driver is 1,340kg so for all the suggestion of race-honed athletiticism it's no flyweight. Cost? 111,000 euros, plus VAT. Time will tell whether or not the GT4 makes for a competitive race package but you have to doubt Porsche would have bothered if it couldn't compete as such. And even if it isn't it looks a bucket load of fun.

 

[BBS-LM]

The want is strong with this one.

[DonkeyApple]

'Derived from motorsport'

'Turning it into a racing car'

Which one is it?

[anthonysjb]

Whats the disadvantage of having the larger fuel tank option on any car? Don't see the downside apart from weight?

[nickfrog]

"Ooh, get you, showing a bit of sidewall..."

And that's why I don't get very low profile road tyres. Surely if that doesn't work for a track car, how can it work for a road car ?

[FeelingLucky]

The irony of this being PDK only will have the clog wearers frothing at the mouth.

[Baryonyx]

FeelingLucky said:

The irony of this being PDK only will have the clog wearers frothing at the mouth.

No, I think enthusiasts will still enjoy it as it has a lot of other cool features and CS models are always well received.

[SidewaysSi]

Not as good as an Exige.

[sidesauce]

nickfrog said:

"Ooh, get you, showing a bit of sidewall..."

And that's why I don't get very low profile road tyres. Surely if that doesn't work for a track car, how can it work for a road car ?

Two words - aesthetic preferences.

[kambites]

FeelingLucky said:

The irony of this being PDK only will have the clog wearers frothing at the mouth.

Why would they (we) do that? It's a racing car, of course it should have the fastest sort of gearbox the rules allow.

I love the wheels and tyres on this, it looks so much nicer than the stupidly low profile ones on the road cars.

[wildman0609]

sidesauce said:

nickfrog said:

"Ooh, get you, showing a bit of sidewall..."

And that's why I don't get very low profile road tyres. Surely if that doesn't work for a track car, how can it work for a road car ?

Two words - aesthetic preferences.

GT3 GT4 GTLM GTE all mandate 18inch wheels. If there was no limit on wheel size I'm sure manufacturers would try a bigger wheel and therefore a lower profile tyre.

[British Beef]

1300 kg dry wt seems a little lardy, I assume the roll cage & extinguisher cancel out the weight of all the interior stripped out.

I would like to see how this performs compared to an Exige Cup R.

[kambites]

wildman0609 said:

GT3 GT4 GTLM GTE all mandate 18inch wheels. If there was no limit on wheel size I'm sure manufacturers would try a bigger wheel and therefore a lower profile tyre.

Indeed but they'd also be spending enough on wheels that it wouldn't ruin the handling by increasing unsprung mass an order of magnitude.

And that doesn't really explain why really low profile tyres on huge wheels are viewed as "sporty". I'm not aware of any major racing series that allows tyres as low profile as many modern "sporty" cars come with so who or what is the fashion copying?

[IrishAsal]

The important question is.. why isn't this road legal?

[kambites]

IrishAsal said:

The important question is.. why isn't this road legal?

Would anyone actually want a Cayman with exposed wiring everywhere, only one seat and a roll-cage blocking most of the door on the road?

[Ozzie Osmond]

Only £100,000? It's not nearly expensive enough!

[fastgerman]

It has the 997.2 C2S engine?
If so, you could stick on the GTS power kit and get over 400 bhp :-)
Very nice piece of kit!

[IrishAsal]

kambites said:

Would anyone actually want a Cayman with exposed wiring everywhere, only one seat and a roll-cage blocking most of the door on the road?

It just seems super cheap and a feasible way into Cayman GT4 ownership.

[wildman0609]

kambites said:

wildman0609 said:

GT3 GT4 GTLM GTE all mandate 18inch wheels. If there was no limit on wheel size I'm sure manufacturers would try a bigger wheel and therefore a lower profile tyre.

Indeed but they'd also be spending enough on wheels that it wouldn't ruin the handling by increasing unsprung mass an order of magnitude.

And that doesn't really explain why really low profile tyres on huge wheels are viewed as "sporty". I'm not aware of any major racing series that allows tyres as low profile as many modern "sporty" cars come with so who or what is the fashion copying?

Its to do with proportions, Modern car design needs to meet many EU and federal safety requirements, one of the biggest of these is pedestrian impact. This brings the bonnet line above hard points by around 120mm, depending on material used and shape of the front of the car. With the front of the car now unnaturally high the rear needs to match otherwise it will look cack. Now with a high waist line on the car it will look silly with small wheels. If you look at many designers initial concepts of cars they have massive wheels, these always get smaller with development loops.

[GroundEffect]

IrishAsal said:

The important question is.. why isn't this road legal?

It comes with racing slicks and probably very little exhaust treatment hardware...

[nickfrog]

wildman0609 said:

sidesauce said:

nickfrog said:

"Ooh, get you, showing a bit of sidewall..."

And that's why I don't get very low profile road tyres. Surely if that doesn't work for a track car, how can it work for a road car ?

Two words - aesthetic preferences.

GT3 GT4 GTLM GTE all mandate 18inch wheels. If there was no limit on wheel size I'm sure manufacturers would try a bigger wheel and therefore a lower profile tyre.

That's right but is the profile fixed by regulations too ?