Yesterday

Porsche reveals first-ever GT4-spec 911 racer

No more 718 Caymans means no more entry-level racecars - time for the 911 to plug the gap

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Likely nobody needs reminding of the Porsche Cayman’s popularity as a motorsport machine. While the name ‘718 GT4’ invariably conjures up a road car, because of its astonishing popularity, there have been plenty of racers sold under the same name. As well as the one-make Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain (and others in Europe), the 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport and GT4 RS Clubsport have featured in sportscar racing championships around the globe. Being Porsches, too, they’ve been as popular as they have been successful: by 2025, more than 1,500 had sold in less than a decade, and in 2024 GT4-spec Caymans took 80 class wins and 11 championships around the world. 

Now, however, that’s all done, because the Porsche 718 Cayman isn’t being built anymore (you might have heard). But there’s no way Porsche is going to leave such a lucrative corner of motorsport unoccupied, so in its place will be this, the 911 GT4 - the first time that the rear-engined sports car has been developed to GT4 spec. Must be the first time that one nameplate, over the years, has been found on GT1, GT2, GT3 and GT4 specification machines, but we’ll wait to be corrected on this one. 

Then, Porsche being Porsche, it gets a little complicated. The new GT4 R is derived from the current 911 Cup car, which races in the various Supercup championships; it’s built from the 992.2 GT3 road car. Great news for those who love a flat-six howl with a sequential, this car running the 9,000rpm 4.0-litre in whatever Balance of Performance tune is permitted up to 520hp, if less brilliant for those trying to explain why a GT4 is actually sort of a GT3. But like a road car GT3, not a race car GT3. 

Whatever, this 911 promises some useful advantages over the old Caymans, with a wider track, ‘further-developed’ electronics and that 20hp bump. Porsche reckons on better lap times, driveability and stability as a result, the latter two as important as anything given GT4’s billing as a lower rung on the sportscar competition ladder. You wouldn’t be alone, either, in thinking that a racing 911 looks cooler than a racing Cayman, and this sort of thing matters when it comes to considering the cost of an upgrade. 

Compared to the Cup, the GT4 R receives one-inch narrower wheels to comply with GT4 regs; they’re mounted on five-nut hubs like a road car, too, rather than the fancier centrelocks. Additionally, while ‘key body structures’ from the Cup car are adapted here, the 11-position rear wing is less extreme and the whole vibe more gentleman racer than generational talent. Exactly the point of GT4, basically. The interior is as stripped out as might be expected, with space for ballast, a 10.3-inch driver display, a wheel that belongs on a mantelpiece and a seat - that’s about it.

“With the new racing car based on the Porsche 911 GT3, we are taking our successful GT4 programme to a new level. The combination of iconic 911 DNA and the tried-and-tested GT4 concept creates a unique offering in the market,” said Thomas Laudenbach, VP of Porsche Motorsport. “Our decision to bring the 911 platform into the GT4 category underlines the growing importance of this class in international motorsport. GT4 has evolved from an entry-level segment into a highly competitive, globally relevant racing platform.” Buyers are invited to express their interest with Porsche Motorsport now for a new 2027 racer; if it’s a racing 911 you’re after, though, we can do a whole lot better than a GT4…

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• New Porsche 911 Cup and GT3 R unveiled for 2026
• Porsche 911 GT3 ‘Earls Court 51 Edition’ unveiled

[foxhounduk]

Immense looking thing.

[PorkerHam]

Agreed. That looks like an absolute monster. Hard to imagine one's talent exceeding the car's capabilities....

[housemouse]

Given that people do all kinds of unspeakable things to their road cars "because racecar," I've often wondered why a bit more meat in the sidewall can't become more fashionable. Look at the lovely sidewall on this thing!

[plynchy]

I await the roadgoing 911 GT4........is it April?

[RacerMike]

Suggesting any GT4 series is for 'gentleman racers' belies the authors lack of knowledge of current GT racing. GT4 is considerably more 'competive' than a good amount of GT3 series, and rarely has true Pro/Am teams like you get in GT3 where the Am is a 40 plus year old wealthy driver. Most of the GT4 grids in GT4 European Series and British GT4 are Silver/Silver pairings of younger drivers, and the cars are a lot more difficult to drive than a GT3 car requireing a lot more feel and comittment due to the lack of downforce.

[Angelo1985]

It has buttons! Come on Porsche, offer that dashboard on the road car :-)

[nismo48]

Angelo1985 said:

It has buttons! Come on Porsche, offer that dashboard on the road car :-)

[jgoodwood]

Angelo1985 said:

It has buttons! Come on Porsche, offer that dashboard on the road car :-)

Ummm my 992.2 has buttons for all those features… ✌️

[joedesi]

I don’t get it. Is this a road car or a race car? Where does it sit in the 911 gt pecking order?

[RacerMike]

joedesi said:

I don t get it. Is this a road car or a race car? Where does it sit in the 911 gt pecking order?

It’s a race car for the GT4 series. It’s at the bottom of the motorsport ladder which is:

GT4<Cup<GT3

[housemouse]

joedesi said:

I don t get it. Is this a road car or a race car? Where does it sit in the 911 gt pecking order?

It's been introduced as Porsche's entry-level customer race car for the GT4 series on account of the fact that the 982 / 718 has gone out of production.

[PRO5T]

I was at a talk with Andreas Preuninger last weekend, during the questions from the audience he was asked about the continuous customer requests for something as close to a Cup car with numberplate as they could get.

He answered it wasn't possible to homologate a Cup but that Manthey would be doing something in that ethos for customers...

I wonder if it will be a road going version of this?

[RacerMike]

PRO5T said:

I was at a talk with Andreas Preuninger last weekend, during the questions from the audience he was asked about the continuous customer requests for something as close to a Cup car with numberplate as they could get.

He answered it wasn't possible to homologate a Cup but that Manthey would be doing something in that ethos for customers...

I wonder if it will be a road going version of this?

Certainly under UK IVA rules, you'd probably be able to get a GT4 car through it as long as it has a proper VIN number, but I'd imagine you'd be able to do the same with a Cup car as well. Whether you'd really want to or not is a different matter, as dealing with a sequential on the road, or driving around with no carpets/NVH padding or insulation would be pretty.....intense.

[GTRene]

RacerMike said:

PRO5T said:

I was at a talk with Andreas Preuninger last weekend, during the questions from the audience he was asked about the continuous customer requests for something as close to a Cup car with numberplate as they could get.

He answered it wasn't possible to homologate a Cup but that Manthey would be doing something in that ethos for customers...

I wonder if it will be a road going version of this?

Certainly under UK IVA rules, you'd probably be able to get a GT4 car through it as long as it has a proper VIN number, but I'd imagine you'd be able to do the same with a Cup car as well. Whether you'd really want to or not is a different matter, as dealing with a sequential on the road, or driving around with no carpets/NVH padding or insulation would be pretty.....intense.

and then, how would they call it, they already have GT4 Clubsport road cars and GT4 Cup Clubsport sounds a bit hm...

did Porsche already patented a new name for it or... are they going with a variation of names, say GT4 CS RS (but I guess is already taken) or GT4 CS RSR or GT4 Ultiem