Finally got a 718 GT4!
Discussion
Well this was a bit of a long and winding path to buying this car. I have fancied one ever since spending a bit of time in the 981 GT4. As a bit of a semi daily and occasional track car I always wanted a PDK so was delighted when they announced it for the 718 GT4. In 2022 I got a deposit down on a new one and actually got an allocation early this year but wasn't able to have all the spec as Porsche weren't able to supply the PCCB/Clubsport options so I passed on it.
Kept an eye on the market this year on and off but couldn't resist some of the deals on offer recently so a deal was done with Porsche Swindon who were super easy to deal with and I picked up this 1400 mile car Friday
First impressions are very good the steering seems to have a bit more feel than the 981 and theres a bit more compliance to the ride than I remember. The PDK certainly helps with the gearing it likes to fire up and down the box. The chassis and handling on the Caymans is always on point and its no different here. This car is in almost the exact same spec I would have ordered so very happy to have got it for a significant saving over new. And its been pre run in!
Not really planning to modify it at all but will get it onto our Hunter and get some camber dialled in as with most OEM spec cars its clearly running a pretty tame geo setup so will get that sorted in the new year. Will likely invest in a set of PS4S tyres for road use maybe a second wheel set if one comes up without costing a fortune. Nurburgring is already booked for the summer maybe Spa later in the year too so looking forward to that!
Kept an eye on the market this year on and off but couldn't resist some of the deals on offer recently so a deal was done with Porsche Swindon who were super easy to deal with and I picked up this 1400 mile car Friday
First impressions are very good the steering seems to have a bit more feel than the 981 and theres a bit more compliance to the ride than I remember. The PDK certainly helps with the gearing it likes to fire up and down the box. The chassis and handling on the Caymans is always on point and its no different here. This car is in almost the exact same spec I would have ordered so very happy to have got it for a significant saving over new. And its been pre run in!
Not really planning to modify it at all but will get it onto our Hunter and get some camber dialled in as with most OEM spec cars its clearly running a pretty tame geo setup so will get that sorted in the new year. Will likely invest in a set of PS4S tyres for road use maybe a second wheel set if one comes up without costing a fortune. Nurburgring is already booked for the summer maybe Spa later in the year too so looking forward to that!
jackwood said:
Congrats!! And snap!! 
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|https://thumbsnap.com/zXd3e7Rd[/url]
I’m sure you’ve seen posts about those Dunlops. Don’t blame you wanting to change them! Great on warm dry days. Horrible at this time of year through.
What’s the full spec? Is it CS?
Another fine looking Cayman![url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/zXd3e7Rd[/url]I’m sure you’ve seen posts about those Dunlops. Don’t blame you wanting to change them! Great on warm dry days. Horrible at this time of year through.
What’s the full spec? Is it CS?
Yeah I've never driven a car with these tyres but assumed they would be like cup 2.
Yeah it's Clubsport with pccb I think there only thing it doesn't have is extended leather which is a bit annoying but there only other one with spec to match it sold before I could get to it and was a lot more expensive to be fair.
Not Ideal said:
Congrats - that looks amazing.
Good on you for pulling the trigger rather than trying to pick the exact bottom of the market.
Yeah I'm sure a lot might miss the boat a bit although I can't see any huge price increases. I have no plans to be continually fretting about prices this will be with us a few years and will be used as much as possible. Good on you for pulling the trigger rather than trying to pick the exact bottom of the market.
Funnily enough I know a lot of people recently have made the jump from V6 to GT4 it seems a natural progression. For road use this might be a shocker but I really prefer the GT4. The V6 cars for me are a bit fidgety and don't flow down the road like the S2 cars do. They are heavy for a Lotus and the weight at the back is quite pronounced on the V6. I always felt they should have had power steering too. I much preferred my old 410 Sport Evora which was a fantastic car. I'l always jump on a V6 for the business but they really aren't for me personally. An Evora or Cayman makes much more sense as a road car I'm not sure how the GT4 stacks up against the V6 on track I would guess they are similar. The V6S is certainly not that quick on track they are actually a bit slow in the corners. They really need the 460 Komotec kit to overcome the long gearing a bit and come alive.
If I could only have one fun car though it would be the S2 Exige.
If I could only have one fun car though it would be the S2 Exige.
ntiz said:
I was always a big Lotus fan and always had my plan to get an Exige when the time came.
amongst my extensive (obsessive) research over the years I found a YouTube video by one of the German mags. That took the Exige and 981GT4 to I think Holkenheim for a head to head. To my disgust at the time the GT4 was a bit quicker.
The racing driver reconned it was simply the GT4 has wider tyres giving it that little bit more grip particularly on exit where the Exige was getting quite a lot of oversteer.
Yeah that would make sense. The weight distribution in the car is much better in the Porsche too which will contribute towards the grip. You can get a nicely specced V6 considerably cheaper than a GT4 as well so the value for money probably does with with the Lotus. I've spent many years driving all the cars all the setups and all the different suspension etc and an S2 260 with Ohlins and LSD is the best I have found for road but the s2 is not a great platform for track so there are always sacrifices/strengths/weaknesses and it can be a lot of fun in life finding out what works for you. amongst my extensive (obsessive) research over the years I found a YouTube video by one of the German mags. That took the Exige and 981GT4 to I think Holkenheim for a head to head. To my disgust at the time the GT4 was a bit quicker.
The racing driver reconned it was simply the GT4 has wider tyres giving it that little bit more grip particularly on exit where the Exige was getting quite a lot of oversteer.
Well the GT4/RS is the car that Porsche don't want to have as their halo car but it is for me.
The first drive out in the 991 RS I was a bit...uh oh think I've made a booboo here it's just a deeply flawed car. On track it was ok when tyres are up to temp but still a bit boring really and they cost a fortune to run on track because they are just a frame over a set of absolutely massive rear tyres and that's where all the lap times come from.
The Cayman is much better balanced the power delivery is much better with that mid range flat 6 punch where the RS was gutless unless you had 7k revs dialled in. It also sounds better inside the car which is where it counts for me. It's actually quite hard to express just how crap the GT3 RS was for 160k it's a complete joke I couldn't wait to get rid of it. You'd never believe it unless you went and bought one. All the owners that rave about them are on drugs honestly.
The first drive out in the 991 RS I was a bit...uh oh think I've made a booboo here it's just a deeply flawed car. On track it was ok when tyres are up to temp but still a bit boring really and they cost a fortune to run on track because they are just a frame over a set of absolutely massive rear tyres and that's where all the lap times come from.
The Cayman is much better balanced the power delivery is much better with that mid range flat 6 punch where the RS was gutless unless you had 7k revs dialled in. It also sounds better inside the car which is where it counts for me. It's actually quite hard to express just how crap the GT3 RS was for 160k it's a complete joke I couldn't wait to get rid of it. You'd never believe it unless you went and bought one. All the owners that rave about them are on drugs honestly.
Sidsw said:
agree, but your opening post talks about keeping an eye on the market and how you couldnt resist the deals on offer. not about to hell with the money, i bought what i wanted and the money ain't a thing 
Yeah but every other Porsche thread on here just goes towards discussing the market/specs/prices etc. Now I've bought one in not going to be on auto trader looking any more 
Well great cars the GT4 for me I didn't have expectations of it measuring up directly to the likes of the 600LT but I really wanted one since they brought the PDK version out. The GT4 has a decent turn of speed the gearing in the PDK is notably lower its still reasonably tall but because I has that midrange torque you can still step up and down the box. Can't wait to get on track with it especially having seen Zaid's comparison with his GT4 and his excellent Honda S2 Exige. But from the first few drives I'm really impressed with it. I normally key into cars pretty quickly I'm old and grey enough now to know what I like. Being into the Lotus stuff sets an impractically high bar for judging other cars too so the 718 has done well to survive this far as I would have looked to move it on if didn't gel with it. Quite the opposite for now anyway!
I would say Gibbo of all those cars the McLaren is the most complete. Money no object that's definitely a car you could bin off the rest of the collection and just have that one to do trackdays/road driving/touring etc its a fabulous all round car with excellent handling/suspension and steering plus its ballistically fast which is extremely addictive. The 458 gets the win for noise of course and theres something about the gearbox in that car that's really involving and an integral part of the car. Chassis is old school of course now and none of us miss the brakes!
I think 2024 might see me selling the 600LT I have a couple of my Lotus collection up for sale as well currently looking to try and slim things down a bit and just use the stuff we do have more. I would look to probably get a 458 Spider to replace the 600 though in time but would like to get a coupe of storage places back!
I would say Gibbo of all those cars the McLaren is the most complete. Money no object that's definitely a car you could bin off the rest of the collection and just have that one to do trackdays/road driving/touring etc its a fabulous all round car with excellent handling/suspension and steering plus its ballistically fast which is extremely addictive. The 458 gets the win for noise of course and theres something about the gearbox in that car that's really involving and an integral part of the car. Chassis is old school of course now and none of us miss the brakes!
I think 2024 might see me selling the 600LT I have a couple of my Lotus collection up for sale as well currently looking to try and slim things down a bit and just use the stuff we do have more. I would look to probably get a 458 Spider to replace the 600 though in time but would like to get a coupe of storage places back!
Well a few weeks in now and although we are in the winter (and on the Dunlops!) the 718 has surprised me in a good way!
I have had a couple of 981s before all be it in my business rather than ones I have owned but I have had some decent seat time. I have to say the 718 is a huge improvement.
As ever in the Porsche world a lot of what you hear is just not right sometimes due to YouTubers or jurnos that are too scared to correctly criticise the cars or people can get the old blinkers on...
Anyway one thing I was not expecting having seen a few comparisons and reviews is the steering...wow! this is very much more detailed than the very wooly steering on the 981. I literally cannot believe that reviewers have reported that the old 981 setup was better it's night and day better on the 718. I gather it has some GT3 front suspension stuff? My old 991.1 RS had unexpectedly brilliant steering as well. Very good feedback and even loading up in the corners very much a highlight.
It feels a lot quicker than the 981 much more urgent I would imagine this is a combination of the pdk and additional power. Suspension is decent although the setup is not perfect. I have a bit of a test route that in fairness does show up most cars a very rough bit of old pit area road the only cars that fly down there and remain composed tend to be Ohlins equipped Lotus but down there the GT4 can feel bouncy a sign that the springs aren't actually that well calibrated to the damping. On most roads however its been good if a little on the soft side even allowing the splitter to bottom out on a couple of occasions.
Noise is a little quieter than the 981 of course and you do loose a bit of that lovely signature Porsche mechanical ticker sound. When I get chance I'll be pulling the exhaust flap vacuum off although I'm not too fussed about swapping the exhaust. Maybe something to get rid of the particulate filters in time.
We have Donny booked for March so looking forward to getting out on track to properly stretch her legs a bit but so far so good. It will be really interesting when the roads warm up as normally in the winter cars don't really impress as they need leaning on to get the best out of them but the 718 appears to have that rare ability to be genuinely enjoyable to drive at the lower end of the envelope.
Not sure on the differences re the Spyder but the two 981s I spent time in one was stock one had the full MR handling kit and centre gravity treatment. The MR car felt very planted and was a good improvement but both of those cars I could drive around for an hour and file them under "meh" largely due to the lack of strong feel. As a Lotus owner you'll know all other cars are a bit rubbish to a degree as we're spoilt with the steering and handling.
One set of cars I did drive back to back was the 991RS and 981 gt4 as the GT4 came in my work as I had just sold my 911. The differences were night and day on the steering. The 718 even does that writhing sensation around the dead ahead and the only other car I've known that in is a Lotus. The weighting up in corners is an improvement over the 911.1 RS so they have obviously been busy with the steering. The only car with power steering I remember properly loading up in corners was the Evora so these comparisons are high praise. It's always good when a car exceeds expectation it rarely happens!
One set of cars I did drive back to back was the 991RS and 981 gt4 as the GT4 came in my work as I had just sold my 911. The differences were night and day on the steering. The 718 even does that writhing sensation around the dead ahead and the only other car I've known that in is a Lotus. The weighting up in corners is an improvement over the 911.1 RS so they have obviously been busy with the steering. The only car with power steering I remember properly loading up in corners was the Evora so these comparisons are high praise. It's always good when a car exceeds expectation it rarely happens!
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