This is not a drill, people. The first Renn Sport Porsche Cayman - the GT4 RS - will make its debut on Wednesday morning. We're not typically into show preview stories on PH (especially when the car in question is a secret as poorly kept as the 718) but some fast cars are a little more significant than others. Hopefully you'll agree that the GT4 RS is one.
Porsche is promising "the most uncompromising and sharpest 718 ever" which, by extension, probably means the most uncompromising and sharpest Cayman ever. And there's been some fairly special ones over the past 15 years, so expectations are high. Both 981 and 718 GT4s stand as high watermarks for Porsche GT cars and the sports car segment; the RS promises to be even more thrilling than those. In case you're wondering about the excitement.
Let's not forget the incredible stats, either. Here's a car that must have less power than a GT3 yet has lapped the Nordschleife in 7:04. The RS has more downforce and less weight than a GT4, a car that's never struggled on either front. And this is all for a mid-engined Cayman chassis that's impressed whether it's had a 2.0-litre flat-four in it or a six-cylinder with twice the capacity. It has to be spectacular, doesn't it?
Mark Webber will host Porsche's premiere show from LA, which kicks off at 4am on Wednesday. Should be a nice thing to wake up to, then. Not least because Porsche is using Los Angeles for five global premieres: as well as the GT4 RS and the Panamera Platinum Edition, we can expect to see a third bodystyle for the Taycan as well as an "incredibly dynamic" variant, plus a Clubsport race car of the GT4 RS. Something for everyone, then - but it's that RS road car we'll be keeping closest eye on.
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