Sime Darby Auto Performance, the sole distributor of Porsche vehicles in Malaysia, surprised us with an early Christmas treat: laps around the Sepang International Circuit with their latest track day-oriented 718 Cayman GT4.
The heart of the GT4 is the powertrain. Bolted behind the driver is four litres of naturally-aspirated goodness in the hallmark flat-six configuration, derived from the 992-generation 911 Carrera family, paired to a six-speed manual transmission to preserve the pure driving experience.
Uninterrupted by the plumbing of exhaust turbochargers, the 420 hp 4.0-litre flat-six sings to 8,000 rpm, and flicking the crisp shift lever that precisely slots into each gear is literally ‘the stuff legends are made of’.
The GT4 is equipped with the high-performance GT chassis, consisting of lightweight spring-strut front and rear axles – a technology inherited from motorsports, as well as adjustable ride height, camber, toe angle, and anti-roll bars.
The Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) is also standard here with the sports setup and suspensions, bringing the centre of gravity of the 718 Cayman GT4 30mm closer to the ground.
At the Sepang circuit, the GT4 feels taut, tightly strung, with the steering wheel commanding all your attention thanks to its sheer accuracy.
The racier looking bumpers at both ends of the GT4 feature significantly enhanced aerodynamic devices such as the more efficient rear wing and a more elaborate diffuser – the latter responsible for up to 30% of the downforce at the rear axle. We confidently carried more speed into the corners too.
The GT4 models we sampled ticked all the important boxes on the options list, thus stopping power is taken care by the Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake (PCCB). They took the abuse like a champ; no signs of fade nor loss of feel, lap after lap.
In summary, the GT4 delivers raw automotive performance, close to the perfection of steering, accelerating, braking, and gear shifting.
The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 starts at RM999,000.00 a pop, but to fully enjoy the vehicle at its natural habitat, get the Clubsport package.
GALLERY
