The Porsche Cayman GT4 has been a hot ticket item in Australia since its release in 2020,
and really, it's easy to see why: Mid-engine layout, manual transmission
and raw race-track-ready dynamics. Well, now there may be another incentive for purchase,
a new automatic PDK version of the Cayman GT4 has landed in Australia,
and we've come to one of the country's greatest playgrounds to check it out, Tasmania.
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The Cayman GT4 has been around since 2015. However, until now, it has only been offered
solely with a manual transmission. That changes with the 2021 Porsche Cayman GT4 PDK. Adding a
$5090 premium over the existing six-speed manual version of Porsche's entry GT car,
the PDK utilises the same legendary 4.0-litre, naturally aspirated flat-six. It also lowers the
official naught to 100 time by half a second on the manual equivalent, to 3.9 seconds claimed.
For the record, that's faster than an entry 911 Carrera. This week, we amassed more than
2000 kilometres in the PDK as part of the annual Porsche Targa Tour in stunning Tasmania.
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In many respects, the Cayman GT4 is the perfect car for Targa Tasmania. It has more than enough
power to put a smile on your face and get you out of sticky situations or slower corners, but
equally, it's a car that you're able to explore its limitations. You can exploit the power on
offer, and happily you can get close to that 8000 RPM cut-out. And when you do, it sounds amazing.
Few vehicles can match the raw visceral appeal of the GT4's atmo six, which channels drive to
the rear wheels via a mechanical, locking differential. Everything here is about
performance, from the active transmission mounts, big 380 millimetre front brakes or the aggressive
rear diffuser, but it's the engine that we kept coming back to. The power here is tractable,
it's free revving, but it's also really linear and predictable throughout the rev range as well.
The PDK automatic transmission, as much as I love manuals, is just so much more effective
on a twisting bit of road, a really nice spread of ratios, particularly for Targa driving, you're
able to attack a lot of these roads in second and third gear. You've got a really tall rev ceiling
across the board yet enough low-down torque to really maximise what's on offer from the engine.
An additional ratio in the PDK gear box over the equivalent manual helps provide a
broader spread across mixed conditions, as well as easier passage at highway speeds.
Other than a little bit of grabbing at low speeds, the PDK is smooth and clinical in its operation,
and although performance is its biggest focus, it also help facilitate respectable fuel economy
of about 13 litres per 100ks across the gruelling Targa event.
The shifts from the PDK are swift and clinical and really well-timed, and you can augment that
feature even more by pressing the PDK Sport button. There is a slight abruptness to the
gearbox at low speed as you would expect for any GT car, but it's so smooth and so
benign with the way that it does it shifts, it really does take the work out of a fast road.
Elsewhere, the GT4 simply enamours with its beautifully weighted steering,
front-to-rear balance and grip levels, especially once some heat is generated
in the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber. The key word that I keep coming back to with the Cayman
GT4 is that of balanced. It is a beautiful example of a mid-engine sports car in terms of its feeling
and feedback, the way that it telegraphs what's happening underneath you, but also the way that it
just cultivates confidence from the driver. You've got really nice precise, well-weighted steering,
great turning response, great body control, and a real level of poise that is really hard to match.
There are very few cars that can perform the way that this one does on a closed bit of road.
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Now of course being a GT car, there are some inherent race car features to the Cayman
GT4. It's noisy inside the cabin. Road noise is ever present. There is a niggly ride and, yeah,
the drivetrain can sound a little bit industrial at low speeds, but
that's all part of this car's charm. And this car is always switched on. I mean, it has a firmer
setting in the adaptive dampers, but there is no different engine modes. There is no
different steering modes. It is a car that is ready to go, and yet it somehow does that,
yet still doesn't rattle your teeth out at the same time. It's a really fine balance, and Porsche
has nailed it. The GT4 is a consummate driver's car, so you can overlook the last-generation
feel of the cabin, the vibrations, the noise, and the focus on performance.
The list of options here and the lack of standard features borders on ludicrous, and Porsche's
three-year warranty pales against the competition as well. But otherwise the GT4 PDK is simply a
masterpiece, bringing more appeal to Porsche's mid-engine GT car without diluting its purity.