Porsche GT - Best Car-On Track Or Off

Porsche's new mid-engine GTs reach a new level

- Andy Pilgrim

Dusk arrives late in July over Loch Faskally. It’s well after 10 p.m. as the fading light plays over a well-positioned Miami Blue 2020 Porsche 718 Spyder, one of the stars of our two-day sortie into the Scottish Highlands. The other new offering on the GT menu during this trip is the 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, a car we’ve anticipated driving for a very long time.

All of Porsche’s “GT” cars are born in Flacht, Germany, home to the Porsche Motorsport group and the brains who make this secret sauce. The 718 Cayman GT4 and 718 Spyder—the latter now also the GT division’s responsibility despite not actually featuring “GT” (or “Boxster”) in its name—set new pinnacles for the Cayman and Boxster lines. Dealers are accepting orders for the duo and should have stock by next spring; the base price for the Spyder is $97,650, and the GT4 starts at $100,550.

Road drives came in the Spyder, with the GT4 pegged for track time. The Spyder and GT4 now boast exactly the same chassis and suspension setups, which wasn’t the case in previous generations. They also employ the same engine, a new 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six producing 414 horsepower at 7,600 rpm and 309 lb-ft of torque from 5,000 to 6,800 pm. Max rpm is now 8,000, up 200 from before. Top speeds are also up, the GT4 capable of 188 mph and the Spyder 187.