Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS

FIRST UK DRIVE is the hottest Cayman as impressive on UK roads as it was in Europe?

- Alastair Crooks

Performance 0-62mph/top speed 3.4 seconds/196mph

Running costs 21.4mpg (official) £118 fill-up

WHEN Porsche has something as iconic and revered as the 911 in its range, you'd think there would have been some pressure for the firm not to step on its own. toes with the GT4 RS. Thankfully, this clearly wasn't the case as it devised the hottest version of the Cayman to date.

When Steve Sutcliffe drove the new 718 Cayman GT4 RS in Portugal, he said it was one of the best road cars he'd ever driven. Now, we're trying it in the UK.

The ingredients that make up the GT4 RS seem like a greatest hits list of the parts you'd want in a mid-engined sports car from Porsche. Its engine is the fabulous 4.0-litre flat-six from the 911 GT3, but due to the increased back pressure of the mid-engined car's longer exhaust, it produces 496bhp 10bhp less than the GT3 and 22bhp down on the newly revealed GT3 RS.

But the GT4 RS only weighs 1,415kg thanks to the use of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic for the front wings and bonnet; and as on past RS models, the Porsche emblem is just a sticker. There's lighter rear-window glass, too, plus lightweight carpets, less sound deadening and fabric door pulls. You can even forgo the infotainment screen.