PORSCHE 718 GTS

TURBO FOUR IS OUT, SCREAMING SIX IS BACK!

- ALEX INWOOD

CRIKEY, IT’S another six-pot Cayman/Boxster. Just months after whetting our appetite by debuting a box-fresh 4.0-litre flat-six in the Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder, Porsche has democratised its new donk by wedging it into the ‘regular’ 718 range.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, however, a reality check: this doesn’t mean the end of the four-cylinder powerplants. “The regular Cayman and Boxster will keep the turbo engines,” says the man in charge of Porsche’s boxer engines, Markus Baumann. “There are a lot of customers that want a turbo because of the torque. They still sell very well.”

Still, consider this facelifted GTS a win for the enthusiast. While the 4.0-litre six might not have the low-end muscle of the 2.5-litre force-fed unit it replaces, it takes two minutes at the international launch in Portugal to confirm this is the better sports car engine. It sounds purposeful at idle, revs cleanly and eagerly to the 7800rpm cut-out, is surprisingly tractable and delivers a level of response and tactility that’s been missing from the regular 718 range for years.

Sounds good too. GTS models score the same twin-exit sports exhaust as the GT4, and the way the timbre transforms from a guttural growl to a hard-edged howl will have you chasing every last rev. And don’t get us started on the linearity of the power delivery; delayed gratification is a GTS calling card.

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