Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Review

This is the car Porsche spent a decade refusing to build, because a mid-engined Cayman with the GT3 engine embarrasses the 911 it is supposed to sit beneath. It does, on a circuit. The 4.0 litre flat-six revs to 9,000rpm and makes 493 horsepower, the intakes sit directly behind the cabin bulkhead so the induction noise arrives through the rear window rather than the exhaust, and the aero is genuine downforce rather than styling.

Only a dual-clutch gearbox is offered, which purists complain about and which is measurably the right call here. Living with it is the hard part. There is no meaningful sound insulation, so a two hour motorway journey is loud enough to be tiring, the carbon buckets are unyielding, and fuel economy on a spirited road is somewhere near a large pickup. Consumables are GT3 money on a car that costs less. Values have held very well, because supply was short and nobody makes anything like it. Buy it knowing what you are signing up for.