Cayman GT4 RS

[Ectopic]

Beautiful spec mate! Love the white-blue combo.

$1460.00 for blue "GT4RS" stickers!?! crikey 😳

[Raven]

Give it a month or two and Renndecals will be selling quality reproductions for $100 usd 

[WGA]

Just finished two days at Spa. Was supposed to spend the whole time in 4RS but due to factory delays, they could only bring 5 cars to the track instead of the planned 12. As a result we had to rotate the car around the 12 drivers. For the rest of the track time they gave me a 992 GT3 so going directly from one to the other was quite interesting.

As you would expect, it makes good power which eliminates the big weakness in the current GT4. The car is very agile and rotates very quickly but the front end tends to wash out much sooner than the new 992 GT3. I still reckon the back end is a bit of a problem as it tends to move about more under hard braking that a GT3. And I think it is still under tyred at the rear. I asked one of the engineers about this and he said that they actually asked for more tyre but the car would have required body and suspension changes to acccommodate so was deemed to expensive.

Sound wise, inside the car it is much, much louder than my 3RS…but it’s a good sound. Very classic GT3. But bizarrely, outside the car, it still sounds like a GT4 so does not have the classic GT3 howl. Blame the exhaust set up.

Overall, I really enjoyed the car but if faced with a choice between a GT3 or a 4RS, I would take the GT3.

[TwoHeadsTas]

28 minutes ago, WGA said:

Just finished two days at Spa. Was supposed to spend the whole time in 4RS but due to factory delays, they could only bring 5 cars to the track instead of the planned 12. As a result we had to rotate the car around the 12 drivers. For the rest of the track time they gave me a 992 GT3 so going directly from one to the other was quite interesting.

As you would expect, it makes good power which eliminates the big weakness in the current GT4. The car is very agile and rotates very quickly but the front end tends to wash out much sooner than the new 992 GT3. I still reckon the back end is a bit of a problem as it tends to move about more under hard braking that a GT3. And I think it is still under tyred at the rear. I asked one of the engineers about this and he said that they actually asked for more tyre but the car would have required body and suspension changes to acccommodate so was deemed to expensive.

Sound wise, inside the car it is much, much louder than my 3RS…but it’s a good sound. Very classic GT3. But bizarrely, outside the car, it still sounds like a GT4 so does not have the classic GT3 howl. Blame the exhaust set up.

Overall, I really enjoyed the car but if faced with a choice between a GT3 or a 4RS, I would take the GT3.

@dragon02 Ian, read this 🙂

 

[donR]

1 hour ago, WGA said:

Just finished two days at Spa. Was supposed to spend the whole time in 4RS but due to factory delays, they could only bring 5 cars to the track instead of the planned 12. As a result we had to rotate the car around the 12 drivers. For the rest of the track time they gave me a 992 GT3 so going directly from one to the other was quite interesting.

As you would expect, it makes good power which eliminates the big weakness in the current GT4. The car is very agile and rotates very quickly but the front end tends to wash out much sooner than the new 992 GT3. I still reckon the back end is a bit of a problem as it tends to move about more under hard braking that a GT3. And I think it is still under tyred at the rear. I asked one of the engineers about this and he said that they actually asked for more tyre but the car would have required body and suspension changes to acccommodate so was deemed to expensive.

Sound wise, inside the car it is much, much louder than my 3RS…but it’s a good sound. Very classic GT3. But bizarrely, outside the car, it still sounds like a GT4 so does not have the classic GT3 howl. Blame the exhaust set up.

Overall, I really enjoyed the car but if faced with a choice between a GT3 or a 4RS, I would take the GT3.

Really interesting to hear a back to back comparison with the 992 GT3. I agree when you are seeing 315 size tyres on the GT3 vs 295 on the GT4RS it does seem like a disadvantage. I believe you can fit Front: 265/35-19 // Rear: 305/30-19 on a GT4 which should help with the front but not sure how much an extra 10mm will help in the rear.  

[WGA]

Had an unplanned extra day in the 4RS so here are some second round impressions from Spa.

The day started out with snow on the ground but fortunately it ended up mostly dry.

As previously stated, it’s a very agile car, especially through Les Combe and Piff Paff. Quicker than a GT3 through here. Min corner speeds were higher than the GT3. But once through the apex, you can apply full power earlier in the GT3. End result, almost identical times.

The lower gearing means that the 4RS is actually a bit faster once on the gas and will pull a gap on the GT3. On the run down to Eau Rouge and the long run up Kemmel straight, the 4RS will gap/gain on GT3. The GT3 pulls it all back through Eau Rouge and Radillon because of its better grip and earlier power on out of the compression.

The brakes on the GT4 RS seemed better than the GT3. even though the 4RS moved around a bit more under brakes you could consistently brake a few metres later. Indeed the GT3 brakes seems a bit soft compared the 991.2 GT3 and comparedto the 4RS. I suspected that it was down to the pads so I asked an engineer about them. He told me that the GT3 was running the revised pads with reduced level of copper but Porsche had learnt from that and the GT4 RS was running an updated pad composition and that these updated pads would be applied to future GT3s.

And have I mentioned how loud it is inside! A couple of guys went looking for ear plugs after a couple of sessions complaining of headaches. It didn’t bother me but gee whiz it’s loud inside. Still quiet on the outside though.

So overall, every one who drove the 4RS loved it. Both cars were putting down pretty much the same lap times. Choosing between the two will depend solely of which diving characteristic you prefer. There is no bad choice here and no bragging rights of one over the other.

I personally prefered the GT3 on this track on this day but can imagine on smaller tracks, like Winton, the 4RS might be the preferred choice.

Heres a small video of me following the engineer, and Porsche Development driver, responsible for steering systems.

https://youtu.be/lP_71ZMXTf4

My two back to back chariots.

 

[Grimmy]

Thank you for the the informative post and video.

[mc968cs]

Thanks. Great write up @WGA and looks fun.  On a related note - how does one get to do that - can you book that through Porsche experience? I’m keen. Have done a couple and enjoyed them. 
 

or is very much invite only type thing?

[Stepo]

9 hours ago, WGA said:

Love that photo

[HWY]

11 hours ago, WGA said:

Heres a small video of me following the engineer, and Porsche Development driver, responsible for steering systems.

https://youtu.be/lP_71ZMXTf4

Was that GT3 holding you back???  Seemed like you were only at 85%!

[WGA]

42 minutes ago, HWY said:

Was that GT3 holding you back???  Seemed like you were only at 85%!

Yes. He backed off into Eau Rouge and braked a bit early for Les Combe. it was a lead follow situation where we were introduced to the car. After two of these type of stints, it was then free driving in 30min sessions for the rest of the day. Still for an introductory lead follow situation, it was still pretty quick.

[DJM]

On 13/04/2022 at 07:34, mc968cs said:

Thanks. Great write up @WGA and looks fun.  On a related note - how does one get to do that - can yobook that through Porsche experience? I’m keen. Have done a couple and enjoyed them. 
 

or is very much invite only type thing?

Hire one here:

https://rsrbooking.com/cars/41
https://rsrbooking.com/cars/40

[Raven]

good pic of the GT4 and RS side by side ...

 

[WGA]

A couple more shots of the GT4 RS I drove after the snow cleared.

 

[HWY]

WGA- reckon you would have had him by 4 mins in.....

[WGA]

That’s a very good lap time considering they only had one full dry day in the car. I was scheduled to be there but unfortunately I had to pull out and head back to Aus. A Belgium mate of mine was there and did a 7:40 in a GT4 RS too so 7:38 in a strange car is pretty good!

[TwoHeadsTas]

There did seem to be a strange vibration type noise near the red line - presume that wasn't just the exhaust / engine note, I think it would become very annoying if it was??? Looked like they had a great lap clear of other cars too.

[tomo]

1 hour ago, TwoHeadsTas said:

There did seem to be a strange vibration type noise near the red line - presume that wasn't just the exhaust / engine note, I think it would become very annoying if it was??? Looked like they had a great lap clear of other cars too.

Don't  forget it's a track hack, Every tom dick and Harry have thrashed the sh#t out of it

[TwoHeadsTas]

8 minutes ago, tomo said:

Don't  forget it's a track hack, Every tom dick and Harry have thrashed the sh#t out of it

True 🙂 

[cafe_racer]

I have one on the way, hopefully here by October.  I went could be termed povo comfort spec 😂 I'm just excited to be getting one.

[WGA]

2 hours ago, cafe_racer said:

I have one on the way, hopefully here by October.  I went could be termed povo comfort spec 😂 I'm just excited to be getting one.

Congrats!  I wanted one badly but my dealer said that in order to be fair to as many customers as they could, I could not get GT3 Touring AND a 4RS so I was ask to choose one. I went for the GT3 Touring which is currently on a ship. Hopefully next year I can get a 4RS too. I look forward to your local impressions.

[cafe_racer]

Thanks WGA, your reviews really helped make me feel comfortable with my decision.

 

I’m glad your dealer made you pick one like a kid in a candy store, it might have helped me get one! I’m definitely not a high value porsche customer so was pretty surprised to get a call up. 

[HWY]

28 minutes ago, cafe_racer said:

Thanks WGA, your reviews really helped make me feel comfortable with my decision.

 

I’m glad your dealer made you pick one like a kid in a candy store, it might have helped me get one! I’m definitely not a high value porsche customer so was pretty surprised to get a call up. 

My porsche centre said only 30% have ticked the Weissach Pack- I think it's too expensive in Australia.  I will wait and get Suncoast exposed carbon fiber bits for the engine cover if the plastic really looks too plasticky....

 

Congratulations on getting one. You have been patient!

 

[Snowman]

I know about 8 guys with 4RS orders (not all confirmed yet) - but every one of them has ticked the Weissach's pack so I find that statement questionable.

Also I heard there's a big price jump coming for any deliveries not already locked in with build slots. Be interesting to see if that gets a few people to drop off the list.

 

[sleazius]

1 hour ago, Snowman said:

Also I heard there's a big price jump coming for any deliveries not already locked in with build slots. Be interesting to see if that gets a few people to drop off the list.

 

Very interesting. Its already a $400k proposition with the pack and a few options.