Post by Stuntman on Jul 26, 2020 14:00:51 GMT
Well yesterday I spent an interesting 70 minutes test-driving one of these:
My local Porsche dealership emailed me a few weeks ago saying 'we want to buy your car'. That set off my thought process about whether to move on from the GT4, hence the Lotus test drives last week. Having driven a 718 Cayman T back in January, I was genuinely interested when the new GTS 4 litre models were launched earlier this year. This particular GTS was first registered on Friday 24th July and I drove it on Saturday 25th July. The car had 3 miles on the odometer when i set off, and nearly 60 miles by the time I came back...
Inside, it's fundamentally the same car as my 981 GT4 since the 718 is only a facelift. But the Nav is much better being a newer generation, and you can get BOSE on a 718 GTS/GT4 whereas you couldn't on the 981 GT4. This particular car came with the folding bucket seats, which are set a bit higher than the 'full buckets' on my GT4 but they are snugger and narrower. I preferred the fit of the folding buckets but wished they were set a bit lower.
This car also had the full GTS interior, which is the carbon trim bits, leather dashboard and alcantara in lots of other places. It comes with Sport Chrono as standard, and a 3-position rotary mode switch on the steering wheel (Normal, Sport, Sport Plus). I put it in Sport Plus from the start and then put the adaptive dampers back into the Normal setting and off I went.
It's a really nice package, really well-judged if you want a sportscar. It's comfortable enough for everyday use and definitely special enough to excite and delight. The ride is firm, and a little bit knobbly on bumpy surfaces (the GTS comes with a 20mm drop versus the standard base model 718 chassis as standard, but you can opt for a 10mm drop at no cost) but it gets better at speed, and it's better than the GT4 at all speeds. I think it would be fine as standard, this was one of the areas I was keen to test out. Of course, the lowered suspension should benefit the handling and body control on smooth fast A and B roads, or occasional track use.
Pedal weights are nice, there's a decent amount of heft to the clutch pedal (as per most Porsches) but it's less than the GT4 and a complete world away from things like the 997 GT3. The gearbox remains lovely - they say it's longer of throw than the GT4's but it is only slightly longer if so. Really nice action. Auto blip is present (switchable) on the GTS and the calibration is not quite as uncannily good as it is on the GT4 - but still very good and genuinely helpful in my opinion.
The steering is a little less sharp on initial turn-in than my GT4 with the smallest hint of float or slack, but it's the kind of thing you'd probably only notice in a direct comparison. Elsewhere, the steering is nicer than the GT4. It has marginally but significantly more feel, and is slightly lighter to use. I tend to prefer heavier steering but there is a small degree of artificiality in the GT4's steering action which is absent from this next-generation EPAS system in the GTS.
The handling is more playful than the GT4. Not quite as playful as my old 987.1 Cayman S but a good step in that direction. It feels less locked-down than the GT4 and it's easier to detect, and initiate, small changes in the car's cornering stance at the front and at the rear (if that makes any sense and doesn't sound too Queefy). In layman's terms, I would say that the GT4 feels a serious car, whereas the GTS feels more fun. I genuinely laughed out loud several times during my test drive, and I can't remember that happening too often in the GT4.
Now arguably the best part of the car is the new engine. Bear in mind that the car I tested was brand new, so I was treating it with a respectful degree of mechanical sympathy. The salesperson said that I could use the full rev range, just not to thrash it from cold or otherwise abuse it. I generally revved it to about 5500 rpm, occasionally using higher revs when downshifting and cornering in second, and occasionally on acceleration.
It makes a good noise. It's reasonably muted in the cabin but not so muted that you can't enjoy it. The sports exhaust (standard on the GTS) was a little droney at low revs, this might be because the exhaust was still bedding in. But in the mid range the car felt more accelerative than the GT4, and it was much more responsive towards the upper end of the rev range. Revs rise and fall quickly, which makes for a great drivetrain in conjunction with the gearbox. It encourages you to brake late and corner hard.
Overall I was very impressed indeed. They have offered my a price for my car if I sell it to them by this coming Friday 31st, and I will be given a GTS build slot if I want one.
My local Porsche dealership emailed me a few weeks ago saying 'we want to buy your car'. That set off my thought process about whether to move on from the GT4, hence the Lotus test drives last week. Having driven a 718 Cayman T back in January, I was genuinely interested when the new GTS 4 litre models were launched earlier this year. This particular GTS was first registered on Friday 24th July and I drove it on Saturday 25th July. The car had 3 miles on the odometer when i set off, and nearly 60 miles by the time I came back...
Inside, it's fundamentally the same car as my 981 GT4 since the 718 is only a facelift. But the Nav is much better being a newer generation, and you can get BOSE on a 718 GTS/GT4 whereas you couldn't on the 981 GT4. This particular car came with the folding bucket seats, which are set a bit higher than the 'full buckets' on my GT4 but they are snugger and narrower. I preferred the fit of the folding buckets but wished they were set a bit lower.
This car also had the full GTS interior, which is the carbon trim bits, leather dashboard and alcantara in lots of other places. It comes with Sport Chrono as standard, and a 3-position rotary mode switch on the steering wheel (Normal, Sport, Sport Plus). I put it in Sport Plus from the start and then put the adaptive dampers back into the Normal setting and off I went.
It's a really nice package, really well-judged if you want a sportscar. It's comfortable enough for everyday use and definitely special enough to excite and delight. The ride is firm, and a little bit knobbly on bumpy surfaces (the GTS comes with a 20mm drop versus the standard base model 718 chassis as standard, but you can opt for a 10mm drop at no cost) but it gets better at speed, and it's better than the GT4 at all speeds. I think it would be fine as standard, this was one of the areas I was keen to test out. Of course, the lowered suspension should benefit the handling and body control on smooth fast A and B roads, or occasional track use.
Pedal weights are nice, there's a decent amount of heft to the clutch pedal (as per most Porsches) but it's less than the GT4 and a complete world away from things like the 997 GT3. The gearbox remains lovely - they say it's longer of throw than the GT4's but it is only slightly longer if so. Really nice action. Auto blip is present (switchable) on the GTS and the calibration is not quite as uncannily good as it is on the GT4 - but still very good and genuinely helpful in my opinion.
The steering is a little less sharp on initial turn-in than my GT4 with the smallest hint of float or slack, but it's the kind of thing you'd probably only notice in a direct comparison. Elsewhere, the steering is nicer than the GT4. It has marginally but significantly more feel, and is slightly lighter to use. I tend to prefer heavier steering but there is a small degree of artificiality in the GT4's steering action which is absent from this next-generation EPAS system in the GTS.
The handling is more playful than the GT4. Not quite as playful as my old 987.1 Cayman S but a good step in that direction. It feels less locked-down than the GT4 and it's easier to detect, and initiate, small changes in the car's cornering stance at the front and at the rear (if that makes any sense and doesn't sound too Queefy). In layman's terms, I would say that the GT4 feels a serious car, whereas the GTS feels more fun. I genuinely laughed out loud several times during my test drive, and I can't remember that happening too often in the GT4.
Now arguably the best part of the car is the new engine. Bear in mind that the car I tested was brand new, so I was treating it with a respectful degree of mechanical sympathy. The salesperson said that I could use the full rev range, just not to thrash it from cold or otherwise abuse it. I generally revved it to about 5500 rpm, occasionally using higher revs when downshifting and cornering in second, and occasionally on acceleration.
It makes a good noise. It's reasonably muted in the cabin but not so muted that you can't enjoy it. The sports exhaust (standard on the GTS) was a little droney at low revs, this might be because the exhaust was still bedding in. But in the mid range the car felt more accelerative than the GT4, and it was much more responsive towards the upper end of the rev range. Revs rise and fall quickly, which makes for a great drivetrain in conjunction with the gearbox. It encourages you to brake late and corner hard.
Overall I was very impressed indeed. They have offered my a price for my car if I sell it to them by this coming Friday 31st, and I will be given a GTS build slot if I want one.
