Yahoo Autos Tested: 2021 Porsche Cayman GT4 PDK Will Set You Free
Have you been endlessly chasing that magical feeling you had the first time you slipped behind the wheel with your driver's license? After years of trying to recapture that joy and sense of freedom in vain, we think we just found it in the Porsche Cayman GT4.
The Cayman GT4 is a 414-hp distillation of the happiness that we thought driving would bring. It's quick. Equipped with the dual-clutch automatic (called "PDK" in Porsche circles; $3210)—available for the first time in the GT4—it charges to 60 in 3.3 seconds and to an 11.6-second quarter-mile at 121 mph off a shocking 6600-rpm launch-control clutch dump. The automatic is so prescient that it selects the right gear the instant you'd be reaching for the shifter in the six-speed version. A manual has a level of involvement that can't be duplicated, but when an automatic does exactly what you'd do at the exact right time, there's really not much to complain about.
The GT4's flat-six traces its lineage to the twin-turbo 3.0-liter in the latest 911s. Shorn of its turbos, the engine is bored and stroked to 4.0 liters, and the result is a rev-happy soul. Without turbos muddying things, there's a direct relationship between the accelerator and the shove into the seat. The six spins up quickly, which is good because you have to zing it to at least 5000 rpm to reach the torque peak of 309 pound-feet. Press on and the gritty intake wail at 8000 rpm reaches a lovely but loud 93 decibels. At full chat, this engine sounds even better than a police officer uttering the words, "I'm going to let you off with a warning this time."
