2016 Porsche Cayman GT4

Southern California’s Angeles Forest Highway over the San Gabriel Mountains is almost flawlessly smooth. And though construction crews have been bringing this stretch of road to a halt for months, they’re almost done. Get out there before 7:30 a.m. and you’ll enjoy an uninterrupted stretch of fresh black carpet draped over a mountain. Get there later and you’ll have a painful wait through several one-way construction zones. We got up early one recent morning to take thePorsche Cayman GT4 on this route to our desert test facility.

We didn’t think Porsche would ever build this car. It’s a Cayman with the 911’s engine for base-911 money: $85,595. Many have heralded this as fratricide. But here’s why the Grand Cayman won’t kill the 911: Not many GT4s will be made, the GT4 is manual only, and 911s sell because they are 911s.

The 3.8-liter flat-six out of the Carrera S is humming along, mere inches behind us. In the GT4, it makes 385 horsepower, which is 15 horses shy of what it does in the Carrera S, but 45 more than the Cayman GTS and 35 more than the base 911. Below 5000 rpm, the engine whines and whirs; spin toward the 7600-rpm redline and the pulsing turns into a 10,000 conga-drum jam-o-rama. The six puts out a big 90 decibels at full whack. Don’t worry, though; it’s a pleasant sound, never annoying.

Up on the mountain, we’re not at the redline very often. First and second gears are incredibly tall—second is good for nearly 80 mph. That gearing takes a bit of around-town zip out of the GT4. We meas­ured a zero-to-60 time of 4.1 seconds, identical to a manual Cayman GTS we’d previously tested. Beyond 60, though, the GT4 pulls away from the GTS. By 110 mph, it’s a second ahead. In the quarter-mile, the GT4 posts 12.3 seconds at 117 mph. For context, know that a PDK-equipped Carrera S goes through the quarter in 12.4 seconds at 116 mph with the Cayman GTS arriving in 12.5 seconds at 113 mph.

But power and performance are just two elements of the GT4’s 911 kinship. The entire front suspension is lifted from the 911 GT3. On the new asphalt, we can detect some understeer. On the skidpad, the GT4 pushes more reliably than the boldly neutral Cayman GTS and has a little less grip, even on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (1.01 g’s versus 1.04). But the GT4’s chassis eagerness and steering feel are infused with GT3 goodness. At speed, it’s almost as if the electric power steering is completely unassisted. You’re flooded with information about the surface, the tires, and the available grip. Porsche didn’t ruin the ride here, either. Provided you stay away from the sport setting on the PASM dampers, you’ll experience a firm, but spouse-friendly, ride.

A few subtle tweaks strengthen the rear end and allow for camber adjustments, but the biggest difference between the GT4’s hindquarters and that of lesser Caymans is seen in the 911-sized rear tires. The increase in front-tire width is not as great as that of the rear rubber and may be one reason why the GT4 understeers more than the Cayman GTS.

But the GT4 makes a stronger fashion statement than other Caymans. A new nose houses gaping cooling ducts, the rear end has a small diffuser and a big wing.

You sit low in the GT4, especially with the optional ($4730) single-piece seats from the 918 Spyder; they make a graceful entry or exit impossible. Between the seats is a glorious six-speed manual, fitted with Porsche’s short shifter that makes snapping off ridiculously quick gearchanges easy. Hit the sport button and the engine automatically blips the throttle to match revs on downshifts. It’s hard to break the habit of heel-toe downshifting, but the computer makes rev matching easy.

With the exception of getting in and out of its seats, the GT4 makes everything easy. It’s the first Cayman that’s an excellent alternative to a base 911.