Porsche GT4 RS

The somewhat clichéd description of discovering a body part you didn't know you had fits extremely well on the Porsche GT4 RS. Let me explain why.

The Porsche GT4 RS is based simply on the roofed version of the Boxter, namely the Cayman. But a lot has happened with the version I now drive compared to the Cayman as it was when I first became familiar with the model. When I got to know the Cayman around 2007, it was a pretty tame version compared to today's GT4 RS. The name Cayman is still there but now the number 718 has been added to the cover before Cayman. The Boxtern is also called 718 before Boxter, which logically unites the models. 

The number name 718 comes from and to pay tribute to the sports car that, in various versions, was raced with in the late fifties and early sixties. In 1958 LeMans was won with 718 RSK.

 

Both the 718 Boxter and 718 Cayman are available in a number of different versions, with the GT4 RS being the sharpest. Shortly before the time of writing, Porsche also presented a 718 Boxter in the GT4 RS version. Porsche has promised that we will get to take it out and feel it once it arrives. Longing!

My acquaintance with the Boxter model began when my old classmate Daniel, whose parents owned and ran a famous Italian restaurant and pizzeria in Gothenburg. Daniel bought a Boxter as his second car after he first had an Alfa Romeo. It might sound a bit spoiled, but I can promise that he had to work hard for the cars. However, it ended somewhat tragically with the Porsche being stolen. 

My strongest experience of his Boxter was on the mythical Härskogsvägen outside Gothenburg. Here I got to test drive the car and we had received unofficial times for the road through my father, Bengt Ason Holm, who was involved in Gothenburg's Motor Historiska Klubb, GMHK. The times we did our best to beat and since they were set with cars much older than Daniel's Boxter we actually succeeded. These are truly memories that stick. Härskogsvägen can be compared to Bogesundsvägen outside Stockholm on the way to Vaxholm. I obviously took the GT4 RS there but let me get back to that in a moment. 

Now let's focus on the 718 Cayman GT4 RS. The test car Porsche Sweden kindly lent to me was in the special color Bahama Yellow. A deep yellow color that really suits the car. You become both happy and energetic every time you see it. Add to that the hood at the front and the wing at the back, which are made of carbon fiber and which are painted in transparent lacquer so that the carbon fiber is completely exposed. Incredibly delicious if you ask me. 

When you open the door, you won't be disappointed either. Two racing seats in carbon fiber with three-point belts. There are also regular belts for those who don't want to screw themselves up like in a vise all the time. But once you've settled in, you never want to move. This is where the unknown body part experience begins. Even the steering wheel feels incredibly tight and well-shaped. It goes without saying that it is round, but the thickness feels absolutely perfect. Add to that that it is covered in alcantara for the best grip. 

The key, which in classic Porsche fashion is on the left side of the steering wheel, when turned starts the engine with a melodious growl. The car immediately feels lively! I roll away and you immediately feel how sensitive it is. Shifts are lightning fast thanks to the PDK box. PDK stands for Porsche Doppel Kupplungs in German. Double clutch box simple translation in Swedish. I have described the technology here before, but for those of you who may have missed it, it is quickly explained technically that the gearbox is built in such a way that the next gear is ready thanks to a double clutch function. It speeds up the switching moments tremendously. The technology was invented back in 1935 by the Frenchman Adolphe Kégresse and first appeared in a Citroën Traction Avant in 1939. The Porsche GT4 RS can only be had with the PDK box, but that should not disappoint anyone. 

Via a button on the console between the seats, you can select PDK Sport, which speeds up the gear changes even more. On the same center console you will find more buttons. One that has been somewhat jokingly called the button with goggles on, ski goggles. That button makes you get more sound from the exhaust pipes at the back. Hence the motif on the button, which should look like two exhaust pipes in width. When the button is pressed in combination with the PDK Sport button, there is incredible pleasure at every shift, and it happens quickly!

As I mentioned earlier, I cut Bogesundsvägen with the GT4 RS. A perfect road for this car. The curves really make you feel where the car is and that you trust it one hundred percent. Roadholding is truly something Porsche can do and the GT4 RS is no exception. It does exactly what you want but a little better. And this is where the body part cliché comes to mind. As many of you probably know, I have driven an incredible amount of cars, and above all performance cars that want to be actively driven. And I have to say it's been a long time since I've been so impressed with the driving feel of a car like the GT4 RS. It really is in a class of its own. There are certainly more powerful cars, although the 500 horses found in the GT4 RS are certainly not shy. Some quick performance figures, the GT4 RS goes from 0 to 100 in just 3.4 seconds. If you keep the gas pedal depressed, you will pass 200 km/h in just 10.9 seconds from the time you started. And I consider that to be fast enough for most people.

I drive a Jeep everyday for various reasons related to my work as a photographer. If I were to make the choice to have an extra car just to enjoy driving the 110%, well then it would definitely be a GT4 RS. Until the 718 Boxter GT4 RS arrives then, because of course it's lovely to drive with the roof down. But until then, those of you who have acquired the GT4 RS, congratulations on your new sporty body part intended for total enjoyment of curvy roads.