Porsche’s next Cayman GT4 is going to keep its flat-six engine, in what is absolutely, definitely, fundamentally not an admission that the turbocharged boxer-four in the regular 718 Cayman isn’t quite exciting enough. What’s more, Porsche has confirmed that all GT-badged Porsches will stay normally aspirated for the foreseeable future.
In related news, the next Cayman GT4 is likely to be fast and powerful enough to warrant the RS badge. Although it’s mostly speculation at this point, there could be two versions of the car to mirror the 911 GT3 and GT3 RS pairing. Like the latest 911 GT3, the Cayman GT4 is also likely to have both manual and PDK gearbox options.
As for giving people the transmission choice, Porsche is doing the right thing and aiming to give people what they want – but it’s up to the public to help the company justify it - by actually buying the manual. Industry-wide sales figures over the last few years among sports and supercars have been increasingly weighted towards twin-clutch automatics.