New Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS spotted without camouflage

The new Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS is edging ever closer to its official debut, and it has once again been “caught” in a fresh set of spy shots near Stuttgart, Germany.

More importantly, it has now appeared for the first time with no camouflage at all. The only items still covered are the Porsche badges, which is entirely typical at this late stage of a model’s development.

Compared with the “standard” 718 Cayman GT4, this new 718 Cayman GT4 RS - set to become the first Porsche outside the 911 to receive the RS treatment - is packed with bespoke details.

Less civilised, more wild

Up front, the bumper stands out with larger air intakes, a very prominent and clearly defined lip spoiler, and a more sculpted bonnet featuring two NACA air inlets.

From the side, the forged centre-lock wheels are the main highlight, along with the oversized drilled brake discs. These can be specified in carbon-ceramic form; in this “round” of spy shots, that set-up can be seen on a prototype with US-market specifications, confirming that the 718 Cayman GT4 RS will be crossing the Atlantic.

And it is impossible to look at this 718 Cayman without mentioning the imposing rear wing. It will carry the GT4 RS designation on the sides, despite the futile attempt to disguise it with adhesive film.

The wing - whose geometry may be adjustable manually - works perfectly with the huge rear diffuser and promises to make a meaningful difference to the aerodynamics of this model. The whole package has been comprehensively reworked compared with the 718 Cayman GT4, which now looks positively “civilised” by comparison.

Naturally aspirated six-cylinder

Powering the 718 Cayman GT4 RS will be a naturally aspirated 4,0 l flat-six boxer engine that we already know from the GT4 (unrelated to the 911 GT3’s 4.0 l flat-six boxer), although the final power output remains unknown.

What does seem clear is that this GT4 RS should move beyond the GT4’s 420 cv. As a result, output is expected to land at around 450 cv, still below the 510 cv produced by its older “brother”, the 911 GT3.

Nürburgring run impressed

As is almost always the case with launches from the Stuttgart “house”, the 718 Cayman GT4 RS has already shown itself at the legendary Nürburgring, where it posted an impressive 23,6s improvement over the 718 Cayman GT4 - in other words, more than one second quicker per kilometre (!).

That is a meaningful gap, and it helps to underline the changes Porsche has made to the most radical (and fastest) version of the 718 Cayman, which needed only 7min09,3s to complete the 20,832 km of the famous German circuit.