Since it first rolled off the assembly line in 1964, the Porsche 911 is by far the most celebrated car Porsche ever produced — and quite possibly one of the most beloved sportscars of all time. Even now, Porsche offers a litany of versions of the 911. Porsche even made the car dress up like a Jeep Wrangler with the off-road focused 911 Dakar. The brand has made well over a million of them, and it’s unlikely any other Porsche will take the spotlight anytime soon.
But the Porsche brand is more than one car: It has the electric Taycan, the big Panamera, and even a 670 horsepower hybrid version of the Cayenne. Outside of the 911’s sheer popularity among car enthusiasts, the German automaker has continued to experiment with various different models, pushing the limits but never straying too far from its core design philosophy of sleek and speedy.
There’s a lot to find in the Porsche brand, including the 911’s cousin coupe: the Porsche 718.
Porsche 911 junior
The Porsche 718 is an immensely competent car. It’s nimble, quick off the line, and depending on how it’s optioned out from the factory, can share a lot more similarities with the 911 than just a badge on the hood. But just how fast is the 718?
Just like every other Porsche, there are seemingly dozens of versions of the 718: There’s the bone-stock 718 Cayman, the convertible 718 Boxster, and many others. But if all you’re concerned about is speed and great track performance, then look no further than the 718 Cayman GT4 RS. Because it wouldn’t be a track-ready Porsche if there weren’t several consonants and numbers after the model name.
The 718 GT4 RS’ secret lies with its powerplant. It has the same horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine (also called the “flat-six) as the 911 GT3, pushing out 493 horsepower and 331 foot-pounds of torque. It also has a 7-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission, allowing for very quick gear changes. According to Porsche, the 718 GT4 RS can accelerate to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds, and can top out at 196 miles per hour.
Those numbers actually put the 718 GT4 RS higher than the base model 911 Carrera, which reaches its limits a 182 miles per hour with 0-60 mph in four seconds. In the same price bracket, the 911 Carrera 4 GTS only slightly nudges out a better 0-60 time by a tenth of a second at 3.2 seconds. But it still loses by just four miles per hour when it comes to top speed.
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Tama Buresh