The Porsche Cayman GT4 RS isn’t an affordable car. Even by Porsche standards it is expensive. With a base price of Rs 2.5 crore (ex-showroom), it sits on par with the Porsche 911 GT3 in terms of outright cost. And mind you, this is before options.
Ah, the option list. You can go absolutely wild with the options on a Porsche, and even more so a car from the GT department, but expect to shell out a fair bit of cash too. The car we had on test had close to Rs 70 lakh in options and these were a mix of cosmetic, performance and even convenience options. I’m a bit of a nerd and love pouring over the spec of cars, and Porsche really indulges that side of me. And now, I’m going to indulge that side in you. Here’s a list of five optional extras that were on our test Cayman GT4 RS, along with how much they cost. Keep a tissue ready, your eyes are about to water.
This is the most expensive single option on the car. However, while it is a single check box, it brings with it a bunch of changes to your stock Cayman GT4 RS — mostly cosmetic. For starters, it gives you a lot of bare carbon — the hood, the intakes on the side both near the window and door, the airbox cover in the engine compartment, the mirror trim and that massive rear wing. The titanium tailpipes get a new look to mimic the 935, while the roll cage is also upgraded to titanium and you now get the Porsche lettering on the top of the rear window. On the insides, you also get the upper portion of the dashboard upholstered in Race-Tex, a soft Alcantara-like material that reflects less light and glare. Another perk of picking the Weissach pack is that you can upgrade the wheels to forged magnesium ones from the forged aluminium ones. Mind you, this upgrade’s cost isn’t included in the price of the Weissach pack. However, you can only check that option if you have the Weissach pack checked.
PCCB stands for Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes — carbon ceramics, in layman speak, to you and me. These are essentially brake discs made with a composite of plastic and carbonfibre, along with aluminium, and a surface treated ceramic silicone powder. There are some very real benefits to speccing them on the car — the are significantly lighter (up to 50 per cent) that steel brakes of the same size, reducing unsprung weight and thus improving dynamics. They are also heat resistant — retaining their coefficient of friction at high temperatures and thus not succumbing to brake fade. Driving it hard downhill on our test showed no signs of brake fade, and gave us the confidence to push hard all the way where most cars start showing signs of braking halfway down. They are certainly a cool part to have if you want to drive your Porsche to the max, but remember, the manufacturing process is painstaking and thus the price to spec it (and then replace them if needed) is high.
With the way Indian roads are, this one is going to be a must-have. The Cayman GT4 RS is low. It is 30mm lower than the regular 718 Cayman — the ground clearance sits at around 100mm which is properly low. The front axle lift system essentially lifts the nose up, allowing you to approach breakers and large potholes better. Unlike air suspension, this system uses a hydraulic system to lift the front a whole 30mm (raising the front lip by about 40mm). The system can be used at up to 60kmph. On our test, the Cayman 718 GT4 actually dealt with bumps and potholes confidently and only had to lift its nose to deal with breakers. If this is a car you’re planning to use in the city, you’re going to need to spec this option.
Our car was specced in the gorgeous Shark Blue paint, which is a cool Rs 6.5 lakh option. Standard no cost colours include black, white, guards red and racing yellow. One step up are the special colours like Shark Blue. Others include Carrera White Metallic, Gentian Blue Metallic, GT Silver Metallic and Arctic Grey. The GT4 RS, however, can also be specced with PTS — Paint to Sample which gives you access to a whole catalogue of unique and often historic colours. The price? Rs 20.25 lakh. There is also the Paint to Sample programme where you can take a sample of any colour and Porsche will make a paint to match it for your car — but it will likely be ridiculously expensive and will add eight months of lead time on your waiting period for the car.
This one is a fun one — paint in a similar shade of blue to the car. This is an option that is entirely superfluous, but one that makes that Porsche experience so much fun. It makes no difference to anyone’s life, but is undeniably cool. With Porsches, the key is critical too — you still need to insert the fob in the ignition slot and twist it to start the car. It is an old-school experience in a thoroughly modern performance car and while it is expensive for something so unnecessary, I can totally see why someone would absolutely want it!
Here’s a bonus option — the Club Sport package which is a no-cost option with the GT4 RS, and one that is a must have in my opinion. It adds a bolt-on roll cage, a six-point harness and a bracket for the fire extinguisher. Mind you, the extinguisher is sold separately for Rs 30,500. It gives you proper road racer vibes and since it costs absolutely nothing to add in, I would have it in a heartbeat.
Our car had a fair few more options on there to make it the absolute stunner that it was. This Cayman GT4 RS was a highly specced example, but there are cars in India that have gone the full frenzy with PTS paint and everything. If you haven’t played around with the Porsche Configurator yet, I urge you to do so. It's a black hole where you can live out a million Porsche fantasies, right from your work desk.