► Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
► Testbed for a a Cayman rally car
► Tested at Rallye Deutschland
Remember that Porsche Cayman rally car we reported on last year? It turns out Porsche is actually going to make it after all. According to a new release from Stuttgart, the overwhelmingly positive repsonse to the rally car led company to put it into production.
There is a small difference though. While the concept was based on the outgoing Cayman GT4, the new rally car will be built using the recently released 718 Cayman GT4 race car, instead. That means 420bhp and 313lb ft from a naturally-aspirated 3.8-litre flat-six, composite body and lower production costs, of course.
When it does get built, Porsche will be entering the Cayman rally car into the FIA R-GT class, which doesn’t require the investment or performance of something like the WRC car you’d most commonly associate with rally.
You can read more about the Cayman GT4 rally car, below.
Porsche Cayman GT4 concept car: everything we know
You’re looking at a one-off testbed for a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport rally car. Essentially a concept car for the motorsport scene, Porsche admits it could go into production if enough privateers and teams show interest.
Announced via a tweet from Porsche Motorsport, little is known at this stage about the racing Cayman, which is designed to compete in tarmac rally stages.
‘The Cayman GT4 Clubsport is just a concept car for rallys,’ the tweet said. ‘At the German @WRC round Rallye Deutschland we will collect feedback from the rally scene. The decision if a similar car based on a future model could be developed will be made later in the year.’
So as yet you can’t buy a Clubsport, but you might be able to soon… We live in hope!
Sounds mega. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport specs and details please
It’s a conceptual look at what a 718 Cayman rally car would look like if designed to compete in the FIA R-GT category for road rallying.
Porsche has confirmed it has 380bhp from its 3.8 flat six engine, reminding us that competition GT Porsches will continue to use six-cylinder power; none of this namby-pamby downsizing to four-pots here.
As befits that evocative Clubsport badge, it’s stripped back with toughened suspension, a chunky rollcage, reinforced undertray for rallying, that charismatic four-strong auxiliary lighting bar on the bonnet and a ‘snorkel’ air scoop on the roof. You may glimpse it being used as a course car at the German leg of the World Rally Championship later this month.
Read our Porsche 718 Cayman review