The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is an absolute firecracker but it isn’t perfect and like the original GT4, has been criticized for its exceptionally long gearing.
While recently testing out the car in Australia, Which Car discovered that the top of first gear takes you to 84 km/h (52 mph) while second gear tops out at 137 km/h (85 mph) and third gear continues on to an insane 195 km/h (121 mph). Considering how rev-happy the 4.0-liter naturally-aspirated six-cylinder of the Cayman GT4 is, the long gearing means you’ll rarely hit the top of the rev range on the road.
Read Also: Porsche Cayman GT4 And Boxster Spyder Getting PDK Transmissions This Year
Speaking with the man in charge of the Porsche 911 and 718 lines, Frank-Steffen Walliser, Which Car asked just why the GT4’s six-speed manual is geared so long.
“The gearbox we have, don’t get me wrong, it’s an old one, an existing one and changing the gear was just technically not possible as we were running out of space on the shafts, if we need an adjustment there,” he revealed. “We would have loved to have seen that, [the gearing] a little bit shorter, but technically there was no way. We have an answer, which will come later this year and that’s very nice then.”
The ‘answer’ which Walliser is referring to is a dual-clutch PDK transmission that will soon be added to the Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder models. The PDK will not only offer shorter gear ratios than the manual but it promises to broaden the appeal of the two sports cars and drive up sales.
