Porsche 718 GT3?

They said it would never happen. They said Porsche would always dumb down the 718 (Cayman) so that it didn’t cannibalize the 911. Well, in a way, “never” just happened. Porsche has announced that the GT3 motor is now available in the 718. It isn’t called the 718 GT3; instead, they’ve dubbed it the 718 GT4 RS. Okay, whatever.

The 718 GT4 RS has a 4.0 liter, naturally-aspirated flat six making 493 hp at 8400 rpm. The 911 GT3 has essentially the same engine, though it is rated at 502 hp, which is a gnat’s behind different for almost all of us. Curb weight for the 718 is slightly higher as well (3227 lb vs 3164 lb for the 911 GT3). But, if you are one of those people who are convinced that the mid-engine position is a huge advantage, those slight differences will be irrelevant. For you, “never” is here.

You also save $20k. Which sounds nice, but the 718 GT4 RS starts at $141,700, so you might ask if $20k is rounding error at that altitude. You also can only get the 718 GT4 RS with PDK, while the 911 can be had with an H-pattern user interface or paddles. But, at the lap times possible with these cars, most mortals will do better with PDK.

We bet we’d be happy with either a 718 or a 911 in this state of tune. There is probably still time, but we’d consider buying one before the electrons completely take over.