This Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 Is a Thrilling Daily Driver

Debuting in 2006, the Porsche Cayman is a well-established icon of small European sports cars. Rather than living in the shadow of the 911, it’s stood on its own for three generations as a lightweight mid-engine two-seater that prioritizes engagement and handling, yet leaves plenty of room for use as an approachable daily driver. We recently had the opportunity to thoroughly test out a fresh 982-generation Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0. The specs are an enthusiast’s dream—big displacement, natural aspiration, and a manual gearbox. While our week with it was tremendously engaging, it was also bittersweet, as this is the final year of the glorious 982-generation of the Cayman.

(Editor’s note: images shown are not of current model year)

Design

The latest 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 is a visual greatest hits of the nameplate. While dimensionally larger than the 987 generation, the 982 iteration’s body lines and pronounced rear hips clearly draw on family ties. Its most recent predecessor, the  981, marked a major freshening-up, and the 982’s body takes it even further with crisper lines and chic, four-dot LED lighting.

Since the Cayman’s inception, its exterior has always affirmed the model’s legitimacy as a light and compact mid-engine athlete. Inside, however, its dimensions are far from compact. We found occupant space to be commodious for its class, and the overall visibility is quite good. As for the driver-centric cockpit, it sports a modest seven-inch touchscreen outlined by sensuous switchgear. And while the interior trim does include plastic, there’s also a nice mix of carbon fiber, Alcantara, and rich leather.

Our only real gripe is a lack of storage and connectivity; door pockets are small and shallow, the center armrest holds no more than a single phone, and there’s just one USB-A plug and no wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Cargo room between its frunk and trunk measures out to 14.7 cubic feet, though, which bolsters its everyday versatility by a good margin over other diminutive two-seaters.

The seating position is textbook for a sports car, with a low-slung position supported by comfortable leather and Alcantara seats with good adjustability. We also appreciate the fact that the steering wheel extends to a comfortable precision driving position, and that the instrument cluster possesses a combination of analog and digital readings.

Power Train and Hardware

Situated behind the seats is a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter, direct-injected flat-six engine producing 394 hp and 309 ft lbs of torque, which pulls the tach needle up to a soul-stirring 7,800 rpm redline. As far as Porsche engines go, it’s definitely one of Zuffenhausen’s greatest hits.

Among the model’s standard equipment is a sport exhaust system to ensure maximum aural thrills. Upon firing up, it defaults to a quiet mode, which we’re sure our neighbors appreciated every time we left early in the morning to tackle some of California’s best mountain roads. But Sport mode was always selected soon after, which, besides adding rev-match downshifts and turning off auto stop/start, adds sharp exhaust tones to its deep-bass-induction soundtrack. The mighty power plant is a treat across the entire rev range, but especially when it begins to howl past 3,500 rpm.

Facilitating the revs in our tester is a six-speed manual gearbox, which impressed us in its tightness between shift gates, good spring, and modest throw. Yet we found pedal placement to be awkward; its direct competition from Lotus has near-formula-racer-like dimensions in its pedal box—meaning, they’re awfully tight—and they’re spaced perfectly in BMW’s smallest M2. The Cayman’s pedal spacing took some getting used to, and it took some podiatric contorting to achieve fine heel-toe movement. It was easier to just let the ECU do the throttle blipping for us.

As the GTS is the top non-GT4 trim of the 718 hardtop, its four-wheel MacPherson suspension features standard adaptive sport dampers—known as Porsche Active Suspension Management—plus slightly stiffer springs that drop ride height 20 millimeters (.78 inches) lower than the base and S trims. Multi-piston calipers clamp to drilled steel rotors (measuring 13.8 inches for those at the front and 13 inches for the ones at the rear), and to bolster control and grip even further, the GTS comes standard with a mechanical limited-slip differential.

Performance

With just 3,166 pounds to push forth, the 2025 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 lunges from zero to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and tops out at 182 mph. Matching the flat-six’s sonorous, naturally aspirated soundtrack is ample torque throughout the rev band, but especially above 4,000 rpm.

The transmission’s gearing took some getting used to at first. It’s long, especially in third gear; we kept wanting to shift to second while hustling along a twisty mountain road . But refreshingly, even as low as 2,000 rpm, the mill eagerly and linearly revs up to just past the midrange, where it loves to be.

Less shifting meant we could zero in everything else about the muscular Cayman, like its brilliant chassis and steering communication. Contemporary Porsches are widely regarded as the exception to the rule regarding electric power-steering racks not offering the same level of texture, feedback, and weight as their hydraulically actuated counterparts, and the Cayman may be the best example thanks to its low weight and mid-engine chassis.

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It’s a joy to make pin-point corrections, turn-in, and balance with throttle and brake inputs in order to surgically carve canyon roads. While not tack-sharp like its GT4 sibling, the GTS features steering response that’s a top-shelf lesson in basic physics; low weight, low CG, and having all the weight centered between the axles makes for an authentically engaging experience. No complex rear-wheel steering or complicated stability control required, unlike much heavier enthusiast fare on the market.

The best part: an overall ride quality that’s excellent. Only on particularly bumpy tarmac did the GTS-spec suspension become too jarring with the adaptive dampers stiffened up in sport mode, but switching them to normal offered the best of both worlds—excellent, composed body control and tuning that ironed out imperfections remarkably well.

Is it Worth It?

Pricing for the 2025 Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 starts at $103,300, and our tester fully loaded was roughly $19,000 more. But most of its options were superficial, and we’d be perfectly content with a no-option model thanks to its raucous engine, excellent chassis and steering, sharp looks, and excellent everyday appeal. The Lotus Emira commands a similar price and is the most direct competitor to the GTS—between the two, it all comes down to personal taste in appearance and cargo space, the latter of which the Lotus sorely lacks. The next-closest compact competitor is BMW’s M2, which retails for over $30,000 less but weighs quite a bit more, has its engine over the front axle, and relies more on electronics to hustle through winding roads.

Interestingly, the base price for the GTS isn’t far off from what the original 2006 Cayman S retailed for, adjusted for inflation. In other words, for the money, we find its worth undeniable.

Specifications

Click here for more photos of the Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0.