Is the New Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Racecar a Bargain?

The first factory Cayman racecar has debuted at the L.A. Auto Show. It looks like a screamin’ deal. Well, relatively speaking, that is.

byClifford Atiyeh|
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The Porsche Cayman S is as perfect a modern sports car gets. It’s not the fastest or prettiest, and the $80,000-plus sticker should push buyers toward a Corvette Z06. But then you plot a course in the San Francisco Bay Area, as I did last year. You race a Tesla sedan to Lake Tahoe and back, and you return astounded. Steering, braking, sound, balance, poise, feel, precision—everything is 100-percent on point. Seriously, there is nothing wrong with this car.

So it’s only a logical progression that Porsche has debuted a factory-build, track-prepped Cayman in L.A. The 2016 Cayman GT4 Clubsport is here, finally, because Stuttgart can no longer park this mighty mid-engine coupe in the 911’s shadow. It’s a turnkey racer based on the all-new, road-legal Cayman GT4, which incorporates a 911 GT3 front suspension and the 3.8-liter naturally-aspirated flat-six from the outgoing 911 Carrera S. The Clubsport brings all the requisite track gear: Roll cage, slicks, stripped interior, diamond-hard suspension, 12-stage adjustable anti-lock brakes, a mechanically locking rear diff, and a special version dual-clutch automatic gearbox, six-speed rather than seven.

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More interesting is what the Clubsport doesn’t have. The brakes are steel, not carbon ceramic. The engine makes the same stock 385 horsepower. The wheels use ordinary five-lug mounts, not high-torque center locks. Even the rear spoiler and aero trim are barely touched.

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That keeps the price down. Sure, at $165,000, it’s three times the cost a Mazda Miata Cup Car. Also: Still $100k cheaper than a 911 GT3 Cup, and not much more than the 911 Turbo Cabriolets rolling up Connecticut’s Merritt Parkway. And considering Porsche’s options scheme—a notoriously absurd thing that somehow nickel-and-dimes in four-figure increments—the Clubsport looks like a damn good deal for a showroom track car. Get your competition license and storm the field. Or finish last. You’re in a Cayman, after all. And your neighbor’s Macan Turbo ain’t eligible.

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