Porsche had the Monza track all to itself earlier this week and aside from testing its new 911-based race car, it was also seen putting through its paces an update for the track-only Cayman GT4 Clubsport. We still haven’t seen the road-going version in official shots, yet testing is already well under way for its race car counterpart set to arrive after the regular model.
Despite the extensive camouflaged applied onto the racer’s body, it’s already pretty obvious the 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport will feature an enlarged wing to boost downforce at the rear axle. Since we started with the car’s derrière, one can also see the redesigned diffuser hosting the two exhaust tips that no longer sit together in the middle as these have been moved further apart from one another.
Check out new spy shots of the Cayman:
The taillights will also be going through some changes in line with those of the refreshed Cayman GTS. As for the tweaks at the front, these are less noticeable, but some novelties must be hiding underneath the swirly disguise.
Like the road-going 718 Cayman GT4 spotted mid-February without any camo, its race car alter ego is expected to feature a larger naturally aspirated engine with a bump in displacement from 3.8 to 4.0 liters. The previous pair of GT4 models borrowed the engine from the 911 Carrera S whereas the new ones are rumored to source the powertrain from the beefier 911 GT3. The attached spy video allows us to hear the PDK at work, while the road model – believed to get the RS suffix - will allegedly get a six-speed manual to the delight of purists.
While the previous Clubsport was capped at just 400+ examples, Porsche has already announced plans to broaden the race car’s availability. Speaking with Sportscar365 earlier this year, the company’s GT motorsport boss Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, admitted:
“We did not really cover the demand worldwide [with the first version]. We did not really push in sales; it was a new category and we see a huge demand now around the world, in the Clubsport series and also in emerging motorsports markets like China and Thailand.”
Walliser went on to mention it’s going to have more power than the previous 380-hp version and will also boast additional downforce depending on what its road-legal sibling will feature. The 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport will receive its customer debut at the beginning of next year. Meanwhile, the world premiere of the road version is likely slated to take place in the latter half of 2018 when Porsche could also decide to come out with the hardcore 718 Boxster Spyder.
Video: NM225 Car HD Videos / YouTube