Porsche has unveiled its new Cayman GT4 Clubsport, which features a small amount of natural fibre bodywork. The move is in tune with Stuttgart’s aims to increase the use of sustainable, renewable materials following a 2015 Sustainability Report which showed Porsche had increased its use of fossil fuels and electrical power through the year.
Porsche says that 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport is the first ever production race car to feature body parts made of natural-fibre composite material. Both doors and the rear wing are made of an organic fibre mix, sourced primarily from agricultural by-products such as flax or hemp fibres and feature similar properties to carbon fibre in terms of weight and stiffness.
Three panels on a car doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a start. The technology obviously exists to do more, as demonstrated by Swiss firm BComp, whose partnership with the Electric GT sustainable racing project was announced back in 2017.
Bcomp’s proprietary material is a high-performance, cost-efficient product that can replace or reinforce carbon fibre and other engineering materials. It is said to cut up to 40% weight with no change in performance. The natural fibre composite bodywork developed by Bcomp can also be embedded with LED lighting to act as an information screen while the cars go around the circuit.
Bcomp’s powerRib and ampliTex reinforcement fabrics have been used throughout the sports and leisure markets, in products such as skis, snowboards, surfboards, canoes and guitars. Bcomp has also collaborated with the European Space Agency ESA on the development of lightweight space applications.
Porsche Cayman GT4 Trackday model not available in the UK
The Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport comes in two versions ex-works: the Trackday model and the Competition variant for national and international motor racing. The Trackday edition is not available in the UK.
Costing £130,000 (plus 20% UK VAT), the 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Competition model weighs 1,320 kilograms and is powered by a 3.8-litre flat six producing 425 bhp. This is 40 bhp more than the previous model, but it didn’t stop Porsche selling 421 examples of that one over the last three years.
The transmission is a six-speed PDK with mechanical rear diff lock. Suspension is from the GT3 Cup and the bias-adjustable brakes are steel discs all round measuring 380mm in diameter. Air jacks and a fire extinguisher system are fitted as standard. The car comes with a 115-litre fuel tank for endurance events and lengthy Nurburgring sessions.
The February 2019 issue of 911 and Porsche World magazine has just arrived, with a front page featuring a muted mention of the brand new Porsche 992. This seems in tune with a rather reserved reception to date for the latest 911.
The new model still has some sports cred on paper. The improved 3-litre turbocharged engine will shove the 1.5-ton Carrera 2 Coupe with Panamera 8-speed PDK to 191 mph where allowed, reaching 60 mph from a standstill in just under four seconds. The car is bristling with technology, including an all new ‘Wet Mode’ and a carbon footprint tracker.
“With the new 992 generation, the 911 has surely completed its journey from compact sports car to capacious grand tourer,” says 911&PW. “The new interior doesn’t exactly communicate unadorned functionality, either. And consider all the newly added technology that has nothing to do with what Porsche refers to as a ‘puristic’ driving experience.”
The magazine goes on to recommend celebrating the 992 as “still incredibly faithful to the original 911’s ethos given the limitations of modern motoring.” This is similar to how Autocar’s James Attwood viewed the new car following a passenger ride around Hockenheim.
“That impression is of a car that is at once a step forward, while also remaining reassuringly familiar,” notes James in an Autocar piece describing the car as “a welcome evolution”. “There’s an added sheen of comfort with the development of the touchscreens and displays in the interior, and with the addition of new driver assistance systems. Yet those systems appear to have been developed to give those who want to exploit its considerable performance the freedom to do so.”
Chassis control systems and freedom do not always make the best bedfellows, so it will be interesting to note how road testers describe the dynamics when they eventually get to try it in person. With a wider track, longer wheelbase and 55 more kilos under its belt, it’s probably reasonable to expect further endorsement of this perceived shift from sports car to grand tourer ahead of the first production hybrid 911 in a few years.
In usual reflective mood during the seasonal downtime, I’ve been looking back over some of my GT Porsche magazine columns from the last twelve months and checking where my head was at through the year. My first magazine column for GT considered the launch of the 911 Carrera T and what effect it might have on the Porsche populus.
2018 Porsche 911 Carrera T spec
370bhp/330lb ft turbcharged 3.0-litre engine as in base Carrera
Sports Exhaust and PASM as standard
7-speed manual has Limited Slip Diff and shorter final drive
PDK has no LSD
Reduced sound deadening
Thin windows and pull straps in doors
Rear seat and PCM delete (No Cost Option to put back)
Weight in standard form circa 1425kg
Many of the old guard treat new 911 models with a degree of suspicion, as it often feels like models are being released just to give magazines something to write about. This is most especially true when Porsche disinters old model designations. The 911 T was a good example.
Just 20 kilos lighter than a standard Carrera with similar equipment, the T didn’t seem to bring much to the party, but it was still likely to get a few writers excited. Most old hands were reserved in their reviews of this subtle run-out upgrade to the standard Carrera.
“Unfortunately, Porsche has somewhat mis-sold the T as a sort of hardcore, purists’ missile rather than embracing its true purpose as a cracking all-rounder in the best tradition of low-level 911s,” said Richard Porter in The Sunday Times. “It gives you a few extra tasty treats such as the trick suspension and diff that make it nicer to drive, without any trinkets you don’t need. It’s not sparse, but there’s a pleasing simplicity to it, right down to the seats that are wrapped not with leather but in cloth, striped like a 1980s banker’s suit. It’s all you need, and nothing you don’t.”
“If you were hoping the Carrera T would be a mini-me GT3, look away now,” wrote Andrew Frankel in Autocar. “But that’s not to say there’s nothing interesting going on. Before Porsche’s T-squad laid a finger on its flanks, the 911 was by some distance already the most desirable and effective performer in its category. The T is a car with just a little more edge.”
Porsche 911 Carrera T investment prospects
The 911 Carrera T rang a bell with buyers: latest UK registration data suggests that 219 Carrera T models were put on the road in 2018, with a 2-to-1 bias towards the manual.
The seven-speed gearbox in the 991 was widely viewed as inferior to the sweet six-speed fitted to Caymans, but as early reviews suggested the car was a 991 GT3 for £30k less and given the spec difference from manual to PDK, most Carrera T buyers/investors were obviously going to pick the manual. The residual premium could take a decade to materialise a la 997 Carrera GTS, but it was the one to have.
Residual values for the 911T (which sold with a cost new some ten percent higher than a standard Carrera) have yet to find their groove, but 219 RHD cars registered year-to-date does not make them super-rare amongst the 2018 911 cohort. That said, in a year-to-date figure of over 11,000 registrations up to the end of November and against a whole-life registration total for RHD 991s, 200 is a fairly small number and should help this model car to build a bit of a following.
The new Porsche Macan has been unveiled in Shanghai. It looks rather the same as the previous model but the facelift comes with new colours, improved engines and more technology, all of which should rejuvenate appeal amongst Macan’s target audience.
Available colours now include Mamba Green Metallic, Dolomite Silver Metallic and Crayon (primer grey which everyone seems to love) as well as the Miami Blue seen here, which has been chosen as the launch colour. New interior packages provide a wider range of opportunities for customer personalisation. If Mamba Green is anything like the classic Apple Green Metallic, that will be my favourite.
Porsche’s press release doesn’t say anything about the new engines as the obvious first question is “what about diesel?”. The manufacturer has made a bit of a song and dance about supposedly dropping diesel in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, but the Cayenne is still on course to receive a new diesel engine and Macan S Diesel is/was very much alive and kicking. UK registrations of Macan S diesel outnumber all other models combined (8.9k vs 7.1k since 2014 if you’re interested).
Porsche is unlikely to throw away sales potential like this for its baby SUV range, especially given that a hybrid version is probably not possible due to the bodyshell configuration. Perhaps the omission is related to current tensions between Porsche and Audi on diesel engine supply and the use of emissions cheat devices. A very soft launch may lie ahead for facelifted Macan oilburners.
The 2-litre petrol is still available and has a few more ponies to play with: up from 248 to 256 bhp, according to Greg Kable at Autocar, who also reveals that the V6 engines are being replaced with Porsche-Audi V6s. Expect more bhp from the Porsche applications to fit brand identities.
Tech-wise, the dash looks great with the 11-inch touchscreen and relocated air vents instantly making previous models less desirable. Macan.2 gets new options including the 911’s GT steering wheel with ‘Sports Response’ button (the contemporary equivalent of Knight Rider’s pursuit mode for anyone as old as me), as well as a cabin ioniser and a heated windscreen.
Porsche has also used the introduction of the new model as an opportunity to expand the range of assistance systems in the Macan. The new Traffic Jam Assist including adaptive cruise control enables more comfortable and relaxed driving behaviour at speeds up to 60 km/h. The system features partially automated acceleration and braking and also assists with steering in a traffic jam or in slow-moving traffic.
The FIA has confirmed Porsche’s entry into the 2019 Formula E championship. Porsche’s Formula E debut will coincide with the launch of the production version of the Mission E: Stuttgart’s first all-electric sport car and part of the six billion Euros being invested into electric mobility up to the end of 2022.
Former head of the 919 project, Andreas Seidl, will be responsible for the technical development and the execution of the Formula E programme. “The possibilities and performance of electric cars have been a central topic at Porsche for quite a while,” says the Team Principal. “The deeper our engineers get into the topic, the more fascinating the solutions become. We can’t wait to receive our first vehicle in early 2019 and to test our own powertrain in it.”
Porsche unveiled the Mission E Cross Turismo at this year’s Geneva Motor Show: another take on the 800-volt Mission E Concept car blessed with 600 horsepower giving more than 500 kilometres of range. The production version may end up with slightly lower numbers, but it definitely won’t be cheap so it will need plenty of toys to show for the money. Four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering with the usual electronic driver aids should still take the four door, four-seater to sixty in 3.5 seconds, which will obviously keep people entertained.
The Gen2 Formula E car will also create some added entertainment compared to the current model, as drivers will finally be able to run a complete race without needing a car change in the middle of it. As a motorsport fan who pays no attention to Formula E, the upgrade is unlikely to have any impact on my perception of the series or of the brands taking part, but for those marketing the new Mission E to a generation that links E with excitement rather than lean-running eco superminis, the connections are excellent.
First drive reviews of the brand new Porsche Cayenne have been popping up across the credible motoring sites and the reception is generally excellent. Porsche flew lots of reviewers to Crete for the European launch, which won’t have done their feedback any harm, but what the journos are saying makes sense.
The new Cayenne shares its platform with the Bentley Bentayga, Audi Q7 and forthcoming Lamborghini Urus. The Cayenne S has abandoned the beautiful big Porsche-built V8 that my old bus uses and gone to a group-derived 434bhp, twin-turbo V6 with eight-speed automatic transmission.
The 2.9-litre engine has an exceptional torque curve, with 405lb ft on tap from 1800 to 5500 revs! That is really something else and a chunk more than a standard V8 S, which had 310lb ft from 2500-5500. Mine has been ECU flashed, so maybe makes a bit more, but would love to try this twin-turbo with a car trailer on the back.
Matt Bird at Autocar gave the new truck just shy of a five-star rating, calling it “fairly tremendous at a great many things. The Cayenne’s cabin is a triumph, comprised of sumptuous materials, seamlessly integrated technology and considerable style.” The Autocar review goes on to rate the chassis pretty highly:
“Our test Cayenne S featured carbon ceramic brakes, adaptive air suspension, rear axle steering and 21in wheels. When you bear in mind that a standard car would use steel springs, half the amount of steered wheels, smaller rims and iron brakes, you can see how it is hard to make a definitive judgement on the standard Cayenne S. As you might expect, however, the test car delivered a stellar dynamic performance.”
I can’t say that ceramic brakes or rear wheel steering would be essential additions on what I use my Cayenne for, but if you want to hoon it while the kids are in the back trying to Snapchat each other then good luck to you – don’t forget to tick the wipe clean upholstery box.
For the 500 miles a year that a family man might get to really thrash a Cayenne hard with no one else in it, and given how well mine goes on steel springs and steel brakes, not to mention the lack of complexity, I think I would just spec it as standard, but that is not the press fleet way. If you’re going to fly hundreds of road test heroes to Crete at great cost, you must give them air suspension and 21-inch wheels to caress.
Meanwhile, regular people with cash will buy the S with nice paint, simple leather, smaller wheels and reasonable spec. The huge central screen is a must. Pano roof also nice but big glass roofs have a name for playing up in the long term. I don’t miss a leaky, creaky sunroof on mine.
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