Test drove a 718CS today. Yes, it's a real Porsche...
 

I could have appended this to one of the other threads, but I figure the more 'headlines' the better.

I test drove a 718CS MT this morning.

The short story: I think that
- at least 50% of the people 'dissin' the 718 and its flat-4 have never actually driven one.
- of the remaining 50%, half of them had already decided that they wouldn't like it before driving one.
- it is a real Porsche.

I like the basso growl of the f4 at idle. It sounds like it's having fun as you load it up to its red-line (after properly warming-up the oil of course.) Most cars these days sound like a bag of rocks or a mechanical animal that's being tortured if you give the motor more than 1/3 throttle. Or both.

It's a very driveable motor. Even off boost it's got enough torque to feel not sluggish and with the MT it wants to run-along through town on the boost threashhold (~ 2k rpm). On the highway it's plenty fast.

And of course, it handles.

Totally agree. The F4 is a fantasic motor and really sounds incredible as you rev it out.

You want to hear bad sounding car, go drive just about any M car, in particular the M3/4. It will having you cringing it is so bad, synthetic and just plain awful. Porsche at least knows how to make their cars sound good.

The M4 isn't as bad as you suggest either. Even Clarkson was a fan of how the M4 GTS sounded, which basically just adds a titanium exhaust. This is a hyperbolic take... but I do agree that the 718 sounds better than the M4.

Agree with OP on all points. I think the sound discussion is a byproduct of the "blasphemy" of reducing the cylinder count. Of all the hate threads out there, the one common theme when breaking down the disdain is that fans of the Boxster/Cayman can't come to terms with the fact that it's a 4 cylinder. In actuality, it probably should have been a 4 cylinder all along but turbo technology wasn't quite where it needed to be almost 20 years ago when this platform debuted.

When it was first rumored that Porsche was developing an f-4 turbo motor I thought *for sure* that a 1.9999999 liter 4 would appear in all base models (911, 911-cab, 911-4, Boxster, Cayman) and that a 6-pot motor would be available in all S-trim models.
This would have enabled Porsche to sell non-S models into all the countries where displacements in excess of 2.0 liters are taxed out the wazoo and to offer 6-pot motors everywhere else.

This made sense to me because, up to that point, base-model Porsche sports-car-anything wasn't a big seller in Porsche's largest markets.

I was shocked when it became known that all 911s would get 6-pot motors and all other sports cars would get the 4-pot.


Back to topic: 718. Great Porsche.

Having owned both an M3 and M4, I just wasn't a fan of the M3/4 sound - engine, exhaust, or the fake sound through the speakers. I even had the M performance exhaust and just made the bad sound louder. None it ever made me smile the way any of the Flat 6s do, or even the Flat 4 did. The S65 engine in the E9X M3 did sound quite nice once you put the right bolts on on it - except for the fact that it just didn't handle near the level of a Porsche.

intersting topic , I was set on getting a 718 CS as an extra daily driver for me, drove yesterday and I must admit, I was not over excited , yes it is a real Porsche, felt solid and well connected, the sound was ok, but somehow I could not stop thinking that it is not a 90 k worth of car,
I am a big fan of Porsche and I have owned a bunch of them , but I think , with the 718 , the price point is getting rich
will have to test drive the GTS before I make up my mind

The GTS is the exact same engine as the S, right? So why would test driving a GTS be any different?

So buy a well-equipped CPO 718CS/GTS and you'll get more for your money. That describes my first P-car: Paid ~75% of MSRP for a perfect two-YO, 2,600 mile CPO 981CS.

No, it's not.

LOL. That's what I thought before my wife bought her 918CS four years ago: "The Cayman isn't an $80k car." Just riding in the passenger seat made me realize the error of my ways.

Well, it was then. And, with inflation, it is now.

The Porsche price point has *always* been rich. There's no point in history where you couldn't buy a car that had similar 'numbers' for less. If you go by the published numbers you should go buy a Corvette.

Seriously: we have a Z06. It's faster than the 981. But, it isn't a better car. Especially for daily use.

Also LOL. Not comparable. It it were to shed 500 pounds and go back in time 15 years before it was focus-grouped to-death you might have something.

Ah...man of few words. Yes, I see it now. 365 HP vs 350 HP.

Had to do some digging because it didn't just jump in my face when I was using the configurator.

Curious how you spec'd yours under $90K. It only takes the GTS interior, PASM, seat heating and BOSE to get there.