REDCOMET

Love my typeR a lot

my fun weekend fun ride and daily Audis (miss my gone in heaven 2.5 GTS)

Clementine33

More exterior and interior colors,
More seat selections, & memory,
No large rear wing...a DD,
More comfortable suspension with a bit more clearance,
Variety of drive modes,
Same torque,
Tinkered with more options.

Add to the above: LEATHER options for interior(hate Alcantara)
Overall, a better ride but still a thrill

My spec came out at $113K so saving $ was not much of a factor

drjsilver

I have tracked the GT4, and am concerned about tracks not allowing convertibles to run due to rollover fears. As far as running goes, both seem quite strong. I do notice that after a long drive in the summer, the GT4 got rather hot inside and I needed to run the AC. In my 2014 BS6M the interior seemed to run cooler.
I could DD the GT4, but since they were rather limited production, I keep in rather pristine and low mileage. If you crank up the SPASM, the ride on the GTS is quite similar in compliance. Ambient noise is a bit better on the GT4, but with Exhaust valves open, the GTS is louder and sounds better. For backroads, I'm not decided yet. Haven't driven the GTS enough to be sure. I see the GTS as a Boxster, with the wonderful ragtop, with the performance of my GT4. Hope this helps.

ericb44

This obsession with "race tex/alcantara" seats in the consumer market for most of these cars that never will be seeing the track drives me nuts. Ever wear a nice pair of wool slacks on alcantara seats? Ever spill a little coffee on them? How about the steering wheel that looks like garbage after a couple years? Drives me nuts so Amen for not being on the bandwagon there. I get Alcantara for a track car and would want nothing else, but to not have the option to delete it and add back leather seats for a car that rarely sees the track (if ever) is a deal breaker for me. Secondly, offer a option to adjust the suspension as the GT4/Spyder is pretty punishing on every day roads. Driven a couple GT3s on the roads and can't understand why anyone in their right mind would buy that car and never track it as it is punishing. GT4/Spyder isn't quite as bad as a 997 or 991 GT3 thankfully, but still would be nice to have a different suspension option at 20mm versus 30mm. Heck, I'm even considering going with the 10mm drop on a GTS. That said, minus the wing on the GT4, the GT4/Spyders look so much better IMO.

ericb44

Given that is a daily driver, if you were given the option would you have gone with the 20mm versus 30mm drop to avoid scraping? I can't imagine the 30mm adds anything beneficial for a DD and only is a detractor if anything?

ericb44

Interesting when you said the GTS is louder and sounds better? Really?

josephr25

I would still go 30 mm... I'm somebody who would rather have all the performance options in a sports car. I got used to the scraping and super slow driving. I would say scraping a GT4 daily is a good problem to have these days.

If somebody honks at you... who cares... they're probably driving something lamer. Car enthusiasts would understand

hadokenny

Answer to these types of questions usually comes down to 2 factors...

On the spectrum of "Practical" to "Irrational" when making life decisions, where do you lean towards in most cases?
Do you usually find yourself wanting top of the line / next model up in your past purchases?

fueledbymetal

Clearance, tires & availability of options since mine is strictly for the street.

slilley

I would have gone with a GT4 over a CGTS if (1) the wait times had been similar, (2) the GT4 came in a "Touring" option without the rear wing, and (3) the GT4 had the option of a -20mm SPASM driving height instead of the -30mm height.

Pricing-wise, the GT4 always came out about $13K to $14.5K higher (after adding 6% sales tax) than a comparable CGTS build. While I'm sure I'd get some of that back in a higher resale value expected with the GT4, I plan on keeping this car 5-10 years so that didn't affect my decision.

I'm not a track junkie, but I normally attend 2-3 track events per year, plus a couple autocrosses. Still, 98% of my driving is on the street, and the CGTS arguably does a better job as a daily driver than a GT4. The fact that Porsche gives you all of the desirable options on the GTS just seals the deal for me!

My CGTS isn't even built yet, so I'm still playing with options and colors. But if my dealer called today and said they had a GT4 build slot open up, I'd probably view that as a sign from the gods that I was supposed to have a GT4 instead of a CGTS. Both are fantastic cars, so I ultimately don't think either would be a bad choice! (I would have to remove that ridiculous wing for my normal street driving duties. )

colnagoG60

Fair enough. But have you ever worn a nice pair of wool slacks on aged leather seats, and submarined the lap belt under only hard braking to avoid a crash? I have, during a shake down drive picking up a buddy's car. "For me", the added grip of Alcantara is welcomed "off track".

As far as the GT4/Spyder being punishing on daily roads, thankfully there are a number of aftermarket solutions to resolve those issues...kept me from selling mine after the first week, and now looking at installing stiffer springs for my "daily".

There are also cleaning products and methods to keep Alcantara looking fresh. Picked up my car with 30k miles on the clock and the shift **** looked like leather. I didn't even know it was Alcantara because the steering wheel was leather. After cleaning, the pile looks the same as the original wheel, which was re-installed at delivery, as the original owner swapped his at the beginning for leather. Car now at 41k, no change in appearance for wheel or shift ****.

sanderabernathy

It’s funny. I had a base 981 Cayman daily driver which I loved. I never considered upgrading to a 718 Base or S because I loved the six cylinder in the 981.

I was long aware of the 981 and 982 GT4 but never even considered them as they were too expensive and too boy racer for my taste. If I won the lottery I would certainly have one as a toy but I wouldn’t daily drive it.

I didn’t follow the new releases and only learned about the GTS 4.0 last November. I explained it to a friend and he ordered one to replace his 718 Boxster that week. I thought about it for a couple of weeks and ordered a Cayman GTS 4.0. As one of the last naturally aspirated performance engines with a manual in a great chassis I think it will be a classic and certainly the car I want to take into the electrical vehicle era.

I guess I’m an example of why Porsche has different versions. I was a hard no on a Base, S, and GT4. I was a “couldn’t say no” on the GTS 4.0.

Other nits with the GT4:
No ultra suede delete.
Even if I tracked the car, the wing would serve no purpose 98% of the time.

Nits with the GTS:
No GT4 suspension

DNSGT3

Deleted

REDCOMET

I don't know what's wrong with the Alcantara interior. I have my 2.5 GTS for 2 yr with full Alcantara interior and it still stay new. Yes, I don't drink coffee in my car, I don't carry my muddy dog in my car, I won't go to home depot/walmart shopping for toilet pluming no matter it is a Porsche or it is a Civic. Leave all this to my Wagon & SUV. I just wondering will you drink coffee on your GT4? will you let your muddy dog sit in your GT4? if not then why the Alcantara will mess up? On the other hand, the leather on my BMW actually looks like crap with full of cracks on the side booster after 3 yr which is worst than the leather on my 15 yr Accord.

ericb44

In order for leather to age to that degree you are speaking about, it has to be 20+ years old. Given we are talking about a new car and most won't keep these that long, aged leather is not an issue. Never had an issue with a lap belt on hard breaking. I've had both alcantara and leather, in fact one of my cars is alcantara and the only benefit to it IMO is to keep the driver from sliding on the seat driving the car to it's limits which is 99% of the time at a track. In fact, I've never driven a race car without alcantara or like material, I just see zero advantage in every day driving and irritates me in a mercedes amg I have with alcantara inserts. Leather cleans up way better, doesn't grip your clothes, doesn't stain as easily, etc. To each is there own on that point, but personally my preference is to drive open wheel track cars at the track and at the limits to the car and my abilities and leave road cars for the road. Doesn't mean I don't like spirited driving and finding some good backroads to open up a car, but I'm not pulling big "g's" into turns on the roads that would make alcantara an advantage. Again, to each is there own just questioning why Porsche can't offer both options like they do in the GTS version? We all have preferences and clearly a big percentage of buyers would prefer one of the other.

What kind of aftermarket solutions, are you referring to? Are you saying putting in softer springs and raising the ride height on a GT4/Spyder? What does that do to the warranty of the car? I'm genuinely interested if it keeps the warranty intact and would considering switching a GTS order to Spyder (compromise on the alcantara).