These are all different animals. It is hard to compare. I have had a 997.1 GT3 manual with no H/T assistance. A 2015 GT3 and turbo S 2015 with PDK. Have had GT4 for 2 years now. (Have mine listed in classified section)
Now with 991.2 GTS PDK RAS, coupe rear wheel drive PDCC. Weekend car and track too.
Just not tracking all that much to have both cars now. I don't have to sell the GT4. Have the garage space for both. Both fun but different. Different power curves with torque in the GTS 2018 and NA in the GT4 with power in the higher rev range. More nimble imo.

 

 

As others have said different animals. For me it came down to a simple fact, as a boy I didn't have a Cayman poster on my wall, I did have 911 and 911 Turbo posters. In my heart, I would always wish I had a 911. Not exactly scientific but now that I own a Turbo S the GT4 never crosses my mind. Just my .02 FWIW.

 

My deciscion was based on needing a back seat for my children, otherwise I'd have gone GT4 or perhaps even Cayman GTS. That said, I'm tremendously happy with my 991.1 S. In retrospect, I think the more GT style of vehicle suits me better as I'm not likely going to track the car more than once every year or two.

I prefer the side profile styling of the Cayman with the big air intakes, but love the iconic 911 headlamps. I like the 911 interior better, sounds silly, but just the shape and layout of the HVAC vents.

In reality they're all great cars and it's so hard to know what the right choice is.

 

Interesting, I have driven both cars and prefer the GTS, ended up buying it over GT4. Little back seats were a big plus for kids but still would have gotten the 911.
I also think GTS sounds better, looks better inside and out and more of an adult car for DD, than the GT4.

 

The GTS is a better all around car and it is a 911 as many have pointed out. I do miss the GT4 buckets though.

 

Both have the distinct Porsche sportscar flavor; each amplifies different aspects of it. Whether or not we consider one or the other "better" will only be a reflection of which direction we lean with respect to those flavors.

If you favor the utility of hauling little ones in the back, end of discussion. If you are maybe getting your first Porsche and will feel short-changed if it's not a 911, end of discussion. If you want or demand an automatic, end of discussion. If you bond with the particular visuals of the 911, ditto, although the cars are certainly very similar looking to the non-Porsche enthusiast. If you want a Porsche for more civilized commuting, perhaps with a colleague travelling with you or a wife who likes refinement and civility, or just solo, the 911 is the far better choice (which is not to say it can't get down and dirty when called upon.)

On the other hand, if you've owned plenty of 911s and don't care about the iconic this or that, if you want a less-refined, louder, brake-squealier, harder-to-see-out-of, harder to get out of sloped driveways, shrieking 3.8 right behind your head, with limited sound insulation and (to my experience anyway) more buzzes and rattles, riding on semi-track tires, only available with 6M... well, end of discussion. Also in that category would be those of us who actually prefer the 981 Cayman visuals to 991 Carrera (which I didn't in the 987 vs 997.) To my eye the 981 Boxster and Cayman are better-looking sportscars, due to shorter overhangs and the visually much smaller greenhouse in profile.

All the "negatives" I listed in the above paragraph serve to give the GT4 a more hard-core, track-ready flavor that I prefer, even on the street. I daily drive it about half the time (put 5000 miles on it in the 10 months I've had it), so that's no doubt part of the equation also -- I can choose something else when I'm tired of the GT4. Well, now that I think about it, the GT4 is my most refined vehicle right now, LOL. But there's always my wife's ML350 for going out with her. She won't ride in either my GT4 or my built Wrangler.

Also, if you want the faster of the two in a straight line, the 991.1 GTS PDK feels a little quicker to me than the 981 GT4, That can be remedied for far less than the price delta between the two ($34k MSRP in my case), but once you start playing the aftermarket mods game, meaningful and fair comparisons are out the door. But about $5000 spent on the GT4 will erase the acceleration gap. Maybe someday, but honestly, I never think about it at this point. Probably in another year or two it will start nagging at me to add a little more spice to the chili.

 

I bought a 991.2 GTS last year without ever giving any consideration to a GT4. Later I started seeing the specs of the GT4 (and the much lower pricing compared to my Targa GTS) and started wondering if I should have taken a closer look. This thread has cured me of all that. Thanks!

 

 

I thought the same, just a little quicker, until I checked the actual top straightaway speeds on track. A pdk GTS is a lot faster in 3rd-4th gear (then again I'm running a Cobb 93 octane tune with a race gas mix which may have something to do with that)

GTS acceleration/speed is deceptive because it's a lot quieter in the cabin.

 

I had a 12 C2S PDK, then a 13 C2S 7MT and now a GT4. The GT4 puts a much bigger smile on my face and is a car that I will probably actually keep for many years. The first car that has really connected with me since my 03 350z. That's all that matters to me.

 

that being said, if by some miracle my turn comes up for a GT3 allocation, I'm getting one!