What We Learned After Testing a Porsche 718 GTS 4.0 40,000 Miles | Car and Driver 

The best thing car & driver ever did was to hire Carlos. He’s a fantastic presenter.

This is how car journalism should be - not instagram influencers, but finding out what new cars are really like, warts and all. Drove one of these at PECLA and that engine is every bit as good as Carlos says! One of the best and last NA engines. Plus handling and steering were equally good.

Probably one of the greatest Porsche ever built

The only problem with these cars is finding one. A used one sells for more than MSRP, which means a 400hp 991.1 Carrera S is still going to be the N/A buy for some time.

I think the GTS 4.0 is the absolute sweet spot for a Porsche sports car. It’s the one I would get.

Loved my GTS 4.0 Cayman, unless you're doing frequent track work, it's a better road car (and road trip car!) than a GT4. Future classic 100%.

There are so many versions through the years off these cars, i still have my first Porsche the 2007 Base Cayman, then owned the base 2013 Boxster, then the 2017 base turbo 718 boxster and now the 718 s turbo. And to be honest every one is great, its like there is no bad one, they feel special every day, never gets old. The 718 is twice as fast as the original base Cayman, yet it doesn't matter you get in and just wind her up and smile. Pure joy in every flavor. Find a sharp corner and don't brake like most cars and feel the unbelievable feel you cant get unlike any other car. You have to drive one to understand what you are missing.

I just cracked 100 miles on my 718 CGTS which replaced my 981S. It’s worth every penny!

I'm on my third Porsche with those cupholders. I like them more now than I did at first, and when I saw what replaced them in the 911 I appreciated them more.

And as of 2024 you start at $95,000 for a 6 cylinder 718. Straight crazy.

Just completed 2600kms driving from London to Paris, Luxembourg, Kitzbühel, Brescia and Cannes in my 2021 BGTS 4.0. I just love this car. It brings a smile to my face everyday. I agree with your comments except on the cup holders. Give me these vs.. 992 any day…and yes, real buttons and not a haptic pad in sight.

I ordered my GTS 4.0 around your first 10k mile article and I've enjoyed reading all your updates while waiting for delivery. That special day came and 6 months into ownership this final update+video came out. Thank you for celebrating such a nice and special car!

"We're not most Porsche owners, in fact we kinda get a perverse joy out of seeing what these cars do in real winter." Translation: We don't have to pay for these cars with our own money.

Ordered mine in June, got it in December, and I just got past the 2000 break-in miles. As the video shows, the sound is glorious and addictive. I’ll avoid the 5000 rpm clutch drops and believe C & D’s acceleration figures…and not have to replace my clutch. I agree with the good stuff and mostly with the bad stuff. My phone fits in the console and my wallet fits in the door pocket, so all good. The cup holders are over-engineered and useless. But I can put a water bottle on the floor behind the opposite seat where it is secure but still easy to reach. That workaround is worth it to explore just how much fun it is to drive!

Thank you for being a bastion of car journalism. This publication is an example that quality work is always worth it.

Love these videos - testing at 40k is genius. What’s still great, what’s grating, maintenance. Great stuff!

Watching this guy review cars takes me back to watching Motor Trend back in high school days, geeking out over our dream cars. Time flies!

I've been waiting for this video and corresponding article for at least a year now, finally! Thank you C&D team, and Carlos - your long term articles on the 4.0, opinions, and some of the options you picked are what made me even more confident when I pulled the trigger on my new build. Picked her up last October, last of the manual + N/A cayman/boxster platform - she's a keeper. I absolutely love every mile I put on it :)

I love seeing these long term test results along with the money spent on the and the experiences with the car! Specially when it is for one of my favorite cars on sale, the 718 GTS 4.0!

Nice review. The Cayman like all Porsches are great driving cars. Not cheap to buy or maintain, but performance and driving experience will put a smile on your face every time.

Great video 🤓!!! Last February 2023, I acquired my new 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 which has the 4L NA flat six cylinder engine (same unit as a GT4) and a PDK gearbox. Power output (394 bhp) and torque (317 lb-ft) are a nice match to this car's sensible curb weight (~3200 lbs). The color is Gentian Blue metallic with a black/chalk all-leather interior and silver wheel rims. It's definitely an entertaining driver's car! So far, I've only done 452 miles but hopefully a lot more this coming Summer! The PDK is also a lot of fun (it's definitely quick) 🤓 All the best and thanks again from Colorado! "Porsche...There is No Substitute!!!"

2:49 basically a Miata right there dude!

I have driven my 981 GTS from 7am till 10pm with a few stops and felt great afterwards. It is hands down the best fun, most comfortable and capable car that I have ever owned - well beyond the BMW M5 that I had. A true drivers car, and more. I would be interested in your comments on the differences between the 3.4 and 4.0 flat sixes in real world use.

Don’t understand the complaints about lack of storage space. There are 2 small cubbie spaces in door pockets (on each door) and a center console lid that lifts to reveal more storage. What else is expected of a 2 seat mid engined car with 2 trunks? What you should’ve been complaining about was the long gearing

Hopefully I’ll pick my Boxster with that engine next week after a year-long wait. The break-in period will be a damn torture 😂

Very good review. Thanks

I am shocked about the issues with your car. I have owned 6 Porsches including a boxter GTS 4.0 and have had 0 issues with any. And they get track time.

The A/C issue is common on the 718. Sometimes it will just not work. Some combination of restarting the car and waiting 10 minutes fixes it.

The annoying thing about the current interior storage issue is that the original Boxster had door pockets that could each hold half a Chicago-style pizza beneath the armrest, and didn't impinge on hip room at all. Really clever design, and super useful. We are still daily driving a 23-year old 986, and with the exception of having to get the car up into the air for virtually everything service related, its an easy car to keep around.

Great video -- lovely car

So the professional drivers destroyed the clutch on this thing, and it costs $4900 to replace ? That throws a lot of cold water on the ownership proposition..

The Cayman S was my first, and most fun Porsche. After that, I only bought Porsches hoping for the same experience. Cayenne, Panamera, Taycan, 2 911s, but none of those delivered the same satisfying experience.

Bit perplexed by the storage complaint, there’s tonnes of storage in the doors, glove box, front and back trunks and rear parcel shelf !! I did a 3k mile road trip across Europe in mine, with 2 people across 2 weeks with literally not even a thought about storage! There’s more storage than any other 2 seat sports car on the market!! Nice review though, I’ve done 19k miles now and it’s still absolutely brilliant

Carlos Lagos is amazing. Thank you for hiring him. He's legit incredible!

New subscriber here! Also If the satellite radio buttons don’t work inside the Porsche 718 GTS, maybe it’s because the car can get old if it has problems. BTW what an excellent driving experience.

It’s amazing what Porsche can do to eke out a return on its R&D investment; this body style is now 12 years old!… I had one back in 2013 and it’s more or less the same inside with a few detail changes to exterior. Hats off 😉

Carlos, what did you think of the gearing? Too long to enjoy it in urban areas?

Great review. The one off "buttons not working" was most likely a voltage issue relating to battery charge level. The clutch issue .......drum roll, PDK. Never had an issue with my 981 GTS, just service plus change over of normal wear items. There's more interior storage than you mentioned e.g. behind the seats and the two slide closing bins behind the seats, one for the driver and one for the passenger. I own some great cars and the 981 GTS was a keeper for me and I'm sure a lot of 718 GTS 4L owners will feel the same way. Its an incredibly versatile sports car, will do everything from a track day to a road trip.

What a car!

Thank u for that. Interesting there was an oil leak so early in the ownership of this type of car. Clutch replacement seemed early, but must be the cost of having fun.

I own this car and have the same issues with the air conditioning not working intermittently as well as the car play messing with the SiriusXM radio. Porsche couldn’t figure out the issue. Still happens to this day. Other than that, It’s flawless.

About 5:30 in, Carlos mentions the lack of override control for auto rev-matching - on our 2023 718 Spyder there is a button on the centre console which controls it. Very simple Yes it's a different model but you get the idea. btw the Spyder is just sublime, it's everything you wish for in a complete package from Porsche. It's also discontinued...so there's that.

Carlo... You can have as a no cost option a "nest" on the passenger side in order to carry some nice things. 😉

I really enjoy these!... Even the mom ones 😂😂😭

Would the base Cayman be quieter?

i wish i had opted for either the leather steering wheel or the carbon fiber one. as much as i love the alcantara, it is so hard to keep nice!

Insightful comment about the car being fun to drive even with half the power. That’s why every Boxster/Cayman ever made is fun to drive! 😊

Porsche ownership is an abusive cult. Paying for "options" that are standard items in a Camry is simply insulting. Add in the availability of the cars and dealer-adjusted markup, and Porsche is playing its buyers as chumps.

Wow, shocking reliability issues. I thought it was only Nick Murray. 😅

How much to buy the car from the channel?

i'm surprised that he didn't complain about the tall gearing. one small thing that i hate is that you can't change tracks when listening to something on carplay.

Spark plugs at 30k miles?? Modern spark plugs are supposedly good for closer to 100k miles. Weird.

Great presentation. Greeting from Toronto. Love your review. I love that cars colour If I won the lottery I’ve dreamt of purchasing a new Boxster with European delivery and driving to visit my wife’s family in a very small mountain town in Austria. I haven’t won the lottery yet. Keep reviewing my dream brand. Oh I own a 986 Boxster for over 18 years love it. Everyday when I start it up my face smiles despite having to replace the engine Thanks G

The air con / buttons problem could of probably been resolved by a shut down, lock, walk away, and unlock All modern cars have an electrical fault once in a while in my experience Great 40,000 mile review 👍

That’s precisely how I would spec that car, also probably my sport car in a real 3 car garage … had the money w buy it from you.

Interesting and well done, thanks. If I could truly afford this Porsche, it still _might_ not be my final choice at its price, but it would be the one to beat going in. But, a hundred grand is a _lot_ of money...

All I need to be happy in life is one of these and a Lexus RC-F, and this thermos, and that's all I need.

That last “maintenance” can be done DIY for less than $200

Every sportscar owner will tell you that complaining about space to store a Big Gulp and a bag of McDonald's is a non-starter. No one buys a two-door sportscar to haul around excess bulk. If anything, we're trying to find ways to lessen the overall weight for improved performance.

After years of driving high HP cars-M5s, CTSV etc, never went through a clutch in less than 100K miles. After replacing a GT4 clutch, I realized it's the same (undersized) clutch from the 2.7L Boxster...roh roh...so they raided the parts bin for a premier car and cheaped out on the clutch. Add in a clutch delay valve to "save the drivetrain" and you know why clutch was destroyed in short order. Although, 26K miles is a long time for the 718 4.0 engine. Bravo C&D. GT4s with similar power are losing clutches significantly earlier, with just a little help from our friends....at Porsche.

Would you take this Cayman GTS or the Corvette C8 you reviewed a year ago ?

Carlos, if you could only take 1 for a daily driver sports car, this or a Z51 equipped C8 Corvette?

Did the test car had -10 or -20 mm suspension? How was the daily comfort?

My 981 base only has 265 but feels every bit as fast as my 370z Nismo does !!!!

Aventurine green. ❤❤

A very nice car. Don't know if I would prefer it over the less expensive Supra or Nismo Z?

more reviewers should do the long term reviews..... Just here for those long-term reviews😊

One thing to keep in mind with Porsche maintenance costs is that the problem isn’t the cars. Porsches are very well made cars. The high cost comes from the dealers. I go to independent shops and ownership cost is extremely reasonable.

I didn't take away anything from this review that I couldn't get from any other first time driving impression review.

Carlos looks like Ryan Reynolds and Jason Cammisa had a baby. Fantastic presenter like Jason too lol

I saw one of these on sale recently with really low miles. I was tempted. I am curious how a 6'3" guy like me would fit in one.

Rather have the 981S for half the price, 95% of the car and it sounds better...(front looks better too)

Honestly even 150k is where most thing start to break 40k miles is almost nothing by todays standards

A real car enthusiast doesn’t need cupholders.

German engineer: Why do you want a cup holder in the car? Do you have a steering wheel on your coffee table?

I have settled on the GTS after months of considering the GT4 and Boxter. Living in the Deep South, black interior is not an option for me.

I love the 718 GTS and have aspired to own one ever since it came out, but the cost of ownership has always given me pause. I'm not rich and a buying car like this would be a real stretch for me, in itself, and adding in $1000s in maint/repair costs just makes it far less appealing. There are other options that may not be quite as high on the desirability scale, but cost FAR less to own. Even something like a Mazda Miata, at a fraction of the price and minuscule maint costs, would be worth considering.

This could have been easily 30 min video and I would watch it eating every second haha

Whaaaat this is not like a Toyota? 😊 My 718 4.0 Spyder reliable as heck. 10K miles and hope to get much more until my knees wear out

This or C8 Z51?

Tuck the phone between the center tunnel console and the seat. That works fine in a 911 so should apply to a Cayman.

Just listen to that gearshift click into place

A little less reliable than I expected from the 718 4.0. Surprisingly the Supra you guys had was way more reliable.

Even better, get a base 981 at less than half the price and whine that 2.7l out and enjoy that flat 6 song.

I custom ordered my 2015 Cayman back in February 2015, and took delivery of it in June 2015. I just hit 65k miles the other week. I have had 2 parts fail - The windshield washer fluid hose that makes a 90 degree bend at the front trunk hinge cracked, and the drivers window switch button does occasionally pop free, and just has to be snapped back into the switch body. I still love my Cayman as much today as I did 9 years ago when I picked it up at the dealership. And your costs for service are massively overblown. Buy a tool kit, and replace your own filters and spark plugs... Geez!

2:30 How it sounds 4:10 Not much interior space 6:05 Winter driving 7:05 $$$ cost in repairs 9:35 Expensive but wonderful

Absolutely a great and expensive car.

I put on 22,000 miles my first year, not one single problem. And what you have to remember is that these are press guys they do not care about the car they don’t own the car and they’re not gonna treat the car like a normal person that actually spent 99,000 of their own dollars.

That AC intermittency issue plagues my 2023 model. It’s not serious - a restart of the car fixes it. But it’s annoying since porsche can’t fix it unless it experiences it (and the intermittency of the problem makes it hard to reproduce on command).

One should always get get a 911 AWD with PDK. :) Eliminates those maintenance problems; consumer reports ranks those cars as very reliable for a reason.

Don't you dare offend the most elaborate cup holder in history!

I get the impression that this is the car that Carlos would gladly keep for himself.

Everytime i get close to buying one of these i hear the repair bills and my overly responsible financial sense takes over. Going on 10 years now. 😂

If a tech 'doesn't have the tool' to do a job- don't let that shop do the job. Also- if a clutch can fail in a high performance car- it is underbuilt from the factory. Example- my '04 VW R32- I modifed (all motor) to make 25% more wheel hp than stock...and did hundreds of drag strip runs...no issue with the clutch. Other R32 owners could put turbos- no issue- up to 400awhp. Yet my wife's stock '17 VW GLI slips it's stock clutch on the highway when floored in 4-5th gear. VWAG (including Porsche) has been cutting cost / build quality since Piech died.

$1300 40K service? Lowest dealer price I was quoted on my 981S 40K service was $2700, $2300 for an indy (did spark plugs)

I swear you [Car and Driver] have tapped into my psyche. If you happen to have a long-term testing review on the *_Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio_* in conjunction with the previous C8 Z51 Corvette and now this, the 718 Porsche Cayman GTS 4.0. Then I have no doubt that we are _actively_ tuned into the same wave length my friends. They say, great minds think alike. Which begs the question: To whom do I send my resume? After all, my part of Arizona is a year-round (Summer tires) automotive paradise! [Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.] Although, the recent and sudden departure of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio has made our deliberation process exponentially more difficult to say the least. I loathe the thought of even more EVs and their amalgamations plaguing the roads. Especially those from manufacturers with such great heritage (I.E. - Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, etc.) but I digress. Honestly, it is hard to go wrong with any of these options. I would even go so far as to add the (992) Porsche 911 Carrera T among the mix. Which is yet another model that deserves a long-term testing review in my humble opinion. Besides, who there among the staff at Car and Driver would scoff at the idea of a long-term review on the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio and/or Porsche 911 Carrera T (992)? I am willing to bet the answer is _none._ Nevertheless, these long-term tests provide a copious amount of crucial data for the knowledge junkie. We strive to consume any and all pertinent information before we make a final decision regardless of the industry. Keep up the great work and please consider the aforementioned models for some future long-term testing adventures. Stay classy my friends.

987s/981s/718 straight 6. Manusls

Reminds me of my miata rf

Very good review. But, these cars are way too expensive for what they are. If you really want to drive them a lot, get a clean C6 or C7 Vette and save loads of money.

Break in is critical