Porsche announces pricing for the flat-six 718 Cayman and Boxster GTS 4.0
Porsche is making some changes to its 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster siblings for the 2021 model year. The most significant news comes near the top of the 718 lineup: If you’re nervously thumbing your wallet waiting for the green light to order your naturally-aspirated flat-six-powered 718, good news: it’s go time.
Porsche confirmed that the 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 and the 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 are now available for order as 2021 model year vehicles, and the first units are expected to reach our shores near the end of 2020. Recall that the GTS alphanumerics signify most of Porsche’s performance goodies coming as standard, including the Sport Seats Plus, Sport Chrono Package, Sport Exhaust System, PASM Sport Suspension, and a mechanical limited-slip differential with Porsche Torque Vectoring.
All that free-breathing goodness will cost you, though. The hardtop 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 starts at a princely $88,150, while the open-top 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 will set you back $90,250. Still, the prospect of six manually selected gears (six-speed manuals are standard on all of Porsche’s mid-engine sports cars) adjusting the tone of six free-breathing horizontally opposed cylinders might never feel more worth it. The 4.0-liter flat-six in question cranks out 394 horsepower and 308 lb-ft of torque, more than enough grunt to bend long stretches of tarmac to your will or launch to 60 mph from zero in just 4.3 seconds.
As previously announced, Porsche will offer the venerable seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic as an option on all flat-six 718s. That means two pedal setups are possible in the aforementioned GTS 4.0 twins, and that’s also true for the range-topping 718 Cayman GT4 and the 718 Boxster Spyder. While the manual-only aura is appealing for this sort of enthusiast-focused machine, expanding the clientele makes sense—the more people that are given the opportunity to experience the dynamic virtues of the louder members of the 718 family, the better.
One caveat to the two-pedal club: If you must have the automatic in your six-cylinder 718, you’ll have to wait until early 2021 to get it, which might be a bummer when your row-your-own 718 companions are already basking in aural delights.
A raft of additional standard equipment will also make its way onto most 718’s for 2021. All standard 718 Boxster and Cayman models, including the lighter T, the sportier S, and then shrieking GTS 4.0 variants will receive automatic two-zone climate control, heated seats, auto-dimming mirrors with rain-sensing technology, Apple CayPlay capability, and bi-xenon headlights with the Porsche Dynamic Light System (PDLS) as standard. The 718 Cayman will start at $61,250 with delivery, and the 718 Boxster will cost $63,350 with delivery. As is the Porsche way, expect prices to rise rapidly the more option boxes you tick.
