We’ve been introducing a lot of new cars lately, which is a very exciting start for 2016. Several of them have been difficult to acquire, yet we’ve managed to get them in the collection for our Members to enjoy.

Today, we’d like to highlight our Porsche Cayman GT4, which we took out on our last Members-Only Drive to Alice’s Restaurant in Woodside, CA.

Almost nothing but great things have been said about the GT4 from its announcement until today. Here are our top 4 favorite things about the GT4.

1. The Handling. It’s on rails.

Our previous Cayman, the 2015 GTS thoroughly impressed us from it’s nimble handling. We didn’t think the GT4 would be that much better, but it is. It’s 10 levels ahead. The weight of the steering and control speed makes you feel at one with the GT4. Just point it where you want it to go and it’s there.

“Loads of front end grip and lots of communication” – Chris Harris

2. The raw exhaust note. A cabin that makes your ears happy.

With its 3.8L flat-six, the GT4 produces a gloriously brutal exhaust note. Inside the cabin on the center console, is the exhaust control button. 1 click is all it takes to perk up anyone’s ears. Outside the car sounds great, and the beautiful sounds travel perfectly into the cabin. It’s an exhilarating roar that sounds a lot like “GO FASTER!” it just keeps egging you on. When the valves are closed, it’s more than a bearable sound and thankfully the exhaust doesn’t drone.

3. It’s got (too much) power. Up to 80mph in 2nd gear.

Gearing in the GT4 is extremely tall. This makes it plenty of fun on the track but doesn’t let you utilize all of the power while getting the fun of a manual out on the roads. Don’t get us wrong, we love the engine, and the power feels phenomenal, it’d just be a bit more fun on the road with shorter gear ratios.

“The Cayman would be faster still if it didn’t retain the same gear ratios as the Cayman GTS, which most of our testers thought too long then and which remain too long now.” – Matt Saunders – Deputy road test editor at AutoCar UK.

Most manufacturers aim for 2nd gear to be just tall enough to hit close to 65mph in order to achieve a great 0-60mph time. It seems Porsche decided to focus more on the track use than the number, however… another reason for the gearing might be that with regular gearing, maxing out around 65mph in 2nd gear, the GT4 would get to 60 in less than 3.6 seconds, which would be faster than the Porsche 911s (excluding the Turbo and GT3/GT3RS). We’re totally okay with the gearing because the 385 horsepower and 309lb/ft of torque get it to 60 in 4.1 seconds. That’s faster than our Ferrari 360 Modena (6-speed manual).

4. It’s a manual!

There’s no way to talk about the GT4 without mentioning the beauty of a proper manual transmission. Three pedals, six gears and lots of fun blipping the throttle on downshifts. Don’t just take our word for how amazing the gearbox is, watch it in action below.

“The shifter is perfection. You can make really fast shifts. It’s tight, there’s no play in it. Every manual transmission should shift like this.” – Jason Cammissa – Motor Trend

If you have any questions about our GT4 or any of the Porsches in our collection, you’re more than welcome to contact us.