The Cheaper Porsche Is the Smarter Porsche

The 718 Cayman GT4 is the better buy today, and it isn't particularly close. At roughly £153 per horsepower on the used market — against the GT3's £268 — you are getting a genuinely exceptional driver's car at a price that makes the 911 look almost embarrassing. Both share the same 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six and both are built around the same Porsche obsession with balance and precision. The difference is that one costs nearly twice as much for a car that, in honest day-to-day driving, will rarely feel twice as good. The GT3 is quicker, sharper, and carries a badge that commands a premium no spreadsheet can fully justify. Its PDK gearbox is devastatingly fast, and 503 bhp through a rear-engine chassis remains a serious achievement. But the GT4 has something the GT3 quietly surrenders: a six-speed manual and a mid-engine layout that makes every corner feel like a collaborative exercise between driver and machine rather than a feat of engineering management. For the kind of driving most people actually do — B-roads, trackdays, occasional motorway — the GT4 delivers 90% of the GT3 experience at well under half the price. Worth noting: depreciation figures for both cars come from very limited model-wide data with no trim-specific auctions, so treat any retained-value claims with appropriate scepticism. Buy the GT3 if status and outright pace are your currency. Buy the GT4 if the drive itself is the point.