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2021 Porsche 718 GT4 Miami Blue - Build thread

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rex:
Hi everyone!

And I hope everyone reading this is healthy!
I enjoy having a place to share my stories and get feedback / impressions especially from the best car forum I know :)
This time, I am opening a new thread since I got a new car  :driver:
The 981 Cayman Black Edition is sold but, and because I wanted to track the car more and to have a solid base for my driving skills growth, I decided to go for a 718 GT4.

During the following post / pages, I want to share with you what the car is, what is feels like and also to share my future experiences with the car. Even if I don't expect a lot of mods, I like to have a thread for each car I own. It brings me a lot of pleasure to revisit some of the experiences and, also, as contributors to my threads, I've had the pleasure to meat awesome people.

So, here it goes...
I truly loved the previous Porsche and the plan was to go for a GT3/ GT3 RS in 2022 and to keep the 981, but I decided I am not up to the level to drive a GT3 / GT3 RS close to their potential. Since the mid-engine platform is much more noob friendly I decided to go for a GT4... But with this move, it made no sense to keep the 981 as well - both financially and because I would not drive it.
So... GT4... but which one 981 or 982 (718)? Well the decision was easy. I live in Romania and buying a GT Porsche car is not quite straightforward. I think some times, the cheapest Porsche can prove to be the most expensive Porsche and to minimize that risk, I bought the cars from German Porsche Dealers. None of dealers that had a 981 GT4 accepted my 981 Black Edition as buy-back, so I had to go with a 718 GT4 (there they accepted the buy-back).
I also had no luck with the Romanian Porsche Dealers as there where no allocations for GT4 available.

Now, what kind of 718 GT4? What color, what spec, new/used? Easy(ish)...
Color: not white, not black, preferably not red
Spec: Bucket Seats, Clubsport, automatic climate control mandatory, preferably rear view camera, not black wheels, cruise control
New/used: I initially wanted a used car - I found one that I really liked (the Racing Yellow one below) but this had ~350 miles and the engine was changed on warranty. In the end, for me, buying a Porsche GT product is beyond a dream, and I decided to go big or go home. :).

So, I would like to present you the car I settled for: a brand new 2021 GT4 in Miami Blue.
As it was in the showroom:



When I first say it - all dirty after the Germany - Romania trip:



After giving it the first bath:















Next up - my cars' optional equipment - the good, the bad, the ugly.
Cheers!

fakie1977:
Cracking car and nice colour. Looking forward to following this and reading up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

rex:
Thanks @fakie1977 !

And, without further ado, the optional equipment list is:

J5J5 - Miami Blue color - really love this color. Might be a bit too flashy for my taste but it looks awesome. I especially like that the color was only available for one year (available to order until 24.09.2020 and it was not available on the 981 GT4). I think this will make the car slightly more valuable in the future. The Miami Blue color was replaced by Python Green.
79 - Leather Package with grey sticking
003 - Clubsport Package - this was a must for me. It is, as far as I know not available in US and it contains a bolt-in roll cage in black at rear including reinforcements with connection to bodyshell and preparation for battery disconnect switch. Supplied ready to install: six-point seat belt for driver’s seat in Black and lightweight motorsport hand-held fire extinguisher with bracket in Aluminium.
519 - Porsche lettering painted in black. I would have skipped this one and saved 170 USD...
534 - interior alarm. Again, I would have skipped this as well. I have full insurance so I don't really care if I have an alarm or not...
573 - 2 zone climate control. This was also a must for me.
579 - 6 point harness for the passenger.
583 - smoking package. Everyone has this because it covers the space in the center console, but having the 981 without, I would have also skipped this. On the other had, if I ever install a front axle lift, this might be very useful
630 - Light Design Package - nice to have.
631 - Speed Limit Detection - I would have also skipped this one as I don't rely on the navigation very much.
637 - Park Assist & Rear View Camera - a must also since it makes parking so much easier.
810 - Floor Mats - can't believe you have to pay 100 USD extra for these
9VL - Bose Sound System - useless in a GT4. In fact I think it may be even worse if it weighs more than the standard system. I would have definitely skipped this one as well
P11 - Bucket Seats - these are awesome and were also a must. I have another car with Recaro Pole Position seats and the buckets are way more comfortable than any seats I've ever been in. I can literally drive 1000 miles a day and not have any pains. Yes, it is more difficult to get in and out, but with practice it is quite easy.
P13 - Rain Sensor - nice to have, again, I can't believe you have to pay extra for this...
P1B - Interior trim in anthracite Aluminium
P40 - Navigation + Porsche Connect
QR5 - Sport Chrono Package
XBS - Calipers painted in black - nice to have on a Miami Blue car
XEW - Bi-Xenon & PDLS - can't figure it out why not pay 500 EUR more to get the PDLS+ with LED headlights... This is quite bugging me at the moment and one idea is to go for the LED headlights in the future. There are threads for this and it appears I only need the new lights and some coding.
XHX - Seat belts in kreide - these go very well with the rest of the interior.
XUB - Headlight washers in exterior color - I would have saved some money here as well.

All in all I am quite pleased with the car's options except for the LED headlights and the absence of the Cruise Control. The dealer installed the Cruise Control for free as part of the negotiation - so that's one less thing to worry about.
One option that some people go for are the Carbon Ceramic brakes. I was looking for a car with normal steel brakes because the cost of PCCB replacement is huge and I would live in fear that a stone might end up between the pad and the rotor. Additionally, the 19 inch BBS CH-R wheels can't fit the PCCB GT4's so I can get to use these wheels for short winter trips.
Am I missing something? Something I am wrong about? Feel free to let me know :).

Next up - installing the winter wheels and taking a closer look at the differences with the 981 Cayman.

And one more photo I forgot to post above:

rex:
So, winter wheels...

I kept the 19inch BBS CH-R that I had on the 981 Cayman. The wheels fit - just. As I said above they don't fit if the GT4 has the optional PCCB.

Before:



After:



As I finished the job it stated snowing, so just in time!



With the wheels off, I also got to look a bit at what's underneath the skin...
First of all, brake cooling. There is a lot of it :). Here is the front wheel arch:



You can also notice the brake ducts are rubber - so they will be upgraded in due course.

As the car sits very low, I also wanted to lift the car - who in there right mind would do such a thing to a GT4!?
But, Porsche thought of lunatics like myself and I managed to lift the car by 1 mm (0.04 inch) - this how much thread I had left. You can see I can drop the car by at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) - but that won't happen unless I have a front axle lift... Here is the stock height.





It is a similar story in the back... Loads of room to go lower but, because of the constraint in the front, I only went 1 mm (0.04 inch) higher. Here is the stock height.





Also one neat thing is that the car comes with a "Driving on a race track" brochure. How many cars have this?



Since it was specified in the brochure how to change the rear wing setting, I did just just that...



I also removed the front spoilers to "balance the car" Porsche says. I am not sure how much difference this makes, but that fact that Porsche went the extra mile and made these spoilers removable says a lot, in my eyes.



Porsche says not to use the wings' aggressive setting on the street but I'm not willing to change the setting every time I do a track day. It might increase the drag but I am not concerned as I don't intend to do 300+ km/h (186 mph) runs in the near future and the gas consumption (mpg) is not great either way... Also mpg is not the reason one would buy such a car in the first place.

Next up, first driving impressions...

rex:
Returning with initial driving impressions. And I say "initial" because the car manual advises for a 3000 Km (1864 Miles) bedding in / running in for the car. That means no full throttle and not exceeding 4000 RPM (yes, just like a diesel :) ). It was a big surprise when I read this - yes, I am one of those who read the manuals - since with all the previous cars the bedding in was half. And after 620 Miles I was allowed to reach maximum RPM... So, I am currently suffering a bit. I only got to 650 Km (400 Miles) yesterday and the words below are based on my impressions so far.

When people ask me how the car feels, I can't stop not thinking of this video: [ Invalid YouTube link ]

Please bear in mind my comparison is mainly with my VW Golf and the previous 981 Cayman.
Direction - "telepathic". I am amazed how well it steers. I thought the 981 Cayman's steering was good, but this is truly sublime.
Suspension - "firm but refined". It feels stiffer than the 981 Cayman and similarly stiff to the VW Golf (Bilstein B16 Coilovers), but much more refined than both. It feels like an expensive suspension.
Body roll/control - "amazing". No roll, no drama...
Gearbox - "bolt action rifle". OMG, I love the gearbox - short, precise, not jerky. It is miles better than the 981 ones -and I thought that was close to perfect...
Sound - "what a disappointment...". On cold startup the sound is ok, as well as when the car is stationary. In motion, I can hear more engine sound but less exhaust sound. Considering I previously had the 981 - with Porsche Sport Exhaust & Sport Chrono which many people say it's the best sounding 981, even better than the 981 GTS (this is coming from people that had both) - the sound of the GT4 is considerably worse.
Rev-mathing - "even better than the 981". The rev-matching function (that comes with Sport Chrono) was a very nice touch on the 981 and Porsche have made it even better on the GT4.
Start/Stop- "livable". I did not expect to write about this, but I could really live with this turned on. On the precious cars I owned or drove, the Start/Stop button was horrible and was the first button I pressed after I started the car.
Seats - "comfortable with a lumbar support pad". I am used with bucket seats since I used to daily drive the Golf (which has Recaro Pole Position bucket seats). The 718 seats are similar (a bit worse actually) and are comfortable if you add a lumbar support pad. I borrowed one from the Golf:







So, all in all the 718 is a car I like but not currently love... I think/hope things will change after I use the car on the track.
If people are not tracking the car, I think the 981 is marginally better for daily driving and occasional spirited drives. If you take into account the fact that the 981 Cayman Black Edition is a third of the price of the 718, it is not even a contest  :smiley:.
So, I am eagerly waiting for the time I can use all the tachometer and rev counter :).
Stay safe!

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