718 Buyers Guide Discussion and Feedback

[Tom]

Happy to report the 718 Buyers Guide is live and online here on Carpokes. Please take a minute to check it out and comment in this thread if you have any corrections, suggestions, comments, etc.

[Larry C]

I’m a 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 owner - it’s my first Porsche. I purchased the car because I wanted an “old-school” Porsche without buying a pre-owned 911. While not a 911, the GTS 4.0 checks the boxes:
1. The size is around the same as the 964, a little smaller than the 997
2. Flat 6 normally aspirated engine - it has the same engine as the GT4 that’s slightly detuned
3. Mostly analog interior - from the seats forward, it’s almost identical to the 991.1 and 991.2

IMO, it’s the perfect DD sports car:
1. Mid-engine - excellent handling
2. Lightweight
3. Storage in Frunk and rear compartment
4. High revving NA engine
5. Compliant suspension - DD, canyon carver and weekend track car

Just my enthusiastic $0.02

[WillyDaP]

Thanks Tom for mentioning those hard to get, but highly desirable, LWBS option. My GTS 4.0 has those lovely track hugging butt huggers and they are surprisingly comfortable on the highway as well. Coming from racing Vipers, Mustangs and Spec Miatas the Cayman is a nice blend of being toss able, yet with decent horsepower for its weight. Would love to have more power but with a Viper still sitting in the garage I have another GTS that scratched that itch. Having a blast tracking the little Croc and the reptile is quite capable of taking a bite out of more powerful track beasts.

Great start and good data for the 718 Caysters.

[Tom]

Here's an amusing thing. I've been poking around looking to confirm facts in this guide and look for points I've missed, so picked up the '25/26 Excellence Magazine Porsche Buyers Guide edition. It has a section on every Porsche made, from the 356 through the latest Taycan. Great resource with lots of info. The amusing part? Somewhere in the editorial process, they neglected to include the 718! They reference it in other parts of the guide, but in the section where they go over the cars model by model -- nothing. They have every other model I can think of (even 959's, 918, etc.) but no 718. Wouldn't want to be around the editor they day they realized that!

[blueline]

Here's an amusing thing. I've been poking around looking to confirm facts in this guide and look for points I've missed, so picked up the '25/26 Excellence Magazine Porsche Buyers Guide edition. It has a section on every Porsche made, from the 356 through the latest Taycan. Great resource with lots of info. The amusing part? Somewhere in the editorial process, they neglected to include the 718! They reference it in other parts of the guide, but in the section where they go over the cars model by model -- nothing. They have every other model I can think of (even 959's, 918, etc.) but no 718. Wouldn't want to be around the editor they day they realized that!

Just a slight oversight.

"Tis but a scratch..."

monty-python-holy-grail-06-1503173677 (Phone).jpg (71.57 KiB) Viewed 591 times

[Tom]

Well I talked to my guy at Excellence and he tells me they make an editorial decision not to include model specific entries on car (generations) still in production -- so, for example, there is no 992 either. So at least it wasn't an oversight, though kind of a curious editorial decision. In the universe of people who might buy a Porsche buyer's guide, I'd have to think potential 718 and 992 buyers represent a very meaningful percentage. At any rate, I'll be publishing our own 718 guide shortly, and now maybe a 992 version as well...

[Larry C]

Well I talked to my guy at Excellence and he tells me they make an editorial decision not to include model specific entries on car (generations) still in production -- so, for example, there is no 992 either. So at least it wasn't an oversight, though kind of a curious editorial decision. In the universe of people who might buy a Porsche buyer's guide, I'd have to think potential 718 and 992 buyers represent a very meaningful percentage. At any rate, I'll be publishing our own 718 guide shortly, and now maybe a 992 version as well...

No 718 nor 992 but they include the current Taycan?

[Tom]

Well I talked to my guy at Excellence and he tells me they make an editorial decision not to include model specific entries on car (generations) still in production -- so, for example, there is no 992 either. So at least it wasn't an oversight, though kind of a curious editorial decision. In the universe of people who might buy a Porsche buyer's guide, I'd have to think potential 718 and 992 buyers represent a very meaningful percentage. At any rate, I'll be publishing our own 718 guide shortly, and now maybe a 992 version as well...

No 718 nor 992 but they include the current Taycan?

Yeah, I dunno. I'm just the messenger on this one. I'd be lying if I said I understood the criteria for what was included vs excluded. Both the 992 and Taycan have a dot 1 and dot 2 version, but they included the Taycan.1 and not the 992.1 I assume they have a reason, but it's not obvious to me. I'd also be lying if I claimed to understand the logic (or maybe Porsche constraints?) that resulted in a criteria that excludes the very cars of prime interest to Porsche enthusiasts -- i.e., all 992s and all 718s. On the other hand, it's a nice buyer's guide for the cars it does cover, with lots of tangential articles of interest.

[Tom]

Bumping this to introduce the new 718 Buyers Guide, which can be found here. Check it out! Feedback and commentary encouraged in this thread.

Plan to do more models in due course too.

[Crazy Eddie]

I’m a 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 owner - it’s my first Porsche. I purchased the car because I wanted an “old-school” Porsche without buying a pre-owned 911. While not a 911, the GTS 4.0 checks the boxes:
1. The size is around the same as the 964, a little smaller than the 997
2. Flat 6 normally aspirated engine - it has the same engine as the GT4 that’s slightly detuned
3. Mostly analog interior - from the seats forward, it’s almost identical to the 991.1 and 991.2

IMO, it’s the perfect DD sports car:
1. Mid-engine - excellent handling
2. Lightweight
3. Storage in Frunk and rear compartment
4. High revving NA engine
5. Compliant suspension - DD, canyon carver and weekend track car

Just my enthusiastic $0.02

Great car ( especially for the money )
Great daily driver