Evocative six-cylinder drop-top gets Porsche’s seven-speed automatic. Is it an upgrade over the manual?
What you’re looking at here is likely to be the best-selling version of what is arguably the highlight of the Boxster and Cayman line-ups: the GTS 4.0.Until now, this sublime six-cylinder has only been mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, which gives it spot-on sports car credentials but is less of a draw in the showroom, where PDK tends to be king. So here we have a GTS with the familiar seven-speed version of the always snappily titled Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe transmission.At £2303, this dual-clutch automatic upgrade doesn’t come cheap, but you do get a small, 7lb ft uplift in torque, which brings the total to 317lb ft, while the claimed 0-62mph time tumbles by a half a second compared with the manual, taking a scant 4.0sec. That said, the top speed of the PDK car is 179mph, a 3mph drop over its three-pedal twin. One to remember for the autobahn perhaps.You will save a little on running costs, though. The PDK stretches a gallon of super-unleaded over 28 miles, compared with the 25.9mpg promised by the manual. CO2 emissions are reduced, too, from 247g/km to 230g/km. Otherwise, it’s the same as the manual car, which means you get that same sonorous 395bhp 4.0-litre flat six that’s lifted largely unchanged from the Motorsport-flavoured GT4 and Spyder models, plus the same GTS chassis upgrades that brilliantly tread the line between edge-of-the-seat driving excitement and everyday usability.
Source: Autocar
