Driving is entirely the point of the GT4’s existence. It’s built to be driven and driven hard. It’s a car that gets better every time you get back into the seat. It will reward you with just a little more at each turn of the key, each flick of the gear shifter, each dab of the brake and throttle and each turn-in. It’s a car of many facets each working in tandem to do that.

 Downforce on the new car is up 50% from its predecessor. The front splitter is much wider and designed to channel air more fluidly underneath the car to reduce lift at the front and around the flanks into the side ducts to keep the engine compartment cooler. That large diffuser at the rear is itself responsible for 30% of the downforce on the rear axle. Additional downforce is generated from a reworked rear wing that adds 122 kg onto the top of the rear lid at speeds of 200km/h+. For up to 26 kgs of additional downforce, that rear wing can be manually adjusted for special occasions like track days.

 Now add power. Mid-engined power that is, delivering 309 kW and 420 Nm of torque to the rear wheels. It’s a glorious motor, spine-tingling in almost every gear with a very linear power delivery that really gets more exciting the higher revs climb. From about 5 000 rpm the engine seems to really come on song, all too happy to soar towards that 8 000 rpm red line. Shifting through the ratios in the GT4 is an all-in experience. The clutch pedal is weighty and the shifter slots into place with a mechanically resolute clunk. The steering is as precise as you are likely to find in anything other than a GT Porsche.

 And then there’s the chassis, perhaps one of the most impressive traits about the GT4.  The chassis here is heavily influenced by the GT3 in front and rear axle kit. The suspension is 30mm lower and the subframes, control arms, upside-down shock absorbers are all lifted from the 911 GT3 all under the management of revised torque vectoring and stability management software. It’s as flexible and fluid as they come and as a driver, you feel every input, every bit of weight transfer, every bit of the chassis flexing to give you maximum control.

The wheels on our test car were Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2. These are high-performance tyres that Michelin describes as performance tyres for road and track use, an in between semi-slick, bi-compound tyre that does require some heating before really pushing on. When the tyres are warm, the dry grip of these tyres is simply astounding but I warn you, make sure they’re warm or you’ll find yourself correcting a huge slap of oversteer without ever imagining it was coming.  

Almost every aspect of the GT4 is about stripping away distractions and disturbances for a more involving driving experience. The car requires learning and bonding. You need to understand its temperament as you warm the tyres, anticipate the braking feel and the modulation of the throttle and steering wheel as you dial in more and more speed. Everything in the GT4 is about communication and control between car and driver and when you get one aspect right, it seems that everything will have been done right in the process. It’s a masterful car to unlock your own driving potential or of course to uncover the lack thereof. It will bite if you don’t give it the deference it deserves. Drive it well and it will reward you in a way few other cars can.

If anything is a bit amiss it’s the gearing which I feel is too long. Redline it in second gear and you’re on the other side of 130 km/h with a ratio that is pulling at those rear tyres quite hard. Its gloriously involving and the motor is strong in almost any gear, but I’d have opted for faster 2nd and 3rd ratios if anything. Of course, these ratios are more suited for race track exploits than public roads.

 There are no driving modes. In fact, the only change to the driving characteristics of the car is the exhaust note control button, the ESC and TC buttons, a sportier chassis button and my personal favourite, the throttle-blip button. It’s self-explanatory of course but if that heel-and-toe isn’t exactly going well for you, the car will blip the throttle on every downshift making you seem much more capable than you are.

 As focused on power and precision as the GT4 is, if you’re really listening (which you will be) you will note a slight change in the pitch of the exhaust note when getting on the throttle at reasonable speeds. In a bid to improve efficiency and to meet the latest European emissions standards, one of the tricks has been to introduce adaptive cylinder control that automatically shuts down one bank of cylinder either side of the engine to save fuel.

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