Over Half Of Porsche 718 Sales Could Soon Be GTS-Flavoured
While it still may not have the flat-six engine we want, the sharper, more powerful ‘GTS’ trim level for 718 Boxster and Cayman siblings should at least be a financial success.
Sales for the 718 Boxster dropped 14 per cent during the first 11 months of this year, while the Cayman experienced a 22 per cent drop. The more focused variant is expected to change that, and quite dramatically so - Porsche Cars North America CEO Klaus Zellmer told Automotive News that as much as half of all 718 sales could ended up being for GTS versions.
“The segment overall of where we play with our 718 is a challenging segment, but especially now with the GTS, we see some activities at the shop floor, and orders being taken,” he said.
GTS-badged 718s get a slighly more powerful version of Porsche’s 2.5-litre flat-four, with a 15bhp boost bringing the total poke to 361bhp. The usually optional Sport Chrono pack is fitted as standard, suspension is a tad lower, and the exterior has been liberally daubed in black trim. The interior meanwhile is super sporty Alcantara-fest. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The price for all that? £8000 on top of the price of an S model. A fairly big premium, but one that clearly isn’t putting buyers off.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
I can’t take the “GTS-Flavoured” seriously. All I can think about is ice cream flavors. (And now I’m quite hungry.)
Porsche is amazing and Brilliant in what they do, but its just that they
should add more HP and and a Flat 6…other than that, they could succeed in sales in General and hit home runs…
My brother placed his 718 order back in April and it has only just arrived, i’m sure a 8 month wait would mean orders have been flying in for the 718 and 718 S?
Matt, you said ‘flat-six’ instead of flat-four in the second last paragraph
Matt Robinson The GTS is still a flat-four, not a flat-six as you wrote in the penultimate paragraph.
People on any WRX post (there have been a few recently):
“Boxer-4 engines sound amazing!”
“Hope WRX won’t lose the turbo boxer-4 in favour of characterless inline-4”
“Boxer-4 rumble tho”
People on any 718 post:
“Four cylinder engine is crap”
“Turbocharged engines are crap”
“Sounds so bad”
…
Come on Porsche! Get rid of your 4 pot fake Sportcar
Whenever every anyone is putting dow $100,000+ US for a car, the buyer pool has been reduced. The 718 Cayman S PDK is an outstanding car (2017 World Performance Car of the Year, 2017 Runner Up for Motor Trend’s Best Drivers Car, etc.). S or GTS, we are talking about near identical performance. The 718 Cayman S runs the 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds and the quarter in 12 seconds flat (Car and Driver & Motor Trend Testing). Don’t expect more than a 3.5 0-60 from the GTS. The 15 hp boost isn’t much, even for this light sportscar. If you just want the performance sans the additional “stuff” you really don’t need, buy the 718 Cayman S PDK with all the performance gear.