If you pay any attention to the TopSpeed Podcast->ke4828, it will have become abundantly clear that we all like Porsches, and that the Cayman is top on our list for greatest driver’s cars. With the recent spy shots of the Porsche Cayman GT4, we thought it was time we took a quick look at what makes the new potential Cayman special, and what it may mean for the rest of the Porsche family.

The birth of the Cayman was purely to fill a gap in Porsche’s lineup. It was an artificial car with artificial specifications. It had an engine, horsepower rating, top speed and price, that was exactly between the Boxster->ke570 and the 911.

Thanks to its mid-engine design the Cayman has always felt like the better handling car, but Porsche->ke1 refused to let it eclipse the power or performance of the 911. That seems until now, anyways. If the rumors about the GT4 Cayman are correct, it is positioned to be a better car than the base 911 Carrera->ke574, and potentially even the RWD Carrera S. If true, this could make the GT4 Cayman one of the best driver’s cars Porsche has ever created.

Read on to find out what makes the Porsche Cayman GT4 so special

First let’s talk about power. The chassis of the Cayman is one of the stiffest in the entire world. It can handle far more power than Porsche is giving it. If the rumors are to be believed, the new GT4 model will be pushing something around 400 ponies or so. That will make it very quick and entertaining.

We also need to pay attention to the body and the naming scheme. GT4 puts it in the same family as the race-prepped 911 GT3 meaning Porsche has track aspirations for this car. The massive aero work on the test mules back up this idea. Apart from the increased power, we should expect structural stiffening, potentially an integrated roll cage and some dramatically reduced weight numbers. Porsche will basically be taking the most well balanced car it sells and making it 100-percent race ready from the showroom for weekend track day enthusiasts.

The most important part of the GT4, at least for me, might be the inclusion of a manual transmission. Currently, Porsche has dropped the three-pedal option from its 911 GT3. Considering the massive track time difference the PDK brings, it makes sense for Porsche to include it on their number-one customer racer. The Cayman GT4 may become the replacement for enthusiast that want a track machine, but may not be competing or chasing .01 second differences in lap times.

Finally, the last special part of the Cayman GT4 is that it will be the first time the Cayman has been allowed to eclipse the performance of any 911 model. It shows Porsche is finally gaining faith in the abilities of the car, and the customer’s desire for a car that is fast, but isn’t a 911. Of course, if you separate the “GT” designated cars as their own model line, the GT4 Cayman should still fall well below the performance of the 911 GT3->ke617, so maybe things are changing all that much.

Whatever the case, it looks like with this new GT4, the Porsche Cayman may finally become the car I always knew it could be.