Watch the Porsche Cayman GT4 E-Performance Dance Around on Ice

By Brett Foote - January 16, 2024

The Porsche Cayman GT4 E-Performance puts its 1,000+ horsepower on fully display as it screams around the company’s Ice Experience.

It’s no secret that Porsche has some pretty big all-electric ambitions, ones that go far beyond the Taycan family. In fact, the German automaker has made it well known that other EVs based on the Macan and Cayman are in the works, coupled with its motorsports efforts in Formula E. Last year, we were also treated to the Porsche Cayman GT4 E-Performance, which is essentially just a test bed for the company’s electric powertrain development efforts, as well as a preview of what we can expect from both a road going all-electric version of the 718, as well as the GT customer racing program. Recently, however, Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire was able to test out the Porsche Cayman GT4 E-Performance in a slightly different yet truly exciting format – on the ice and snow in Levi, Finland.

While it might seem strange to fly someone out to a place where the sun only shines for roughly two hours a day and the ground is constantly covered in slippery stuff this time of year, there are a couple of good reasons why this happened – for starters, Levi is home to the Porsche Ice Experience – where the automaker teaches folks how to expertly navigate vehicles on those types of surfaces at speed – and it’s also the perfect venue to show off this car’s incredible capabilities in that regard.

The Porsche Cayman GT4 E-Performance is certainly that, somewhat based on the gas-powered Clubsport and sharing a chassis with that model, albeit with wider, natural fiber bodywork. It also leans on a pair of electric motors that generate a combined 1,073 horsepower in top Qualifying mode, drawing maximum power and eating up the 82 kWh battery a bit quicker than Racing mode, when it offers up 603 horsepower and lasts for around 30 minutes before a charge is needed – though that process can be completed in just around 15 minutes using the company’s giant semi truck trailer packing 2.1 megawatts of juice.

Driving all four wheels, one would expect the Cayman GT4 E-Performance to be rather quick, and that it most certainly is, with literal neck-snapping acceleration on tap at all times. But driving such a machine on ice requires a bit more finesse, though the car is also equipped with all kinds of techo-wizardry designed specifically for those reasons. Aside from things like power split, Porsche just added a new oversteer pedal to its racer that cuts power to the front motor and filters more to the rear motor, helping it better slide around corners.

Farah was able to drive a regular Cup car around the icy circuit before hopping in the E-Performance, and immediately got to see just how different these two cars really are while having the literal time of his life. In fact, he noted that it’s “far too fast” for a beginner on such surfaces, and he points out that you simply have to be patient with the steering. Unfortunately, he wasn’t at one point, sending him smashing into a snow bank, though it’s nice and soft – not the kind that would damage the car.

This isn’t the ideal way to experience such a machine – particularly since Farah previously had no wheel time in anything like this prior – and he isn’t a huge fan of all-wheel-drive in general, either. However, Farah admits that the Porsche Cayman GT4 E-Performance is a thrilling machine, and notes that the future of electric racing is “brighter than I would have thought a year ago.” Judging from all the fun he had on this particularly dark, difficult circuit, we’d have to agree.