The 718 GT4 front end is the most modular thing Porsche makes. It comes apart into a centre section and two side vents, which means you can change it in stages rather than in one go. That is why this is the car the range was built around, and why the decision worth getting right is which air curtain you buy.
Most model guides tell you what a car already has. This one is about what you can change, in what order, and what each stage costs.
The short version: the splitter centre is the foundation, the side sections are where the real choice sits, and the three front end packs bundle the lot at three different levels of aggression. Pick the wrong curtain and you have a track car parked outside a restaurant, or a road car that looks like it was left half finished.
Fitment lines come from our own product pages. Prices are current.
More than it looks. The GT4's front spoiler lip is aerodynamically developed rather than decorative, and Porsche sizes it differently on the GT4 and the Spyder to match the downforce each car makes at the rear. The underside carries a dimpled surface, and there are NACA ducts in the underbody feeding air where it is needed.
That dimpled underside is the detail worth knowing. Porsche describes the special surface on the underside of the front spoiler lip as reminiscent of a golf ball, which makes the airflow follow the contour more precisely and reduces drag.
At the centre of the bumper, air is guided up through the radiator to an outlet ahead of the bonnet, a Porsche GT signature going back decades. A Gurney flap at that outlet creates a vacuum that pulls air through.
So the front of a GT4 is doing real work. What it is not doing is showing you any carbon, because the factory does not offer visual carbon on the GT4's front end at all.
The RS is a different front end, not a hotter version of the same one.
Porsche gives it a new front spoiler lip with flow-around side blades, a multi-adjustable front diffuser and vents in the front wheel arches, sitting 30mm lower than a standard Cayman. The front diffuser adjusts in four stages using mechanical sliding elements, and the rear wing in three, so the balance can be set as a pair.
Add NACA intakes in the bonnet feeding the front brakes, and the total is roughly 25% more downforce than a GT4 in the track-only Performance setting.
The RS also comes with far more visible carbon from the factory, on the bonnet, the upper side intakes and the airbox. That matters for anything you add, because it sets the weave you have to match.
None of which changes the fitment picture much. Our front end packs are made for GT4, Spyder and RS cars, so the RS is included. The exception is the indicator shrouds, which are listed for 718 GT4 models only.
Three things, in this order. The splitter centre section at £1,250, which replaces the standard plastic centre. The bumper side sections, which come in three specifications from £1,875 to £2,999. And the indicator shrouds at £1,950 a pair. All of them use the original mounting points with no cutting or drilling.
The splitter centre section is where everyone starts. It works with the factory plastic side vents, so it can be fitted on its own, though the front reads better with carbon either side of it.
The indicator shrouds are the detail that finishes the job. They add carbon at the outer corners of the bumper, in a place the factory does not offer it on a GT4 at all.
Everything is 2x2 twill, which is the weave Porsche uses on the 718's own external carbon. On an RS with a carbon bonnet already fitted, that match is the whole game.
Three options and they are properly different. The splitter end and vent sections at £1,875 a pair are the styling choice with no vertical curtain. The road spec aero curtain at £2,100 adds one small diveplane, housed internally so it stays discreet. The track spec at £2,999 adds two larger diveplanes protruding from each curtain.
Take the honest view of what those diveplanes do. On a road car at legal speeds, very little. On track they add downward pressure at the front axle at higher speeds, which is a real effect and the reason the track curtain exists.
So the question is not which is best. It is what the car is for.
A GT4 that does two or three trackdays a year and lives on the road is better with the road curtain. It reads as a factory option that was never offered, which is the whole point of the exercise. The track spec curtain belongs on a car that gets trailered, or driven by someone who does not mind explaining it.
And if you want the least aftermarket-looking result available, the plain end vents give the most OEM appearance in the 718 range.
Buying the pieces separately works. Buying them as a pack is how most owners do it, because everything comes off the same cloth run and the price lands better.
All three packs include the splitter centre section and the indicator shrouds alongside their curtain configuration, all in matched 2x2 twill. All three are made for GT4, Spyder and RS cars.
The no air curtain pack at £4,690 uses the Dissident bumper end vents with no vertical curtain, and gives the most factory-looking result. The road pack at £4,900 adds the air curtain with one small diveplane housed internally, which is the balance most owners land on. The track pack at £5,500 runs the two larger diveplanes on each side.
The gap between the cheapest and the most aggressive is £810, which is not much on a car of this value. Choose on how the car is used rather than on price.
There is also a full carbon package at £7,980 that covers the front, sides and rear together, including your choice of the three curtain configurations. If the whole car is going carbon, that is the route that guarantees a matched weave from nose to tail.
Worth a paragraph, because front and rear aero belong together.
The GT4 rear wing replaces the original using the factory uprights, brackets and bolts, at £2,600 to £2,999, and it adds visual carbon at the rear that the GT4 does not offer from new. The endplates are sold separately at £1,399 precisely because they are detachable, so a second set lets you swap between visual carbon and body colour.
There is also a rear wing gurney at £445 to £595 that works with our wing as a tuning aid to increase rear downforce. It attaches with automotive grade adhesive tape.
If you are adding front downforce with the track curtain, adding at the rear as well keeps the balance where the factory put it. Front aero on its own moves a car towards oversteer at speed, and the fix is at the other end.
Everything is autoclave-cured pre-preg carbon, hand-built in the UK, finished in gloss clear lacquer and ready to fit. Pre-preg means the cloth arrives with the resin already measured into it. An autoclave cures the part under heat and pressure together, which is what keeps a large front panel dimensionally accurate.
Front parts take the worst of it, so finish choice matters. Gloss lacquered visual carbon is the best looking and the first to show a stone chip. Primer lets a local painter colour code the part instead.
Every part ships with a written fitting guide, and we recommend a professional fitment. Parts in stock go out quickly, and parts built to order are dispatched within 14 to 35 days.
Three things to take away. The GT4 front end is modular, so you can do it in stages rather than all at once. The curtain choice is the decision that matters, and it should follow how the car is used rather than how it looks in a photograph. And if the car is an RS, check the weave you already have before choosing a finish.
Start with the 718 GT4 front end carbon pack in road spec.
A GT wing works the air above the car, a ducktail changes where it leaves. What each does, what fits, and which suits your Porsche.
Read article
What a front splitter does, how it differs from a lip or air dam, why fitment decides if it works, and which one fits your Porsche bumper.
Read articleThe splitter centre section replaces the standard plastic centre at £1,250. The bumper side sections come in three specifications from £1,875 to £2,999, and the indicator shrouds are £1,950 a pair. All use the original mounting points with no cutting or drilling, and all are 2x2 twill to match the factory carbon on the car.
The front end carbon packs are made for GT4, Spyder and RS cars, so the RS is covered. The indicator shrouds are listed for 718 GT4 models only. An RS already carries visible carbon on the bonnet and upper side intakes, so match your finish to what is on the car before ordering.
The end vent sections at £1,875 a pair have no vertical curtain and give the most factory looking result. The road spec curtain at £2,100 adds one small diveplane housed internally. The track spec at £2,999 adds two larger diveplanes protruding from each curtain, which increases downward pressure on the front axle at higher speeds.
Very little at legal road speeds, because aerodynamic force rises with the square of speed. On track the larger diveplanes on the track spec curtain add real downward pressure at the front axle. If the car mostly lives on the road, the road spec curtain gives the look without the explanation.
All three include the splitter centre section and the indicator shrouds in matched 2x2 twill, and differ only in the curtain. The no air curtain pack is £4,690 and looks the most factory. The road pack is £4,900 with one internal diveplane. The track pack is £5,500 with two larger diveplanes each side.