McLaren v Aston Martin v Porsche v Ginetta

GT4 racers fight it out at Silverstone; Mclaren 570S GT, Aston Martin Vantage GT4, Porsche Cayman GT4, and Ginetta GS

Left to right: Porsche, Ginetta, Aston Martin, McLaren (Autocar)

Looking to go racing but want to keep it ‘affordable’? By motorsport standards, the GT4 formula is one of the less costly options, and more and more manufacturers are catching on by bringing out suitably prepped vehicles.

With their stripped-out interiors, aero kits, race suspension and slicks, these cars qualify for a wide variety of amateur race series and endurance events. We’ve brought four of the best to a public track day at Silverstone to see how they compare with each other, as well as everything from an Ariel Atom to a LaFerrari.

Our four cars are a McLaren 570S GT4, Aston Martin Vantage GT4, Porsche Cayman GT4 and Ginetta G55. The first three are road car-based, whereas the G55 is a full-on racer – and this shows, with its cramped, noisy cabin, much lighter kerbweight and 355bhp 3.7-litre V6 turning a straight-cut racing transmission.

All this means that only the GT4 series’ Balance of Performance regs, used to keep the field level, prevent the Ginetta from being the fastest contender by quite a margin – despite it being the least powerful car on test. It’s agile, beautifully balanced and a racing dream – and the best of the lot under braking even though it’s the only one here without ABS.

With its full digi dash, dozen traction settings and thunderous V8 exiting through race exhausts, the Vantage GT4 is a proper racer, too. Its size and weight are perfectly suited to Silverstone, and the Aston flatters the driver with its perfectly judged cornering finesse. While some more savage rivals could go faster, only the best drivers could access that extra pace.

Thanks to its massive cornering ability, dodging other vehicles on-track as though they were standing still, we feel the Cayman GT4 would be even better suited to a smaller, tighter circuit. Amazingly, the ClubSport model we drove isn’t even the finished article, as Porsche is still developing the fully homologated, lighter and faster GT4. We can’t wait to try it out.

Then there’s the McLaren 570S GT4. It’s nannied down to 429bhp to appease those Balance of Performance regs, but this doesn’t detract from the missile-like driving experience. Its cornering technique is sublime, thanks to its physics-defying entry speeds, absolute braking composure and supremely balanced suspension. The average amateur racer would take longer to learn its tricks than they would with its contenders here, but the potential for reward is the greatest.

It’s impossible to name a winner here, as each car boasts its own area of expertise. The McLaren excites like no other, while the Aston is the endurance king. Use the Porsche to step up from track days to proper competition, or head for the comparatively bargain-priced Ginetta if you want the most bangs for your buck. And they all left the Ariel Atom and LaFerrari for dead.

AUTOCAR