A432

Had a couple people ask about interior changes over the years so doing a small writeup.

The reason for doing this was, initially, wasn't happy with the amount of sound insulation and lack of rear engine character in my 987.2 S...also wanted more supportive/competitive seats

Then, ordered an R and although better (lighter/less insulation), it still wasn't as exciting/vocal as say a 1973 RS/GT3/Lotus Exige, all of which sounded more involving.

Also wished that Porsche took the R farther in the direction of the original 1968 911R with more aggressive performance treatments and a Lotus philosophy of weight is more important than power. (You gain in 3 ways instead of 1)

So basically, in the interest of not going too far, did it in stages. Then upon deciding to track the R, it became a weight/classification exercise in addition to the sound changes.

The stage breakdown is

1) Moderate rear engine sound increase with minimal negative NVH increase without concern for weight reduction (although some weight will be lost)

2) More rear engine sound increase with some minor NVH issues and more weight loss including seat substitution

All weight numbers are approx. because I'm going off memory although I have an accurate after weight of the car.

People will say the weight isn't worth it until you see the added up numbers, individually they're small, cumulatively it's fairly substantial

Stage 1

Started with removing the engine cover foam (it's pretty heavy)/carpet and cutting some Home Depot etc. black carpet to replace the foam.

Sound increase a few db but can hear more character of engine, NVH fine and approx. 5lb weight savings.

Stage 1A is to simply remove the HD carpet and run nothing on top of the engine cover......couple more db and more character, now 6lb. weight savings total and sounds good/very livable

This point is a good place to stop if you want about the same interior sound as say a 996 GT3 (on an R, if you have a base/S, there is more side/engine insulation to remove to get same sound)

Stage 2

Here is where I wanted to see how far I could go to be livable with a good weight reduction but not ruin the drivability of the car as a dual purpose street/DE car.

Keep in mind I like how loud old 911's/GT3/Lotus are, so this stage will be very dependent on the person.

The idea was to keep it livable by not removing anything forward of the seats in the cabin. So if you don't look backwards, you can't tell anything has changed (besides the seats)

I pulled all foam/insulation aft of the seats....that's bulkhead/side floor/engine surround/rear deck/side panels/hatch panels and hatch weight. Yes there's an NVH damper lead weight bolted to the hatch.

You can now hear most of the mechanical workings going on, you can hear the shocks damping, the gearbox shifting, the synchros spinning up and if you have 200 or stickier tires, the gravel kicking up.

But, and this is interesting to me, it's not harsh in my opinion. It's subtle noises that sound like a sports car working, all the parts interacting. For the sensitive it will bug you, but I like hearing it sound like a lightweight sports car.

The weight savings is approx. 36lb plus the hatch which is 8lb. and the previous engine cover of 6lb so we're at 50lb of weight reduction from the rear removal parts (on an R with no speakers)







Seats wise, the carbon buckets were removed and sold, replaced with a Recaro Profi driver's seat and a Recaro Pole Position passenger seat.

The original Sport Buckets are made by Recaro and the Recaro Profi/Pole Position series have a very similar shape/feel but with more depth and lateral support.

Reasoning on the different seats was because I would be giving instructional rides in the car and many larger people need the Pole Position/Profi XL to fit in while I like the aggressive Std. Profi for myself.

Building the seats with no pan, steel sliders and aluminum side mounts yields a weight savings of approx. 25 lbs off Sport Buckets, while the Sport Buckets are approx. 26 lbs off manual sport seats. So this is 51 lbs. off std. sport seats.







For those keeping track, we're now at ~75lb. weight savings off a stock Cayman R with Sport Buckets. That puts a non-PCCB, non-radio, non-A/C 6 speed R at 2861 lb - 75 lb = 2786 lb

Add ~55lb. for the half cage/harnesses, but I've since reverted the car back to not having them since it only occasionally sees the track and the bar is pretty unsafe on the street with an un-helmeted head........





Also as can be seen above, you can cut a section of Home Depot etc. carpet to cover the engine/rear deck to adjust noise level if you want to. In this case, it was for carrying things to the track and made the cargo noise damped out instead of rattling around to the track.

Next up in Stage 2 was to lose some weight in the front of the car....removal of all plastic and replacing the lead acid battery with a 8 lb. lithium battery and aluminum mount by EarthX......total weight savings ~10 lb + 31 lb = 41 lb



The R now weighs 2861 lb - 50 lb - 25 lb - 41 lb = 2745 lb

Next in Stage 2 is anything else without going extreme with carbon fiber or lexan etc. ie. still a street car and not too loud.

These items were OZ wheels, Titanium Remus exhaust and Porsche GT4 motorsports steering wheel. Those weights are 4 lb (CR wheels are light), 13 lb and 4 lb for a total of a 21 lb savings.






Car is now at 2745 lb - 21 lb = 2724 lb. this is with cats, mufflers, heater/fan, side door airbags/panels, full dash, power windows/mirrors etc.....it really feels normal like this, just more interactive with sounds and inputs-responsiveness.

If we were to go to stage 3/more aggressive, that would be CF hatch, Lexan rear window, remove parking brake system, shaved or removed full carpet (foam is heavy),

remove side airbags/CF door panels, CF roof, CF fenders, bumpers etc.

At that point the car could be approx.~2650 lb. More track focused weight could be saved by removing dash/door innards and then going full carbon doors but at that point you really need a cage which basically puts the weight back in to ~2650lb.

What's interesting to me is at 2724 lb., the car really does feel lighter/more responsive....Is it for everyone? Surely not. But it's not as loud or unlivable as one might think.

With the few mild mods I've done to the engine (200 cell/Remus/Flash/V Flow), on 91 octane fuel, the car is putting out ~355bhp which with the 2724 weight puts it about equal to a 996 GT3 with about the same "rawness" although mid-engined.

9eight7

Great post! I've been thinking about mods to shave some weight so that I can drop that extra second or two. Do you wear ear plugs/buds when you drive at the track?

A432

Thanks. Usually bring some music and some good earbuds, more for the music than the noise, it's really not that bad if you're used to a Lotus/Miata/GT3 etc. and all the drives were 1hr+

If only going out for a cruise or a mountain drive, actually like to have no music/earbuds, it's really an individual taste thing, wanted the 73 RS/Lotus vibe....and honestly in some ways those cars are still louder.

The Home Depot carpet cutout helps too, like in the one picture above, if someone is a little sensitive to the levels.....in the end removed it and liked it more with the open sounds.

Was limited to 3005 off track weight during competition so actually had to bolt some weight to the pax floor...it was too light. (but lower floor weight is better than normal weight)

Marine Blue

I didn’t see it in your notes, have you changed out the motor mounts for Wevo or similar?

A432

No, there was a car at the time that had them or something similar and it had a mysterious power drop on the dyno. They then figured out it was triggering the knock sensor circuit.

They've probably figured that out by now, but personally a fan more of sounds and not vibrations so have stayed away from mounts, although the trans. mounts are more attractive personally.

At some point I may add the street 60H motor mount and trans mounts but it will have to be with dyno testing to make sure it's performing as desired.

Marine Blue

I’ve heard from others that adding motor mounts gives the 987 a GT car feel and sound. Seems like it would be easy enough to do and the improved balance in the corners is always a plus.

A432

At some point I'll get around to actually testing it.

tq.3z

Absolutely love everything about your car. I haven't seen many R owners in the area. We should do an ACH day sometime!

NAMR6MT

The engine foam/carpet cover is 10.5 lbs. As you mentioned, this is the easiest way to shave weight while adding engine character noise. Thanks for the other "gutting" suggestions .

A432

Thanks, sounds good, recovering from knee surgery right now so will be a couple months

Thanks, interesting, will have to weigh mine again. What specific model/year did you use to measure? My notes said a total of 51.5 lb. for aft of the seats savings so it may have been in that. (no speaker model)

NAMR6MT

2007 987.1S

part #

987.551.039.01 A10

I can't imagine Porsche would use different covers for base/S/R so yours should be roughly 10 lbs as well. I simply stepped into a bathroom scale while holding the cover and subtracted my weight. This delete, along with an aftermarket catback exhaust, saved me 25 lbs. 987.1 stock exhaust is really heavy with its secondary cats.

A432

Makes sense, Porsche made a big deal about the "less insulation" thing on the R so I'm curious to go back out and weigh it. (edit: just looked it up and part #'s are the same)

Also, that's a good point about the 987.1 exhaust because when I weighed my .2 exhaust change, (secondary cats in the manifolds not pre-mufflers)

the savings claimed were overestimated by the vendor.....they may have been using heavier 987.1 starting numbers.

MXA121

27xx lb Cayman R, well done! I'm sure it is a pleasure to feel that reduction in the corners.
I was also surprised how light the stock R exhaust is compared with aftermarket.
if you wanted more, Titan7 TS5s are super light compared to the stock R wheels.
I think you have convinced me to pull the foam engine cover on my next drive.

A432

Thanks, think you'll like it. Yup, Titans are a good option too besides the OZ's...about 1lb per wheel under the 19" OZ's in 19's and 2lbs in 18's.

I'm kicking around the idea of doing a stage 2.5 which would still keep the car streetable (not carbon excessive/no cage)

but drop it well into the 2600's with the carbon/polycarb. hatch, foam shaved front carpet, (and try no carpet ie. Lotus but pot. NVH), lighter wheels,

composite door panels, airbag delete, lightweight flywheel. (note-PS4S are fairly light too, Hoosiers are lightest but very susceptible to street debris, curious on Magnus' history)

Rough number should be around 2655 lbs. with the above. Not bad considering the claimed weight of a '12-'15 Euro V6 Exige is 2587 lbs. or 68 lb. difference to the Lotus.

garfunkle

Really appreciate this a lot!

When you removed the carpet & foam, did you have to destroy it to get it out or is this something that is easily reinstalled to look good again/resell?