i rarely have smoke upon start up. the smoke occurs while i am in the middle of the turn. and always left hander hairpins.

 

What kind of power steering issues are there, and how do I avoid/prevent them?

 

PS pump gets fried under heavy use. The easy fix is an underpulley from Mantis Racing. Has worked for me and many others.

 

Pardon my ignorance as this is my first Porsche, but is this a Porsche, or Cayman-specific problem?

I guess I find it strange that a company with the reputation for iron-clad engineering and endurance-racing, would build a car where something like a PS pump would fail after the relatively limited stresses associated with track day events.

Does it have something to do with running wider than stock, and sticky R-compound tires on the front, which places more load on the pump?

 

It is a common problem with 987 Boxsters & Caymans that are tracked. It is a issue that results from the heat generated by the PS pump being spun at continously high RPMs. Typically the plastic (yep plastic!) retaining clip that holds the hydrolic line to the pump itself that fails first, then the pump gets starved and so it fails.. My dealer only replaced the plastic hose retaining clip but would not replace the pump. The pump is getting incrementaly noiser every day. Another trip to the dealer soon........

 

It is a 987 specific issue. Since it hasn't happened to me, I can't comment extensively. My impression though is that it is not the result of limited stresses. These are mostly cars running hard for many hours and many thousands of miles at the track. It is also not universal. There are lots and lots of people out there with no PS issues.

The advice is that if you plan to track your car extensively, it is worth the minimal preventative cost to install the underpulley. If you are going to track occassionally in lower run groups with street tires, you may not need to worry about it.

(You are right though - this shouldn't happen in a Porsche!)

 

Sorry if this is a silly question, but is there a path to a manual steering rack (similar to RSAmerica, C964 Cup cars, etc) available for this platform?

 

Not as far as I know (are you sure you would really want that though!?). There are some that have played around with an electric setup ala 997 cup. Not sure it is worth the effort though. The underpulley takes a lot of the heat off of the pump and gives you back some power.

 

After driving with a manual steering rack on the Cup and RSAmerica, absolutely yes. The best steering feedback and feel I've ever experienced.

 

so would the caymen club solve these and other issues with tracked (?raced) caypeople ?? In other words, could the spyder's success and the 911 gt cars' struggles equal a caymen club ??

Jack