95spiderman

just read the new motor trend which compares 10 cars by instruments, laguna seca, and street driving. fwd, rwd, awd with front, mid and rear engines. no true exotics though (said f430 bested by gt3 for $60k less so no need).

was a good article with tremendous amount of data and pro driver's subjective opinions on track.

guess which won from exige, evo, cayman, z06, gt3, mini, bmw 3, etc?

Boulder GT3

I think we were typing at the same time.

Jim Bacus

Man, the guys on the Corvette Forum have a long thread going, isn't that right Boulder GT3???

Corvette Forum Thread Link

Boulder GT3

You got that right!

10 GT3

Straight from the article:

This is actually a very incorrect statement. Their test GT3 was PCCBs listed for $115,700. Although the F430 may have a base MSRP of $168K, you won't find one for sale for less than $195K. Since you can still get on the waiting list to get a GT3 at sticker, the F430 is at least $80K more.

What was surprising in the article was how many issues they had with the handling of the Z06. Despite the 325mm wide rear rubber, they made a lot of comments about how loose and lacking grip the rear end was. Despite the monster power and torque the Z06 has, it was still over a second slower than the GT3 at Laguna Seca.

The comments in the article mirror the comments made from a new Z06 owner at the track over the weekend. Several of us made a trip to Eagle's Canyon Raceway over the weekend and one of our own switched from a Carrera S to a new Z06. He made very similar comments about the looseness in the back end. His correction plan is to look at switching the archaic horse-and-buggy technology leaf springs to coilovers (like all the C5R and C6R race cars) and an adjustable rear sway bar. I wonder what Magnuson would have run at the Nurburgring if he had driven a production Z06 rather than a specially tweaked pre-production one?

The other surprise in the article was the FWD Mazdaspeed3 was also faster than the RWD S2000 around Laguna Seca.

Chris R.

...and as a cayman S owner, I think we had a good showing as well!
Looks like Porsche knows how to make a car handle.

eclou

I was more surprised with the Cayman's showing than the GT3's. The Cayman had the second best handling and near the best comfort. Makes it the everyday superhandler.

frayed

Eugene, have you gotten a chance to drive a cayman? They carve! They feel sort of gutless down low but up top they sing. There is no question in my mind that if Porsche made a serious, GT type version of this car, I'd buy one. Until then, we are stuck with these flawed rear engine designs. LOL.

eclou

I actually had a long conversation with Kerry Bonner about this recently. He wants to stuff a 3.6l or 3.8l into a Cayman and campaign it. RUF had the same idea and uses the Cayman as the basis for it's $300k+ CTR3. I think it could be done for less than the cost of a 997S and potentially shock quite a few of us.

frayed

RUF and Farnbacher both have their versions, and Farnbacher tells me that their 3.8L X51 is faster than a 997 GT3 on track.

I have no reason to disbelieve them, and Bill Kim here in Austin has a Cayman S (speed yella, can't miss it) that has been known to mow people down on track, on street tires. But he's a pretty damn good driver.

Here's my take on it, after very seriously considering a RUF Cayman: A 3.8L massaged and aftermarket tweaked Cayman, even from RUF, will not match the depth of a GT car from PAG. From suspension calibration, to optimized geometry, the feel of the controls etc. And, you end up with a specialty frankencar that is not terribly easy to sell. I was going to fly up to CT to drive Farnbarcher's Cayman but later realized that I didn't want a frankencar and really wanted a factory solution. Warranty, too.

If I had the cash and was not worried about the practical side of things, I would have done it though.

DavidNR

Good sense of humor! It was also surprising the low rating of the Z06. Guess there is lots of room for refinement. But its not the first time its been criticized.

Chris R.

Mantis racing is campaigning a Cayman S this year and is doing very,very well.
http://www.mantissport.ca/
Obviously a CS is no match for a GT3 but installing a 3.8S motor in it and getting the right suspension and brakes, I'm quite sure that a well driven CS can get by a GT3 without too much trouble.
They weigh about the same and with equivalent power and a good (think motons) suspension and brakes, the great mid corner speed and balance will go a long way to great lap times.
Another 3.8L CS conversion here (sound clip): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkxPyoU13SM

Pic:https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...d=187016&stc=1

I'm sure I'll be flamed for this but hey, stuff happens!

95spiderman

how much did the run flat tires hurt the z06? those tires are supposed to be very heavy. and how much did the r compounds help the gt3. how would vette or cayman take to r tires? does the suspension have to be built around them?

NJ-GT

Handling is more of a feedback feeling than tires grip. For example, an old Toyota MR2 with slicks can post fast times at the track, but it is a handful car. A Cayman S has a great suspension and handling, but street tires won't give it low lap times. I've driven both the base Cayman & Cayman S, and I think they've better handling than my 996 GT3.

At one AutoX I drove my 996 GT3 and a C5 Z06. Both cars were running about the same lap times, but the Vette was numb, oversized, unpredictable, non linear, isolated, while the 996 GT3 was great.

As much as the Vette boys are not happy, the car deserves that rating. It's still a fast car "at the drag strip".

cosmos

Its weird, but I test drove the Cayman S and bought the M coupe. The Cayman had no ffed back it was sterile compared to the M coupe and was not fun to drive. I like cars that are on the egde and will bite you in the ***. The GT3 is that way. Chalk it up to preference, but I would take a GT3 over a comparable 3.8 Cayman.