Donnie, what kind of full course lap times can you get at VIR in the cayman? Thanks. T.Roy

 

I've actually only had it out once and didn't get many lap times. On full course on PS2's I got in the high 2:17's fairly quickly (after being nearly scared to death trying to burn up some Yokohama Advan Sports...serious waste of time). Car definitely had a LOT more in it even on those tires. 14's, anyway. That was my first time on VIR full in anything with more than 200HP.

No telling what she'll do on stickies...no telling how long it will be before I find out, either. Too many other irons in the fire, and this is more a street car for me that I intend to play with on track, but "real" race cars seem to always need the time.


--Donnie

 

Thanks Donnie. Hope to see the car sometime. Im a fan of the Cayman. Wish we had a Cayman Cup. See you at VIR!

 

I would just like to point out that there is a $60,000 difference in price between a CS and a GT3 (in CAN funds). For the money, the CS is a damn good bang for the buck.
To all the nay-sayers and 911 nuts, how would you feel about trading in your 997 GT3 for a plane jane 997 (non S)?
A well driven CS will get by a similarly driven 997 on the track. Yes, 997S is faster and GT3 faster again but the money you saved can go a long way to add the right bits and pieces!
Look, I love the GT3...alot and having driven one (an RS) at the track, I can see why they are so popular but my CS is still a pretty serious track tool that takes a lot of 911, Exige etc owners by surprise.
Chris

 

Good Point. And much of this is pure profit to Porsche.

 

Chris R., Yessir, but a Boxster S lets the sun in as well. GT3s I figure, are for getting in as deep as possible without a trailer queen. How's your battery?

 

At "the track" you have people with all manner of experience levels. I've kicked the ever loving crap out of all manner of Porsches, including turbos, in my Spec Miata. Okay, so I had Toyo RA1's and they were probably on their street tires, but come on. My point here is that at "the track" it's a LOT more about driving than a lot of people want to think.

Same driver and an Exige S and most recent 911's will beat your Cayman. The rear suspension in the Cayman sucks (massive camber and toe changes under load) and the lack of an LSD can be pretty brutal. I could feel the bump steer in the rear on the dang street...

Your car is easier to drive up to a point than a 911, so that's a good bit of why Cayman's are known to hang with 911's. *shrug*

Fix those suspension issues and put an LSD in it, and you have a formidable car. Do some power mods and you have a REALLY formidable car. But without those, I'd just assume have a stock Subaru STi for half the price of the Cayman S. *shrug*

I don't want to sound down on the Cayman...I'm far from it. It's a better *platform* than a 911, IMHO. But you have to do some fairly serious mods to get it into true 911 handling territory.


--Donnie

 

This is exactly what we did including a 997 3.8 X-51 motor. An incredible package that really shows the true potential of this chassis. That said, a back to back drive in a 997GT3 and the gearbox slop by comparison shows just as much how much more could be done by the factory to make a very special car indeed. As much as I love the 997GT3, I'd sure love to see this package applied to the Cayman chassis.

 

donnie, i think chris R , you and i are all cayman champions and early adopters. but you are absolutely right about the rear struts on CS. i almost sent one of my CS to F/L to do it like yours, but lucked out with RS.

i also have had elise and exige. i am about 1-2 seconds slower in exige then CS, depending on track. now that's exige, not S. i am pretty sure that at places like LS or TH where hp matters, exige S will be as fast as CS (maybe faster)... at infineon, i can post same time in my exige vs CS. so an exige S will eat CS alive.

i had moton cs on CS and nitron DA on Exige, both on shaved RA1, so comparison is fair. and of course the same lousy driver in both cars.

 

Damn, I love those wheels on that silver Cayman. I forgot about the tranny in the Cayman...it's really just not as good as the 911 units. Not sure of the power it can handle, but I don't think it's terribly much more than what the X-51 delivers. It doesn't feel as good as the 911 shifting, but it's been adequate. I haven't heard of anyone having any trouble missing gears or anything with it, and mine has felt fine to me. I'm used to racing a Spec Miata, though, where the chassis and driveline slop all contribute to some very annoying and temperamental shifting issues. Try the second-to-third shift coming out of Oak Tree at VIR in an SM...you have to be REALLY precise and even the best drivers miss it from time to time. The chassis is still so dang loaded up and twisted just the wrong way that there is little margin for error lest you find fifth. At least it isn't a money shift, but it's definitely a "you're gonna get passed" shift if someone was on your tail.

Yeah, mooty caught that I did say it would have to be an Exige S to take a Cayman S. I've owned an Elise and driven some Exige S's, too. Might still have the Elise if the friggin British knew how to make a car that would fit a 6'2" 200 pounder with size 14 feet. *sigh* Well, I would have "upgraded" to an Exige S by now, at least. But I'd rather have my GTR any day.


--Donnie

 

size 14 feet!!! so, you are on all THREE pedals the same time
a friend of mine just got the new 240exige S, not the cup car, but street legal 240. that must be quite something.

 

Yeah, in that car I had to rotate my foot so far around it was basically at 2pm when I was on the gas. I just couldn't go to the brake without getting some gas, too, most of the time. The worst was that even with the seat all the way back, I couldn't turn the wheel much in first or second gear without my hand hitting my knee. That was bad for autocross, anyway. I could reach the steering wheel fine that far back, but prefer to race with the wheel closer to me, too. So ergonomically it just sucked rocks. And don't anyone go asking me why I bought it if I didn't fit...I'm one of those dumbasses that had it ordered almost two years before the things hit this country. I got my car so early I had never seen an Elise in person until I got to the dealership in CT to pick up mine. It was cold and rainy with occasional big snow flakes and I drove it back to NC that day. It had the sport package, which meant Yokohama R compounds, too. Man, I knew I was going to die on I-95 on several occasions.

The newer cars are reconfigured and a bit better on the ergos, but not enough to really get me interested again. I've had some students with Exige S's, though, and put down some pretty good times in them once I got used to the ergos a bit. I imagine that new 240 is pretty fun...


--Donnie

 

I am 6'6 driving a 951 with a steering wheel that doesn't tilt!

 

If Porsche would build a GT3 version Cayman I would get one. Of course that would require at least a couple of seasons in a series. I would not do it for any motor and tranny less than what is in the 911 GT3s

 

You and a lot of other people, especially once that car was kicking the crap out of the "equivalent" 911. Problem is, the behavior from Porsche so far suggests they absolutely will not do that to the 911. They've told all their factory supported race shops that if they build a Cayman based race car that they will lose factory support. They can do whatever they want to Cayman street cars, but as soon as a customer wants them to gut and cage one, they have to turn the work down.


--Donnie