Cupcar

I'm dropping in from the air-cooled side of Rennlist to ask if any of you have thought about the prospects of putting a GT3 engine in a Cayman now that they share the same engine family and the gearbox should bolt up?

It seems to me that a PDK Cayman with GT3 engine would be a hoot to drive.

stevecolletti

Agreed - even with those of us who want a manual transmission.
It's been considered on this forum, as well as the 987, the 997 GT3 and 991 'GT3' forums.

I think we're all waiting for more engine information (packaging, electronics, etc) at this point.

extanker

some of us are waiting for an engine with torque

cpturbo

I am very interested to know whether the motor will fit and whether a manual transmission from the cayman will bolt up, even with an adapter plate. I want normally aspirated power from the flat 6 at 9k rpm with torque in a 2600 lb package. Who wouldn't?

Cupcar

I believe all the the new "A91" family engines have the same bolt pattern between engine and gearbox and all the new Porsche models use an A91 variant.

The new GT3 also has a new A91 engine unlike the prior GT3's which had the "Mezger" engine, a water cooled variant of the air-cooled 911 engine that had the old 356 bolt pattern between engine and gearbox. It was really a late 962 engine.

So, only the torque capacity of the gearbox should be an issue now with Cayman and GT3, not the bolting of the engine to the gearbox as in the past.

jcastle

If it fits, then I'll start believing the cayman gt3 rumors. I believe Porsche will never allow easy upgrade path from cayman to gt3 performance.

BGB Motorsports

You can either wait around forever or do it yourself. Our Rolex Cayman makes 410rwhp with a stock 9A1 X51 engine and weighs 2650 with four airjacks, and a GT3 Cup fuel cell. Guys, at the risk of sounding frustrated, stop speculating and JUST DO IT!!!! Those are corrected rwhp numbers and are not fake.

Porsche is never going to put a GT3 motor and trans in a Cayman and the GT3 snobs won't be happy til they do. In the meantime you could have what you want while some GT3 leg humper sits waiting on the sideline while he can't figure out why your Cayman hounds his GT3RS at DEs.

I'm sorry but those who think these new motors aren't enough are being narrow minded! And by not being proactive at doing a motor swap, you are missing out if you are waiting for mom and dad to give birth to the little brother you always wanted.

bmw_e30

Best. Advice. Ever.

jcastle

Its not just Porsche that holds back the cayman. I was disappointed that speed tv only gave the cayman gx about 60sec of coverage in a 2 hr race. The 2nd and 3rd place Mazda got more talk and air time. At least twice the bigger cars nearly took you out. Guess BGB will have to tell us how the race went. How did you guys come to take the lead in the last 45 min?

Cupcar

Porsche has a history of holding back their street mid-engine cars. The 914/6 GT was in the 2 liter class racing while the 911 ST of the time used a 2.5 liter engine. The 911 is the cash cow of the company, they don't want to tarnish its reputation as "the" car of their lineup.

Personally, I think the Cayman is their real "sports car" and the 911 is a nice GT car.

rflavell

What's the cost of the motor?

Cupcar

Not released yet, the Mezger engines run ~$50,0000 from a dealer.

The much simpler A91 should be cheaper, but I bet if it goes in a Cayman easily it won't be cheaper.

rflavell

Agreed. But I was actually referring to the cost of the x51 motor referenced in BGB's post.

BGB Motorsports

You have 3 options:

1.) used 3.8L donor motor will cost $12K and will not require core trade-in. 2.) If you don't have a core, the X51 core is $25K, yet the motor itself is only $14K.
3.) find a used 3.8L and spend $10K on X51 heads.

Option #2 is the most expensive.

Buying a new X51 motor from the dealer outright for $40K is expensive and I rarely suggest that to people based solely on cost. I have seen people score salvage GTS motors and that's hard to find but a score if you can!!!

Obviously the X51 and its 23hp from the cylinder head is a big ingredient to the recipe.

Cupcar

I wonder if he dry sump mods from the GT3 A91 are adaptable to other A91 engines easily? Looking at the engine diagrams, it looks like it may be easy since the entire oiling system including oil pump can pehaps be unbolted from under the car without removing the engine.

All I have read about the GT3 sytem is that it has "7 oil pickups" in the engine. But it may be a true separate oil tank type dry sump system.