Phokaioglaukos

If you are racing a 987 or 996, I'd like to connect with you.

I'm talking with a couple of others about racing a Cayman S in the VLN next year (the Nordschleife and Nürburgring short grand prix circuit combined). As far as I know, no one has raced the 987 in the VLN. Last year there was only one 996 raced in the VLN (other than cup cars and GT3 variants with dry sumps), and it went through FIVE motors before the team threw in the towel. Oil starvation issues, even with an Accusump installed.

Thanks!

cgomez

I've been racing a 987 Cayman S with the non-DFI engine for over two years, under all possible conditions including summer heat, flat-out long straights and high G-loads (Daytona) and never had an issue with the engine. The weak link is the gearbox. We have extra coolers and all, but still runs at very high temps under race conditions. Have gone through 4 gearboxes in 2 years.

There were at least 2 highly modified Caymans in the VLN in 06 and 07 (Alzen Motorsports sponsored by Hankook one of those) that did very well, but those teams receive big support from the factory so they were "discouraged" to keep racing the Caymans and go back to 911s only.

If you find a well prepped 987 for a VLN race and need more drivers, count me in! That's something in my 2011 to do list.

Phokaioglaukos

Thanks, cgomez!. The 987s that raced in the VLN before were in SP7--we'd be looking at V6, one of the stock classes. I wonder if they had dry sump oiling installed....

Do you use an Accusump?

As to the gearbox, we're thinking PDK. Any thoughts on how durable that is?

Krokodil

I race a prepped 2007 Cayman S with the Porsche Owners Club. My experience is different than cgomez.

I lost an engine when the car was still mostly stock. We blueprinted the new engine (plus modified the crank and installed Carrillo rods) and have not an issue since (about 70 track/race hours). No accusump or scavenge pumps. Race in 105+F heat on the banking at AAA Speedwat, etc and the car ran fine.

Unlike cgomez I am still running the original transmission and have yet to have a problem (knock wood). Only modifications to the driveline are a LWFW and Sachs clutch.

Cheers,

umwolverine

If you really want the skinny on racing Cayman's, check with Doug Livingston:

http://www.trophycupracing.com/

He knows more about racing Caymans than anyone at this point.

The 'Interseries' cars are highly modified, but seem to hold up pretty well to both sprint and endurance racing. The have tranny and oil coolers and modded sumps.

Krokodil

Quite a bold statement. John Tece (BGB), John Potter (Magnus), and the boys at Mantis would probably beg to differ.

BGB and Magnus each raced the Cayman through a full year of pro-level racing in Grand Am GS.

At the club level, there are a few of us who have been hammering the Cayman for a few years now and have quite a bit of experience breaking and fixing these cars.

Cheers,

cgomez

Exactly. Check with the Pros racing Caymans, and within Club Racing I think Ernie J's (Mantis) has the most race mileage and after that its probably Krok in the West and me in the East with the most racetime on 987s.

There's quite a bunch of cars being built over the Winter so it should make a much better 2011 season.

cgomez

No accusump, just X51 type oil pan, and running the RIGHT oil level. Most of the oil smoke (puffs) some people get come from running the oil too high (and too low makes it vulnerable)

I would love to race a PDK 987. That will be awesome! I have seen no PDK Cayman racecars, but someone here that I met at the Mosport race built a pretty neat lightweight (GTB1) 997 S with PDK. Apparently they had no issues up to that point.

NJcroc

I ran a non DFI cayman for 2 years with about 80 track days and a whole bunch of auto-x days as well. I blew the motor the second day due to a factory defective piston. replaced it and broke in the new motor on the trackcar was flawless with the exception of some power stearing issues.

The trans was always ok, but i didnt use the 3rd to 2nd often to help keep box lasting longer. That shift under load is really tough on the box.

Many people are running 996 and 986 cars in club racing, most are orig engines that have a good amount of miles on them. So there are alwasy stories of engine mishaps. Also tire choices will be another indicator or engine life. Full blown slicks will generate alot more G's and shorten life vs R-comps

onefastviking

Many 996 track miles here, 3.4 and 3.6 models, multiple cars over a number of years.

umwolverine

Yeah - just an opinion. I'm aware of the guys you mentioned. They very well might agree with me. Have you checked out Doug's experience?

As an FYI, he's the guy who just started the new Cayman race series.

outline

it was my understanding that the oil issue for the 996 engine is that oil pools in the head under cornering and cannot be scavenged back into the system. a long enough corner will see this situation remain enough for it to impact the engine. there is a secondary issue with oil moving away from the pickup in the sump and causing starvation too and this is dealt with by X51 sump or accusump but neither of these addresses the first one. thus if the engine problems in VLN were as a result of this first issue then accusump wouldnt have helped a bit.

manthey, TTP and others use a dual scavenge pump with an external line running to the back corner of the head and to a union here which allows it to scavenge the head effectively. Porsche motorsport had designed a kit that did the same thing but its no longer available hence the manthey or others solution.

Krokodil

Yes, I am aware of Doug's experience (certainly not all of it) and his previous role with the Cayman Interseries. Hopefully his new venture with the NASA Intercontinental cup will be as successful.

Cheers,

cgomez

That's good to know. If you know him (them), please have them post the race series spec asap. I have emailed and replied to their posts to no avail, and its already late for the rest of the world to know what the spec build is for the series.

I just hope the intention is not a a proprietary build as the Interseries, which surely is a main cause for limited appeal and lack of growth prospects for a real National Series. I'm sure NASA's endorsement is a guarantee for an "open build" series, but the sooner they post the specs and race calendar (so all of us who don't race for a living can plan ahead) the more fair it will be for everyone.

mooty

i would love to race a 987 chassis.
i have had 3 2006 cay s.
lost engine, tranny, pwr str.
but i still the platform.
it can be fixed, rigged to work.
i just dont want to do the "figuring out"
i want a car that just goes and goes.
krokodil's car is very nice after he did bunch of R&D.
carlos' is having a ball with his martini car.
why cant porsche get cayman cup cars built?
current cups are 250k to your door is getting pricy. a 150 cay cup car from factory i am in.