Believe me, if you were comparing apples to apples (or oranges to oranges), the outcome would still be the same. This is true for the S2000 and the NSX (have had both).

 

There are about 4+ prominent tuning houses advertising the 3.8L conversion. However, any good Porsche mechanic can do this mod. My technician at my Porsche dealer is interested in doing one and the dealer is supportive. The mod entails switching out some Cayman specific engine accessories and reversing the intake manifold on the 3.8L engine. Everything lines up and bolts into the chassis and Cayman Getrag gearbox. There is literally nothing to mod, not even the exhaust manifold! The Cayman shares the same engine harness and Motronics 7.8 ECU hardware. Unlike hardcoded ECU's on Hondas, all that is required is to upload the 3.8L program into the Cayman's existing ECU using the Porsche PIWIS service computer at the dealership or tuning house. Most tuners upload an enhanced engine program.

The GT3 and turbo engines use the split case configuration similar to the original air cooled engines and do not bolt up like the water-cooled specific engine platforms which starting with the 996 models.

 

that video was awesome.... that car is awesome... man, i was in awe in how he ran the switchbacks and Ess's... i've driven the Nordschielfe... that aint no joke... obivously a very experienced driver...


the 3.8 997S swaps however, the total car, ends up costing as much as a GT3... and a GT3 has better gearing, and is engineered as 1 piece to do one thing... so i think a 3.8 swapped Cayman is still gonna be slower than a GT3...

id prefer to see some nice centrifugal supercharger development for the Cayman's... this way, you can add about 100whp for ~$11K...

infact, VF Engineering already built a Vortech kit for their SEMA Cayman... 450 crank HP on 6 psi...

http://www.vf-engineering.com/media_sonycayman.htm

 

RUF offers a centrifugal compressor for the 3.4 Cayman S engine, as well as a 3.8 and 3.8 X51 conversion.

http://www.rufautocentre.com/conversions/CaymanS.asp

 

I say MSpeed is right on the money as far as balance and having a great platform from which to build a race car. I'm glad they're doing it, since Porsche doesn't plan to. The Cayman is too right not to race it. Can't wait to hear and see more about their program as things develop.

 

80-100 HP and 40 ft-lbs of torque...

NICE!

That can make things interesting.

 

I was reading on caymanclub where Porsche refuses to race the Cayman, and has influenced Farnbacher-Loles (sp?) not to race their modded one since they get so much factory support. I guess they don't want their 911 customers swithcing to a cheaper, less profitable car!

 

There is a VERY good reason Porsche is discouraging the pitting if the Cayman against the 997 (including the GT3's). A properly powered and set up Cayman could be parasitic to the image of the 911. Worse for Porsche, it could affect the sales of their GT3 racecars. This should be a good indicator of the performance of 987's relative to the 997's.... given time, we may discover the powered up Caymans are as good or better than the GT3's. MSpeed and Alzen have selected the Caymans over the GT3 (Alzen is the other 987 in the MSpeed video). Again time will tell.

I would prefer to spend another $10K above the price of a supercharger and get a brand new Porsche warrantied crate engine that I can beat on everyday without having to put up with headaches of a supercharger.

 

[QUOTE=SilverSled,Apr 29 2007, 07:57 AM] There is a VERY good reason Porsche is discouraging the pitting if the Cayman against the 997 (including the GT3's).

 

huh?

I won't even venture a guess at what that means. MSpeed seems to believe the cayman is a better platform then the 997 and I'm sure they are talking about the GT3 race car. The fact is the engine is too far back in the 997. It's true they have been moving it forward for a while now, but the placement in the cayman is more optimal then the 997.