my god, it's hilarious reading this thread, 90% of which are urban legend that have no truth to it.
1. racing is not DE. if you race a cayman, you are a moron unless you race prep it. and race prep is not 10k or 20k, ask mantis and joel CS the real cost of building a race car. it's not cheaper than buying a street GT3.
2. DE, you dont have to do much and CERTAINLY a lot less than E36 or E46M3 which i also have owned, prepped and tracked. all three cars needs suspension and safety equipment added. but ONLY BMW needs brakes and subframe reinforcement. i have not heard of anyone ripping out subframes on cayman S. it does have problems, but subframe is not one of them.
3. E36 has extremely poor fuel starvation prob. i can get it with 1/3 tank left. one cayman i had no fuel starvation until empty. and i mean empty b/c it died as i exited the track on the hot pit with zero fuel left. but b4 that, there was no fuel starvation.. btw, i also have an elise and an exige. they DO NOT have fuel starvation issues. the have oil starvation issues only when on slick. but the car is not meant to be driven on slick unless you are driving 240 or 255 cups. e36m3 also has oil starvation issue as i blew #6 bearing due to that. cayman when driven on r compound and hoosiers (not slicks) will not have oil starvatoin issues unless you on on oval banked tracks. while someone can always point out one or two cars with blown motors, an issue is only an issue if a lot of ppl get it. just like in the past ppl say 996 have fuel starvation issues, well, it doesn't. (these are not race cars, you should not be driving on slicks.)
To make a reliable track Cayman it seems that one has a lot of work to do.
==> no, you just need to deal with power str issues, there are many sol'n out there and most of them inexpensive.
The chassis can take a lot of power but the parts that make the cayman are best suited for casual spirited driving and not hard abuse.
==> who said that? how many cayman has this person owned? how many track mile and total miles has he logged on this car? it cannot take a lot of power. over 450 it's a death wish. so are most cars over 450hp. if you increase any cars power output significantly, thing will fall apart. u improve the damn car as a whole. HP is the very last thing you need to add.
Reading this and other forums it seems that if you put on slicks you place the engine at risk of oil starvation on hard braking and turning left. High rpms can cause steering pump failure.
==> which forum? rennlist will not tell ppl to run slick on cayman s. that's moronic. 6speed, other than a few guys on the site that are real enthusiast and have had real mileage on their porsches, 75% of them can't figure out how to double clutch, talk on the phone, and eat a burger at the same time, i wouldn't trust them.
If you do increase power you risk ripping out suspension mounts.
==> no, this ONLY HAPPENS on BMW's. they make grocery ghetter. the only car i like was my e30m3.
So to make the car a reliable track machine quite a bit of work is required.
==> no, see above
It makes sense why Porsche do not campaign the car in motorsports and why they dont support independant teams using the Cayman's platform.
==> no, there are indies who wants to campaign the car, but factory "threatened" them...oops, it's not public info....
marketing is a powerful thing.
You could end up with one heck of a car- re weld the body, drop in a dry sump engine,
==> urban legend. yes i now drive GT3 which has dry sump, but unless you do insanely amount of track days like i do or you have the talent like schumie, most ppl cannot make their cars go into oil starvation mode. it's like wearing a kevlar vest to work at a law firm. sure, there's always a chance you gonna get shot... but what are the odds? how many of you were bullet proof jackets to work (other than law enforcement professional)?
redo all the suspension mounts,
==> no
redo the suspension ,
==> you do this to every car, including GT3 and even GT3 cup cars for that matter.
fix up the aerodynamics
==> the aero is fine, more than fine. it's great.
and the car will probably beat a GT3, but it will also cost more.
==> if it beats GT3, it SHOULD cost more, no?
==> those who wants a GT3 should buy a GT3, not make a cayman s into a GT3.
The best way to enjoy the car seems to be stock (small mods to improve torque and small gains in hp are fine).
==> no really. the BEST way is to just drive drive drive drive the wheel off of it. i did. literally.
Anything more and it seems you reach the cars limitations very quickly.
==> oh, trust me. very few ppl can reach the car's limit. and most of those "few" ppls are paid pro racers.
Comments? Am I missing the point? BTW this is not a negative post, just an attempt at trying to understand what its all about.
==> comments not directed at you, but as a once multiple cayman s owner i am tired of hearing ppl who do not know anything or own a cayman tell me what my cars can and cannot do. cayman s has a lot of problems, but i think every car has a lot of problems.... cayman is a great car for dual purpose (track/street toy). a stock cay s is slower than stock e46m3, but it's a lot more fun.
i think that's pretty inclusive.
2001 BMW 330i, 1998 BMW M3 Sedan, 1989 BMW 325i (track car), 2003 Yukon XL
