I'm thinking of trading in my E92 M3 and moving back to a Porsche. I had a 996TT a few years ago which I thought was a pig, so this time around I'm thinking of a Cayman S. I really want something that's small and light and doesn't have a heavy motor hanging out over it's ***.

I have a good DD so I'll be looking to go a little crazy with this car. Is the TPC Racing 550hp turbo kit about as good as it gets for a CS? Or is there something bigger and badder out there? I guess I also read you can do the 3.8L engine swap and get 575+hp. Man that would be sweet!

 

budget ? planned yearly mileage ? good weather weekend only car ? will it ever see a racing track ? track type ? gen 2 donor car without warranty ?dyno queen ?

 

Definitely no garage queen. Less track time now that I'm all the way down here in San Diego. Basically it would just be my "whenever I felt like driving something sporty" car. Budget is a non issue ... but I generally stop at the point of severely diminishing returns i.e. paying $5k for something that yields an extra 8hp with no other benefits.

 

How much ya got to spend?

 

Price is not an issue, but as I said above I will stop when cost outweighs benefits.

 

it sounds like you want something to rule the street in your hood....i dont think a 550 hp cayman with no warranty will do it...all i see is a big money pit

 

Really? How so? 550-600hp Cayman's are incredibly nimble and quick. They are barely 3000 lbs. People have put 10s of 1000s of miles on the TPC racing kits with no problems. What am I missing?

 

My dilemma is that I would really be leaning towards a gen 2 PDK. Do you know what if any plans you guys have for big power upgrades for this, as I understand your turbo kits are only for gen 1 cars and/or no PDK.

Are gen 2 PDKs stuck with basic intake, exhaust and ECU tunes at this point?

 

+1 on that last question...

 

Considering the money you'll have in the car and the kit, why not go with a GTR? It'll beat just about anything on the track (straight or road course). It's a lot less common than your M3 and even less than the Cayman. When you factor in the money & warranty, you really can't go wrong. Honestly.

 

Honestly, for me- just for starters the GTR interests me about as much as jock itch. No offense, I just have no gravitational pull towards one whatsoever. There is absolutely NOTHING I like about that car.

If I was looking at sheer cost per HP, I'd get a CTS-V and tweak it a bit and have a US-made monster that would tie the GTR in a bow and stick it on a box for Christmas. But we're talking Caymans here.

I seriously doubt the GTR can out-handle a CaymanS, and I don't care how much HP is under the hood of the GTR. Plus both of these cars are worlds apart in so many ways.

YMMV.

 

^^^ This. Don't like the GTR at all. Plus it's a pig at around 3800 lbs.

I'd take a 550-600HP Cayman over a GTR any day.

 

If you want a hood car club king stick with the M3 and go with a horsepowerfreaks turbo kit.

 

If $ is truly not an issue, why not a GT2RS or a Gallardo Superleggera? Surely, you'd prefer that over the Cayman.

 

I need a sleeper that won't attract a lot of attention ... no supercars or exotics.