After they improve the current 911 chassie, maybe.
Mid engine Cayman is a far better driver's car than 997 Carrera. A Cayman RS, would beat 911. So there is no need for a family authority crash..
ONUR
09 Audi TTS Ibis
07 997 Carrera S / 05 M3 Coupe / 03 M3 Coupe / 96 M3 Coupe EVO (ALL BUT HISTORY)
I see it a little differently. A true Cayman RS would require modifications and equipment that would make the Cayman RS a $100K car which is too close to the GT3 in price at a time when the market for Porsche sports cars has been declining, the 987 series to an even greater extent than the 997 series. A "marketing" Cayman RS would be similar to last years Cayman S Sport which most readers on this site would merely satirize as badge engineering. There are still a few Cayman S Sport cars on dealer lots, at least in the US. It was a no win for Porsche with either route.
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Carpe Diem--life is but a crack of light bounded by eternities of darkness (Nabokov)
DaveC:
I see it a little differently. A true Cayman RS would require modifications and equipment that would make the Cayman RS a $100K car which is too close to the GT3 in price at a time when the market for Porsche sports cars has been declining,
I disagree. By far the biggest cost of the GT3 is the GT1-style racing motor with true dry sump. If a Cayman S used the 9A1 motor, there is no reason its cost would need to approach anything resembling the GT3's cost.
Building a car with a stiff suspension, stock LSD, lower gearing, and fewer luxury features (saving weight) is not that expensive. Giving the car a 3.6L or 3.8L motor instead of the 3.4L costs Porsche almost nothing.
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73 Carrera RS 2.7 Carbon Fiber replica (1,890 lbs). Former: 73 911S, Two 951S's, 996 C2, 993 C2, 98 Ferrari 550 Maranello
I was led to believe that any Porsche w/ an RS designation that didn't have the GT1 block motor was only for poseurs and not true enthusiasts. I must be reading too many Porsche internet forums!
Carpe Diem--life is but a crack of light bounded by eternities of darkness (Nabokov)
Grant:
Building a car with a stiff suspension, stock LSD, lower gearing, and fewer luxury features (saving weight) is not that expensive. Giving the car a 3.6L or 3.8L motor instead of the 3.4L costs Porsche almost nothing.
I was going to reply with the same thought.
You don't need space since for Cayman RS.
Just put a little bit more power; with better exhaust and intake system and add all this with an improved software.
Take out some lux. options and add 997.1 GT3 buckets to save some weight. Put a proper LSD and with some suspansion tuning, it won't cost a fortune but this kind of car would be way faster 911 Carrera S and too close to GT3, IMO.
ONUR
09 Audi TTS Ibis
07 997 Carrera S / 05 M3 Coupe / 03 M3 Coupe / 96 M3 Coupe EVO (ALL BUT HISTORY)
DaveC:
I was led to believe that any Porsche w/ an RS designation that didn't have the GT1 block motor was only for poseurs and not true enthusiasts. I must be reading too many Porsche internet forums!
I tend to agree with that, but I think the next GT3 RS (after the one just released) may also have a 9A1 block (and maybe the racecars too), so some rumors suggest...
73 Carrera RS 2.7 Carbon Fiber replica (1,890 lbs). Former: 73 911S, Two 951S's, 996 C2, 993 C2, 98 Ferrari 550 Maranello
http://www.gtspirit.com/2009/12/09/release-of-porsche-cayman-club-sport-in-2010/
At the beginning of this year we reported about the Cayman Club Sport; a lightweight version of the existing Cayman model range. We received information that the CS version will hit the market next year, following the Boxster Spyder introduced a few weeks ago.
The Porsche engineers will try to lose as much weight as possible. Although it isn’t official yet, we expect several changes inside the interior, lightweigh plates all over the car and a set of lighter wheels. Next to these weight saving changes, the Clubsports will gain a bit more power on top of the standard 320bhp.
The performance will of course improve. A standard Cayman S does 171mph (274km/h) and 4.9 seconds on a sprint to 62mph (100km/h).
The vehicle hasn’t been officially introduced yet, but a Dutch newspaper suggests a release within the upcoming months.
Dec 9, 2009 8:04:42 PM
Dec 11, 2009 10:17:35 PM
A "knowledgeable" source I had contact with, while willing to offer a wink and a nod to some other rumored new Porsche models for '10/'11, said flat out about a Cayman RS/Clubsport "no way".
Sorry.
I would love to see one as much as anyone else, but the performance would exceed the 911 model range and cannibalize (ultra profitable) sales. Will be glad to come back and eat my pixels if I am wrong :-)
Cheers
Dec 12, 2009 3:37:32 PM
After much discussion, it does appear that Porsche is planning to launch the Cayman Club Sport in 2010...
Clearly there was some hesitation on the positioning of the Cayman within the Porsche range, but the case for the Club Sport is now viewed as compelling:
2010 Porsche Cayman Club Sport: Key Considerations
1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS Coupe...
1953 Porsche 550 Coupe...
Dec 12, 2009 3:44:08 PM
1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS Coupe
Although it was officially named Carrera GTS, it opened a new chapter in Porsche's sporting history under the internal designation 904. The 904, designed by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (known as "Butzi"), anticipated, from a technical point of view, much that did not become the norm in racing car manufacturing until later: mixed steel/plastic construction, low weight, small frontal area. It was the first Porsche with a plastic body and 100 examples had to be built in order to qualify for the GT class. This was followed by a further 20 vehicles, of which 16 were assembled. The rest provided the parts for the spare parts store.
The 904 GTS displayed in the Porsche museum had, as a works car, an eight-cylinder two-litre engine and joined the line-up at Le Mans in 1964 and in 1965 driven by Mitter/Davis.
Exactly five months after it was presented, Porsche achieved its fifth victory in this classic race on 26 April 1964 with the production 904 at the Targa Florio. Antonio Pucci and Colin Davis snatched victory ahead of Linge/Balzarini in an identical 904. Further victories followed: at the Tour de France, at the 1,000 kilometre race around the Nürburgring, in the Le Mans 24 hour race and in the following Reims 24 hour race. The 904 proved its roadworthiness at the Monte Carlo rally in 1965, where Eugen Böhringer still came in second despite a totally snow-covered course. The 904 fitted with four, six and eight-cylinder engines was not only a very successful racing car of the early 1960s, to this day it is still regarded as one of the most attractive.
1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS Coupe: Technical Specifications
Engine: Four-cylinder twin-valve induction engine (Boxer), air-cooled, four overhead camshafts
Power: 180hp at 7,800rpm
Displacement: 1,966 cc
Fuel system: Two Weber downdraft carburettors
Fuel tank: 110 litre
Transmission: Five-speed gearbox, locking differential
Chassis: Sheet-steel box-type chassis with plastic body, coil springs, disc brakes
Wheel base 2,300 mm
Length 4,090 mm
Height 1,065 mm
Weight: 530 kg
Top speed: 263 kph / 163 mph
Dec 12, 2009 3:46:13 PM
Great if it reaches production, and to my mind much more sense than a Boxster Spyder. But don't expect much more in the way of power unless the new Porsche top brass don't consider the performance gap between top of the 987 range and bottom of 997 range sacrosanct.
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Boxster S 3.4 06 Cobalt / Ocean Blue (Zuffenhausen collection) BMW 123d M Sport 08 Le Mans Blue / Lemon
Dec 12, 2009 3:57:05 PM
1953 Porsche 550 Coupé
The key to the character of the Cayman Club Sport, as on every Porsche, is the underlying vehicle concept. This unique combination of mid-mounted engine and hard-roof body was originally prototyped in 1953 on the Porsche 550 coupé. A closed-top version of the legendary 550 Spyder, it was specially developed for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In the early 1950s, though many of its production cars were being successfully campaigned, Porsche was not a manufacturer of race cars. As on-track challenges increased from other manufacturers' purpose-built competition machines, Porsche realized it could no longer rely on modified versions of its 356 production car to carry the corporate banner in international events. In early 1953, Porsche began its first factory derived race car project. Engineers drew from the original 356 prototype, which had placed the powerplant in front of the rear axle in a mid-engine format, and from the era's Glockler-Porsche race cars, which used a similar layout. Chassis design was also based on the successful, Porsche-powered Glockler cars, utilizing a welded, steel-ladder frame with six cross members, capped by aluminium body work.
Using a production-based, Super 1500 engine, the factory installed the 1500cc push-rod "boxer" Fours into two machines: chassis 550-01 and 550-02. In its premiere outing on May 31, 1953, 550-01 won its first-ever event, taking victory in the rain at the Nurburgring. Though the race was held in inclement weather, the 550-01 car competed as a roadster, minus its aero-aiding hardtop. With hardtops in place, both of the 550 cars battled to a truly remarkable dead-even finish at that year's 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans, with car 550-02 (co-driven by journalist Paul Frere) granted the 1500cc class victory. Later that year, car 550-01 won the 1000 kilometre race in Buenos Aires, and both machines competed in the grueling, five-day, 3000-kilometer Carrera Panamericana. Car 550-02 took the class win, after sister-car 550-01 retired with the fastest time in four of the event's eight stages.
1953 – 24 Hours of Le Mans – Porsche 550 Coupé 02 (Richard Frankenberg / Paul Frère) – 1st in class
1953 – 24 Hours of Le Mans – Porsche 550 Coupé 01 (Hans Herrmann / Helm Glöckler) – 2nd in class
1953 – 1000km of Buenos Aires – Porsche 550 Coupé 01 – 1st in class
1953 – 3000km Carrera Panamericana – Porsche 550 Coupé 02 – 1st in class
1953 Porsche 550 Coupé: Technical Specification
Engine: Boxer-4 cylinder
Position: Mid-engined, longitudinal
Aspiration: Naturally aspirated via two Solex carburettors
Valves: OHV, 2 valves per cylinder
Displacement: 1488 cc
Bore: 84 mm
Stroke: 74 mm
Compression: 9.0 to 1
Power: 78 bhp
Specific output: 52.42 bhp per litre
Power to weight: 141.82 bhp per tonne
Body: Aluminium body
Frame: Steel tubular frame
Drive: Rear wheel drive
Front brakes: Drums
Rear brakes: Drums
Steering: Worm & Nut
Front suspension: Twin Parallel Arms with Transverse Torsion Bars
Rear suspension: Swing Axles with Torsion Bars, Telescopic Shock Absorbers
Weight: 550 kg
Wheelbase: 2,101 mm
Front track: 1,290 mm
Rear track: 1,250 mm
Transmission: 4-Speed Manual
Top speed: 200 kph / 124 mph
Drivers: Hans Herrmann, Helm Glöckler, Paul Frère, Richard Frankenberg
Dec 12, 2009 9:33:16 PM
"Potential official Porsche race series for Cayman Club Sport (below Carrera Cup)"
See, this really sounds fantastic to me in the USA. As a privateer, a Cup car is way out of my budget. A Cayman series however? Hell-friggen-yes. I would be all over that without question.
DO IT Porsche. Do it!
The current "Cayman Interseries" is dealer sponsored and not Porsche Motorsport supported and only East Coast. Otherwise, it is a fantastic idea.
Dec 13, 2009 8:21:22 PM
Agreed - it will be great to see Porsche demonstrate the full potential of the Cayman Club Sport!
Here's one interpretation of what can be done with a Porsche Cayman -- it's a one-off developed and built for rallying by a small Belgian outfit, Smal Product Competition...
PORSCHE CAYMAN S GROUPE GT
Dec 13, 2009 9:16:22 PM
Dec 14, 2009 8:57:59 AM
Autofarm Porsche Cayman S
Porsche specialists Autofarm create the Cayman that Porsche daren’t...
(April 2009)
Car-themed ‘what ifs?’ are something of a petrolhead’s disease. They’re a great way of passing the time, and they come no more controversial or topical than this favourite. ‘What if Porsche whipped out the Weissach pencil- sharpener and really went to work on the Cayman?’ If the rumours of a factory Cayman Club Sport are true, it seems Porsche may soon provide us armchair engineering fantasists with an answer. In the meantime there’s the Autofarm RS.
The Oxfordshire-based 911 specialists have developed a tuning programme aimed at making the most of the Cayman’s favourable weight distribution, and in the case of their full-house demo car, a trackday weapon to make GT3 drivers develop a nervous twitch from constantly looking in their rear-view mirror.
Although Autofarm’s upgrades are available for the standard 3.4 ‘S’ engine, this car has the company’s big-bore conversion that takes the capacity out to 3.7 litres. Schrick cams, new induction, freer-flowing cats and an easier-breathing exhaust raise power from 315 to 367bhp, with torque swelling from 273 to 295lb ft – the latter virtually identical to a 997 GT3. In true RS fashion, reducing weight completes the pincer assault, so the front bonnet and rear hatch are carbon-fibre, the latter including a polycarbonate rear screen.
In addition, there are lightweight wheels (unusually of Japanese origin), new H&R springs and anti-roll bars, bigger brakes and the all-important Quaife limited-slip differential. Extensive detail modifications – many aimed at track use – complete a lengthy build-sheet.
This is a Cayman that musters nearly 300bhp per ton, and although it’s perfectly well behaved on a light throttle, the deeper and louder exhaust note soon hints at the potential within. Accelerate hard from low revs in a high gear and the flat-six’s booming note reverberates around the cabin, the car surging forward in a manner alien to the standard Cayman S where, inevitably, you’d need to change down one, if not two gears to complete a brisk overtake. The acceleration keeps on building as the motor really begins to howl, revealing a steely midrange and an energetic top end that dumps a pure Porsche fix straight into your veins. With some crisp ECU remapping, a sports clutch and a short-shift kit for the gear linkage, you can really make the most of the engine’s new-found boisterousness, revelling in its response and lugging ability between shortly spaced corners.
Sadly for us today, sub-zero temperatures aren’t a great mix with the stiffer chassis and the cold and fidgety Michelin Pilot Cup Sports. There’s reasonable grip, but the ride quality has predictably deteriorated, especially around town. In these conditions a sudden spike of second-gear torque easily unsticks the rear wheels from the road surface – even in a straight line – but the Cayman remains controllable and beautifully balanced, like the standard car. Only track time will show whether the suspension modifications have been a complete success.
Would you buy one of these instead of a second-hand 997 GT3? Because at £36,000 for the modifications you’re looking at here, the two are uncomfortably close once you’ve factored in the price of a used Cayman S. Of course, you can purchase the modifications in stages – the 3.7 engine build, for example, is around £16,000 all-in. That’s significantly less than dropping in a 3.8 997 ‘S’ engine, but you’ll need to be a determined "Caymanista" to begin a project build. But with the potential inherent in the car, it’s easy to see why you might be.
Dec 14, 2009 9:03:53 AM
Parr Porsche Cayman S Turbo
Renowned Porsche specialist Parr gives Porsche Cayman a massive power boost...
(November 2009)
You should have seen his face,’ exclaims the owner of our featured Cayman. ‘There we were behind this fully wrung-out RS4; he pulled to the left, and we just blew past him. Poor guy couldn’t understand what was going on…’
You’re looking at a small, orange menace to the Porsche establishment’s pecking order. What Mr Audi driver had no way of knowing is that beneath the oh-so-subtle body modifications to this Cayman lies the best part of 500 turbocharged horses.
Developed for the UK market by renowned Porsche road and racing specialists Parr, this series 1 Cayman Sport is the first recipient of their turbo conversion. It’s a light pressure set-up, with a large, single turbine boosting at around 0.35 bar and fed air via a water-to-air intercooler, which itself is cooled with the aid of a third central radiator in the nose.
There are also larger fuel injectors to squirt in the higher volumes required, a new intake plenum and air filter and a redesigned air box, plus a different exhaust from the headers back. What there isn’t, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, is any change to the internals. Eyebrows may well be raised, but Parr claims that converted examples overseas have clocked up over 30,000 miles without mishap.
Part of their confidence also stems from the less stressed, light pressure nature of the conversion. This car has been rolling roaded at 480bhp at 7400rpm with a little more still to come, a figure entirely comparable with a 997 Turbo. But whereas the 911 makes 501lb ft of torque, this Cayman makes do with 370lb ft, and with a far more conventional torque curve than the 997T’s freakishly flat plateau from 2100 all the way to 4000rpm.
So, as the figures suggest, in reality this engine has a completely different character from the boosted 911. No, there isn’t the same ferocious kick of torque, but then the lighter weight of the Cayman negates some of that disadvantage. Once the blower is spinning past 2500rpm you’re very much aware of its assistance, and it goes on providing that storming urge all the way to the newly raised 7800rpm cut-off, whereas a 997T is running out of puff far earlier. In effect, it’s similar to the standard Cayman S in delivery, and you can revel in revs just as you would in that car, albeit with the added option to surf almost ridiculous levels of mid-range grunt that make overtaking an easy and less gear-dependent task.
And you need to know about the sublime noise it makes. At about 3000rpm it starts to howl with a savage intensity and the sound when you lift briskly off the throttle is of air being slashed with a giant meat cleaver.
This car also has a load of Car Graphic tuning parts fitted, including the front splitter and rear diffuser, plus the ducktail wing on the rear lid, 20mm lower progressive-rate springs, larger anti-roll bars and larger cross-drilled and grooved discs. There’s also a Quaife LSD, GT3 nose vent and Parr’s own geometry settings. The result is no discernable loss of comfort compared with the standard car, and a Cayman that feels supremely well balanced and alert. Even on wet roads, the diff and the easily modulated power delivery mean it’s very exploitable.
Right from the start, the guys at Parr were keen that the costs involved didn’t place the car in direct competition with a 911 Turbo, and at £11,240 fully fitted for the engine mods they have to a large part succeeded. Factoring in the current market value of a used Cayman S, you could be holding the keys to a turbocharged near-500bhp mid-engined Porsche for around £35,000. This car is as outrageously exciting as that prospect sounds.
Evo magazine “Best Modified Car Of The Year” 2009
“A single light-pressure turbo gives the Cayman a heavyweight 480bhp punch. Neat effective and highly thrilling. Tuners rule where Porsche dare not tread...”
Winner: Parr Cayman S Turbo
Parr-Porsche-Cayman-S-Turbo_Evo-link
Dec 15, 2009 8:00:31 PM
Dec 15, 2009 10:06:52 PM
Jan 24, 2010 7:26:52 PM
It will be great to find out whether these are spy pics of official test mules for the 2012 Porsche Cayman (981 generation) or for the 2010 Porsche Cayman Club Sport...
2012-Porsche-Cayman-981_Car-Link
Jan 27, 2010 5:44:51 PM
DaveGordon:
Suspension looks a bit high for a 'sports' version, too..
The car uses the same wheel sizes as the 998 prototypes (reportedly 19" and 20" rims), hence the cutout of the wheel arches. I am quite certain that this car features the 987´s successor underneath.
Ferdie:
DaveGordon:
Suspension looks a bit high for a 'sports' version, too..
The car uses the same wheel sizes as the 998 prototypes (reportedly 19" and 20" rims), hence the cutout of the wheel arches. I am quite certain that this car features the 987´s successor underneath.
That would also be my guess