Wanting a 3.4S but worth outlaying more for an R engine? - Page 1 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Having followed the classifieds for a while intending to get myself a Cayman 3.4S but recently noticing the Black edition comes with an R engine. These sit between the 3.4S and a proper R model in the price range and come highly specced (which in my head means overweight!). Is it worth the extra outlay? or is the R engine swamped by carrying all the extra tech equipment on the Black special editions? If I did still go for the 3.4S, how easy/expensive are they to bring up to R standards in handling and poke? Would love a proper R but out of my price range unfortunately.

I think the most important difference between the R and black edition is the suspension .the buckets were also a no cost option although some have the sports seats and not much else as most cr have most of the extras(PCM,Aircon etc) The black edition is also the rarest cayman 987.2. So if no intention of tracking the car and like pasm go for the black edition

You could look at the gen 1 Sport model which is closer to the R than the Black series.

mr pg said: You could look at the gen 1 Sport model which is closer to the R than the Black series. No it's not!!! Wrong engine wrong chassis wrong wheels need I go on! The major difference between the R and Black edition are cosmetic and suspension!

it is the gen1 sport model that I am looking at, circa 2009? that's handy to know PG thanks! As one of my next questions was going to be is a gen2 cayman that much better than a gen1 sport? Coming from a 28yr old 911 I like my sports cars to be 'sports cars' ie a bit more visceral and alive in feel and not too tardy with overweight creature comforts. edit, oops thanks as well for the info on the black edition Itsy.

anonymous said: [redacted] The Cayman S Sport is a Gen1 987. Introduced in 2008 but some registered in 2009.

anonymous said: [redacted] I agree. Unless you really want a pukka Cayman R, you'd be better of buying a boggo 3.4 and spending money on suspension and maybe a bit of weight reduction. You could probably get someone to tweak the engine to be pretty much the same as the R, but I doubt it would make a great deal of difference to the feel of the thing. The 3.4 is already a lovely engine. Could you get your hands on some replacement doors, for example? I think the doors on my 3.4 weigh about the same as me, and the R had aluminium doors that were (I think) taken from the GT3. I have seen it said that swapping the doors alone saves about 15kg, and I am surprised it is not more, to be honest. I have felt lighter doors on trucks. You might well be able to get a boggo 3.4 down to the weight of an R without much trouble. Others will know better than do I, but I don't think the changes were that fundamental that they cannot be approximated by a decent garage with some expensive components to play with. The suspension will be expensive but worth it. I am not massively impressed by the suspension on the standard 3.4 - the car rides a bit high, for a start, and it is slightly crashy in some conditions.

itsybitsy said: No it's not!!! Wrong engine wrong chassis wrong wheels need I go on! The major difference between the R and Black edition are cosmetic and suspension! and don't forget the lighter GT3 Alu doors Everything you need to know about what changed when about the Cayman can be found here - http://caymanregister.org/faq.php?faq=models

ORD said: anonymous said: [redacted] I agree. Unless you really want a pukka Cayman R, you'd be better of buying a boggo 3.4 and spending money on suspension and maybe a bit of weight reduction. You could probably get someone to tweak the engine to be pretty much the same as the R, but I doubt it would make a great deal of difference to the feel of the thing. The 3.4 is already a lovely engine. Could you get your hands on some replacement doors, for example? I think the doors on my 3.4 weigh about the same as me, and the R had aluminium doors that were (I think) taken from the GT3. I have seen it said that swapping the doors alone saves about 15kg, and I am surprised it is not more, to be honest. I have felt lighter doors on trucks. You might well be able to get a boggo 3.4 down to the weight of an R without much trouble. Others will know better than do I, but I don't think the changes were that fundamental that they cannot be approximated by a decent garage with some expensive components to play with. The suspension will be expensive but worth it. I am not massively impressed by the suspension on the standard 3.4 - the car rides a bit high, for a start, and it is slightly crashy in some conditions. A bigger and easier weight saving would be to replace the standard sets with aftermarket buckets. The lightweight carbon ones from the R are excellent but very rare and expensive. Keep the old ones and swap them back in if / when you sell the car and then sell the seats. You will probably save 30+kg. Uprating the headers, plenum, exhaust and then a remap will also give a power hike in excess of the R's 330hp.

Good helpful replies all, thanks. I think the 2009 sports could be gen2? its the 303bhp model with pasm (-10mm suspension) produced in 700 units. I've lost track of the Cayman development cycle (will check that link thanks) If the S variant isn't gen2, would you say its still a more focused car than the later 2011+ cars? To me a Cayman is the modern Carrera 911 in terms of size, dynamics and handling whereas the 996/997/991 has become steadily more of a GT Tourer with its size and weight. I do like 997's though too. Sounds like the tweaking 3.4 route could be the one for me, history repeating itself with my own old 911, ie swapping factory heavy seats out for lightweight carbon etc. I also fancy the coil over suspension from SVP though everywhere I read the Caymans handling is sublime so guess it would take some besting with mods? I assume those Alu doors are rather spendy? I plan on keeping my old 'un for a while longer anyway, so can see how the Cayman fares in needing any updates as time goes by. I aspire to the R because it seems spot on no matter what article or website I read.

MJ911 said: Good helpful replies all, thanks. I think the 2009 sports could be gen2? its the 303bhp model with pasm (-10mm suspension) produced in 700 units. I've lost track of the Cayman development cycle (will check that link thanks) If the S variant isn't gen2, would you say its still a more focused car than the later 2011+ cars? To me a Cayman is the modern Carrera 911 in terms of size, dynamics and handling whereas the 996/997/991 has become steadily more of a GT Tourer with its size and weight. I do like 997's though too. Sounds like the tweaking 3.4 route could be the one for me, history repeating itself with my own old 911, ie swapping factory heavy seats out for lightweight carbon etc. I also fancy the coil over suspension from SVP though everywhere I read the Caymans handling is sublime so guess it would take some besting with mods? I assume those Alu doors are rather spendy? I plan on keeping my old 'un for a while longer anyway, so can see how the Cayman fares in needing any updates as time goes by. I aspire to the R because it seems spot on no matter what article or website I read. The sport you're talking about is Gen1. Gen2 cars are the ones that are facelifted.

MJ911 said: Sounds like the tweaking 3.4 route could be the one for me, history repeating itself with my own old 911, ie swapping factory heavy seats out for lightweight carbon etc. I also fancy the coil over suspension from SVP though everywhere I read the Caymans handling is sublime so guess it would take some besting with mods? I think the consensus on here is that you can improve the handling a fair bit (from a high starting point) by lowering the car a little (10-20mm) and introducing more expensive passive components. There are a few people, I think, who have done this, and someone may be along to provide decent advice if you keep checking back.

I thought the Porsche engine issues were sorted after 2008? ie IMS bearing etc. Sure I read that recently and more than once? I've really had my eye on the 2009 Sport since the start of my interest in Caymans, as I love the spec and look, other than recently noticing the Black with an R lump. Would I be better off with a Gen2 then? I also prefer the manual gearshift of the 09. Ive driven a PDK 997 and it was pretty good but im old fashioned and like a stick shift! Edited by MJ911 on Wednesday 7th January 16:14

How did we get from the R/BE to gen 1 models! Someone needs to do their homework on the porsche model range and engine problems on gen1 cars! Sootyvrs I forgot about alloy doors which were also standard on uk only 997.2 Personally I would be happy with a gen2 on standard suspension no pasm and 18" wheels as a great all rounder plus saving a few quid!

anonymous said: [redacted] The 2009 Sports model was to the Gen I what the R was to the Gen II: a little more power, a little more focussed, some unique colours and good value for money considering the extra kit. But the 2009 Sports still had the chocolate engine.

Hmmm, sounds like I need to drive a gen1 sport, a gen2 and a black edition R back to back before making a choice then. I am just drawn to the sport everytime I surf the classifieds possibly because of my old school porker roots.

Sorry for one more post, is there a spec table comparison chart for the various models anywhere? ie the main characteristics such as weight, BHP, standard kit? Any of them come with LSD pre-fitted or is that always an optional extra?

MJ911 said: Sorry for one more post, is there a spec table comparison chart for the various models anywhere? ie the main characteristics such as weight, BHP, standard kit? Any of them come with LSD pre-fitted or is that always an optional extra? Look at the link I posted earlier