First Question from Newby....

Hi All, Firstly I'd like to say that I am not currently a Cayman owner, but I am seriously considering ordering one later in the year. However, the only thing that concerns me a little is the fact that power output is less than 300BHP. What I would like to know is what you all feel is the best BHP per buck upgrade you can do on the Cayman S. I'm guessing an up-rated exhaust and possibly re-map, but being so new to the world of Caymans, I could do with a few pointers in the right direction. Cheers! Skinny Puppy (Steve)

Drive it first. You'll stop questioning the horsepower. It's truely a complete package!

Welcome. You've certainly come to the right place to find this information. There are several modifications that have been tested here that have loosened up a few horsepower. The favored are the Milltek or AWE cat back exhaust systems (good for about 20 hp). The Milltek headers are good for another 8 or so. The GIAC remap combined with an EVO air filter and a desnork seem to add varied amounts too. There is way too much information for me to list. I suggest you give the search tool a try. Also, Porsche always makes the most of their horsepower. I suggest you drive a Cayman S and see what you think.

Welcome! Some people will say the car can use more power (well any car can use more power ). Probably the biggest quick gains are from a header and catback. I suggest you visit our FAQ a bit of info on that. There are also extensive articles in the article section There are other small things like an Evo Intake and GIAC flash.

I realize this doesn't directly answer your question, but what cars have you driven with a better P/W ratio in the neighborhood of, or better than, the CS? Also, what kind of driving do you do, on what roads? Just curious, because I questioned this myself before I took the plunge. To me, the CS is a rocket when you wind it out above 5k in the lower gears.

A dark horse in the power mod race: a smaller accessory pulley on the engine. This is something Mantissport sells for about $300, primarily to prevent blowing out the power steering system under race stress. According to reports here, it does that, and it also pays serious power dividends because the PS pump and alternator are spun 20% slower than normal. Combine this with an Evolution Motorsports V-Flo and you really might manage better than $50/HP installed. To max out power with bolt-on passive mods will cost a lot more than $50/HP btw. You should be able to realize +60HP or so for about $6k plus labor. Additional parts to look at here are: RSS intake plenum and Milltek exhaust header and cat back. Here's the thing: if you have a good reason to need more power, you also need drivetrain, brake, and suspension mods. It's great fun to race prepare a car, but it sure ain't cheap. If nothing else, check out the threads on the Quaife torque biasing differential. Power's useless if it can't be used.

In my experience, people often exaggerate the numbers added when they buy aftermarket parts. Especially on the internet. Also, you can't add modifications cumulatively, often there is overlap in how they benefit the engine etc. So a chip alone might give 20hp, an exhaust might give 20hp, but both together might only give you 25hp. I call BS on a lot of these armchair tuners who add up stats cumulatively. You can't predict it like that. Likewise, unless I see before AND after dynos, it means nothing. I would say that you are unlikely to get much of a difference from your Cayman. Maybe 5 to 10% with all the bolt on modifications you can find including exhaust, headers, performance chip and intake. All of this together is going to cost many many thousands of dollars for very little HP. I agree with the poster who said decide if 300hp is enough. If you want something with more hp from the aftermarket, consider a used M3. Another idea is an Audi TT which is slower stock but again has better aftermarket support.

Very true. You just can't add up numbers as they do not add up linearly. That is exactly why we are trying to put only actually dynoed numbers for aftermarket parts in the FAQ.

Well I have proof that adding a good header/catback and intake mod will easily yield you 25 HP or more. No chipping. I estimate around 350 HP same league as a Carrera S and less weight. My performance numbers dont lie....I drove a stock Cayman S the other day, night and day difference. http://www.dragtimes.com/Porsche--Cayman-Drag-Racing.html

Thanks for all your comments guys. It's good to find somewhere I can get opinions/support from real enthusiasts! Cocodrilo, are you saying you've gained another 50-odd BHP just by adding cat-back and header!? I recently had a BMW M3 and I'm currently driving a Focus ST. My ST is running 300 BHP (turbo-back exhaust system, CAIS, up-rated Intercooler & re-map). Obviously I understand that the CS is in a completely different league, but I think I've become addicted to squeezing a little more than standard from my cars!!

I know what you're saying Gator Bite, but I've had my ST on a couple of different independent rolling roads and it's averaging 297 BHP - 358 lb/ft torque. Like I said - I know it's know the Cayman is in a completely different class from the my humble Focus, but a 75 BHP increase & that much torque from less than £2,000.00 worth of mod's is pretty impressive. A lot of ST owners I know are pushing 330 BHP - but they've had to spend around the £4-5,000.00 because the standard turbo isn't up to +300 BHP.

The best performance modification you can make is to: YOU ! Attend one of the Porsche Performance Driving Schools - for US$1,800 or so, you'll find out that hoprsepower is not necessarily the key to driving fast. And, I assume, that is the goal in your quest of seeking additional HP?

Skinny, If you want to turbo your Cayman, kits are starting to roll out. The HP is not important enough to me to flush my warranty. I still get scared by how fast I can get going in the Cayman the way it is. I was just in a road rally this past weekend with a lot of C4Ss and Turbos. Almost all of the guys were just enthusiast drivers like me. I easily lost the 996tt that was following me in the turns. The driver admitted to being nervous taking them at the speeds that I was. Had it been Cass Whitehead, I'm sure I would have been overtaken by that car. I certainly was not on the edge with my driving, but my co-pilot was nervous and amazed by how the Cayman hugged the curves. He has a Cooper S and is a spirited driver himself. Apparently we had left Mini territory on the comfort scale (did I mention I am down to the TWIs on the rears and am taking it easy?). You can probably tune a number of lesser cars to compete with a stock Cayman on the street or track, but the cockpit won't compete and the bodywork will never be in the same class IMO. Porsches add a lot more to the auto equation than just numbers -- owning one now I get it. You could show me a 400+ HP WRX that blows my CS away on the skidpad and on the straight, and I would not be interested in a trade. If a Porsche is what you are interested in and bumping the HP inexpensively is your objective -- consider a 996tt. You can get a lot of chipping them -- so I've heard. If you made the move from an M3 to an Escort, maybe a tuner car like the Evo is more up your alley. Nothing wrong with that, just a diferent way to get your kicks. Good luck in your quest. Dave

Yes but tuning an Turbo car to get more power is a lot easier than an NA car. The only way to get big increase from an NA car is to turbo or supercharge it, then the gains are huge for a relatively acceptable outlay. But also as somebody else said... who cares about straight line speed, there will always be someone who has more horsepower and is faster than you in a straight line, its about how well you can use the horse power you have in the twisties that's important. I see the Focus ST max's out at 152, the Cayman S will go to 170, its already faster if that's what's important to you. The other factor is its a Porsche and not a Ford, enough said I think. In addendum From the following site : http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=3&fID=0&tID=10073 Both standard cars (no mods) The Focus ST Nürburgring lap time was 8.51 The Cayman S Nürburgring lap time(s) were 8.11 and 8.25 (depending on the driver)

Yes, I agree, and I probably should have said that. Getting extra power out of a Turbo charged car is relatively easy and cheap. Just increase the boost and you're there (though it will cost you some reliability). I picked up 50+ hp and 43 ft-lbs of torque in my 944 Turbo by installing an Autothority stage 2 chip kit which inceased my boost from 0.6 bar to 1 bar. Not so easy on a normally aspirated car.

This is one of the smartest things I've read in awhile (well, at least in the last 5 min - there's lots of good things here). I think that SO many people who want to achieve a number, or a rating of some sort. When it all comes down to it, the driver is the most important. One of the reasons that tracking a CS is so much fun - mine is stock, and it will be a VERY long time before I'll need to get more HP. (would be nice to hit 300 though - maybe the desnork I did the other day is the ticket )