Don't hear a lot about sway bar upgrades for Cayman R?

After years of wanting a Cayman and a good while trying to buy one, I finally purchased a 2012 Cayman R! I intend to use it primarily as a track toy, and it's pretty well optioned for that. It has: 87k KMs (55k miles) mostly highway 6 speed manual Factory LSD (I hear they aren't great) GT2 seats (for now) Sports Chrono PSE No PASM Std headlights CDR-30 radio with Bluetooth Climate control w/ AC 19" Spyder /R wheels with PSS tires My initial plan was to learn to drive the car stock, to its limit, before staring on the expensive path of endless upgrades! I've already taken it to a couple track days, and I've read tons of "what to upgrade first" threads and most suggest adjustable LCAs and sticky tires . From driving the car and watching my friend drive the car, it seems like it has a lot of roll. I would think that anti-roll bars would be top of the list for an upgrade? I'm considering upgrading to coil overs. My friend has PSS9s for sale used, but if I can't get a good price on them I'll go for something better new. Could that be the answer to the body roll? The rear frame brace sounds like a great idea, as I've definitely felt it get squirrelly under high speed braking. What about a front strut tower brace? I spoke to a Spec Cayman driver at my last track day and he suggested 35/36 psi hot tire pressure, so that's pretty much where I've been running and that seems ok. There is a lot of talk about understeer and I do fell that through the tight corners, but I also seem to get a lot of throttle oversteer. Even with Sport Mode On and PSM "Off" (I don't have a kill switch yet) I get the traction light flashing constantly on corner exit (and even having a bit of fun on the back roads). I don't really understand why the rear wheels are an inch bigger than an S but they run the same size tire. I'm thinking 245/295 would be a better balance? The car came with PSS and I had to replace the fronts right away, but they didn't have 4S in stock so ended up with more SSs. The rears have one more track day in them. I've been a big fan of the 4Ss, but I'd also consider Cup 2s. My main concern is being able to drive the car to the track and back. I don't want to have to trailer it. Also on my list for upgrades is performance headers with sport cats (still want to pass emissions) but probably keep the PSE , at least to start. The IPD competition plenum sounds like something I'd want, but reviews are mixed. Ideally I'd like to put in a 3.8 X51 DFI engine, but if you can get 370 hp out of the 3.4L, it might not be worth it? The car definitely feels slow on the straights while my friends in faster cars blow by! I'm not a big fan of forced induction on a track car. Open to all suggestions! TIA

Just 2c worth. Priorities I would follow- 4 pt Roll bar (I have the Hergesheimer), sub bars (I have Cantrell) 6pt harness (Schroth gt3 is good) and Hans or Simpson hybrid. Instruction and Pro coaching. By far the best bang for the buck imo. Data- AIM Solo/ Smarty cam. Have heard good things about V-box too. For drive to track tires Bridgestone RE 71r in oem size. Consider 18in track wheels at some point. Brakes- high temp fluid (SRF is my choice) Pads- Pagid or PFC. GT3 brake ducts. You may need additional cooling. The center radiator can be added. Suncoast parts has a kit. LCAs and rear toe arms to get more camber. Tires will last longer. Other suspension mods and engine performance mods would be far down the list. Just my experience. Best of luck

How long have you been driving Porsches? The Cayman R has the least amount of body roll in my opinion. You should be able to out corner nearly any Porsche except a GT3 or Cayman GT4 . Yes, Turbo S is always going to pass you on the long straights. Perhaps you might consider getting the best tires for track days and have an instructor with Porsche experience like Patrick Long give you some pointers.

Higher powered cars will always pull away from you on straights, but you can outlap them on many tracks. My priority was tires , H& R springs and sway bars. Other drivers said it looked like the car was on rails. In my '14 CS I even out-lapped a new GT3 driven by an Advanced Solo driver, on a very twisty track. My tires were Cup 2s and were fabulous. I drove on them to the track, but it's only 35 miles away. They will wear quicker than PSs, but nobody said this was a cheap hobby. Try them first before doing anything else, then assess what other improvements you might want. (Cup 2s were not a perfect fit but rubbed a little in places like parking lots.)

I have a base Cayman and upgraded the suspension to Cayman R. Also added adjustable LCAs and tuned to -2.5 camber all around. I am very happy with it. I am running NT01 tires but have tried RE71R as well. Both are excellent and much better suited for track then MPSS or MP4S. Also note that RE71R are excellent in the rain too. I added 3rd radiator recently to help keep engine temp in check - it worked I have been tracking the car quite a bit, and can keep up with most drivers in much faster cars, even GT4s. Listen to advise from folks here and spend your efforts learning how to drive the car you have. Not to mention the Cayman R is becoming a collector's car and is appreciating in price. The closer your car is to stock the better in term of resale value! Enjoy!

Thanks for the replies. I have been driving Porsches for about 20 years. I started out with a 911SC and switched to a Boxster S in 2003 which I did a fair number of track days in (initially PCA and then private days). More recently I had a pre-LP Gallardo Spyder followed by a Huracan 610-4 Spyder . I would do 3-4 DE days a year, nothing crazy, but I'm fairly experienced. I know you can't win a track day, and there is always someone with a faster car. I really wanted something that I could push through the corners and work on being a better driver in. I have a track day next week with instructors and I'll definitely be taking some out for pointers. I'm just getting back into the hang of heal-and-toe and shifting gears as I've been in paddle shifts for the last decade. I actually have RE71Rs on my 993. I didn't pick them, that's just what the dealership put on before I bought it. I didn't realize that the dealer had way over inflated them (maybe for storage?) and the car felt scary loose until we let out a ton of air and it actually became a very fun car to drive. I wouldn't mind trying a set on the Cayman , I always had Bridgestone on my previous Porsches, but most of my friends go for the 4Ss or Cup 2. After reading all the reviews and modification suggestions prior to buying the Cayman , I was really surprised that I'm not blown away by the handling. Turn-in is really sharp, much more so than my 993 which is on PSS10s, but it does feel like it plows if you try to carry too much speed. The 993 almost feels like a grand touring car compaired to what the Huracan was like. It's the power oversteer / flashing traction control light coming out of corners that I really don't get. I feel like it should be able to put that power down better. I totally agree that race buckets, a 6 pt harness and a roll bar will be a big improvement for the track. Even with the GT2 seats, it takes some effort to keep myself in the seat while trying to brake, shift gears, and turn all at pretty much the same time! I'm half tempted to gut the car and put in a full cage, but I really want to be able to drive it to the track and back. I do have a trailer, but it just makes it more work and less fun. It's about 1-1/2 hr drive to any of the nearest tracks for me. I did feel a bit bad about the idea of stripping an R down to a full race car, since you won't actually keep many of the R parts, but I got a great deal on the car (clean title but had a cosmetic accident). It's also higher milage and it's what I bought it for. I did a 996 TT front end conversion on my Boxster S and always wanted to put a 911 engine into it. But the value of the car dropped so far that it would have just been throwing money away. I'd love to do a 997 GT3 conversion on this, but I know that's not going to do anything for my lap times so it's well down the list.

I wonder if the lack of rear grip on corner exit is mostly the tires ? Re-reading your post, you are on well worn MPSS at 36psi. On my CR MPSS at 36psi felt "greasy" to me. With NT01 or RE71r I usually try for 34psi hot. I had a pro set a reference lap for me on NT01s (at the old TWS). He felt the car had a bit of tendency to oversteer at the limit and we dropped the rear to 32 hot which seemed to help. This was on a cold day and track was a bit slippery too. Adjustable sway bars would indeed likely help that but I didn't take that step.

That's exactly what I wanted to do, have a pro / instructor set a reference lap for me in the car as-is and then work on getting there myself. I'm definitely going to do that next week. My first track day was literally the second day I owned the car and my last track day was so busy we just didn't get around to it. 36 psi did sound a bit high to me, but being new to the car I was just going off suggestions to start. They are nitrogen filled, for however much that helps, and the cold pressure is about 29 psi, which is only a couple below Porsche 's recommendation for street driving. I'm definitely used to letting out more air than that for a track day, but I've never had nitrogen either. Looking at the tires , the rears are date stamped 2015, and they are getting on. The PO said that they were "new" and I never really measured them. I've done 3 track days on them and they are not quite at the wear bars. I thought you could run them right down to nothing on a dry track? Even the brand new fronts are stamped 2017. Sat around a whole year waiting to sell. There is still tons of tread on the fronts. Any opinion on RE71R vs Cup2? I know the Cups are bad in the rain, but I'm not intending to daily drive this. I was looking into 18" track wheels, but they aren't really any lighter than my 19s. I know most people recommend them for greater tire selection. I bought a set of 18" 996 turbo -look rims with the idea of using them for snow tires on one of the cars, but I could put track tires on them for now, or maybe in the spring.

I usually start at 27 or 28 psi cold and then bleed when I come in hot to about 34. Lots of debate on N2, imo not a lot different to air. I don't mind cup2s in the rain. Watch out for standing water but otherwise ok. (My experience with cup2 is on GT3 / GT4 .) If available I'll pick RE71 over Cup2. RE71 is cheaper by about 300 a set. Grip is similar. Cup 2 seems to drop off sooner. With the same alignment on my GT4 I got 24 to 28 heat cycles from RE71s and wear was fairly even at all corners. With Cup 2 at 24 cycles the rears look great but the fronts outside are shot. On the Cayman R I get about 20 to 24 cycles with the RE71 and have not tried the cup2 on the R. Lots of variables in how long tires last but overall they are similar for me and the RE71 cheaper. Another reason to consider track wheels is the Porsche 19in Spyder wheels are expensive if you damage them. I have the OZ Alleggerita 18s.

Ya, I think I'll try the RE-71R. Have you gone wider at all with the tires ? I'm guessing each session counts as a heat cycle? So I'll probably get 4 track days out of them. That's fine with me. I found the same thing on the PZeros that came on my Huracan. The fronts overheated and literal chunks of tread peeled off the outside edge. I put 4Ss on that because it was really a daily driver. I hadn't even heard about the RE-71Rs until they came on my 993 this year. I know the Spyder wheels are expensive to replace, $5400 @ Suncoast . I put them up on Kijiji last week to see if anyone will give me decent money for them. Nothing so far. But if I only get enough for them to buy OZs, I'll just keep using them.

Another possibility is that the LSD is toast. I found this on another board: "A fried LSD at the track will exhibit rear end waggle(instability) under hard braking(scary) and difficulty getting power/traction on exit. " I have both of those things! I thought the braking instability was rear suspension flexing. I'll try to figure it out this week.

Right, 1 heat cycle is 1 approx. 25min session. My last set of RE71s lasted 5 track days. I've used the oem 19 size 235/35/19 and 265/35/19. (on 18s I use the NT01s in 245/40/18 and 275/40/18) I think there have been a few threads on the tail wag under braking. As I understand it, the simple strut geometry causes the rear to toe out when it unloads as under hard braking. So most will set some static toe in to counteract it. A coach once told me- ah they all do it and if it's not wagging you're initial braking isn't hard enough! Not sure I fully agree but I haven't chased it. It's a little spooky but I never feel like the car is going to swap ends or anything and it settles as I release pressure while turning in.

I get over 15 track days with my Re 71's. Be sure to switch them from left to right and also inside to outside on the same wheel. i used pilot cup's on my old 993 not worth the money could not get them hot and sticky. i have gone from Ra'1s to NT 01's to Re 71's cost me about $ 1,100 for a set of 4 on 19 inch OZ wheels , and i can normally get a season of 4 to 6 3 day De's on them following the above. Great tire....

I have a OS Giken LSD for sale on the Panjo website that fits your gearbox, please let me know if you want pictures or additional info. I am asking $1,100 shipped.

I sent you a DM