3.4L difference between 996 and Cayman?

Does anyone know the differences / updates to the 3.4L motor used in the Cayman vs. the 3.4 used in the 996. I ask because they're both rated at 295 hp. I wrote off power modifications when I first got my 3.4L 996 because they all seemed pretty expensive esp when looking at the x51 package pricing etc. However in browsing through the Cayman section I see there's product offerings that are complete packages YET still just bolt-on components that are getting >320 WHEEL hp out of Caymans. Now that I've learned quite a bit with my car at the track I'd love for it to have more power. I'd kill for even 300 at the wheels. I can't imagine my car even with intake, headers and mufflers makes more than 250-255 at the wheels. My M3 makes 288 at the wheels and despite the 3500lb weight pulls on my 996 slightly in a straight line. What does stand out for me in the following is that the stock Cayman S dyno shows 290 at the wheels. Are the new 3.4L base motors just that much more capable in stock form, or are there legitimate areas for improvement for us 3.4L guys to make respectable power out of them without cracking the case open. https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ighlight=RS350 Andy

The Cayman S is underrated so not to overrun the 911's numbers, but at 320 to the wheels if possible, is pretty friggin' good!

varioram-plus. That's the main one, many other smaller differences. The 996 3.4 only had varioram. The 'plus' adds infinite variability of both intake and exhaust cam lobe stuff. The 996 3.4 only had it on the intake part, and maybe not infinite variability, can't remember too well. The Cayman 3.4 is more like the 996 3.6 in terms of complexity.

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Agreed but as I understand it the variocam-plus will only effect power under the curve not peak numbers. Unless porsche upgraded to larger camshafts for the 3.4L in the cayman because they were able to do so without loosing power under the curve thanks to the variocam plus. If cam sizing etc has changed then that makes perfect sense. These are the things that I don't know however. Andy

Bolt-on NA power is costly IMHO. If you ever decide to sell it, it’s costly to uninstall, or time consuming if you do it yourself. Throw enough money at it, and there will always be gains. IMHO, drive the car, and not the dyno chart.

Andy, The engines are pretty similar. As noted the advantage goes to VC plus over the 996's 3.4. The magic here is in the Chip tuning (softronics is good stuff) to take advantage of VC+ and the use of the factory competition plenum and throttle body.. which should work on any egas car as well. VC+ is like having a bigger cam that only activates at a specific RPM. In my 3.6 you definitely feel the VC+ kicking in.

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+1

It seems to me that the biggest current gains would be DFI and the new variable speed electric engine oil lubrication pump.

AudiOn19s, I would take a closer look at the linked post with the vendor's dyno charts. As you point out, their dyno showed the stock cayman S at around 285hp at the wheels (which seems a bit high). And after the "kit" ($5k in parts + unknown installation) they show around 318hp at the wheels. My point is simply that their kit (while apparently good) did not change the output from stock 295 flywheel to 320 at the wheels.... (which would have implied a 55+hp impovement (before the headers change)). Apples to apples on their own dyno looks more like a 33hp increase (peak) with most of the gain above 5,500 rpm. That's probably more realistic. Then they added $4200 headers and got another nice bump in hp across the range. For similar money I would suspect you could get a ballpark 20hp improvement out of your motor (just a guess). As far as difference between the two 3.4L motors, my own subjective impression is that the Cayman's 3.4 is tuned more for mid-range torque, whereas the 996 was biased more toward top-end power. That's why all the newer technology in the Cayman S shows no increase in peak hp over the 3.4 996. It all went to improve the mid-range and part-throttle performance (that's my my guess). I can tell you for sure, though, that the 3.6 996 motor (stock) out-pulls a Cayman S 3.4 (stock), because I've owned both and have the Traqmate data to show it. So, take some comfort in knowing that the Cayman S motor is not grossly underrated by the factory or anything. It's still making less hp than a 3.6 996 at least.

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I agree with what was stated above. But when they did the pulley, headers, cats along with all of the other gizmo's of the month they eventually ended up with 334 at the wheels which is ~45 hp from the starting point X51 3.6 guys are barely getting 305-310ish at the wheels. My main goal in posting was to inquire if there was 3.4L development from the newer Cayman that we could apply to the old 3.4 996 cars to get a power advantage. Seems to be general opinion that it's all in the Variocam+ and engine management is the main source of the power difference which sadly won't be making it's way to my throttle cable 3.4 car. Andy

+50hp with bolt ons and a chip..... hmmmm. Sounds to good to be true.

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Andy, The 3.4 is generally considered to have more untaped power than the 3.6. I'd bet with a chip, headers, intake and plenum you would make considerable gains.

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I've already got intake / headers / mufflers. Been seriously thinking about doing cat-bypass pipes and a pully. Still not sold on the Plenum or software. I put software in my N/A E46 M3 and got feel I got little more than changed throttle mapping and a raised rev limiter for my $600. I'd love to see someone that does custom tunes for our cars as I might whip out the money at that point. Sad thing is I've got free access to a dynojet chassis dyno at my uncle's shop and I've never even bothered to put the 996 on there. Maybe I will in spring I'll give it a whirl. Andy