Looking for performance updgrades

New to this Cayman S and looking for some added HP. Great little car as is but always drawn to what can add a bit of HP to the car. I know relatively limited being normally aspirated but want to hear options.

Just my opinion but the cash to OMG equation is way off with add on offerings. The only way to make it a beast is to reach in your pocket and make it a beast, like the guy who dropped a bigger 911 motor into the RS Spyder before Porsche got to the task.

Spend the money learning to use the car as designed. I would suggest locating your local Porsche Club of America chapter Porsche Club of America - Join and then check out your local chapter. They are almost bound to have some sort of track "driver education" events - where with the guidance of a qualified instructor you can learn to use maybe 70% of the capabilities of your car. To use 100% you've got to get serious about tracking - and that usually means a dedicated track car and lots of $$$ spent on travel, tires, repairs, etc. Your Cayman wasn't engineered to beat a new Dodge SRT 1000hp car from a stop light. And the Dodge isn't engineered to go around corners like your Cayman is. The strength of the Porsche 987 is superb handling. Not just good handling, not just great handling, but superb handling (and that's after owning about 50 cars and driving probably several hundred performance oriented cars..) Making use of the handling lets you run away from almost any other car (except another 987) when the road gets twisty. The 911 will beat the 987 in the straights, but more people race 987's and it's not just price driven, they're more fun to race, and well driven will beat the 911 in the corners. So - spend the $$$ you would dump into the car to gain maybe 5% power at the expense of driveability and join the PCA and get active in the local chapter. The 987 is the real model for the aphorism "It's more fun driving a slow car fast than driving a fast car slow.." - not that the 987 is embarrassingly slow.. but damn it's fun once the road gets twisty.

BTW - saw your intro thread where you were looking to buy a 987 - now how about one about the 987 you bought, complete with pics (please click on the link at the top of this and every other page on Planet-9 first..) and a bit of car history about you. I don't believe you've told us the year or specs..

I am not looking for much more power out of the car, but to make about 315 shouldn't be too hard I would think. I own a Jaguar F Type R so I have plenty of power in that car if needed, but would like to do the simple upgrades that seem feasible and reasonable on the Porsche . The Porsche is a 2007 with manual and sport chrono with 42k on the odometer. Recently it had its oil change, plugs changed, battery changed, at 31k it had the water pump replaced along with brakes done. The headliner was also fixed due to the sagging issue. Not sure I would track the car but possibly. I live in AZ so the heat is extreme in the summer but rarely cold in the winter.

One of the best bangs for the buck in terms of power is a tune. Softronic is an excellent choice. I have the Softronic tune and it made a noticeable difference. Do they have 93 octane in AZ? The available fuel impacts how much the tune can provide. The power bump may be more limited with 91 octane. Another common upgrade is headers and exhaust . The cost per horsepower is higher than a tune, but most people like the sound better than stock.

Normally just see 91. I don't think they sell 93 and if so, few places. Would be interested in the tune, possible short shifter (made a world of difference in my old Z06) and upgraded shifter cables if in fact there is an issue with OEM ones breaking. The exhaust would be great but not putting that much into one unless it really did something to the car. If it just adds noise, I have all the noise I need for the F Type R.

Install Sprint Booster to make your car feel like it has 10 more HP even though it actually adds none. Just adds fun. Removes that dam throttle lag.

You might read through the old threads in the dyno forum to get an idea of what's possible. Headers , free flow exhaust , intake along with software to take advantage should give roughly 40 hp. I don't know if Softronic still sells it but the Softronic race plenum (SRP), its software along with Capristo headers and exhaust gave around this. Drive ability is improved. Slightly more bottom end, no flat spot midrange along with the increased top end. Note this is expensive hp. There's an old dyno thread on these mods. Note that some of the free flow cat back exhausts drone like crazy. The Capristo doesn't. There may be others.

Just an ecu tune with nothing else will gain about 15 hp at most. The car is already very well tuned from the factory. I haven’t done this just yet, but on my horizon is a GT3 intake and primary cat delete (The one built into the muffler). An ecu and dyno tune after this and I’ve heard the car can approach 400hp. it’s a very reasonable price for the power gain, about $3000 NZD (~1600 USD)

Can the clutch and motor handle 400 for this little car?

Will it do much if I already have sport mode? If I planned potentially on adding a tune, would the Sprint Booster be a waste at that point? I see Fabspeed also makes a tune for the 987.

anyone have a comparison between the Softronic and Fabspeed for a tune?

I always enjoy your insights and posts. As I approach the end of Year 1 as a first time Porsche owner, 2008 Boxster S, I cannot imagine wanting more power. As I posted months ago, I drove that thing over 3,000 miles before I ever used the Sports Mode and oh my gosh, on the twisty, winding roads I drive I don’t think more power would be used, and I am certain more power could not be handled by me. But to each their own. After 11.5 months and about 8,000 miles I am still giddy each time I get a chance to drive that car.

These cars are highly tuned factory. There is very little HP to be gained on these cars. Unlike say a LS motor where a $500 cam can get you 100HP. A set of cams for a Porsche is oh 5k and you gain 15-20HP! you just can't make BIG HP with software and a bigger throttle body. I have a GT3 TB on my base 2.7L, open exhaust , softroinc tune and it dynoed at 209HP atw!! LOL That's why I am replacing it with a 4.0L so I can double the hp. Bigger motor or add turbo or LS swap

Pretty much what everyone else here says....big HP gains = significant $$. I went a bespoke remap, mild exhaust /induction work, and lowered slightly with some sympathetic spacers ....in short, just over 300hp at the wheels but a noticeable shift in torque profile, handles better and sounds excellent, all for not ridiculous $