I have to admit that the CS is my first porsche since I had a 356 SC Cabriolet many, many years ago. Most of the recent rides have all been V-8's with lots of HP and torque. All of them had a steady increase in HP with rpm and torque also was steady.
So in this horizontally opposed engine, why does the engine torque fall off at 3k rpm and then recover at 3500 and ultimately go flat at 4400 rpm? Seems strange...is it something to do with the the H6 configuration?
BlackShadow
2006 Cayman S
Basalt Black
Its to do with the variocam feature.
Yeah, I think it's like 4by4 said. That's when the vario cam plus kicks up to the higher lift map.
Coming from V-8s, the Cayman engine must 'feel' soft. That push into the seat makes a car 'feel' fast. The Cayman is fast, but it builds it's torque over such a wide RPM range and so free of bumps in the curve that it could 'feel' as though it's not as fast.
I experienced this difference between feel and actual performance many years ago. I had a 944 Turbo that was over boosted. That thing had a near vertical torque curve. It felt like a monster. Then Porsche came out with the 968. I rushed down to the dealer for a test drive and was totally and utterly disappointed. It didn't feel 1/2 as fast as my turbo despite it's impressive performance numbers. Then, I met up with one at a track event on Watkins Glenn. He was behind me and on every straight I would nail it and expect to leave him for dead. I didn't. He hung right with me. After a couple of laps, I let him by because I was holding him up in the turns.
The butt dyno only knows force. It knows nothing about time. And a small steady force over a long period of time produces more performance than a large shot of force over a short period of time. Make any sense?
Sounds like a law of nature.
Thanks for the explanation Gator Bite! I have only about 800 miles on the engine and haven't really gone past 5K rpm so its hard to tell about the pull you mentioned. Going up a hill however there is plenty of pull and I did not notice any lag so my sense is that the dip in the measured torque is not noticeable.
My recent ride before the CS was a Mustang Mach 1 with plenty of ponies. I test drove the CS just for fun and was blown over with the power, responsiveness and handling! The Mach 1 is a really powerful car but compared to the CS, it drives like a truck.
That's pretty funny....
I recently drove a Roush Mustang, stage III, 465 hp. I jumped on it and it was pretty strong, but didn't have the low end torque I expected. Once the super charger started spinning, that thing got stronger and stronger.
But like you said, I couldn't help but notice that I could almost feel every gear spinning and every piston moving through the steering wheel. The car felt very unrefined. The rear wheels got really light under hard acceleration. I was worried that I would loose it at any moment and shoot off the road. It was fun, but I would take a Cayman any day over that kind of performance.
The fun starts above 4,5 krpm. So when your break in period is over you will probably get another, better experience...:burnout:
Gator Bite, that is an excellent description. This has bugged me too and your view is very helpful. I have had only V8 motors for a long time before the CS. The butt dyno tells me my 300 hp V8 GS 430 is more powerful than my CS, but on the track, the CS instantly shaved 15 seconds (20 seconds after a little practice) off the 430, even though "terminal velocity" for both cars in the long straights was about the same. Which is faster? The butt "knows nothing about time." Perfect!
