I’m looking to start research on getting a trackable Cayman. Think 981 Cayman S, but my issue is how do you figure out common problem areas or consumables?
Does a salvage (but solid car) even matter for a track toy? Guessing insurance is harder to get, but likely would get track day insurance anyway.
I’ve done some track days with my prior M3, GT4 and some Porsche experience days. Looking to get more serious with it (have 4 tracks within a 2 hour radius).
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If you are to go with a 981 Cayman generation and intend on heavily tracking it, I would recommend an oil cooler, optionally an extended oil pan for more capacity and cooling.
Lastly, if my memory serves correctly, the aluminum cam bolts or alu bolts in a critical component of the engine must be swapped to steel. High rpm driving can vibrate these to such perfection that they can back out or snap and cause catastrophic engine damage. 987 generation Caymans don’t have this issue as they are steel bolts. Easy fix/swap. Source from multiple shops I’ve spoken to. I would double and triple check on that with a race shop that has extensive 981 experience working on them. Since I own an 987 this really didn’t stay in my long term memory but posts like this help me to remember.
Wow! Excellent info. Reminds me of the tolerance on the rod bearings for the e9x M3. Not wildly a problem but zero room for error, you either drive 150k worry free miles or get a glorified piece of engine art one day.
Fucking Porsche with the aluminum bolts which caused $16k engine out jobs on the pre-2019 Macan V6’s.
Now only a $4k job if you do bumper removal.
Was it for weight savings or just looking for good marketing headlines?
I have a 981 base cayman with about 15k track miles. It started life for me at about 80k miles or so used at a Cadillac dealership. It is now a full racecar build - custom fab cage, Tarett suspension, JRZ coilovers. They’re extremely capable and hardy as a stock 981. To answer your question on track insurance it becomes more tractable to just put that money into a fund for if something does happen if you track a lot. I’d be happy to answer any questions.
The CV boots will weep grease and it will understeer like a pig until you get front camber in. However, fresh fluids and good track brakes on decent tires can get you a lot of good track days in stock form.
Thanks! Appreciate the insight, so my thought on the insurance was of course an accident vs a mechanical failure, but I see your point if you buy a 40k cayman that would be roughly 30 track days before you’ve bought the car again.
When I had the GT4 the big concern was the strut towers cracking, is this the same issue on the S? I want to say it’s the same frame/platform but wasn’t sure if the extra HP/TQ is why the GT4 could suffer stress fractures.
You’re paying > $1k per track day for insurance? Or did I do the math completely wrong? I use OnTrack, I think I end up paying around $300 per weekend.
Agreed on the insurance, it definitely becomes personal choice/comfort level and math on how many days you’re running. I used it myself early on. I now just use a paddock and transport policy since the car isn’t road legal anyways.
I think the strut towers were a concern on 987s (?) and I know there are some braces out there for the front towers on the 981. I haven’t been running anything like that.
I turn all the wrenches on my 981. Having the shop manual and some sort of diagnostic tool are about required (or at least make things much easier).
If you’re thinking it will be a racecar at the end (no street driving) I wouldn’t be concerned with a salvage if I was 100% sure why it was salvage. I’ve hit the tire barriers at Road ATL in mine. Replaced front radiators and snagged a bumper off of eBay and had her back running very quickly.
I have a base 981 as well. Bought it in 2021 as a midlife crisis car, started tracking it last year, no previous track experience. I left it stock for 2022, this year the CPO expired so I’ve done wheels (Apex) and tires (PS4S), brakes (FCP Euro kit with Sebro rotors, SS lines, Ferodo DS2500 pads), and recently found a lightly used Ohlins R&T kit. So next year should be a lot of fun, I can already feel how much more stable the car feels at on-ramp speeds. And I’ll probably try 200TW tires and more aggressive pads once these are done.
My dilemma is where do I go from here. Logical next step would be cage and seats, I think. At that point it’s going to become kind of impractical for my office commute. Is there such a thing as comfortable bucket seats? I have to say, the Ohlins at the softest setting are quite OK for daily driving, even on bad downtown roads. I was afraid I would already turn it into a weekend car with that change, but that hasn’t happened.
But I keep thinking, should I get an S or GTS before going that far? I also keep thinking, should I get a $10k Miata that I won’t be afraid to push more?
Curious what drove you to build a racecar out of a base 981. Was this for some class? Do you have any power train upgrades?
Sounds like you’re having a ton of fun! Your upgrades will be awesome this coming year. I swap sebro rotors from FCP every time I change pads on mine. I’m running S calipers in the front now - larger disc but same pad shape. I’ve run a lot of different pad compounds but hands down PFC 08 is my favorite and it seems the ABS systems favorite as well but that can all be preference. They’re definitely not a street pad.
It’s quite simple to change the seat for track weekends. Check out the CMS 981 roll bar and the GMG slider and seat base. It’s four bolts and one plug then to do a quick seat change before you head to the track :)
The short answer - I built a base racecar because it was the car I had. The longer answer - I’ve karted my whole life but my wife wasn’t interested in karting but really wanted to get involved with tracking cars. I already had a 991.2 GTS but that is way too much car in my eyes at least (and $$$). I found a killer deal on this cayman in 2020 and we’ve just been building it ever since. We decided that whatever we were running at this point needed to be caged for safety and just decided to do it on this car. I love to instruct and my wife drives as well so it’s just a great track car. No powertrain upgrades yet. I’ve got a few more things on the list before then but if she gives up on the back stretch at VIR she’s lived a great life and I’ll find a bigger block for replacement.
Does all that hold true for a 981 Boxster S?
Yes absolutely. One thing on the 981s for tracking I didn’t mention is that the original part numbered ignition coils don’t like the heat from tracking. Swapping to the later part numbered ignition coil seems to help. If the a coil goes out the computer will throw a pretty large array of codes (engine control issue, traction control issue, etc).
My preference for track toys are vehicles that have something that diminishes value. Small accident, broken suspension, etc. Preferably something that I would already replace.
Only thing that really matters is having a solid engine and frame. Suspension and brakes upgrades will get you furthest for track fun and speed. So those are great to have to replace.