The Porsche Cayman S in standard form is an astonishingly capable machine. But as with any product meant for general consumption, there is always room for improvement.

So here’s the dilemma. Keep it stock. Or modify the crap out of it. This dilemma arrives on the back of the realization that at this juncture in my life, I’m not going to get anything that fulfils my motoring desires better than the car I currently own. A Gen1 Porsche Cayman S.

My encounter in 2009 with a Gen2 car (see previous blog) had led me, via a myriad of tumultuous internal conversations, to the conclusion that at the time, dropping 30+ grand to get me into a newer car, was just not the right thing to do. There were far more interesting avenues to explore with that kind of wonga…

So the Cayman had already had a Quaife torque-biasing differential fitted back at the arse end of 2007, pretty much the day the car had stumbled blindly out of the pittance of a thing that Porsche class as the Manufacturers Warranty, and had given the rear end the kind of drive and precision that had always held the Cayman back from stepping on Big Brother 911’s toes.

With that in the bag, and the decision to keep the car for an extended period, the question quickly turned to what to do next, or whether to call it a day and enjoy the car as it stood. Well, I’m a bloke. A typical bloke. Having decided that the car was staying, there just didn’t seem any reasonable reason as to why it had to stay standard. Come on. Money not being spent on a new car. Poor little old car feeling a little battered and bruised after nearly 4 years and near-60,000 miles of daily driving abuse in all conditions. Money sat there burning a hole. Car now being used less and less as a daily driver. Money that in little (read often-LARGE) chunks can often be burned without “authorization” from the household fiscal manager……Money….. Car….. Money….. Car………

At this point I like to take a side-step and point out that as blokish as I am in my justifications of such projects, my raison d’etre for this particular project is probably as far from the classic man-car philosophy as is physically possible whilst still retaining the relevant X-Y chromosome balance. I didn’t want more power.

Did I just say that out loud? I didn’t want more power. My primary goal was not to add power. There, I said it. Chris (Ratcliff), shoot me now! I will NOT be blowing, ‘charging, intercooler-ing, Nitrous-ing my steed. It ain’t happening. Instead, I knew what I wanted was to make the Cayman handle like a sports car should. Sharp turn-in. Adjustability. Compliance to make it a cross-country missile. Yet the ability to notch up the damping for those ever more frequent track adventures. I wanted the suspension and set up to be, within reason, the very best combination of B-road blaster and track tool. The chassis layout of the car is near-perfect, the power output decent, the weight not too middle-age-spread. It can be done, and it will be done.

So with the mission parameters narrowed, specific targeting of the areas needing attention could begin. In late 2009 and early 2010 the Cayman went under the knife.

And how the Caymonster went from this:

To this...

...will be explored in future blogs!

Back soon.

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