Suspension upgrades your experiences please

[crafty1]

Part of the reason I bought my Cayman S (non pasm) was it's reputation as a great all rounder and it's ability to be modified into a semi decent track day car. Porsche took until the GT4 to build their own, and I understand the Cayman R is still far more road biased than occasional track day machine.  I've read plenty on the net (mainly Planet 9) and the main element that needs to change on the 987 is the suspension set up due to the lack of adjustability in stock form and in particular on the 'S' the ride height and lack of negative camber adjustment to obtain front end grip and stop it destroying it's front tyres.

 

Herein is a bit of a dilemma, I had not realised quite how good these cars are on a British B road in standard form, which is where my car will spend most of it's time, however from what I've read on track they are a let down.

 

So the question is, what changes if any have you guys made and is there a really good compromise set up which works, with some adjustment, on both ?

[Trickle]

Its always going to be a compromised car, and not knowing how much of a track car you want then its hard to know whats best for you. 

 

Having been lucky enough to drive a CaymanR on track a number of times, i'd say it's probably the best road/track day car i've driven - the GT4 is a fantastic car but I wouldn't say the experience was better, it just has a few more trick bits on it to fiddle with and a bit more comfy inside.  I think Porsche got it nailed on with the Cayman R actually. 

 

A common upgrade is to fit the CaymanR dampers and springs to the base Cayman, its a good set-up IMO for road and track use.  If you want more adjustability in height and damping then go with the PSSS9s. 
 

[crafty1]

Thanks Trickle, interesting to hear the R is decent on track in standard form. I've been looking at the option of R springs on my existing dampers with H+R adjustable antiroll bars, or the same with the PSS9, also the mod to the top mounts to allow more negative camber.

As you say there will always be a compromise. As per an earlier post Ohlins are supposedly offering their Road and Track series to market for the 987 so may well wait for that as it's highly regarded in other applications, then of course there is the cost, it's a job to do once so hopefully someone who has done it for UK roads and tracks will share their experience.

Edited March 31, 2017 by crafty1

[Beanoir™]

I bet the Ohlins won't be cheap, probably half way to a Westfield or Caterham! 

 

Have you tried adjusting the camber yet?  I got mine to -1 just about but you can have the holes on the top mount cut to allow further, but I found that I had enough and with the 7mm spacers provided enough extra grip on the front to allow a bit more mobility on the rear, so the car pivots much better now and doesn't have a tendency to revert to understeer.    

 

I've only had one track day in the CR (Hethel) but it was head and shoulders above some 'modified' cars out there that had thousands spent on them and probably on the wrong items too, I guess it all depends on what you want and how far you want to move it away from being a decent road car.  

 

What tyres are you using?

[crafty1]

Again good to hear that about the 'R' track abilities seems I was talking out of turn, sadly they are out of my budget ! I'm coming from an extremely focused road legal / track car (Lotus Elise SC Honda S1) so I know I don't want my Cayman too track orientated.

 

I'm currently using PS2's but will go to Super sports next or Michelin latest equivalent.

 

I think the same Ohlins for the 981 are about £2.5k so not a disaster but I wont be fitting them myself so there is a fair amount of labour on top.

 

Camber is currently fine for the road, on 19's it hardly understeers, but I will be doing the 'Mod' to get some more for track work and adding spacers. I suppose the question I should be asking is 'what is the 'R' like on a bumpy B road ?' 

 

Sounds like I want 'R' dynamics on a 'S' budget plus a few thousand £'s which in theory should be acheivable, or get close, without losing the cars real world ability.