Porsche Cayman S Turbo
When presented with the Porsche Cayman in 2006, one thing was clear: Porsche had gagged his coupe central part 911 to avoid cannibalizing sales. Despite the more favorable weight distribution and an imperturbable chassis, the Cayman had no power to operate its bases excellent, even on “looking” S “. Just as his brother Boxster, the Cayman was destined to play a secondary role to the rear iconic Porsche flagship motor. From a business perspective, Porsche’s decision made sense. For enthusiasts, it was another bitter pill of Zuffenhausen.
When the Cayman underwent a renovation, there was always hope that a turbo variant be included in the line-up. Unsurprisingly, this never happened. Thus, the Cayman was still standing on the bottom / middle bottom of the scale of Porsche, which offers less power and a lower price than the 911. The Cayman could dance. You just need a little more thrust.
That’s where Mike comes in. Mike Levitas is the brain behind TPCRacing of Jessup, MD. Born into a family car Boilermakers, Mike spent most of his formative years learning about turbos, and turn that knowledge into race cars – fast, reliable race car that won the championships. Like most other Porsche enthusiasts, the Cayman Mike thought could use more energy. Mechanical. But unlike most devotees of the brand, Mike made it happen.
Levites began producing racing cars back in the late Eight, and in the course of the next decade and a half he managed programs for the turbocharged Nissan 300ZX, Mazda RX7, Lotus Esprit and Consulier GTPs in IMSA Supercar Series. Mike’s background and advanced training aircraft eventually led him to build some of the best Porsche race cars around. Porsche Racing Club, Motorola Cup, and a brief drop in Mercedes sedans finally took him to the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series.
In 2000, TPCRacing began competing under its own flag, accumulating over 20 wins in his class (including one at Daytona in 2006) and an unprecedented 1-2-3-4 sweep of season standings. The team was so dominant that never the lead car during the season reached the championship podium. With all this history of race as a test, TPC thought it was time to offer some of their accumulated wisdom to the masses.
TPCRacing now known as one of the outlets first class prepares your Porsche right track. Turbochargers, suspension upgrades and re-record team are available to professional and club racers. And for those who want a little more performance out of their drivers daily, TPCRacing is widely covered. While most of the work of the company is dedicated to the 911S, thought that the TPC Cayman needs a little something extra. Red Guards took a 2006 Porsche Cayman S a couple of years ago and went to work.
The result is the Cayman S Turbo Kit TPCRacing Producing about 485 horsepower, which is packing more horses – until recently – almost any vehicle in the lineup Porsche GT2 save. And that’s only 5.5 pounds with power. With an amount so low pressure turbo kit makes almost no additional burden on the internal actions of the 3.4-liter flat-six.
TPCRacing sells its Cayman Turbo Kit (intercooled) for a dollar less than ten thousand dollars. It includes almost everything needed for installation: a cat-back exhaust, turbochargers, air / liquid intercooler, full intake again, all brackets / / plumbing / hardware / clamps, nozzles and pipes upgraded custom silicone. The ECU needs to be sent to TPC for reprogramming, but anyone with a good amount of mechanical aptitude can do the installation. The total tab of our tester was about $ 12,000 according to the owner. Of course, also went crazy with the suspension, brakes, wheels, tires and body mods more than double that figure.
A few additional bits are recommended by the CPC, although not included in the kit. Pop for a set of spark plugs GT3 and against the Porsche center radiator and associated ducts and brackets, and add about $ 750 to the tab. Tiptronic Cars can skip this last point, as already equipped with the front of the central radiator. The disadvantage for owners Tiptronic is that installation requires modifications to the transmission of the mounting brackets and the relocation of the transmission oil cooler.
TPC is also working on a third exchanger Turbo Kit eliminates the need for the liquid-air intercooler, radiator and the front center and all the additional piping and water pump. Increase the levels are slightly lower, but so is the price – an estimated $7,490.
We have the opportunity to test the complete kit intercooled turbo, of course, is as Cayman have not known before. It’s a mid-engined Jekyll and Hyde. In the normal passenger duty CPC units just like any other Cayman on the road. That means that management is about perfect, with some of the best brakes and steering increasingly precise engineering on a continuous path of vehicles. But that little dip in the accelerator and … Zap! As if a giant hand from heaven and gave a gentle push, he rushed along the extra-legal speeds in seconds.
No drama, just a hoarse roar of the exhaust gases which fades as the drop in RPM. Although not as transparent as the factory turbo setup on the 997 Turbo, feels just as fast. Power is available at any RPM apparently well. There is a progressive feel than the expected delay and burst of traditional tuner turbos – one more proof that Mike and his team know more than one or two things about the balance of linear performance and powerful thrust.
Our seat time was too short, but it was more than enlightening. Levitas is a bit manic energy, equal parts mad scientist and grassroots racing. Two of his clients, David and Kevin, who became computer engineers and are even difficult to keep pace with the steady stream of Mike’s technical babble. The only thing that’s definitely picked up Mike’s passion for his work and ability to build a well thought out and impeccably turbo kit professional.
Our feelings and disappointments echoed several of Mike’s clients. While most prefer a factory Cayman Turbo, Porsche will not build one. That left the door open for tuners and TPC happily stepped in to fill the void. For about $ 12,000 on the price of an alligator, customers can have a single daily driver friendly track that is ready to defeat the mirrors, the grandfather of the engine, while costing less and maintain reliability. That is a formula of 400-horsepower we can get behind. Now we just have to start trolling Craigslist alligators used …
Related News and Reviews:
