Here is a car Porsche isn't going to build. It can't. Or at least it shouldn't. Take the best handling, most balanced chassis Stuttgart builds and install the ber-trick 3.8-liter X-51 torque monster. Why would anyone ever buy a 911?
The folks at Farnbacher Loles Motorsports don't have to worry about such large-scale economics. And since the Connecticut-based firm has committed to a limited production run of only 20 Cayman GTRs, Stuttgart needn't worry about them. The boys in Connecticut know which side their bread is buttered. For them, the GTR is just another way to do what they do best: put grins on their customers' faces, and this track-ready 911-killer is one way of doing that.
Exterior adornments on the Cayman GTR draw some attention to its hybrid bad-boy status. Carbon fiber mirrors, a height-adjustable rear spoiler, a 997 aero-kit front end, carbon fiber splitter and a Euro-spec rear bumper set the GTR apart from the rest of the Caymans in the valet lot. Farnbacher Loles is happy to do a straight, sleeper-type Cayman engine swap for those with more subtle tastes. But the GTR is a complete car, engineered and tuned as a complete package.
Each newly-installed 3.8-liter X-51 (Carerra S) engine gets purpose-built custom headers and exhaust. An additional, third radiator meets the greater engine cooling duties. Just aft of the passenger doors, special carbon fiber air inlets flow into proprietary air ducting which has been optimized for the engine's increased displacement. Revo engine management software is dyno tuned to enhance driveability. Output is a claimed 380 bhp-for now. A Stage II tuning package is in the works to throw that figure well over the 400 bhp fence. An exact number could not be confirmed, but insiders did admit to a 'healthy' increase over current power specs.
A Sachs Sport clutch and a specially developed 60/40 clutch-type limited-slip differential feed power to the ground through massive 285/30-19 Yokahama ADVAN Sport rear tires. Front tires are 245/35-19, all four rolling on forged Fiske wheels. A retuned suspension has been developed with Cross Engineering. This includes increased spring rates, heavier anti-roll bars and Cross 15-way adjustable coilover shocks. Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) mate the car's stopping power with that of its go.
Road manners are nothing short of astonishing. Mash on the throttle from a roll and Euro GT3 sport seats seemingly suck you into an Alcantara/leather mold of your backside. This thing is a hot-rod, with enough low-end torque to stop the rotation of the Earth. Tip into a bend and you more 'think it' than turn.
As a road car, the Cayman GTR is a black belt. On the track, it is the gun at a knife fight. Unfairly balanced and superbly powered, this is a car that could send the Cup-car market into ruin were Porsche to build it. That no such plans exist is good news for many, especially those fortunate 20 who will call themselves owners of the car Porsche can't build.