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What Should I Know About Driving Cayman S On The Track

13K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  Craig911 
#1 ·
I searched around for a prior thread that may have answered my question but I did not find one. I apologize if I missed a thread regarding my question.
I recently bought an 09 Cayman S to use for track days and street.
I'm an instructor and do about 35-40 track days per year. My primary track car is a Z06 Vette which is a street legal track car. I no longer trailer, I drive the Vette to the track. My plan for the Cayman is to leave it stock except for tires and brake pads. I have no plans for race seats, harnesses, roll bars, cages etc. I just want to keep the car as comfortable as possible. I never time myself so I'm not looking to eek out every 10th of a second. Out there just to have fun.

I've not yet adjusted to no 3rd pedal, no shifting. It still seems weird to me.
I bought the car in Fl and drove it home 15 hrs straight in pouring rains the entire 15 hrs. The conditions did not allow me to really test the Sport Mode + and PDK to it's fullest.
On the streets we all know it's nearly impossible to duplicate track conditions and keep your license.

My question is, what do I need to know about driving a PDK on the track?
Do I basically just sit back and and let the car do all the work?
I've got a Tiptronic Boxster and never really liked driving it with the Tiptronic. I've played around with the Cayman in the Tiptronic mode and don't like it either.
What do I need to be aware of driving a PDK Cayman S on the track?

In the end if the Cayman turns out to not be a fun track car it's still a fun street car & I've still got my track Vette and I also have my old faithful back up car, a Spec Miata. That one is trailered to the track.
Thanks
 
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#2 ·
I have a 2010 Cayman with PDK and Sport Chrono. This tranny is made for the track. In fact I am easily faster in my Base than most people with S models and manual. Definitely use Sport+ on the track.
You'll appreciate the quick (but abrupt) and near red-line gear-shifts. A thing to keep in mind is that PDK gets hot under extreme conditions of track driving. Third radiator is a must. I think there is also a separate PDK cooling solution on the market, but I can't recall who makes it. Also, get the PDK fluids replaced regularly, you want to avoid any damage as repairing PDK is not something you want to go through!
 
#4 ·
I've tracked my Boxster a couple of times and have not had any overheating problems. We always do a slow lap after a session to help cool the car (and brakes) a bit.

My instructor said it doesn't make much difference driving in sport or sport+. I've tried both and agree.
 
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#6 ·
We always do a slow lap after a session to help cool the car (and brakes) a bit.
+1
Some tracks don't want you to do cool down laps, they want you off as fast as possible so they can get the next group out. In those cases, drive around the paddock lanes for a few min (the ones leading to the paddock). Driving in the paddock area can be dangerous as cars can be backing out of their spots and can't see well with helmets on. It only takes a few min to cool off your brakes.
 
#5 ·
See Randy Pobst drive the 2009 Porsche Cayman S at Laguna Seca Raceway. Youtube video MotorTrend 2009 Car of the Year. Just leave it in auto mode/ sport chrono mode and let the PDK pick the perfect gear every time. You will want to keep track of temperatures and never overheat the PDK transmission. You can add an additional cooling radiator and TPC in Florida makes a very good package. Obviously change all your fluids on time with that many track days and use the best synthetic products you can find.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Welcome! A Cay S PDK is pretty fun on the track. I have a 2009 PDK and after 3 years of ownership and 60 track days with it, I am getting pretty comfortable with the car. There is more than one way to drive this car on the track so you will want to experiment a bit and see which way you like. A few options:

Sport+, Auto, PSM off- Far too manic for me and the car is always banging the rev limit.

Sport+, Manual shift, PSM on- I use this sometimes on tight tracks and it works pretty well.

Sport, Auto, PSM on, choose your downshift points with the paddles- This was recommended by a couple of Porsche factory Grand Am drivers and is the setting I use most often. Smooth, predictable, and I can put the car where I want it.

FWIW I ran a few events on stock suspension and found I was destroying the tire shoulders badly (as expected) and overdriving the stock suspension. I promptly added GT3 adjustable A-Arms and lowering springs to get more camber and use all of the tire patch, and the car is much better now. I also kept the stock interior. It is a fun car that you can drive fast with confidence.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I track a 2010 Boxster S PDK, some HPDE but mostly autocross and competitive standing-start time trials on local tracks. I've found the fastest settings for track competition are Sport+, PSM left on, and PDK in D. But this is not necessarily intuitive so I want to give some explanation:

When Walter Rohrl tested PDK on a 911TT on the 'ring, his times were indistinguishible between using the paddles and PDK left in D. If Walter Rohrl can't beat the computer, what chance do us mortals have? Note: you can still manually use the paddles while in D, so if there are some corners where PDK isn't selecting the gear you want (happens in some decreasing radius corners), you can leave it alone the rest of the track but force the downshift for that corner.

Additionally, the PSM engagement windows while in Sport+ are opened so wide open that PSM just does not interfere. As I recall, you can kick the rear around during trailbraking up to about 30 degrees off the axis rotation before it interferes; you can go full drift under throttle in Sport+ even with PSM left on if you want. Turning PSM off disables some of the enhancements like dynamic brake bias adjustment so you really do want to leave it on. (Only cars without sport chrono have to turn PSM off for track.) The other added benefit is that if you really do lose control, PSM will kick in to help save your car.
 
#10 ·
I have a 2014 Cayman S with PDK. I race a spec Boxster, but I track the Cayman frequently. Agreed - PDK makes me a better driver, so I let it do most of the work, using the paddles when necessary (mostly Sport+, sometimes sport) but another good thing to master is the kickdown button. Don't know if your car has it, but it's convenient if you use it properly and a significant pain if it sneaks up on you. The other thing is you can't add much camber, so the front end pushes a lot..... which brings me to nannies. You can leave it on and still hang the rear end out a good 45 degrees. If you turn the nannies off, you can play around a little more (enough to get into trouble if you're careless). But even with nannies off - you can't slide both ends! So you're in a turn with a good little drift happening and the front starts to push (which it wants to do in stock config) the nannies decide on their own to save your *** (i.e. turn back on)... even if you have your *** in complete control! Now - you've been warned... go have a blast!!!
 
#11 · (Edited)
Thank you to everyone for your help. I apologize for taking so long to respond.
I appreciate the no non-sense non-convoluted responses.
To update everyone as to what's happening with the car.
My 1st track date will be at NJMP with CHIN towards end of March.
I recently dropped the car at my buddies shop. He spent years as Porsche Racing Crew Chief in addition to racing Indy Cars and sports cars.
He did a heck of a job improving the suspension set up on my Z06 and he's not a Vette guy. But the changes he made were very evident on my next track outing at the Glen.

Back to the CS. Normally I do all my own routine stuff, the simple stuff, fluids, brakes etc.
But since this car is new to me and I don't have a complete service history I want to start with a fresh baseline.
He's going over the car completely checking for any potential minor & serious issues.
In addition to that I'm having him replace every fluid in the car.
Currently car has Pagid Orange pads with some life in them, and rotors are shot.
Replacing pads with Hawk DTC 60 (will see street & track use). I've been a Hawk guy since 2003 going back to my Nissan Z's, Miata's, Vette's & Boxster. So will start out with Hawks and new slotted rotors. Rotors are generic, I did not care what kind I got as long as not cross drilled. I left it to him to get rotors. The serpentine belt will be removed and inspected as well as the pulleys. I was for replacing the belt and pulley's, he suggested not so fast--let me remove the belt and take a look at it before you decide to replace it. Was going to replace the stock lug bolts with studs but I've come up with an extra set of wheels/tires. Avante Garde Ruger Mesh wheels that have Michelin Sport Cups on them with some life left in those. Plan is to use them as track wheels/tires. The holes on those wheels are too small for the stock lug bolts and it's a pain in the butt locating the correct size lug nuts to fit into those wheels. I was able to find the correct lug bolts for these Avante Garde wheels that are designed to fit the Cayman lug bolt specs, so no studs, at least for now. The suspension set up is to be determined. Since the car will be seeing lots of street driving the suspension will lean more towards the street then the track. Again, I'll leave that to the expert. I want to leave this car as street friendly as possible. Even though I do about 35-40 track days per season my primary track car is still the Vette. And even if I did all those days in the Cayman that still leaves over 300 days of street driving and I really want to enjoy this car on the streets as well as the track. If any compromises have to be made they'll be made in favor of the street.

I'm very lucky to have a few toys. In addition to the Cayman S and my Z06 and my Spec Miata I've got a Boxster, a Vette convertible, another Miata, a Caddy CTS, a tow vehicle, a smaller SUV and a mini van. Gotta have the mini van. I try and drive a different car each and every day so none of them get stale. I enjoy driving each and everyone of these including the mini van. I have no garage queens except for the Spec Miata which although now street legal because it's over 25 yrs old and no longer needs to pass any state inspections is a bitch to drive on the street.

I'm anxious to get the Cayman out of the shop and back on the road and onto it's 1st track day in March.
 
#13 ·
Interesting question...i have a 16 gts pdk, went from a 993 97 6speed, pdk is the greatest invention since sliced bread. however i have found i use Sport + but feel the upshifts are a little harsh and in some cases can upset the car and use the paddles to upshift myself 2 or 3 hundred rpm from redline. i also enjoy downshifting with the paddles going into tight turns........since mine is a 981 gts i already have 3 radiators and have not seen pdk over heating but i am also in the midwest and not florida.

finally, i added the gt3 front sway bar ( same one used on the GT 4) and a Tarret rear sway bar...total cost not much but great improvement in the track handling and noticed no difference on the street

i use pfc brakes and have replaced my front rotors one time since new .......friend made a slotted fronts for me for a very reasonable price.

In my view the weak link of the Cayman's are the front brakes. Only having 4 pistons versus the 6 pistons of a gt4 makes a huge difference. However the car is a blast but can be a challenge bringing speed down from 130 + to 65 or 70 for a turn. Also the car pushes some and adjusting the sway bar can help with that

enjoy your car !!!
 
#14 ·
Dennis
Thanks for the sway bar tips.
I will be keeping an eye on temps.
Have not heard much about temps being an issue in the NE, but it's obviously something to be aware of.
I'm very curious to see how the PDK in Sport + will perform on the track.
Thanks
 
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