Porsche Track Rat Analysis

Which Porsche will give you the best bang for buck on a trackday? The answer is depends on the track, but here is an analysis conducted in Tsukuba Circut in Japan using stock cars. The answer in my opinion is the Cayman S.

Looking at the graph, the Porsche Cayman S, Carrera, and Carrera S stand out in the middle. The Cayman S has the following going for it: 

1. Mid-Engined 

By placing the engine in the middle of the car, engineers balance the front and rear weight and are able to maintain better traction across all four wheels. This makes them incredibly stable mid corner.

2. Lighter 

Force is mass times acceleration. The less mass, the easier it manipulate the car, which includes cornering, stopping, and acceleration. Aside from faster laptimes, there is less stress on vehicle components, all other variables being equal. 

3. Cheaper 

The Cayman S costs 27% less than the Carrera, yet is 1% slower. This leaves a little money on the table. If one could spend around reduce the weight by a conservative 5% to around 1250kg and sharpen up the brakes, gearing, tires, and suspension, it is highly likely that its performance will fall between the Carrera S and the GT3, for a price still under that of a Carrera. 

Here's to the unsung hero of Porsche.

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Source of lap times. 
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