718 Cayman

Make
Porsche
Segment
Coupe

Usually, it's Porsche 911s with LS engine swaps that get all the attention. There's something fascinating about the challenge of mounting a larger and more potent engine in the back of a 911. But don't be fooled as this Bring a Trailer find makes more sense and is just as impressive.

Someone has pulled off an LS swap into a 2006 Porsche Cayman and now put it up for auction. The Cayman with its mid-mounted LS3 V8 is a sophisticated swap that required finesse to engineer. It's also packing 495 horsepower and 473 lb-ft of torque from the LS3-480 crate engine. Just to make the swap a little more worthwhile, the new engine actually weighs 40 pounds less than the 3.4 liter flat-6 that it replaces. The upgrade didn't start and finish there though.

The power is distributed to the rear wheels via a Kennedy Engineered clutch, a six-speed transaxle sourced from a Boxster S due to it's higher gear ratios and an OS Giken limited-slip differential feeding custom-built axles. It's absolutely no hack job, and dropping an 8-cylinder engine into space just about large enough for 6 cylinders is just the start. The LS3 needs extra cooling in the tight space, so a third radiator has been fitted as well as a new stainless steel exhaust system with Flowmaster dBX mufflers.

It appears the job may not quite be finished though. The new owner is going to have to deal with the LS3 ECU firing off a "higher than expected idle" code and the Porsche ECU generating multiple codes as a result of not knowing what the engine actually is.

On the plus side, it's one hell of a swap and looks mean as hell finished in black paint with black carbon-fiber intake scoops while riding on 19" Avant Garde wheels. It also has just 89,000 miles on the chassis and only 1,500 miles on the engine, which probably explains why the final bugs haven't been worked out yet.

Is it really a C8 Corvette killer? Time will tell. However, it does address the issue of the Cayman always being underpowered so it won't impact 911 sales, and a pumped up Cayman as a 911 hunter sounds even more fun.