Shawn Bennett is one of those guys who'll never be happy with the run of the mill. After a month of hunting, he located a perfectly optioned Cayman S at IRA Porsche in Danvers, MA. A few phone calls later the Porsche was on its way to his shop, Image Auto Detailing in Orange, CA. Once delivered, he took the car out for a drive. Bennett immediately knew what he wanted to change.
Heavy ModificationAs soon as the odometer hit a mere 2,000 miles, the car was taken to VF-Engineering for some heavy engine modifications. Some test fitting and mock-ups were done in the car before removing the entire motor. With the engine on a stand, it was time to stiffen the chassis. The Porsche was sent to TC Design to have a custom rollbar installed. Wasting no time upon the return of his stiff but engineless Cayman, Shawn sent it over to the guys at Spectrum Collision Center in Irvine, CA to have the Techart front spoiler, side skirts and mirror covers painted and installed. To guard against rock chips, a Pro-Tect film clear bra was installed by Ultimate Shield. Shawn brought the car back to his shop to install the new Variant 3 coilover system from KW suspensions and a Schnell short shift kit. For the braking system, most guys would go with a bolt-on kit, but not Bennett. He contacted Performance Friction and had them build a real set of race brakes. These four-piston/four-pad monoblock high-temp aluminum alloy calipers with carbon metallic pads and direct drive discs add real stopping power.
Up FrontUnder the hood a lightweight aluminum rack was fabricated to hold three Sony amplifiers. Two XM-D9001GTR amps deliver 900 watts to each subwoofer, while an XM-2002GTR sends 200 watts to each door. The amprack cover was crafted out of fiberglass and painted to match the car. The factory battery was replaced with a Rennlin lightweight battery mount kit including an Odyssey dry cell battery. Power is delivered to the amps via Monster Cable power wire and fuse block. The underside of the hood was finished off with a protective liner from Das Schild. Rennlin sill plates, pedals, strut brace and track mats were also added.
Sharing SpaceIn the hatch, Bennett went with two Sony 10" XS-LD107P5 woofers. To keep weight at a minimum the woofers are housed in 0.65ft3 fiberglass enclosures. A one-piece trim panel was fabricated from fiberglass and dyed to match the factory plastic trim. An inlay with Image Audio Designs logo was made and painted Arctic Silver to match the exterior of the Cayman. The crowning touch in the rear is the 11/42" acrylic engine cover that shows off the custom motor work.
Under The HoodWith the outside looking good, it was time to head back over to VF-Engineering to have the newly built engine installed. VF-E installed their 7 psi forced induction system using a Vortech V2SQ centrifugal supercharger. Bosch High flow injectors were added along with a VF-E twin liquid/air-charged three-gallon coolant system. The VF-E custom aluminum manifold with integrated heat exchangers mated the supercharger to the engine. An AWE Tuning exhaust system was added, while GIAC reprogrammed the ECU for a peak output of 450 hp.