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Posted by: Jake Raby Mar 23 2012, 06:47 PM

It may be water-cooled and modern, but I figured you guys would get a kick out of seeing what Blake and I have been working on along with Charles from LN Engineering since October of last year... Its still mid-engine, so don't bust my balls too bad :-)

We started with Charles' wife's track car, a 2010 Cayman S with a stock 3.4L 9A1 DFI engine. We stripped it out, carefully disassembled it and put it all back together again as a 4.2 liter beast... Its seen both bore and stroke increases and this engine currently displaces more volume than anything from the Porsche factory! So what if they have a 4.0?? Hell, we have a 4.2!

We finally got it fired up yesterday and got it on the road and dyno today.. It keeps lighting the tires up on the rollers (needs more tire) and the PDK tranny has some issues with holding the power, but we should be able to solve that with some ECU flashes. Today it made 320 at the wheels with the tires lighting up and it still has the stock exhaust and stock ECU flash..

We completed this project with only one Porsche special tool set and no manual, because the manual doesn't exist.. All performance components were designed and built by LN Engineering or RED.

I think we are on the leading edge :-) Here are some pictures of the internals.
:Note the cylinders, pistons and rods in this engine are from the same materials we use in our Type 4/ 914 builds :-)

104mm big bore Nickies 9A1 DFI crankcase half.



Stroker crank and billet connecting rods..



DFI piston, what a bitch these were to design, to include the hard anodized top ring land..




ECU controlled multi-stage lube pump..


Inside the sump its a little different than a 914!


Blake and I torquing the camshafts after setting valve timing.. What a bitch!


Complete 4.2 liter DFI longblock


Here is the complete beast ready for install back into Cayman X...


Rumor has it there might be a challenge between Cayman X and a Cayman R at sometime in the future and a review of the two might just end up being put into print :-)

And now here is the video... It is disgusting, even with the PSM it still roasts the tires and gets sideways in the first 3 gears.. Not too bad for the first generation of development for the 9A1 engine. Blake did one hell of a job assembling this one and overcoming the challenges..

http://youtu.be/62i7wYcHAYg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62i7wYcHAYg

Posted by: rick 918-S Mar 23 2012, 07:26 PM

Very Nice Jake!

Posted by: Travis Neff Mar 23 2012, 07:42 PM

Sweet!

Posted by: ezbngreen914 Mar 23 2012, 08:01 PM

I got to drive the Cayman Rs at the PSDS last month. Liked them more than the Carrera. Can't imagine what a 4.2 would be like sorted out. I just moved back to White Co. so hoping to see the 456 on the road soon and maybe even some of its more aquatic brethren.

Posted by: Woody Mar 23 2012, 08:13 PM

Wow Jake, I am impressed. As a dealership master tech, the only 9A1 engines I have been in to has been in class. So far for us they have been very reliable. I am very interested in how this turns out since Porsche has gotten rid of the known failure points. What numbers are you shooting for once you get a good tune? Once you get these figured out, do you plan to do customer builds?

Posted by: Jake Raby Mar 23 2012, 08:16 PM

Wow, we actually have another Porsche owner in this county? You'll have to set up a time to come see us..

We have lots to sort out with it, because the engine has upset the rest of the car mostly due to the PDK. Big brakes, new seats and new exhaust are all on the list before the review is done.. Looks like the review will happen on Blood Mountain...

We won't be selling this until 2014 or so, had to get a huge jump on everyone, even te factory! Can't wait to put this ad in Excellence!

Posted by: bam914 Mar 23 2012, 08:36 PM

This was one of the most nerve racking engines I have built to date. I appreciate the trust Jake and Charles have in letting me put this engine together. To say I was excited to hear it start and run is an understatement. It is a monster.

Posted by: Jake Raby Mar 23 2012, 08:52 PM

You earned the trust that we extended to you.. Not assembling this one myself has KILLED ME and its the first "new" thing that we have done here that I haven't built first.. You did a better job than I could have with so much Suby development going on. I had to make a decision as to which was the most important for me to do and for you to do... I chose Suby and you got the DFI.... I made the right decision as you KICKED ASS. I got my part of this one on the "combo" side of its design:-)
Like everything it was a team effort, no way could have just one of us pulled this off.

Guys, employees like Blake don't really exist; people that you can trust to do a job better than you could yourself..

Posted by: aircooledtechguy Mar 23 2012, 08:56 PM

Motor porn at it's best!!

Posted by: RobW Mar 24 2012, 07:54 AM

Good to know where my money is going 10 years from now.

Posted by: Dr Evil Mar 24 2012, 08:10 AM

This pleases me

Posted by: wingnut86 Mar 24 2012, 01:05 PM

Damn, I need another cold shower now. Thanks Jake!

Posted by: HAM Inc Mar 24 2012, 02:17 PM

Damn! 12 seconds of tire shredding!
I'm not surprised though. Taking an engine that is already a bad-ass and pumping it up 800cc's...

After flowing the heads and spending lots of time with them I can say that they have lots of potential... and need further development. And they have some issues that I would not be surprised to find addressed by Porsche in future models.

I can't go into many details here, but after years of working with (and falling in love with) M96/97 heads and seeing the evolution of the port designs from the 2.5 through the X51 I was a bit surprised by the design Porsche settled on for the intake ports of this version of the 3.4 9A1.

They clearly applied lessons learned from the M96/97 ex port evolution as it is quite spectacular, but for some reason they did not apply them to the intake side. I'm certain that the DFI has something to do with it. And I have a hunch that these ports are sort of "blanks" ready for future development. Only time will tell.

The 9A1 castings are the most exquisite I have ever seen in a cylinder head. They are absolutely breath-taking. I had been putting off buying an industrial ultrasonic parts washer, (knowing full well that one was in my future) but when these heads landed in my shop in Nov. I knew it was time. There is no way these heads should ever find there way into a media blaster. For carbon removal on these heads there is only one viable option. I'm glad I spent the money, because if these heads are any indication there will be a lot of carbon to remove from DFI 9A1 heads in the future!

Beautiful castings, bad-ass engine, but there is work to be done. I'm tickled pink to be part of the "Solution", and expect big things from this platform in the future. I applaud Charles and Jake for having the intestinal fortitude to tackle this obviously pricey piece so early in its life. Gotta love their spirit.

Posted by: Rleog Mar 24 2012, 02:46 PM

It's early, but this is the stuff that legends can be built upon.

Congratulations

Posted by: Randal Mar 24 2012, 03:08 PM

Congratulations to the team Jake. Nice going.

Now one of those engines in a light weight Boxster would make a great hill climb car.

And autox as well, depending upon where it'd get stuck in SCCA classifications.

Posted by: Jake Raby Mar 24 2012, 06:10 PM

We have a plan... :-)

Anyway, forget retrofitting this engine in anything! The electronic subsystems are insane..

Posted by: Dr Evil Mar 25 2012, 08:15 AM

Do you think they left power on the table because, like the 914, they didnt want the Cayman to compete with the 911?

I was watching some old Top Gear when the Cayman was first assessed and they showed how perfectly price, displacement, and power increased incrementally from Boxter to Cayman to 911. Surely by design.

Posted by: Jake Raby Mar 25 2012, 08:59 PM

They left more on the table so the engine can evolve for a decade or so, making a tad more power every year.. Also, the Cayman has some self-imposed handicaps that reduce it's output over the flagship model. They are not dumb and they know that the more cars that can use the same components the easier it is to order huge quantities of one part and use it in 3-4 different vehicles all the same. This reduces costs and complexity and increases profit. Thats important when the accounting department is in charge of engineering :-0

They did this with the M96/M97 and now again with the 9A1, hell the 9A1 uses the early Boxster/ 996 connecting rod specifications and we used LN billet rods for an early Boxster in Cayman X's engine.

This Cayman engine has some deficiencies that were imposed by the factory, to include the intake runner and plenum diameters. We made insane power even with these compromises but the next application of this engine won't be compromised by this.

Posted by: Richard Casto Mar 26 2012, 02:54 PM

Very nice!

Posted by: stuttgart46 Mar 26 2012, 03:51 PM

Looks great Jake.
I just saw your ad in this months Excellence. It looks great as well. Keep it up.

Posted by: Jake Raby Mar 28 2012, 12:34 PM

Cayman X got some new binders today.. This should stop it fairly well.
Looks like the tranny is toasted, our engine has done it's job well.. Killing gearboxes is the best way to pat yourself on the back.

Posted by: dflesburg Mar 28 2012, 01:26 PM

toss that gearbox on a shelf with a handwritten label that says "sacrifices to the God of Speed..." Won't those brakes make you go slower?

Posted by: Series9 Mar 28 2012, 02:51 PM

Super cool.


The internals of the 9A1 look a lot more like a Porsche engine than the M96.

Posted by: Jake Raby Mar 28 2012, 05:17 PM

Ummn, I have plenty of broken trophies on our wall of fame..





BTW- Series 9, The engine is somewhat similar to a Porsche design, but its way out in left field in so many ways..

Posted by: wingnut86 Mar 30 2012, 09:11 AM

Geez Jake, aren't those brakes similar to what the Airbus uses to stop with