After a great deal of research, the car's owner decided that the 997S X51 engine swap was most fitting for his goal of a turning a stock Cayman S into the ultimate street-worthy track car. He also wants to keep it serviceable at the dealer by including as many original factory parts as possible. And we'll require a great deal of technical of help. Fortunately, Norden Autohaus of Edmonton has an internal tuning arm, Norden Performance, with many key corporate alliances within the Porsche tuning aftermarket. More importantly, Norden Performance has full access to all in-house Porsche technicians. These talented guys will be doing the bulk of the work.
The series will progress thusly. Part two will include all aspects of the Porsche-to-Porsche engine swap. Part three will discuss preparation for the track and initial testing. And part four will be the full feature-length final test, when we put our "science project" up against the legend in an on-track shoot-out. I promise you won't want to miss it.
| Project Z4 M Lap Time Progression |
| Article | Upgrade | Average | Delta | Fastest | Delta |
| (progressive) | Lap Time | Avg. Time | Lap Time | Fast Time |
| Part 1 | Stock | 100.8 | | 99.80 | |
| Part 2 | Add strut brace | 98.00 | 2.80 | 96.70 | 3.10 |
| Part 2 | Wheel/tire upgrade | 95.10 | 2.90 | 93.90 | 2.80 |
| (+13 whp) | | | | |
| Part 3 | Four-wheel brake upgrade | 93.10 | 2.00 | 92.75 | 1.10 |
| Part 4 | Suspension upgrade | 91.10 | 2.00 | 90.75 | 2.05 |
| Part 5 | Engine performance | 90.20 | 0.90 | 89.55 | 1.20 |
| (+29 whp) | | | | |
| Part 6 | R-compound tires | 89.30 | 0.90 | 88.05 | 1.50 |