Let's hear a little bit about the driver - What's your name and where are you from?
My name is Will Schaninger. I am from an area 45 minutes north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania called the Lehigh Valley. 
What got you into modifying cars and what kept you in it?
6 years ago I bought a piece of shit 2008 Subaru Impreza Hatchback from a shady buy here/pay here lot in Philly for $5k. In my blissful ignorance, I loved it. It was a mom-mobile base trim, BUT it had a 5MT. I then proceeded to drive it like I stole it, rear drum brakes and all. No shocker, within a month of buying it my motor blew (typical subaru stuff). I ended up having a used WRX sourced short block put in (still no turbo), and instantly thought I was Colin McRae. I did all of the ebay special mods: A useless CAI, Catback, Coilovers etc. I was that subaru guy during that period of time. Hell, I even worked at Best Buy for two years and owned a Box Mod, that is how cliche we’re talking here.
Fast forward to the summer before I went to College ( 3 years ago), and the Subaru was struggling. Expensive parts kept breaking, and I had no inclination to keep dumping money into a car that wasn’t worth the wheels I put on it.
I found myself a week later in the Volkswagen showroom signing the papers on a Deep Black Pearl 2018 GTI S 6MT. I promised myself I wouldn’t modify it, but we all say that don’t we. Within a month it had suspension, wheels and exhaust done. Around the same time, my dad re-purchased a certain 2008 Cayman S Sport that he actually specced from the factory in 2008, but sold 5 months after initially purchasing.
My Dad decided he wanted homage to the homologation specials of the 1980s, and I was going to be the one to get it done for him. I outsourced the Bodywork and paint to Fast of Westchester, and went ahead installing a bespoke Fabspeed Maxflow exhaust system and some other hard goods to the car. As I crouched in the wheel well trying to hammer out the 10 year old mild steel exhaust flange bolts, I began to cross-reference my experience with other Porsche owners on the forums, and my eyes truly opened up to how large the VAG culture really is.
That year I worked for Audi, and my passion for the brand only grew larger. The car ended up turning out incredible, albeit 9 months behind schedule.The following summer I went to Waterfest with the GTI and met the other Will who created Rubadub and the scale of the world of VAG enthusiasts became a tangible thing for me.
Fast forward again to around a year ago, my dad told me he had ordered the C8 Corvette, and needed to free up some space in the garage. I was given the opportunity to take ownership of the car and I jumped all over it. I still don’t regard the Cayman as mine. I don’t think it ever will be. It means so much more to me as the car I helped put together for my dad than it does as my vehicle. The car is, and always will be, dedicated to him. 
Ok ok ok... Tell us about your ride, what is it?
It is a 6MT 2008 Porsche Cayman S Sport (Chassis #606/700) in Guards Red. Not many people, even the most diehard of enthusiasts, are familiar with what the Cayman S Sport was. Basically, the Cayman S Sport was an end of production special, a proverbial GT4 before the GT4 was a thing. The release of the 987.1 Cayman S Sport was during the same timeframe of the 997.1 GT3. So, as the lightweight juiced variant of the Cayman, it got Suspension,headers and livery sourced from the GT3. Porsche installed a larger displacement 303 HP 3.4L Flat-6 as well. Comparably, Porsche did this again with the 987.2 Generation of the Cayman, but called it the Cayman R.
A lovely guy named Dieder runs an owners group based out of Germany, and made a spreadsheet documenting where each chassis ended up. As of right now there are around 100 CSSs in North America, around 7 of them are known to be Guards Red. 
Exterior Mods?
- Pandem V1 Widebody ( black anodized hardware, no swan neck wing)
- Bilstein B16 PSS9 Coilovers
- BC Forged LE52 (19x10.5 F; 19x13 R), (Matte Faces Gloss Barrel, Black Hardware, color matched center caps)
- Hawk Pads
- Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Tires
Interior Mods?
No Modifications but the car was specced with the sport chrono package, Guards Red seat belts along with full alcantara trim. 
Anything special under the hood?
I’ve explored a myriad of options, but there isn’t much you can do to a Cayman S Sport that the factory hasn’t touched. IMS bearings can be problematic, and they (at least in the stroked form) don’t handle boost very well. So at the moment all this has is the Fabspeed exhaust system.
What are some things you've done to your car that others might not notice?
The Car has seen two different sets of coilovers. The first was a set of Silvers Neomax, which was bought to have the car driving because Bilstein kept pushing back the production date for their coilover for the Cayman. 
Anything else you'd like to add?
The Subaru continued to live on after I bought the GTI. I ended up selling it dirt cheap to my ex-girlfriend's father, who fixed the issues and continues to drive it like it was stolen.
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