First gen Caymans - what do I need to know?

[Burny16v]

So for a while now I've been toying with the idea of a first gen Cayman to sit alongside my diesel daily, and have done a lot of research on them, read buyer guides etc. but the wisdom of PistonHeads always seems to turn up some useful extra info and first hand experience! The reasoning for first gen is purely budget based, as much as I do like the second gen.

Given the reported issues with certain years/engines and so on, I guess I'm ideally looking to be guided in terms of which engine, spec, model year and so on would be recommended, and the key things to look for in those. Also how well they go on track would be nice, as I would like to do some track days (I suppose one or two upgrades may be in order for that also?).

Thanks in advance!