Pretty proud of myself...
 

So as the title suggests, I'm quite proud of myself.

A couple of weekends ago I participated in the PCA Chicago region RADE (Road America DE). Started in the novice group because I had never driven a rear engined car before, and my car is a bit more of a handful than most.

Got it going in the first session, instructor signed me off before we were done...

Had an okay time the first day (novice day), perhaps my car was a bit too much for most others. Seemed to catch many drivers not looking at their rear view mirrors.

Got booted up one run group the next day (Group 3 of 4). Ran all day there, had similar problems, people not watching their mirrors.

Car was spectacular. I was getting good top end, over 170mph before my brake zone on the front straight (6th gear, 5000-5500rpm). Car was a bit unsettled, perhaps due to the stock shocks/springs being overwhelmed by the bumps on the track. I was spiking rpms over the bumps on the straights, and people could hear it from the hot pit lane.

But the best part of the weekend was, I didn't wear out my rear brake pads! I had heard of people having problems with PSM and prematurely wearing out the pads, but I had no such issues but was very conscious of this. I was clocking in 2.40.xx laptimes in traffic all weekend so I know I had some good speed in the corners, perhaps not going 90%, maybe not even 80%, but since it was my first time driving my car in anger I had no intention of not driving it home. In fact, I just came back from the dealer for the annual service on the car and they remarked that the pads looked great but the fluid was done- so they used up my last liter bottle of SRF which is what I had bled the system with. If all I have to do is bleed SRF and drive the way I did I'm happy as a clam!

Re: Pretty proud of myself...
 

Nick this is pretty impressive; it takes some of us years to move up those groups :o

Competitive karting certainly is a huge help, but the driving styles are significantly different of course. I am sure the car feels like a pig, any car would compared to a kart. How was your driving style different, if actually it was?

I neer been to Road America, how did you like the track? How does 1:40 compare to others? I guess since you have been tailing most, it should compare well :)

Re: Pretty proud of myself...
 

Were you driving a Turbo S? I was driving a 997.1 Silver RS in Group 3 and I remember giving several point-bys on Sunday to a Turbo S that was flying down the front straight that I don't remember running in that group on Saturday. Hope I didn't slow you up too much :-). (UPDATE: I see you have a GT2, Sorry about that. I may still have given you a point by, but there was definitely a Turbo S that I gave several point-bys to).

Road America is a great track, especially for your car. That much power on the front straight must be a blast. For comparison, I'm usually about speedo indicated 154 at the braking point for turn 1, which is redline in 4th gear. I would require another shift to go any faster, and I experimented with short-shifting into 5th, and I get another mph or two, but then I have to go down two gears for turn 1, so I usually just hang out for a second or two at the redline.

Can't give you lap times for me, but they were obviously slower than yours.

RE: Brakes - I turn off my TC (don't have SC) to extend the life of the rear pads. Even so, right now, I burn through rears about twice the rate of fronts. From what I understand, that is most due to lack of cooling, and the .2s have a revised rear cooling duct that can be retrofitted to the .1.

If you enjoy it, you should keep coming out to the track. It's definitely addictive (I know I'm hooked). PCA is going to Autobahn next Monday (13th) and Gingerman at the end of July. I can't make Autobahn, but I'm planning on Gingerman. Hope to see you there.

Re: Pretty proud of myself...
 

Thanks FTS, appreciate the acknowledgement!

I liken the car's handling to a big school bus- it's a lot longer, you have to wait for the chassis to settle down, and the steering ratio is abysmal! Haha... The biggest difference in driving for me is waiting for the chassis to settle, and needing to shuffle steer to keep my hands in a comfortable place on the wheel (30=40 degrees from 3/9 positions) on many of the turns. I would be really happy if Porsche would introduce a rack ratio that had a 1.5 turn lock-to-lock and lower the power assist for better feel, but I think I would probably be the only one using it.

Road America is a blast. I've raced there in the karts too. We can get over 120mph in the single speed laydown TaGs (35hp) on the front straight and into 5 and Canada.

2.40.xx times are probably average for an experienced GT2 driver. I consciously gave up time on 7 of the 14 corners for not only my, but also the people's in front of me, safety. The closing speed I had on most of the cars I passed was so crazy that I was looking at least 1/2 down the straights, or as far as I could see, to set up for the pass out of the next corner. For example, the Carousel alone was probably worth about a 4 second differential, but I was also between gears- going into it in 4th, and the few times I accelerated through I was redlining before 2/3 way through. And I'll be damned if I'm going to try shifting in the Carousel my first time out in that car!

Now the problem for me is, I have a lot of straight line speed, but only average to below average cornering speed compared to the racecars, so going into the race group isn't really an option- I would be holding them up in the corners. After all, we are talking about a full weight street car with more factory options than you can shake a stick at vs. a stripped out cornering machine. So I think I'll probably end up in the Group 2, probably still far quicker than many but not causing any corner issues with others.

Re: Pretty proud of myself...
 

I was only there Friday and Saturday. There were a couple of real bad violators of the mirror/point by policy- on Friday it was a silver Turbo S with a younger guy driving Daddy's car in S-2 (3!!! lap holdup until checkered!!!), and on Saturday I had a couple of problems with a silver Targa, a silver Boxster, a red Boxster, and a blue GT3. The Targa ran off the track a least twice trying to stay ahead of me on one occasion, and the silver Boxster had several big tankslappers out of T13 before T14 after he wouldn't give the point by for 1/2 lap.

To give you an idea of the difference- third into T14, 4th before the hill, 5th at the Bucyrus bridge, and 6th at or after the start/finish line, brake zone beginning 500 ft before the first brake marker (so 1000 ft brake zone for me) because T1 comes up QUICK at 170mph. Skip shift to 3rd for T2, 4th on track out, back to 3rd for T3, and getting into 5th redline/6th midrange into T5 depending on traffic.

Not necessarily. Besides I am more interested in the breakdown of time of the laps- the Carousel specifically. I bet you, in your 3RS, are far quicker than me through there.

As for the brakes- I have all the new 3RS/2RS brake ducts on my car. I did not turn of SC or TC, only engaged Sport mode for the shocks.

I talked to Ruther about Autobahn on Monday, I may show up (he said don't worry, they would find space if I went). I have about 10,000 laps at GingerMan's old configuration but 0 with the new back straight so that may be an option, although G-Man is quite tight for this car. I actually want to go to Road Atlanta and Mid Ohio with this car, but that's not going to happen until I buy, and find a place to store, a trailer in downtown Chicago (not likely :( ).

Re: Pretty proud of myself...
 

Nick, I am sure Bman would love to compare notes with you :)

Re: Pretty proud of myself...
 

Quick note-

Here's a 20 minute vid of me at Road America. Sorry for the bad lighting, my fault, didn't configure the camera right- put it on center weighted metering instead of spot metering.

http://gallery.me.com/nickwong1#100045

Feel free to critique. You will be able to tell which corners I'm actively giving up for safety (for me or the people in front) but you'll also be able to see how much speed many drivers scrub off before a turn, over slowing their cars.

I didn't even bother adjusting tire temps- they rose from the doorjamb recommended cold 29/34 psi to well over an indicated hot 38/46 psi from the beginning of the sessions to the end. Michelin specs call for a 32/26 psi hot pressure, I'll worry about that when I'm getting closer to the edge.