Thanks for the kind words Kevin!
The GTI has been parted out and is now back to stock. Meanwhile, we (my son and I) have started a new project: a 1995 E36 M3. It is going to be a bit of an anti-991 project:we start from an old very cheap car and are going to rebuild it with affordable upgrades, parts from salvage yards, etc.



The car has 148,000 miles, the engine and transmission are in a good shape, so we start focusing on the suspension and brakes: H&R street performance coilovers, new PU bushings, subframe reinforcement, new stock brakes with better pads, SS lines, etc.
In terms of raw performance, the old M3 is slower than the Stage II GTI, BUT the BMW is a lot more fun to drive. i'll take my 991S for my next track event (next week end with BMW @ Road A), but I'll also take the opportunity to test the M3 for a session or two. Hopefully nothing bad is going to happen when we push the old lady hard

 

Now I'll never catch him! Great idea. The E36 platform is perfect for a nice, affordable street/track car. This will be a fun father and son project. My son has a Golf R with APR stage 2 engine and exhaust that we are in the process of converting to stock. He's thinking of an M3 or S4. We have your S4 build bookmarked Have fun Serge. Kevin

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Almost two weeks with no posts, been too busy driving the car. I am now back on stock headers and PSE and am fine about it. Based on previous experience, I should have remembered that, once the initial fun has passed, more noise multiplied by about 2,000 miles per month eventually becomes too loud...

Anyway, I got myself a set of BBS CH-R's for the track with fresh 888's. They are not the lightest wheels but I like the looks and they are very robust. I kept my red RS center caps since there was no Porsche centercaps with a color matching the BBS 'Titanium'. I may change them though as it looks a bit like the new rims are wearing a clown nose.



I did a bit of video editing after the Road Atlanta DE last week end. I know it is getting a bit old though and I still have to use music to cover the wind noise recorded by the GoPro...


I also took the '95 E36 M3 for the first time to the track and it still needs some work on the suspension and more aggressive brake pads. I took it real easy and was going around the track in about 20s more than with the 991 and about 10 mph slower in the turns. With a little bit of tweaking and more seat time, it will go much faster than that

PS: I chewed about 65% of a new set of Brembo HP2000 pads at the front in just one week end. I'll try Pagid RS19 or 29 the next time, but I have been reluctant to swap pads for the track keeping the same rotors so far.

 

Holy crap there are a lot of cars out on that track. It looks like an LA freeway. Looks damn difficult to get a clear lap.

Great video. I love the different camera angles.

Marc

 

Like your new wheels...

Sent from my iPad using 6SpeedOnline

 

Great looking wheels! What size/offsets did you go with?


What did you think of the R888 on the track? I had them on a 997 and they held up well but always felt a little "soft" in the sidewall which made the car move around a little under breaking/turn in.

 

Thanks Marc. There was a lot of traffic but since we were running with open passing (with point by's of course), it made it quite fun with a lot of off-line action.

I'll keep experimenting different angles with the GoPro but need to find away to stop it from wobbling so much and plug an external microphone close to the engine to get a nice soundtrack.

Thanks David! I had them on my S4 a couple of years ago and was looking forward to get a set for the 991.



Thanks, I will check the offset this week end. I have not run other R-comp tires so it is hard to compare the 888's to another track tire. Compared to street tires (Michelin PSS), I did not notice more sidewall softness. 888's seem to be good value for money and give me a ton more grip than the PSS's, so I have been happy with them so far. Have you tried other tires than 888's that you would recommend?

 

Nice wheels. I was looking at those as well. Are your silver or colored? Couldn't really be sure with the photo. EDIT: I re-read that you said they were Titanium. Never mind!

I'm curious, I need to drive my car to the track events. I'm not sure of the real life tread wear on a tire like the 888. Would it be realistic to drive 300-500 highway miles to an event on the 888's? And do I assume they are not meant for rain?

 

The most I have done on the 888 is 170 miles from Atlanta to Barber. Not really an issue to do a longer trip I think, some people are even running 888 on their daily driver. The rain can be an issue though. 888 in good shape under light rain are fine but I have been caught in heavy rain and had to stop because I was hydroplaning above 55mph.

 

Great feedback. Thanks!

 

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918 Spyder performance for mere mortals

This post has ZERO scientific value. Not something you would find at the Zuffenhausen engineering department, but maybe somewhere in the marketing plans
I have plotted the 'ring lap times of the 991 C2S lineage to see if there was a Porsche Law like there is a Moore's Law (over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years). The data is obviously not accurate: not perfectly comparable models, lap times from Fastestlaps.com, etc. but I thought it was interesting to see how much lap times have improved over time.



Based on this highly technical study, the 991.2 Carrera S should go around the 'ring in about the same time as the 2004 Carrera GT. In order for our ordinary man Porsche to get to the 918 Spyder level, we will have to wait until 2023 which could be the last iteration of the next 99X.. or the new 99Y.1.

In brief, our 911S have improved their lap times by about 3.5s per year and the High performance/limited series P-cars are 10 years ahead of the more standard 911. Of course, each lap time reduction of 1s is more difficult to achieve than the previous one and can only be achieved by the combination of multiple improvements (chassis, engine, transmission..). Not really sure we will ever see a 911s below 7 minutes ...

 

But will Nurburgring be in business by 2033?

ChuckJ

 

I doubt it... It's even a question if the Ring will make it to the end of next year. Local governments are now willing to pay for its upkeep anymore and some green environmental parties are fiercely against the preservation of the track... Same is happening with Spa-Francorchamps. Two of the most beautiful tracks in Europe. Very sad....

 

Good point indeed...



This being said, the government has screwed up badly for years. If there is a real demand (and we are all convinced there is one, I guess), a smart private investor could turn it into a good business where there would still be room for tourists, track events, car manufacturers and races. The government should just face the reality, write off their useless assets and sell the ring for a reasonable amount.
It is not the role of the government to run a track, or any other business for that matter. I am amazed to see so many enthusiasts turning to the local authorities to ask them to save the ring. I've probably already lived too long in the US to remember why my fellow european citizens keep expecting their governments to fix everything... with their own tax money