Serge, just saw your thread. Glad you are ok and that the damage was minimal.

 

Yes, I'm very happy. Can't speak to the non-X51 car of course...the GIAC folks had sent me a before/after dyno for a non-X51 that I posted on page 105 of this thread. That seems to indicate similar torque gains; however, was recorded on a car with Akrapovic exhaust though. The GIAC software is supposedly quite adaptive (vs a static injection map), and thus can cash in gains from airfilters, exhausts etc. So not sure how much of their gains were enabled by the exhaust. On my car, just have standard PSE, and it certainly works well...

 

Thanks for the review! It sounds like the software upgrade met or even exceeded your expectations. Did you have the dealer do the work?

 

Yes, I had the dealer do the work ... and paid a significant premium for that. Even though it takes 10 minutes to take out the ECU and send to GIAC (which is all the dealer does - they can't flash locally given encryption), decided to go through the dealer for warranty reasons. I had emailed Porsche Cars North America re: warranty implications, and they just said to ask the dealer. My dealer said it won't affect the factory warranty, so went through them so that I'm covered ...

 

That is great to know about the warranty issue. I'll check with my local dealership as well... this might be worth it. Thanks for the review!

 

Glad to hear you're enjoying the car! Having a bit of seat time in the testers myself, I am happy to see that you experience precisely what I noticed. Since I don't own the car, I am not quite as privy to the power band characteristics. It is quite interesting just how alive these cars become at 4,000 RPM with the GIAC flash installed.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Back to the body shop...

All the wrinkles have been ironed out with the insurance and repairs can start. I dropped by at the bodyshop today and they had started to work on the car:

 

Wow. 9 weeks. How much work is there?

 

Love this journal, I remember reading it at just a fraction of the pages that it's come to today!
Being from Atlanta myself makes it that much better. I bet I will see you for the spring season, I have been doing track weekends at Road Atlanta since I was 16 with Nasa, BMW CCA, Chin, PCA and one ACNA event.

It must be nice to really learn how to wheel in a 991. I'm hoping my exiting of college leads me on a similar path as you as far as car choices .
For peace of mind (my perspective of recent posts), spec E30 race cars and spec Miata's are running 6-8 seconds slower then you, and spec 944's are more than 10 seconds off you with full safety equipment (cage, halo seat, hans device, FIA everything, fire safety). Be careful my friend, you are learning how to play golf with tiger's clubs. Point being most all successful club racers start slow and move up and at your speeds it only takes the blink of an eye to ... you know, ruin more than a nice car.

But don't let my advice come off as negative, based on your videos your looking pretty good, just caught up in some sticky situations mainly because your wheeling a fast car and you come up on people quick and have to make quick decisions.

In relation to this, my buddy who has the Spec E36 record at Road Atlanta wheeled his dads bone stock 991's to a 1:40 lap time. It certainly had several seconds left in it, albeit there was traffic, he got one session and had never taken a rear engine car out on the track before. A ride with an ex pro in a 997 GT3 on Hoosiers, optimized stock suspension and race pads netted us a 1:32 in the car together. What i'm trying to say is, getting faster is great to quantitate but never stop learning every dynamic about racing when you're there, especially from those willing to ride with you who have more experience. Whether they drive old Alfa's or GT3's, ask them to hop in whenever you can! Stay thirsty for this, i've been instructing and doing TT since I was 20 and I still consider myself a total newb!!
At a recent instructor session for BMW CCA this Mustang Cobra R gave me the point, then despite my position inside of him, he decided to floor it. Later he did it again, nothing happened again, but I thought "maybe it was a mistake, he's an instructor right?" and that's not tolerated with BMW CCA (specifically) without a wave off. I decided to pinpoint this car for future run ins and judge the drivers decisions poorly (this was only the second session), and sure enough that day he and another car nearly collided in 3 and one of them went 4 wheels off and barely saved it..

Whenever I go out in the advanced solo (A) or intermediate groups (B) with BMW (instructors are allowed out in these groups) and if it's a full event I call it 'free fall time.' I laughed with my dad in the passenger seat recently and just pointed out the disorder. "Whoa, what's going on buddy" "What's he doing?" "well he can't hold a slide" "What are these guys trying to accomplish here" "YIKES" "He's off!" are just a few remarks I remember laughing/criticizing from just a session or two. And you KNOW there are some guys in those run groups who think their, 'the stuff' if you catch my drift.
But all in all, my point of talking about these things is so you protect yourself out there at ALL COSTS because if you don't, someone is going to get you, regardless of their experience level I see it all the time 'free fall' session or not.

Here's a video form my last weekend trying to ditch this IP car on my lowely commuter tires (I'm the E36 M in front). Hope to see big red out there soon!

P.S - That stinky Cobra at 1:18

 

Nothing big as such, but very detailed work to get rid of the gravel, check and replace any part that would be damaged, touch ups here and there. Basically, anything that has the slightest scuff or scratch will be replaced. The car should be in Zuffenhausen condition after the repair. Still, 9 weeks is way too long !

 

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience and advice. Somehow, learning in the 991 has made things easier since the car is fast (so that you get your speed fix and learn to sharpen your reflex) while still being forgiving (compared to previous 911's). Being only at 1:38 for now, there are a few more seconds to be shaved, but as you mentioned, at the cost of probably much higher risk, whether it would be due to a short moment of distraction, a mechanical/tire failure, another driver or simply lack of experience.
Going fast is fun, but, with no intent of bragging, going through a session giving one or two point by's at best and running into other people's rear bumper all the time makes you miss some of the track interaction and learning opportunities.

I am not sure if I posted it already (no time to read my own journal), but we are working with my son on a 1995 E36 M3 we recently acquired. We fixed the suspension and brakes (and made sure the car was safe) but all the rest is pretty much stock... and 18 years old. I took the car during the Chin 'happy hour' the day before I crashed the 911 and had a TON of fun with it. I gave countless point by's and ran a miserable 1:55, but while going about 20mph slower than the 991 on many occasions, I could feel that I was building more speed and confidence at every lap and was actually learning more than in 'just another faster lap in the Porsche'.

Do not take me wrong, the 991 is a total blast, but I may actually start borrowing my son's car and spend more seat time in the E36 (and having now to live for almost 3 months without the 911 is just another motivation to keep it in a good shape too)

PS: these are pretty quick and nice M3's in your video!

 

I'm glad you don't have any major damage, but yeah, waiting 9 weeks would be brutal... by that time mine will be tucked away with a battery tender and some stabil in the tank.

 

That's at least something we do not have to worry about in the deep south
Winter or not, the car will be on the road as soon as I get it back. Can't be too soon!

 

Repairs have progressed well and the car is almost ready:



Car got new wheels, calipers, windows, headlights, steering wheel... pretty much everything that got the tiniest scuff or scratch got replaced. The car will be completely put together tomorrow and will go to the dealership for changing the fluids, checking all the system settings etc.
My baby should be back next week

Meanwhile, my son and I used his 1995 E36 M3 for a DE with Rezoom at Barber. Was in fact a lot of fun. Much slower than a 991S, at least with me as a driver (1:54 vs 1:42 for my friends who were there with their 991S) and I had to get used to give point by's
Not a bad experience to try to use 100% of the car, with no traction control, ABS or any kind of nannies. Spun once, locked the brakes quite a few times during the first few laps, but once you learn the limits of the car it is really entertaining even if your are not the fastest.

Here's one of my best laps:


The only moment of shame was when my 17 year old son, who was there for his second DE only, lapped the track in less than one second more than me
Time for me to get the 991 back as I'd rather not get humiliated by my own son

 

Hey Serge, hope it comes out better than new! My grey X5 is at Performance right now getting the tailgate repaired. Wife had a little encounter with the garage door with an open tailgate. If you see it next time you're there, tell them to hurry up and to do it right! They sure take their time.

They are very meticulous as you mention. They wanted to repaint the entire rear of the X5 including both quarter panels and the roof because of a couple of nicks caused by the falling glass from the tailgate window. Told them to leave that alone since I figured it would probably lower it's resale/trade-in value.

Good luck!