I'm with ya on this Dr. !!

 

I agree with previous posts. Although I did shut off traction control for a few laps, I really felt that I went slower - mostly because I was more anxious. My best laps were, ironically, in sport mode with the car shifting for me. Sport plus didn't change much for me (keep in mind Lime Rock is a short track and the car spends most of the time in 2-3 gear).

 

Agreed that it is important that you do what you are comfortable doing. But it is my personal experience that it is not wildly different, but you do have to make more frequent small corrections. But it is not like the car becomes impossible to drive all of a sudden.

 

My $.02. I am, ahem, on the upper end of middle age and have been tracking for about 3 years maybe 25 days total. Last year was my 1st with the 991S (PDK) on track. I am a solid intermediate driver and have never had the confidence in a car I tracked as I have with the 991. BUT--
-Brakes: OEM pads lasted 3 PCA DE days last spring and literally crumbled when I had them changed. Brake fade to the point I felt I had to brake earlier as the session wore on. Had to replace with OEM until the aftermarket stuff started to hit the marketplace early last summer. High temp fluid change at least 2X a season and bleed after each track day, Stainless steel lines and am on my 2nd set of track biased pads 1st Pagid (very noisy) and now a yellow pad for which I can't find the invoice and don't recall the brand (the ravages of upper middle age) but just as competent as the Pagids and much quieter. I no longer get fade but the pedal does get softer the 2nd 1/2 of a session. If you are going to continue to track your car I strongly recommend a minimum better pads, high temp brake fluid and the braided lines.
-Safety: I'm not ready to change out the OEM seats yet so harnesses are not a option. At the suggestion of the track chair of the NER region of PCA, I added competition lap belts to supplement the OEM 3 Pts and it is a very cost effective way to keep me in my seat and save my knees, although I learned yesterday to always take the key out of the change pocket of my jeans before snugging up the belt.
PDK: Must fiddle with new toy so I tried the manual shifting but in the end the sports plus mode is amazing and I have learned to apply the brakes in a manner which almost always gets me 2nd gear into and out of corners. I did have a couple instances yesterday at NHMS turn 1 that as I started to bring more speed into this turn I had to manually grab 2nd gear.
Nannies:I do not mess as I have no aspirations to be Mario Andretti (at least not anymore) and although I have a multi-event track policy she/they have helped enough times that I will allow them to do their job. I have yet to find them invasive but I am generally so focus on all the other aspect of driving the car with reasonable competence that I have probably not been paying attention to her/they.

One last observation--in my 3 years tracking I have seen novices spin and go off track but the only drivers I have seen smack up their cars and sometime themselves are the advanced drivers. Yesterday an instructor was taking his student for a few laps in the students car and smacked it up pretty badly, can't imagine how that will play out. Save the testosterone for the boudoire!

If you are in CT I have all my work done a Mussante Motorsports and Chris and the boys are excellent. My next change is figuring out how to keep the pedal from getting softer as they heat up. It doesn't change my braking points and effectiveness but I find it disconcerting. Off topic: Any suggestion for fluid or brake cooling, new rotors etc would be appreciated because I would prefer to avoid the cash layout for complete replacement.

Have a blast and hopefully I will see you at a PCA event.

 

Lnirenberg, it is very sad and disappointing when an instructor crashes a student's car, although this is not the first time I have heard it happen. Like the majority of folks, whenever I drive another person's car, I never get close to the limit. Even when I drive others in my car, I am a bit more prudent then when I am by myself.

I agree that track pads and fluid make a big difference. I am currently using the Pagid's which can be loud (less so when bedded in) and I would be curious as to which pads you are using now that work as well but are quieter on the street.

Glad to see that you are enjoying your new car on the track! IMO, its the only way to really get a sense of its capabilities.

 

lnirenberg, can you please post more info on said "competition lap belts"? what kind and where do they secure to? I have never heard of this. thanks.

 

I agree. I find a new 991 a bit expensive not to have a 'safety net' just in case, especially on faster tracks (while I do not care with the older M3's ). In Sport Plus, the threshold of PSM is raised and you can moderately oversteer, trail brake etc. without seeing the nannies interfere. This being said, even when you turn PSM off, it will turn on automatically if you push it too hard. I do not think there is a way to completely disable it.

 

They use the OEM mounting points shared with the OEM 3 pt belts. the outside mounts with an eye bold and the insides mount with a special bracket which I can't seem to find on line but they are out there. They are kind of L shaped to attach the belt higher than the outside due to space issues and they require the seats to be removed.

Re. brakes: I'm using Pagid RS29 now and they don't squeak near as much as the 1st set of Pagids I used that were not yellow. The latest plan is to change out the front rotors to these:
Girodisc slotted Front 350mm 2-piece Rotor Upgrade for Porsche 991 C4S/C2S
and use titanium shims. We shall see as I have a track day 6/2 and I should have everything in by then.

 

I can't vouch for either of these guys, as I have never used their stuff, but they do offer the lap belt, tunnel side bracket and door side bracket for the 991

http://www.automotion.com/2012+porsc....html?cat=2483

http://www.rennline.com/Seats-and-Ac...products/1034/

 

Glad you're on your way to becoming a "track rat" with the 991. Just a suggestion on your driving...it looks to me from the 2nd video you aren't looking far enough ahead into the turns (when making right turns). Maybe you are and the perspective of the camera just makes it look otherwise.

I recall this tip from early when I started to DE. The instructor (from NASA) told me to look to where the car is going 1/2 second or more ahead for example. You'll go faster than concentrating on what's right in front of you. To my surprise it works...I was faster because I was better at setting up for the turns. And he had a point...you're going so fast that it's pointless to look at what's right in front of you because you can't react fast enough regardless.

 

One of the things you want to be mindful of when using aftermarket seat belts without a rollbar in the car is can you 'slide' out of them in the event you put the car upside down on the roof? If the belts will hold you in tightly to the seat and the car does go upside-down, then unless you get really lucky and the seat back breaks, the entire roof will be supported by the top of your helmet and your neck may get broken - you can die or be crippled for life.

The beauty of the factory 3-point belt on most any brand car is that in event of a roll-over and roof collapse your body will almost always slide out and you will be balled up over the console when they come to extract you. I've witnessed this many times at the track. There are lots of bruises but no serious injuries other than pride in most cases. As an Instructor, I won't wear a harness in a student's car even if they have them installed because of that reason.

You don't want to be held rigid in any seat unless there is something (roll bar or cage) to prevent a roof collapse. Here's two photos of a smacked up BMW M3's. You can see the car with the cage did well, the one that didn't have it - not so good.

Just be careful what you buy and think it through before you lay out your hard-earned cash. Have a safe track day!

 

Very good point. Some people go for a 'harness bar' only which is a very bad choice.

 

I think the Harness bar gig is fine for most autocrosses, where the speeds are less than 45 mph or so. I've seen many a car roll over in an Auto-X and most it usually does is knock the mirrors off and rumple the sheet metal. But on track days when there is that big 90 mph off - that's a different story. When I was heavy into track days, my M3 had a TC Kline Roll Bar and Schroth 6 points and I was going to put a Sparco seat in the car but sold it before that happened.

 

Some people run CG-lock too: http://www.cg-lock.com/index.html. I tried it occasionally (but have a roll bar, and 6-point harnesses in my 991) and it helps, but I am not sure how it fares safety-wise. Should not make 3 points seatbelts more or less safe I guess.

 

I do have the CG locks.. was curious about the competition belts...