Car is ready for the track. New tires ( Michelin SS), alignment, brake flush.

Had an extra day left on my insurance policy before it expired so I signed up for an additional DE with hooked on driving for Friday

While carrera was in shop I got a APR stage 1 tune for the gti. It's a little pocket rocket.

First time with race seats and harnesses will be this week. Anxious to see what kind of different they make.

 

Wallet took a beating today!

 

Hope it will be good weather. Nothing like a WOT with the windows down.

 

aint that the truth

 

Thanks...it's looking good in the reports right now....

 

Race seats and a full 5 or 6 point harness is one of the best improvements you can make for track driving. Pull your belts tight, and you will be part of the car and have greater control. You won't believe how much effort you have been using to hold yourself in position with a 3 point seat belt system.

A few tips,

1. Held tightly to the seat back, you will need to move the seat a bit closer to the wheel than before in order to grip the wheel with you elbows bent. Move the seat forward when the belts are fairly snug. This repositioning will further snug the belts. In the final position, you should be able to reach forward and just drape your wrists at the top of the wheel.

2. Be sure to have the key in the ignition and the door half open or less when you adjust as above. Otherwise you will likely find that you cannot reach a full opened door to close it. It's a bit embarrassing to ask a passerby to close the door for your. This does not apply if you have a pit crew to assist.

Have fun!

 

thanks last911...terrific advice

 

BW,
I'll be very interested in your impressions of the SS's on the track. We're you running PS2's previously? What kind of alignment did you get dialed in? Have a great time and watch out for that Boxster!

 

Schattenbaum PCA is on the Thunderbolt next Friday (4/20) as well. Only $150. May be close to filled though now.

Have fun!

 

thanks....I'm confirmed for that one already.

 

SB,

I did 2011 mostly on SS's switching from PS2's after about a quarter of the way into the season.

I think the SS's have overall better grip and wear than the PS2's. And they cost less.

IMHO you need to watch tire pressures more closely with the SS's than with the PS2's. If the tire pressure are off on the SS's the handling changes dramatically.

I went thru the rear SS's tires after 10 days..with the outsides cording.

If I am reading the alignment sheet correctly..(I picked the car after hours and did not speak to anyone yet) they got very aggressive.

It looks like -2.5/-2.3 front/rear. I need to confirm this.

hope this helps.

 

I ran my GTS (with PSS tires) at a rear setting of -2.0 degrees for a while. I didn't have any track events for a number of months and corded my rear tires in about 5K miles of street driving. Alignment is a funny thing - more neg. camber makes the tires last longer on the track, but kills them much faster on the street.

It's alway a tradeoff...

DMoore
'11 GTS
'10 Panamera 4S

 

Alignment, imho, is sort of the voodoo of car setup. All the tuners have their "secret" sauce and usually are rather tight lipped about it. That said, I find your comments on the SS's interesting. I suppose the harder compound on the SS's vs. PS2's could account for their pressure sensitivity. Your camber appears well-balanced front to rear but as you point out is quite aggressive - perhaps even very aggressive for a street setup unless replacing tires frequently is not a big deal. It should help with the outside cording issue on the track, all other things being equal but will put a lot of strain on the insides on the street. You couldn't hit those specs without the LCA's. What did they do on the toe settings? I don't know much about toe settings although I'm coming to believe this is where alignments really get fine tuned and tweaked. It will be interesting to see how fast you go though this set of tires with the new alignment. Best,

 

-2.3 on the front is IMO very aggressive. Bodymotion set mine at around -1.6 or -1.7 in front on a street/track request I made.

Couple weeks ago I did a 2 day event at NJMP with a new set of SS. Back to back 25 minute sessions at a time (my brother was also driving my car). The tires looked very good afterwards with no signs of cording. Also they didn't get anywhere near too greasy after these extended runs. Weather was only in low 60s though.

I plan to rotate lefts and rights every event this season. Seems to me like cheap, easy way to extend the tires life, at least on the outsides. (Last year, pre track/street alignment, at Monticello open track day I corded a set of SS on the left side only -- right side looked fine).

I've also been working on trail braking every turn and I can feel the car understeer less and thus less strain on the tires. I think driving style is a big factor that gets overlooked in discussion on specs, equipment, etc.

Separately, I have to say the Pagids are a huge huge upgrade if you are spending significant time at the track. The braking power and consistency really added to my enjoyment and sense of security. Can be loud on the street (much less so after a good torching at the track) but very easy to swap in and out on a 997.1. Probably saves money too when all is said and done. I didn't believe how easy the swap was until a kind forum member showed me in person but seriously, we're talking a couple minutes a caliper with the wheel off.

Mike -- hope to see you at Metro NJMP in a couple weeks. All the best in the meanwhile and enjoy the new harnesses and seats -- I'm very jealous!

 

Absolutely true....however the carrera will mostly be used driving to and from the track and on the track. The other two cars are the DD 's. With the gti becoming a real favorite on the street. Especially after the tune.