iotapi322

Just finished my first track day at Atlanta Motorsports Park. It was a mixed bag, I had a lot of fun driving the car, it handles amazing. Pulling into the pits I noticed that the battery light / generator light came on.
Looking at the voltmeter it was clear I was running on the battery and not the alternator. Oh well I only got to take the car out for one session. Driving home the volts would occasionally jump back up to 13.8v, another indication that the battery was fine and that the alternator was going bad.

I suspect running the car in the high rpm range between 3rd and 4th gear made the weak alternator give up the ghost. Not a big deal

The rest of the day I took rides in my instructors C5 Z06 and another instructors e36 BMW M3. Both had full roll cages.

I will say my instructor said learning on the 911 turbo will be difficult because of the turbo lag and the rear weight bias.
That being said I felt the car was really well balanced even with feathering the throttle in the sweeper turns. I actually only kicked in the traction control system once, I drove into a turn way too fast. Instead of slow in and fast out.

DaveCarrera4

How much seat time does your instructor have in a 996TT? Turbo lag is not like the old turbo era, which he may have some knowledge of. Rear weight bias is a bonus when getting weight down onto the back tires for acceleration traction. The AWD aspect removes almost all of the oversteer problem from pre 993 turbos. All the above JMHO. The good news is you had fun! When my alternator blew on my '03 C4S the dash lit up like a space shuttle fault tree. Good luck on the replacement of the alternator.

Carlo_Carrera

I am with Dave as far as tracking a Turbo goes. They are great if you drive them in a way that plays to their strengths. As far as Turbo lag goes there really is none especially when driven on track.

Going by the symptoms you are reporting it sounds most likely that your regulator is going bad. The alternator might be fine. If have the time you can fully charge the battery and drive directly to an Autozone and they can check the system out for you.

iotapi322

The 996 is my play car so I will take the alternator off and get it tested. I'll also do some research on the regulator, thanks for the advice.

I agree I need to find an instructor that has a turbo Porsche.

z06801

Glad you had fun, tracking can get really addictive. I also think your instructor is just repeating what is said, they do drive a little different than his c5 Z06, I've spent a lot of time in both on track, you can certain learn to track the turbo.

iotapi322

Just to close out this thread. I bought a new 150amp Bosch alternator and put it in to my little black race car. All has been fixed and at idle it is definitely quieter.