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Me and the wife (Cathy) have been autocrossing for two years now, in HS MINIs, and I've taken to writing up the experiences (see: First Autocross, My 2013 Season, 2014), its useful to be able to refer to these later. So far I managed to come second in the novice championship, second in this years HS championship, and 10th in the BMW Club's "Top Driver Shootout". I've come as high as the top 10% in PAX in this region which prides itself on having the most national champions of any region. We even made it to nationals this year, where I was pretty irrelevant, (though the car did get the 6th best time on one course on one day, not with me driving, so its pretty well sorted.) While we didn't buy the Caymann with autocross in mind, I was eager to try it and expecting it to be good fun.
So, yesterday I did the first autocross in the Cayman (Cathy couldn't make it). The Golden Gate region of the PCA was having their last event of the season (#9) in the usual place, on the runway at the old Alameda Air Base (see: http://goo.gl/maps/nUQth), you might recognise this from Mythbusters, its one of their favorite locations.There were lots of Porsches of course, but also quite a few miscellaneous cars, quite a few names I recognise from the local autocross scene. Obviously its quite popular to get invited to these events.
This may be even more crucial in future as currently it looks like there's nowhere down in this area to hold events. There was due to be an SCCA slush season this year, I'd expect to have done a couple of events already, but that's on hold due to scheduling problems with Oakland, and Marina not taking any new bookings for the year. The problem at Oakland is looking like the SCCA might lose its main site for next year. Marina is already under bureaucratic death sentence as the FAA finds autocross inconvenient. Candlestick is being redeveloped, and someone built a stadium on Santa Clara. Crows Landing is expensive and inconvenient. That accounts for all the active sites the local SCCA uses, so the outlook is grim.
At least the PCA has its venue at Alameda, because of local politics the PCA, and only the PCA has been able to use the site, though lots of other clubs would love to hold events there. So one of many good reasons to buy a Porsche (along with more luggage space) was that at least there would be somewhere to autocross next year. I heard that things are changing at Alameda as well, the VA is now in charge, the bureaucrats might not appreciate the autocrossers. Porsche were due to hold one of their World Roadshow events at Alameda a couple of weeks ago, but they suddenly moved the venue elsewhere, that didn't seem like a good sign.
For the event I finally had the alternative wheels ready. I'd ordered some custom wheels (from "Complete Custom Wheels") as none of the off the shelf options available were exactly the right size and offset. I was looking for the maximum allowed by SCCA Street class rules. Unfortunately the first set didn't actually clear the rear calipers, so I had to get replacements. CCW were great about getting the replacements, but it takes a while to custom make a wheel. I put Dunlop ZII tires on them (in 245/40-19 and 275/35-19). I went for the ZII rather than their supposedly better replacement ("ZII Star Spec") so I could get a good comparison of the Cayman vs our MINI (which has been running ZII). Or I would if we could ever find an SCCA event where we could run both for comparison.
With a new setup, I had to find the right tire pressures. I'd been doing my usual thing and running them on the street and looking at the tire temperature profiles. This showed that the ZII liked about 48 (front) and 42 (rear). During the event I monitored the tire temps and they looked pretty good, maybe slightly overinflated up front. With the on board TPMS sensor giving live readings of pressure, it was a little alarming to see the front hot pressures exceed the maximum tire pressure (as printed on the tire). I was surprised the fronts heated up so much, until I found that the front radiators exhaust their heat right onto the front tires. This may be a handy feature unless your front tires are overheating. I made arrangements to even out this heating on future runs (by moving the car periodically about 1/3rd of a circumference to present a different side to the heat). Its certainly something to take into account. After a few runs I let out a couple of PSI and the resultant temperature profiles are the best I've seen from a road car.
The wheels put me in the AX07 (650-700 points) class with 700 points (the PCA here uses a points system to sort cars), the wheels added quite a few points, the rest were for PDK, sport suspension and the limited slip differential (as part of PTV), on top of 505 points for being a 2015 Cayman S. I've also found out that if I didn't use the alternative wheels I can run in "Showroom Stock" class (where it'd be SS05), for that you have to run OEM wheels and OEM tire size, but could use alternate tires. I've been thinking Michelin Pilot Super Sports might make good replacement tires when he current street tires wear out, and they're also one of the go to tires for autocross. Though someone pointed out that Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires are also within the rules, PSC2 tires are Michelin's latest "streetable" competition tires, that might make a good SS05 setup.
I also managed to sort out the problems I'd had with the data "system". At our track day last month I'd found no where to mount the external GPS device which makes things work a whole lot better and I hadn't used the OBD device for engine data as it stuck out so it was in danger of being kicked and braking something. I found strapping the GPS to a cupholder worked (thats one use for them), and an ODB extension cable worked so I could tape the OBD device to the fuse box lid out of the way.
I had been planning on making a mount for the internal GoPro camera, but I never got around to that in time, so I used a suction mount on the back of the seat again. This was not a good mount, it was much too wobbly, and the video is unusable without much post processing to stabilize it. With one of the suction mounts in use, I only had one left to use as a cone cam, I put that on the right side. Its the right side I was having trouble with at the track day, I didn't know where it was. So its going to be useful to see how close I got to things.
Possibly because of the shortage of autocross venues currently, it was noted that this event gathered the largest turnout of the year. There were 132 pre-regs and quite a few drive up entries. The PCA's run group ordering and worker selection is different from any other I've run. At registration I was directed to sign up for work in either red or green, but not blue. It seems the sheet you sign up on determine your rungroup (either red, green, or blue, blue seems to be reserved for non Porsches). At the drivers meeting a dice is thrown (they have one with red, green and blue sides) to determine the order of the run groups. I was in green, which turned out to be work, rest and then run. There were also two sets of runs, you got to work, rest and run in the morning and then again in the afternoon.
For my assignment I signed up for timeslips, this may have been a mistake as my handwriting is terrible. Carlsen Porsche, a local dealer, sponsors the events, so there is a lot of Carlsen branding, including the timeslips. The timeslips also had spaces for car number, as well as cones and total time (after adding in the cones). I couldn't hear the commentary, so I mostly didn't fill in the cone counts. I tried to write the car numbers on the slips, which made the process more complicated, as no one else seemed to be doing that, I gave up and just wrote times in the afternoon. As fancy as the time slips are, they aren't self adhesive like the post-its which are usually used, which made them somewhat inconvenient. As I was doing the timeslips and making note of all the times, it was obvious that low 60s would be a good time, the very best times were 53s, but not many cars broke 60s. It was also obvious there was a wide range of talent and commitment among the drivers, with 70s and higher being not uncommon. The highest were over 100s (that's one hundred, not 1:00).
As the course was on the good bit of runway (the lighter coloured bit on the map), the course was long and thin, with just the extra bit going off to the right. It suffered suffered a lot of the same problems course at Crow's Landing suffers, being very long and thin, without much variation. To break up the monotony the designer put in a very tight figure 8 at the beginning of the course. He was going to put in a "cinnamon bun" two turn spiral but was persuaded by a rampaging mob to change his mind. Ironically, the course designer couldn't make it to see his creation, he had to work. I had my usual problem with a long course, I couldn't remember it all at once, so a lot of the time I was driving by sight, not to a plan.
Not that I tried to plan much, I really had no idea how the Cayman would behave to be able to plan a decent line through the course. My plan for the day was more to do with exploring the handling of the Cayman rather than being competitive. One thing I did want to try was stomping on the throttle and see what effect it had. Autocross is one place where you can do that sort of unwise thing safely. I was planning on letting the PDK change gear for me, one less thing to worry about, and in Sport+ mode it sounds like it uses a pretty optimal gear shift strategy. I notice that there were times I thought it might have changed down, but didn't. A change may have been inhibited by the g lockout, it won't change gear when you're pulling high g's, which is most of the time at autocross. One run I forgot to put the selector in D and left it in M as I usually do, then wondered why the engine bounced of the limiter, and quickly threw the stick into D.
My first run was either a triumph, or disaster depending on how you look at it. I did stomp on the throttle and the effect was interesting, but manageable, as hoped it would get the back end to swing around more. This lead to lots of cone carnage, then I got lost on the return leg of the course, I forgot the second slalom existed and more or less just drove over most of the cones. I got a 63.5, which was a lot faster than I thought I'd be able to do, and also a DNF. There's no record of the cone count.
The next two runs were a disappointing 66.2 and a 65.8, both DNFs. I was still not worrying about cone carnage, but I was trying to make it around all the elements which obviously slowed me down a lot, more than I was expecting. I know I didn't even manage to make it around all the elements on one of them I think it was the third run, when I approached one of the bus stops on the out leg too enthusiastically and wasn't going to make the gate, so I just plowed on through the adjacent cones. I did think I'd managed a time on the other run though.
On my second run I came around the sweeper at the far end of the course used too much gas, got sideways, corrected and was just about to drive forwards when the PSM killed the power and I came to what felt like a complete halt. I'd deliberately left the PSM on, I wasn't sure what to expect in the handling department, and I appreciated the idea of the helping hand. The same thing also happened on an afternoon run, I think I'm going to have to try it without PSM next time.
Between running and working again I checked the on site (not quite live) results, all three of my runs were shown as DNF, so I wasn't sure where the third DNF came from. But as I didn't actually have a scoring run, I thought I'd make at least one clean run. So for my first run in the afternoon I drove not much faster than I might on the street, it was a 71.7, but at least it was clean. I forgot to turn on the cameras for that run, so there's no evidence apart from the time.
For the final three runs I again went for it and got a 66.3, 64.4 which felt more like it and a 66.0. The results show the 64 was a DNF and the last one was +1 but the 66.3 was clean so that's now my best run. The onsite results show that this is good enough to be 6th out of the 7 runners in AX07. The top AX07 time was 60.7, but 2nd was 63.2, so 2nd might be in reach. Interestingly all four of the SS05 runners, all Cayman S's, got into the 63's, so SS05 might make interesting competition. I'm awaiting the official results to see how I stack up overall.
I now know I have a lot to learn about driving the Cayman, I definitely need to be a lot smoother (especially with the throttle). I've decided that I'll drive the Cayman in the coming year instead of the MINI. I had planned to test the two against each other and see how they compared and which I could do better in (with a suitable index to compare the performances), expecting the MINI to be the more competitive car. But now I think I'll spend a while getting used to the Cayman. At SCCA the Cayman is buried in its class (against 911 GT3, Lotus Elise and the fastest Corvettes), so this is more for fun than anything. The MINI has also been nobbled this year as the SCCA has inexplicably thrown the Fiesta ST into its class. I doubt I'd be able to win against the Fiestas, though it might be fun to try.
Cool that youre in a Cayman! I sold my Mini too. Great group of cayman drivers in GGR and LPR regions. Keep fingers crossed we get alameda and Marina next year.
You may want to try evening out pressures as cayman is direct opposite of mini. All weight is over rear wheels. Less over fronts. I run 40/40 on my yokos.
Check out event 8 events in sso5 as Larry and I didn't show up for 9. Sso5 probably isn't as soft as it seemed.
Tough to cross over between PCA SS05 (showroom stock) and SCCA street class as PCA showroom stock means showroom stock. No aftermarket wheels, stock tire size, no bigger swaybar. Literally like what porsche delivered OEM from factory.
.......Tough to cross over between PCA SS05 (showroom stock) and SCCA street class as PCA showroom stock means showroom stock. No aftermarket wheels, stock tire size, no bigger swaybar........
You can have success in SCCA stock classes at the regional level without spending money on custom shocks, custom wheels and different sway bars.....I've enjoyed running in the stock classes with my 964 for 15 years and I've only changed alignment and used different tires, initially Hoosiers and now Yoko AD08's....started out in AS, then BS and now in CS.
If I keep the car long enough I predict I'll be in HS one day
You can have success in SCCA stock classes at the regional level without spending money on custom shocks, custom wheels and different sway bars.....I've enjoyed running in the stock classes with my 964 for 15 years and I've only changed alignment and used different tires, initially Hoosiers and now Yoko AD08's....started out in AS, then BS and now in CS.
If I keep the car long enough I predict I'll be in HS one day
Agreed local level as long as you dont have national champ in your class in your region. However Im afraid in a Cayman S in SS you'd be dead meat against GT3's and Z06's if you dont get more tire under the car than stock and try to control rear traction with bigger front bar.
Heck I used to do OK in my stock mini on street tires locally against cars on DOTr's. But thats not like a Tour event or Nationals where all fast drivers show up in optimized street class cars.
Tough to cross over between PCA SS05 (showroom stock) and SCCA street class as PCA showroom stock means showroom stock. No aftermarket wheels, stock tire size, no bigger swaybar. Literally like what porsche delivered OEM from factory.
It currently is and is going to stay stock apart from the wheels, so SS05 is quite appealing. The PAX difference between SS05 and AX07 is about 3 sec, Unless I've misread the rules, SS09 with the Cayman R seems more appropriate. I don't think the extra wheel is worth 3 sec. I could use up the PZeros and then get some Michelin PSC2 tires, I wouldn't even have to bother to change wheel to compete at PCA.
At SCCA the Cayman is also misscclassed in the other direction, but I'm just planning on having fun and learning the car next year. It seemed pretty good with the sport suspension even without any massaging.
Talking of PAX is there a list anywhere, or indeed any rules at all for GGR? I had to impute the PAX from the results, and I'm assuming parade rules. I was checking the parade rules today just to make sure there's no weird definition of DNF, I got the video together and can't see any deviation on my second run. The PCR just says four wheels off course, I definitely never did (but had plenty of cones.)
Agreed local level as long as you dont have national champ in your class in your region. However Im afraid in a Cayman S in SS you'd be dead meat against GT3's and Z06's if you dont get more tire under the car than stock and try to control rear traction with bigger front bar.
Heck I used to do OK in my stock mini on street tires locally against cars on DOTr's. But thats not like a Tour event or Nationals where all fast drivers show up in optimized street class cars.
I do well in my '10 Boxster S against two pretty good GT3 drivers locally, but 987.2S really seems mis-classed and more realistically should be in AS than SS. I wrote a letter a few months ago; hopefully will be in the next Fastrack and maybe fixed in 2016. So long as the C5Z stays in AS, there's no way a Cayman S will be the car to have.
Today we finally got an SCCA autocross event in the Cayman, the season opener “Boondoggle” at Marina airport. Usually there would have been the “slush” season in the autumn to practice before we got to the main championship seasons. However due to some issues there was no slush season, I managed to get to one PCA autocross (and Cathy didn’t), but that’s all we’ve managed. At least there is a championship season this year, all the autocross venues around here have an uncertain feature. We only learnt that Marina was going to be available for use at the end of January, so far there’s been no news of any events at Oakland which are usually the mainstay of the SCCA season.
California has been unseasonably warm recently, and Marina usually has the best weather in the winter (it can be downright cold in summer), so the weather was almost perfect, mid 70s and sunny (in fact a bit too sunny at times), but we got a little cloud cover later. The weather and the paucity of events recently made the event unusually popular, Marina usually gets 75-150 entrants, I heard there were over 200 for this one.
The Cayman fits into the Super Street class, but we entered in the indexed (X) class. The indexed class usually draws the best drivers in the region, that’s not us, but it also allows you to run a variety of cars and still score points towards the same championship. Originally we weren’t sure if we’d run the Cayman or our old HS MINI, and indexed would allow us to run for points with either. But after the PCA autocross I did last year, I decided to run just the Cayman this year, learning how to drive it, even if we weren’t going to be competitive.
I was keeping an eye on HS, if we hadn’t got the Cayman, we’d be battling the influx of Fiesta STs which had just been moved down to HS from GS, and were looking like almost insurmountable opposition for the MINIs. In HS, my opponent from last year, Brian in an older Ford Focus was battling six Fiestas. I was using Brian’s performance as a gauge of the competition as we were pretty evenly matched last year.
X was running in the last run group of the afternoon, so we weren’t expecting to run before about 4pm. We did however still have to be there for registration by noon. Registration usually closes at noon, but it was kept open longer today thanks to an accident on the freeway which was delaying a lot of people’s arrival. We managed to skirt the delay, but it looked like it was making a big mess of the traffic.
We would also usually work one of the earlier run groups in the afternoon, but we bribed some students to do the work assignment for us. The San Jose state FSAE team was there offering to do you work assignment for $20. We decided to take them up on the offer so we could go get some lunch. I’d signed up for car queuer, which is a job I’d never done before. The queuer enters the car number of the next car to run into the system. We’d had a short classroom session last month to learn how to do these system jobs.
Around 2pm we started to wonder if we’d actually get all our runs in before he sun set. As it was our run group started a little after 4pm, with a sunset due for 5:48. Looking at the times which had been run, I though a time of around 40 sec would be just about good enough to win, the HS times I saw were around 44sec, so I was hoping to better than that.
I ran first, as I prefer and I gave Cathy a lift. I was very hesitant, I was hardly on the throttle at all, though I did get a few bursts of hard throttle towards the end of the run. I got a 46.3, so I had some time to make up. Cathy went out next and I got a lift, she managed a 47.5. A quick look at the data showed she’d lost most of that time to me in the slalom which went diagonally up the middle of the course. I’d notice gears changed up for me at the beginning of slalom and only for Cathy at the end. I’d put the car in Sport+ auto mode, so we didn’t have to worry about gears. Sport+ auto is the most aggressive mode it’ll keep the lowest gear possible as long as possible, so we ran a lot of the course still in first gear.
For my second run I tried to be on the throttle more. I managed it, but I also had three moments where the back end was threatening to come around and spin. I caught them, but that slowed me down. I did manage a 44.9 which was a good improvement. I encouraged Cathy to use more throttle, but her next two runs were not significantly better than her first. Looking at the data, her second run was more aggressive through the slalom as I’d suggested, but then lost the gains later in the run, she said she had bobbles as well.
My third run was a little more aggressive, but also more controlled, I kept it going forward for the most part, so I came in with a 43.5. At least I’d managed to better Brian’s time in HS. My last run wasn’t good, I made several mistakes, so I sat on the third run time. For Cathy’s last run I encouraged her “More Throttle!”, she managed a much more aggressive slalom and came home with a 46.1. Still a little ways behind the pace, but an improvement at least.
They show 176 scoring runs. Mine was good enough for 11th of 13 in X, and 110th overall. The best time in X was 4.2s ahead of me on index. At my best in the MINI I probably could have come somewhere around 30th, about 2.5sec better with a 42.8. Cathy was 12th in X, 144th overall. In HS, Brian didn’t show very strongly, he was 6th of 7 with a 44.6, the best of the Fiestas was a 42.2, ouch. Also in X was Chris, who I’d spent my novice year battling (to eventually lose narrowly), he was still running the “Tangerine Scream” Focus ST, I only just managed to edge him on raw time, but came in about a second behind him on index.
I was working the course while you were running and the car looked good when both of you were driving. One SCCA event in the books and your car is already making a nice appearance on the Bay Area Autocross forum banner.
11-17-2014, 12:04 AM
First Autocross in the Cayman.
However Im afraid in a Cayman S in SS you'd be dead meat against GT3's and Z06's if you dont get more tire under the car than stock and try to control rear traction with bigger front bar. 
