FredC

Will with NASA in GTS2 this weekend.. All I know, except for 2 grand am Conti GS races is PCA club racing in D and E class. Anyone has advice on any driving adjustments needed?

mikew968

Like personal driving style? Or car setup?

Horus2000

I've only raced a few times with the NASA group (in GTS3). Racing is racing for the most part, but I noticed just a couple of things. It is not the bump and rub fest that I've heard horror stories about, particularly in the GTS classes (a little more of that seemed to go on in Miata and Camaro Mustang Challenge). It was very relaxed atmosphere with a great vibe. The only thing i found irritating was the tendency for different class cars to try to race me me for no apparent reason (other than they loved racing and I think everyone wanted to beat the porsche). In PCA folks tend to get out of the way to let other classes go through. But each NASA region has it's own culture, so your experience may be different.

I plan to do more NASA races than PCA for the year. I's a blast, have fun.

Der ABT

I've heard the mideast has a little more" not really care about contact" attitude and from the races I've seen I'd say small contact is very acceptable...enough to upset leading car but not cause a crash...though the top 3-4 cars all seems to race very well with minimal to know contract...ones further in the pack made me think I wouldn't want to be out there
But again I'm a couch qb as I haven't done a nasa race

Also I hear you have to modify your motor to be permanently slow...I mean slooow
And permanently add 500 lbs..cannot be removed ever....

mikew968

I believe NASA racing is pretty similar to PCA racing. Casual contact does not end your day or weekend unless it is significant and you are deemed "at fault". That said I and those I race with don't condone contact but understand there will be some minor contact from time to time. I've had none so far this year in the 3 weekends I have raced.

pu911rsr

To be competitive in NASA GT classes is a completely different build than a PCA race car, classing is based on PTW and the fast GT cars have lots of areo mods. Porsche's can be very competitive in GT but cars are very different than PCA race cars. As far as the racing action - it's all based on how is out there driving- I don't think you can make generalizations on PCA vs NASA vs SCCA- it all depends on who is behind you and what they are willing to do to get past you.

Phil

CAM14

Not GT2 specific. One anomaly of the NASA rule book is how they determine who has rights in a corner. My background is SCCA that states you have to give racing room, but in NASA, if you are the lead car and the guy behind you is beside you but not to your door yet, then the lead car has the rights to chop you off. This rule is very poorly written and promotes contact in classes that have close racing. Also, in the NASA culture, when mixed class racing, the slower/lapped cars seem to not get out of the way as much as in SCCA, at least in sprint racing. On the flip side, NASA does a good job with their endurance events.

mikew968

Cam14...the rule book states you must give racing room. It used to be 3/4 of a car width and that was changed to 1 full car width I believe.

good hands

No real adjustments necessary IMHO. Make sure your HP/WT ratio is maximized as you will be racing against BMW's with full aero and ABS. Fred you're a great driver but bringing a torsion bar 911 to GTS2 is bringing a knife to a gun fight. Have fun though. Great driving can overcome a lot.

FredC

Thanks all. This was useful. I ran faster and faster as sessions went, but is didn't match my times from before my 3 year hiatus. With 2702 pounds with driver and 207hp at the wheel... Gts3... Ouch!!!

Was fun to race bimmers. I know what to do to make the car more competitive.

M_Weining

Have fun? Good group to race with? Any driving adjustments needed?

GTS3 .... ouch is right .... need to adjust weight and engine tune to get into GTS2 and then work on aero to the fullest extent possible.

GTS has changed a lot since 2006/7 when I last ran with them. Back then most cars ran as they were which was optimized for other series (PCA, BMW CCA, etc). These days the cars are optimize for GTS and it makes a huge difference.

FredC

Hi Mark

I will go the other way. I ran 390 pounds over the minimum in gts3 with dot tires. Had I ran slicks I would have been 190 pounds over the minimum. Removing all the ballast and the passenger seat is worth 105 pounds. I can live with that, so next time we will take out the ballast and the passenger seat and I will run with real slicks. That will make the car competitive I think.

As for people to run with, gts2 3 and 4 are good classes. Some really good clean drivers. People leave each other racing room more often than not. But I found that some race very very aggressive. One has to remember that there is contingency and points in play.

mikew968

I think your last two sentences hit the nail on the head!!!!

M_Weining

Ah, I forgot about the slicks option. Light is a lot more fun than heavy.

Either way it will be a challenge but should be fun given the number of cars and competition.

Thanks for input on current on track enviornment. Sounds like a good group.

MSTACH

If I knew about contingency I wouldn't be in practicing mode :-)))