Macca

Track day turned out to be prety good yesterday given the circumstances. First session wet, second and third damp then two totally dry sessions and a couple of damp ones towards end of the day.

The Focus out of the box did quite well. Got into low 19s in the dry sessions. In the wet sessions it could almost keep sight of Leongs GT4 (maybe loosing 1.2s a lap). In the dry its game over with the GT4s storming off 5s a lap quicker!

The car really suffers from being under powered on the straights. 345 bhp may seem ok but its hauling 1550 Kg base weight plus driver. The lack or any aero (cd is probably 0.40) and it being a brick means its pushing air all the way up the hill. GPS Vmas on AIM was 194kmph. This is where a ECU flash would pay dividends.

Id say there is 1s a lap to be gained from a conservative ECU flash and 2s a lap from swapping the Michelin Super Sports to the Cup2 option the factory supply. It also needs SFR brake fluid. Otherwise its good to go and will get you into the 16s in that configuration, on a cooler day when the engine is making more power possibly low 16s. Not too bad for a $69K family shopping basket - I suspect it would be a tad quicker than a 997 C2S or similar on like for like rubber when driven hard.

Fuel consumption at the track was woeful. I used two tanks. $220 for the day. Same as a 991 GT3 Had to come off the track early twice due to 0 miles left on the trip computer!

Factory camber is very very conservative and Im not sure there is much adjustment there. One track day and the front tyre shoulders are starting to show the punishment. If it had have been a dry day all sessions would be even worse. In all honesty I doubt Id see more than 2.5-3 days from a set of tyres the way I drive on track. Thats an expensive tyre habit so would be worth moving to a dedicated 18" track wheel set with Z221 if that were you purpose. Youd pick up a bit of grip too not that the car is short of it (infact thats its handicap in the dry as its harder to rotate).

The car is very neutral showing little in the way of understeer. Once the tyres go beyond their ideal temos (very quickly with the Super sports in the dry) it does start to 4W drift a bit. I used race mode most of the day with the stiff shocks and no ESC (hardly need it as it has a 4WD chassis with grip for Africa) only softening them off in the wet.

All and all after 800km of mixed useage which includes wet and dry track, hard back roads wet and dry a bit of town use, a fair bit of motorway use Im going to re evaluate my Macca Score to a 8.0. It is probably a 7.8 but the value proposition is undeniable and with a few cheap upgrades this car would worry a late mode 911 Carrera on the track and back roads and probably slay it in the wet on both! Best of all it feels neutral and the tech is benign so it actually feels very honest to drive and emulates a traditional lower tech platform very well for the fun factor whilst having the benefit of excellent grip, handling and road holding/damping...

P.S. Pel. If you like the GT4 now you will love it when you get it on a back road or on the track. Its definitely a great car!

Macca

The other big news is Steve R has just landed a 718 Cayman S manual brand new from U.K. GT silver, fairly basic spec. It's for him. He's taking out the seats to put bucket race ones in and putting it on track rubber so he can go and hunt GT4 at half the cost. Steves a competitive bloke after all ;-)

John McM

He keeps secrets well doesn't he?

Macca

Anyone using Motul RBF 600 in their cars that see occasional use on the track?

It seems reasonably priced and easily accessible. I may get some for the Focus RS.

floatingkiwi

I'm going to try it in the race car, I got a good deal on it and seems to be superior to ATE. Its not SRF of course but its also not the price.

996tnz

Used to run RBF600 in the Turbo. Beats most other conventional fluids (like ATE as Matt points out) but even fairly fresh it started going very spongy and needed bleeding after a couple of fairly short sprint sessions in mine. No such problems since swapping to SRF - didn't need to bleed for two years - though SRF is still more compressible when hot than I'd like (doesn't fade to sponginess even at orange rotor temps but does get a bit 'rubbery' feeling).

IR gunning the Turbos rotors versus a GT3s running similar lap times, the Turbo's were 60 Celsius or so hotter though. Presuming the Focus's brakes also run cooler like the GT3's, then the RBF is good stuff and it has better and more consistent pedal feel. But when things get crazy hot it does just go off a cliff while SRF keeps on trucking.

Nice write up on the RS too. Welcome to the AWD Turbo initiates Macca. Though I think you had a Subie at some point already?

Bedtime now but am looking forward to catching up on the rest of everone's antics soon too, now the thread is running again.

Macca

Thanks Walt. Long time.

Yes I bought a new WRX in 1998 and it was one of my favorite cars.

To the contrary the RS front rotors are running a lot hotter than the GT3. 350mm vs 380mm and a much thinner disc (28mm vs 32mm) with a 4 pot vs 6 pot caliper and much smaller pad sweep area. Id hesitate to say its running 60+C hotter due in part to its 1550kg kerb weight (100kg more than the GT3). Its not hauling the car down from such great speeds (194kmph vs 236kmph going into T1 end of HD straight) but Im on the brakes for a much longer time with the Focus, possibly a "trust" issue with the car but also because the factory pads dont bite like the GT3 RT RE10s Im using.

Ive done a bit of reading now and the feedback on the Motul is consistent. Good enough if you are changing very regularly - but Im lazy and dont want to be bleeding brakes regularly.

So SRF it will be. I think ill buy in bulk. I use it in the GT3 so it makes sense to run it across all my cars that will see the track and keep the number of partly used bottles to a minimum :-)

Macca

I might add. At no time did the brakes fade. Just the pedal going sift as I was warned in the forums. Probably a fluid compressibility issue though no doubt a better pad would allow later braking too.

floatingkiwi

Then we might have to buy in bulk together....

Macca

Good idea. I found a wholesaler who will supply six bottles for $98+GST each (1 litre) including delivery. Drop me a PM if you are interested in some of this as if so Ill buy 6 and split them...

nzskater

SRF ends up cheaper in the long run thanks to it having such a high wet boiling point, which I think results in bleeding/flushing less often.

That said, AP PRF660 might be an option (or is it just rebranded Motul RBF660?).

Good to see you've been let out, Walt Hope the Turbo is getting some use.

Liked the write up on the Focus, Macca. Sounds like a fun car. You and Sam should swap keys - interested in feedback on modern manuals (that aren't Porsche), I suspect the Focus has a better 'box.

Anyone going to the PCNZ Autocross this weekend? Should be lots of fun. I can't make it sadly.

Macca

Always happy to swap keys and try new metal. Havent driven a current model M3/4 in MT yet so that might be a good idea. The Focus box gets the job done, ratios seem good, throw is short, clutch feel is just right, not much to complain about (which seems to make it a "good" box in today's world). The GT4 box is a little bit better (a bit shorter throw and slightly more positive, but the ratio's are a bit long for the road), but I havent yet driven the M2 MT or the new Carrera 991.2 MT (apparently they have done alot of work on this box and its now very good).

996tnz

Think PRF660 beats RBF660. IIRC it's the one I almost swapped to last flush.

I'm likely to. Have been daily driving the Turbo for the last few weeks as the Cayenne was suffering from repeated 'failure to proceed'. Could be a fuel pump going terminal but as she had a few other little odd symptoms I swapped in a new battery first. So far so good but too early to celebrate yet. For the non-Cayenne initiated:

Mazda MPV battery swap - $100 odd bucks and 5 minutes.
Porsche Cayenne battery swap - $500 odd bucks, an hour or so - including a breaker bar - and multiple trips to hardware stores in an effort to secure the odd 'M10 YZN' drive bit needed to undo the passenger seat before lifting it and propping it up out of the way. The first YZN, found at the fifth store, proved to be too long to fit under the 'inverted L' shaped seat rails so was returned for a $28 refund, before I found a shorter one in a 'big and odd' drive set I'd previously got at Bunnings.

The Turbo has seemed a bit 'off her oats' lately so I reversed her up on ramps on coming home tonight to check the boost hoses. She still pretty much rips a hole in time and space when I plant foot fully but is a bit under enthusiastic down low.

Depending on outcomes it may be the Cayenne autocrossing on Saturday!

John McM

I changed my Cayenne battery pre-Christmas. The car was sluggish to start and getting random 4WD warnings, which a quick google indicated were likely battery related.

Given the number of these on the road I was surprised at the difficulty in getting a sane response on the battery options. In the end the local AA supplied a battery other Cayennes had used. It was $300. I also purchased an XYZ drive kit. I think it was $30 on TM. Otherwise it was relatively easy to do, when you consider the placement. I have less fond memories of replacing the rear boot struts.

While I’m a happy Cayenne driver I’m far less happy to wrench on mine than the 964s.

996tnz

Thanks John. Didn't think to ask the AA for ideas. Porsche specified gruntier batteries for the S (like yours and mine) and Turbo than for the base sixes. I was ideally after 900CCA as per the Cayenne Turbo spec but settled for an 850CCA Bosch AGM in the end as their 900 wasn't available here. It replaced an aftermarket 780.

The Porsche branded one was going to be something like $800 and something bucks even after club discount, and there were a few too many questions on the forums about their performance for my liking.