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Mr Smith Goes to Motorsports Ranch (my spyder's first DE)
I participated in my first PCA HPDE in something like 15 years, this past weekend. From 1999 to about 2006, I drove the wheels off several Porsches at DEs (first a 986S and then a RUF 3600S conversion), and was comfortably in white run group. Man, I loved chasing people down in the (then) very unrespected boxster platform. But since then...pretty much nada.
The event was at MSR Cresson (a track I was familiar with from previously). For reference, my spyder is a '22 with lwbs, ceramics, toe links (not tpc, the other ones...), the delivery Cup2s, and a mildly aggressive track alignment.
First observation...holy cow, it's the invasion of the gt4s! It felt like 50%+ of the cars out there were gt4s. Apparently that is now the weapon of choice of many PCA track hounds. While understandable, the sad thing was the lack of variety at the event, compared to 15 years ago. The air cooleds were almost non existent (maybe that is more a matter of age of them now...?), and even other late model Porsches were few in number: 1 targa, a few other carrera variants, and one cayenne. (and a few vettes, a 992 gt3, a gt3rs, and a gt2rs). Oh, and obligatory and perennial spec miatas, 1 gated R8, and a BRZ, to round it out.
Is the gt4 the death of variety in pca DE's? lol If anything it is a testament to how good the car is, this would be it, I guess. I wonder if it discourages the non-gt 911 owners from coming out as much, because they don't want to be shown up by the fleet of "mere" caymans at the track.
They put me in blue (with instructor) to help me shake off the cobwebs, which was good, and definitely helped speed my return to form. What surprised me was how fast blue was. I guess cars have gotten better / faster, and thus the speeds in all run groups (with the exception of newest greens) is up! Being comfortable with speed was definitely where I was most challenged, but by the end of the weekend, I was charging pretty hard (I felt).
How did the car do? Brilliantly. Understeer was non-existant, and oversteer only happened when I would expect it (and even better, was catchable). I had a few instances of tail out (my own fault), but I managed to catch all of them. (My goal was NO OFFs, and I succeeded, but just barely lol) The mechanical grip was other worldly. The only time I found the edge was when I was doing something dumb (like keeping too much steering input when I should be unwinding tracking out). Wow. Just wow. And I know perception of power is very subjective and related to "what you are used to," but the 4L (IMO) performed brilliantly, and pulled like a beast any time I needed it to. Sure, there is always MORE power, but it would have made the car significantly faster / more dangerous to drive (for your normal skill level driver). The power seems very suited to the chassis and the grip, and allows for truly heroic driving. The cup2s were money in the bank; I am a fan.
Possibly best of all...by session 4 (solo), I decided to turn off auto blip and see if I remembered my heel and toe (especially since in the last two sessions, my foot had been twitching like it was doing the work anyway! Muscle memory, even 15 year old mm, for the win!) And I didn't suck! A few non-optimal shifts, but in general I nailed it. So sweet!! (PDK need not apply )
I took the advice from someone on here to do a few extra laps around the paddock to give the ceramics a chance to cool more (to help longevity and avoid squeal?), and I am delighted to say...no brake squeal!! Win. I have no idea if that was related, but it certainly didn't hurt.
On non-instructor sessions, I left the valves in open, and boy did the Soul Comp OAPs sing. Sounded very very nice; I was very pleased.
Now to figure out whether I stick to my "one DE a year plan" or not. That was serious fun, but significant issues need to be addressed to go even semi-frequently (tires, brakes, etc). Plus just the risk of significantly damaging what is now essentially an irreplacable, very special car. If you're driving hard at all, there are always close calls, even if they are usually due to other drivers.
But wow...what a car. It lives up to is billing, performance wise, for sure. Even the hair-dresser rag-top version. Boxster, you've come a long way, baby. (Even the original 986 was awesome, so this is VERY tongue in cheek)
Spyder owners, hie thee to a track!
(please excuse the chubby old guy that photo bombed my car pic)
I plan on 1-2 events per year, brakes and tires be damned! Were you allowed to go top down? I'll be on new PS4S tires.
Unfortunately, no, but I think that is region by region. It was probably better while I had the instructor in the car, anyway. But eventually…would be nice. Used to love top down tracking.
Had lots of fun dicing it up with a guy in an older gated R8. His AWD pwned me on the tighter stuff, but the spyder was the clear winner on the faster stuff.
Sounded like a blast. I plan on signing up for my first track day in the GT4 after May (looming layoffs) so i'm looking forward to it. I think the reason why so many GT4's is because there are just so few pure sports cars that are mid-engine and naturally aspirated. And i think some people just want more power than what a miata and a BRZ can offer.
That being said it's great seeing a Spyder owner take it out to the track. I rarely see any 718s when i autocross so i'm hoping to see some more newer Porsches when i hit up the track.
The e-ticket ride was my ride-along with my instructor in his spec Miata. Mr Toad’s Wild Ride indeed. Those cars are amazing, especially the durability of those stock Mazda street engines. Unreal.
18776920[/url]]I participated in my first PCA HPDE in something like 15 years, this past weekend. From 1999 to about 2006, I drove the wheels off several Porsches at DEs (first a 986S and then a RUF 3600S conversion), and was comfortably in white run group. Man, I loved chasing people down in the (then) very unrespected boxster platform. But since then...pretty much nada.
The event was at MSR Cresson (a track I was familiar with from previously). For reference, my spyder is a '22 with lwbs, ceramics, toe links (not tpc, the other ones...), the delivery Cup2s, and a mildly aggressive track alignment.
First observation...holy cow, it's the invasion of the gt4s! It felt like 50%+ of the cars out there were gt4s. Apparently that is now the weapon of choice of many PCA track hounds. While understandable, the sad thing was the lack of variety at the event, compared to 15 years ago. The air cooleds were almost non existent (maybe that is more a matter of age of them now...?), and even other late model Porsches were few in number: 1 targa, a few other carrera variants, and one cayenne. (and a few vettes, a 992 gt3, a gt3rs, and a gt2rs). Oh, and obligatory and perennial spec miatas, 1 gated R8, and a BRZ, to round it out.
Is the gt4 the death of variety in pca DE's? lol If anything it is a testament to how good the car is, this would be it, I guess. I wonder if it discourages the non-gt 911 owners from coming out as much, because they don't want to be shown up by the fleet of "mere" caymans at the track.
They put me in blue (with instructor) to help me shake off the cobwebs, which was good, and definitely helped speed my return to form. What surprised me was how fast blue was. I guess cars have gotten better / faster, and thus the speeds in all run groups (with the exception of newest greens) is up! Being comfortable with speed was definitely where I was most challenged, but by the end of the weekend, I was charging pretty hard (I felt).
How did the car do? Brilliantly. Understeer was non-existant, and oversteer only happened when I would expect it (and even better, was catchable). I had a few instances of tail out (my own fault), but I managed to catch all of them. (My goal was NO OFFs, and I succeeded, but just barely lol) The mechanical grip was other worldly. The only time I found the edge was when I was doing something dumb (like keeping too much steering input when I should be unwinding tracking out). Wow. Just wow. And I know perception of power is very subjective and related to "what you are used to," but the 4L (IMO) performed brilliantly, and pulled like a beast any time I needed it to. Sure, there is always MORE power, but it would have made the car significantly faster / more dangerous to drive (for your normal skill level driver). The power seems very suited to the chassis and the grip, and allows for truly heroic driving. The cup2s were money in the bank; I am a fan.
Possibly best of all...by session 4 (solo), I decided to turn off auto blip and see if I remembered my heel and toe (especially since in the last two sessions, my foot had been twitching like it was doing the work anyway! Muscle memory, even 15 year old mm, for the win!) And I didn't suck! A few non-optimal shifts, but in general I nailed it. So sweet!! (PDK need not apply )
I took the advice from someone on here to do a few extra laps around the paddock to give the ceramics a chance to cool more (to help longevity and avoid squeal?), and I am delighted to say...no brake squeal!! Win. I have no idea if that was related, but it certainly didn't hurt.
On non-instructor sessions, I left the valves in open, and boy did the Soul Comp OAPs sing. Sounded very very nice; I was very pleased.
Now to figure out whether I stick to my "one DE a year plan" or not. That was serious fun, but significant issues need to be addressed to go even semi-frequently (tires, brakes, etc). Plus just the risk of significantly damaging what is now essentially an irreplacable, very special car. If you're driving hard at all, there are always close calls, even if they are usually due to other drivers.
But wow...what a car. It lives up to is billing, performance wise, for sure. Even the hair-dresser rag-top version. Boxster, you've come a long way, baby. (Even the original 986 was awesome, so this is VERY tongue in cheek)
Spyder owners, hie thee to a track!
(please excuse the chubby old guy that photo bombed my car pic)
Awesome report! I did my first one this weekend and had a lot of fun, even though it was very wet. What are you using for the number? I went with painters tape, but didn’t look great. Would love to have something nicer, but also removable.
We were supposed to get rain on Saturday, but it just ended up being windy, and then perfection (but a tad warm) on Sunday. I debated whether I’d drive if it were wet / raining. I have before, but my nerves were always cinched up tighter than a drum, and I figured my nice leather interior would suffer as well.
Our region uses clubregistration.net as an event manager site, and the guy that runs that offers single use / magnetic / reusable-sticky numbers for sale. He’s very responsive and super helpful. Even if your region doesn’t use that site, accounts are free, so sign up and you’ll see the info on numbers. They worked amazingly well. No leading edge painter’s tape help required. (Or was that only a thing back 20 years ago? lol)
@Adrift Very cool, and thanks for the full update, the Spyder is amazing on the road and the track, sure I would never say that it it for super-serious track war but then again not all of are aspiring to get our SCCA license either!
As you know I get mine out on a semi regular basis, we have a small local track to stay in shape, and then a number of us venture a little further to the larger track (they require a minimum of an overnight stay due to distance), where the reward is a lot larger/longer track surface.
My experience is only since coming to the marque in 2006 and really only in the last 5 years have I been able to get a lot more regular at exercising this new passion, I wouldn't say I am a track-rat, just quite keen!
The e-ticket ride was my ride-along with my instructor in his spec Miata. Mr Toad’s Wild Ride indeed. Those cars are amazing, especially the durability of those stock Mazda street engines. Unreal.
What's 'e-ticket'?
While I agree with it prob being a wild ride, and my first ride in a tracked Miata was pretty eye opening, I wouldn't call stock Miata engines durable, especially given their specific output. Just cheap, so nobody flinches at replacing them. I've seen so many blown Miata engines...
That's the magic of the spyder. It is VERY capable of being a super serious track weapon, minus a little downforce and a little ultimate safety (and I assume an imperceptible amount of chassis stiffness). Any slight edge lost to a GT4 is noise, dwarfed by the huge performance deltas due to the nuts behind the wheel.
The hairdresser boxster has always been a track car, par excellence. Just like the miata. I tracked the snot out of my first 986S, and oh what a joy that was. The humiliation it wrought on many a 911 owner's ego (and owners of other "superior" cars) was truly glorious.
05-01-2023 | 02:36 PM
Mr Smith Goes to Motorsports Ranch (my spyder's first DE)
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