roman944

Took my 944 this past Sunday to autocross.

Now this time I actually got to drive - my wheels are in proper places, AWESOME summer tires - car is stripped with Racetech's and Redline Rollbar, no A/C, no emissions, no interior except dash and door panels

didn't do too bad, for a first time especially; started out with something like 62 or 63, had a 2 times when I went OFF TRACK because I got confused by the cones

fastest time I had was 55.3xxx - some of the fastest cars were getting in low-mid 40's

drove with 3 different instructors, who drive different cars (lightly modded Mini Cooper S on slicks, Pontiac Solstice, modded WRX STi) - general consensus was that I can DEFINITELY go faster and shouldn't be afraid to do so

some pics from SCCA website (I didn't take any pics myself)











I ended up in a class called NFP - Novice Full Prepared

my wheels are 16x7 F and 16x8 R Cup's with Toyo R1R's in 225/50/16

I had a pretty good car control overall - not afraid to let it slide in the corner, but I was a bit late to brake which slowed me down a bit on the exit

everyone got 6 runs, I had 2 OFF TRACK, my fastest run was at the end of the day

over all I had TONS of fun! there was a 1987 924S autocrossing and a FD RX-7 Turbo - both guys have been doing this for 1 season or more - so much more seat time then me (2 years of not driving anything!)

I ended up in a class with M3's and all kinds of other crazy stuff, still had a ton of fun though!

Getting ready for spring - suspension, brakes ... and my plan is to go even LIGHTER with fiberglass!

dillon410021

looks like fun! she sure has some body roll!

racer

Something to consider as you start tearing apart the car.. outside of you local region, you might be put up against some very extreme cars in the Prodution or Modified classes (think 400+hp stripped out Evos or 1600lb 914s or ??? ). No point bringing a knife to a gunfiught they say. If you really like this Autocross thing, I would encourage you to dig into the rule book first and most importantly, work on the seat time!

Glad to hear you had a great time.. When's the next event?

roman944

oh yeah! all stock suspension! only mods are the wheels and tires!

but for spring - I'll be taking their driving school, registering with PCA and SCCA

and suspension mods - shocks, stiffer springs (no lowering, if I can) - and sway bars

and ofcourse, LIGHTER !

racer - this is really for fun and to get some seat time, not sure where I'll be headed with all this yet

racer

I think its great and encourage you to go have some fun with it! Having had cars that are completely stock and some that are not.. I can tell you that unless you build a car to maximize the rules of the class you want to run in, it can be frustrating. Since your car is already beyond the "stock" class for SCCA (E-Stock), and likely your local PCA group, like I say, take a look at the rulebook

You might find that a mod that PCA allows would really hurt you for SCCA (motor, wheel size, tire type, shocks/springs, sway bars etc.)

roman944

yeah but I'm not in it to win anything, mod my car to my tastes - take it around and see how it stacks up

some of the cars you are referring to are not driven on the street, mine is

I haven't read any of the rule books - I'm not worried about where or who I am up against - I'll be keeping an eye out on cars similar to mine (like another 944/924 based car - 240sx, RX-7 and the like) - and see how I do against those guys - some of them are crazy modded too

from what I saw so far, its not about how fast your car is (unless its DOG slow - and even then ...) - its mostly about driver skill

pigeon

Hey, another Rochester guy! I wanted to make that auto-x at RIT but I wound up at the Bills game instead. I've only run my 951 once since I got it earlier this summer, with the BMWCCA/PCA autocross at Seneca Army Depot. I've got experience with autocrossing other cars so the 951 was interesting to see how it compared. We should get together - I'd love to check out your car as it sounds like it's prepped near to where I'd like to go with mine, which I bought for autocross and HPDE service. I'll send a PM with my contact info.
Scott

roman944

Sure thing Scott!

At the moment, I'm waiting for a new cam housing gasket, but should be back on the road just around the weekend.

Where in Rochester are you?

CorsePerVita

BE CAREFUL!

(it's addicting )

M758

I started autocrossing in 1998.

It was all downhill from there.

pigeon

I work downtown and live out in the Farmington/Victor area.

krystar

just u wait till u go track day :P

shiners780

Niagara PCA currently hosts 3 DE's at Watkins Glen, the last one of the season was just this past Mon/Tue. Next year's schedule should be posted on our site www.NiagaraPCA.org in December once we receive confirmation from WGI.

You guys are welcome to come down as a guest, get a ride on track with an instructor, sit in on a classroom session, etc. to see what it's all about. Or, better yet, sign up as a driver for the full effect. Either way, come on down and check it out.

pigeon

Good, another local guy! I joined the Niagara Region PCA the day I bought the car. PCA even called me and told me based on my address I should be in Finger Lakes Region and I said, no, I want to join Niagara Region because it's so much more active.

I'm new to Porsches and track days but I've been running autocross with the BMWCCA and SCCA for years. I really, really wanted to run the HPDE at WGI this week but I need to fix the brakes on my car and get the bent front wheels fixed/replaced before it's track ready. I actually intended to bring the car to the track day inspection session the club had at Ekstens a few weeks ago but I wasn't able to get a bad wheel bearing put back together in time. Had I known I could sit in as a guest and get an instructor ride I would have been there on Monday. Count on seeing me at the first DE next year though!

Techno Duck

If your up for a drive, the Metro region is having a few Auto-X's at Tobay Beach (south shore Long Island) which is arguably the best venue in the tri-state area aside from Fort Devin's in MA. A very large and smooth lot. The last two are Oct. 30th and Nov. 7th; ill probably be at the later.

For comparison sake, the courses are large enough for the fastest drivers to run in the mid 50 second range and you can really ring it out in 2nd. These are the only auto-x's i bother with anymore as its the only place my turbo can even come remotely close to spooling up.