KenRudd

Took my 928 to the track for the first time at the PCA DE at VIR this weekend ( Nov. 19th-21st, 2010).

First, huge thanks to my instructor, Dell Tolin. He was calm, cool, collected and made it all worthwhile.

I have no experience or baseline to compare this car to. I've never been on the track, so I have no idea how a 928 feels compared to anything else, so I can only honestly summarize the performance as follows:
1. No mechanical issues whatsoever. Performed flawlessly.
2. Performed completely predictably. Once I got my nerves under control, it was a joy to drive.
3. Only limits I reached were my skill limits. I did not approach the limits of the car's performance.

Disappointingly, out of roughly 200 Porsche's there, I was the only 928. But there were some gorgeous cars!

The car is stock, except for the RMB, and I ran it in exact street trim:
1. Kuhmo Ecsta ASX tires on factory manhole rims
2. Hawk Ceramic Pads/Zimmerman solid rotors
3. Original suspension including original Boge shocks
4. Auto transmission

Only one moment of real drama for me the whole weekend. Went into climbing S'es too fast and turned in too late ( according to my instructor). Got pretty squirrelly, but managed to get it back and not leave the track.

VIR is a fantastic facility, and Carolina's PCA does a great job with this event.

The have a Dyno there, so I took advantage of some downtime to do three pulls. Best result posted below.

Video of my sessions are on youtube. Embedded first session below. Audio is poor, and not really much too see, but you may get a laugh out of my initial lines and all the cars that pass me. I am posting videos of other sessions as I get them rendered. Search for "VIR DE 928" on youtube and they should come up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZKCxpbeWHk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfd_CeE_5Y4

Landseer

This is very cool.

Sure hope to do this someday soon at VIR.

I'll need a good instructor with patience.

So you will do it again, good experience?

hinchcliffe

928's are fantastic road course cars. Espeically like Watkins Glen and VIR where you can stretch its legs. Glad you had fun.

All owners should do at least one DE to really learn about yourself and car. Other than that its a slippery slope to get on....

KenRudd

I had a blast and will certainly do it again.
Very slippery slope...

Iwanna928

That must have been a blast. A big one on my to do list! The video is cool. Looks like you are out for a sunday drive but I know you were hauling ***! Funny how all the video's distort the actual speed while driving. Awesome job, going again soon? Are you hooked?

Mike LaBranche

Nice... I'd love a day at VIR in one of my beasts. Spent a lot of time there on a bike... and man, you haven't lived til you've rolled past the tower at the kink at a buck sixty, your nose on the front fender trying to get it to turn without wobbling... argh. In the comfort of a 928 it has to be bliss. That's the Full course you were on, each of them N,S,Full have a flavor all their own, all of 'em tons of fun. You'll really have some fun when you get comfortable with your beast at speed.

KenRudd

To be honest, on this first session, I was most certainly not hauling ***. I was passed more than a pork laden earmark in Congress.

I did manage to pick up some speed by the last session of the last day, but seeing other guys out there who had some experience, and most of all, riding with an instructor in their car ( think "twin turbo" on R-Compounds) was eye opening and humbling. Made me realize how slow I was, even when I thought I was hoofing it...

Here are some videos of my last session. (better camera angle, sound still awful):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDiRPVYynnc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CimHSrDxcsw

mickster

Nice driving by session 3! Was it full course?
Any idea what your top speed was?

KenRudd

M-
Yes, full course.
On back stretch, over 120. No sure how much over 120, as my eyes were on the road and the upcoming braking points, but ~120 at the top of the blind crest near the flag stand, so a little more on the downhill past that.

Its exhilarating to come out of Oak Tree, and keep you foot on the floor until your nerves give out as you approach the braking zone for the roller coaster downhill turns.

Like I said, lots more speed to be had as my skill increases. I was passed a fair amount.

GTASHARK

Difficult to make out your air/fuel ratio from the graph, but you may be running a little lean.

KenRudd

Interesting on the A/F ratio.
I went ahead and broke out the A/F data from all three pulls, see below. What do you think?

GTASHARK

Shape of the top graph is typical of what I have seen when I've had a good run, with the dip between 5500 and 6000rpm. Did you make the most power from that first run?

KenRudd

Actually, the last one shows most hp.

pcar928fan

And to get over thinking you are ACTUALLY a good and FAST driver! LOL!

I have tracked almost ALL my 928's at least once! Freaking AWESOME cars to drive on fairly open tracks where the HP can really help you out.

Ken, my '88 S4 has more track miles than my race car (at least w/ me behind the wheel) and the ONE thing I can tell you FOR SURE, is CHANGE YOUR TRANNY FLUID REGULARLY! 10,000 track miles is WAY TO MANY...I now need a new trans in my car. Dang it! My mechanic didn't say anything about it and I didn't even think about it. I think I'd probably change the tranny fluid every year or six to 8 events anyway...just to be on the safe side!

The car is WAY undertired up front so wider front rubber on wider front rims will make a HUGE difference and the rear sway bar drop links will be your friend as well. Those two things will really erase the inherent understeer in the car. You can then add a front sway bar if you like, but it will probably break the mounting points on the suspension...common failure w/ the heavy front sway bars. And while it will flatten out cornering it will bring back some understeer...

Good luck and keep the rubber side to the road and keep posting here about your track events!

GTASHARK

Interesting. Still good numbers though.