Charles A. Toupin

Is this the former car of Donald Gouin?

2305 lbs? That seems very light...

c.

aromocki

Yes it is, the way his car was setup it didnt handle well and the engine was a disaster. I pulled the engine after three tries at the track as it was overheating and rebuilt it. We also took another 150 lbs out of the car. The biggest thing we did was completely redid the suspension, springs camber and toe settings, ride height even the rims were wrong. It now handles like a dream.


Its making about 340 at the wheels at 18psi of boost based on my experience as I had it dynoed last year at 355 at the wheels at 22psi and I am attaining almost the same speeds at the top of the straight running 18psi.

Light is the best for everything, braking, acceleration as well as wear and tear on components. The only issue I have had with the car is that it builds quite a bit of crank case pressure. I had the AOS venting to atmosphere via a Lindsey catch can and now I am tryiing to pull a vacuum on it with it hooked up to the turbo inlet. Hopefully that will help.

I came in first overall in G70 and second overall in GT2 last year. This year I will try and run three series and win them all if I am lucky!

ausgeflippt951

What class does the car run in for SCCA? GT2? I noticed the GT-1 badge, but that can't be right -- I'm assuming that's for PCA or something else?

Just curious. Great car, btw.

BTW, I'd recommend going with a Saiko-Michi catch can. I've also got the LR unit and it doesn't work well at all. It's clear there wasn't much (if any) engineering that went into it.

I know the guy who makes the Saiko cans, and they're excellent. Beautifully-built, and top-notch quality. It's been on my to-do list to buy the can.

http://www.saikoumichi.com/product_line.html

aromocki

You are reading my mind as I am in talks with the Saiko guys and am currently ordering a can for my car as I hope that helps with the breathing problem. GT-1 is just the fasted class of bracket racing we do in Canada. I run GT-2 in PCA and will likely run GT-2 in bracket racing this year as I will try and run three series per weekend and if I have to run 23-24psi of boost to do it I think my baby will explode. For fun I will try and run it ***** out in one of my series but only if the tires dont get shredded as I want to run one weekend per set of slicks. More than that is a bit silly for a $5 plastic trophy.

I have never run SCCA so I am not sure as to what the classifications are??

TonyG

I'm not sure about PCA, but in NASA and POC no 944 would ever be competitive in GT2 (assuming a properly prepped car with an good driver). GT3 maybe.... but only a maybe. You'd have to be running the full race Yokohama slicks to eek out a win there...

I run in GT2 and get smoked by the 911's running NT01'. Even down the straights... at best I'm dead even with them (since the class is power to weight ratio).

That's why I'm selling my LS1 951.


TonyG

Chris White

Good to hear you got the Tec3 tuning sorted out! Sounds like its running well now.

aromocki

Yes the car is working out great now so thanks for your tuning expertise Chris. We had the fuel pressure a little high at the beginning but as soon as we corrected that it was a breeze to tune.

I only run one PCA race a year and you are right that I am not competitive in GT2 but I have a lot of fun beating Cup Cars in the other classes. Thats priceless!

Landjet

aromocki:
Just wondering why you are not competitive in GT2? I got bumped into GT2 because of weight (2150lbs) so I am getting ready. Are you out HP'ed or something else? Just wondering since I am now in the same boat? The few times in the past I ran with higher class cars it was not an issue but maybe I just don't have the fast guys???

TonyG

You'd be better off adding weight and going into GT3. That's what I'm going to do. Even then I'm still going to have to run full race slicks to be competitive, and even then I figure I might be able to win maybe 50% of the races assuming I finished the race.

Out here GT2 cars are basically 996's that have 911 GT3 or cup car suspension, huge brakes, big Yoko slicks, and 911 GT3 motors, custom close-ratio transmissions gear sets using Guard 50/80 diffs, and very light weight (carbon fiber roofs and body panels), on and on....

The cars are blisteringly fast and are running at 996 Cup Car speeds or better.

The 944 platform just can't compete at that level. Ever...


TonyG

333pg333

If you're running an LS1 / 944 Tony this suggests that some customisation is allowed? So what about upgrading suspension and gearbox to mix it with them without changing your power or weight?

TonyG

Not sure about PCA, but in NASA and POC (uhem... where the real racing takes place ) :

It's basically anything goes (for the most part). There are a few restrictions like stock tub, stock firewall, etc... but it's pretty much wide open.

It's pure power to weight ratio classing. Slicks at a small penalty over R compounds but not enough (if you're running the $2200 per set Yokohama slicks). You gotta run that tire.

Once you get these 911's built right, they only need about 330RWHP - 350RWHP to pretty much kill anything else (but it does cost well over $75k to build one with all the right stuff that will win).

Pretty amazing really.


TonyG

m73m95

IF you're winning 50% of the races, I think you're doing pretty good. That sounds "competitive" to me.

Also, $75k for a 996/911 hybrid car compared to a $35k (?) 944/corvette hybrid that wins 50% of the time.......?? What am I missing here?

TonyG

That would be a hopeful 50% of the time in GT3... Not GT2. My car would never come close to winning a GT2 class race. The GT2 class cars are running at pro level 996 Cup Car speeds.

And I have a lot more than $35k in my LS1 951.

333pg333

Who was that guy running around with an LS conversion and rear suspension changed out to that of a 'Vette? Steve something from memory. Sounded like he had a pretty competitive car?

Also for sure you'd have more than $35k into yours Tony but what if you were to build one from scratch again without going through a lot of trial and error?

ausgeflippt951

To make sure I'm understanding, Tony's problem is that he ISN'T winning 50% of the races. He'd rather jump down to GT3, take the weight penalty, and win 50% of the time (because apparently it's still competitive enough in GT3 that even winning that much is difficult.


That said, if it's basically anything goes, I see a good bit of improvement in the suspension of a 944. Over the past year or so I've been doing some modeling on the 944 suspension and by my calculations there's definitely some room for improvement. Simply lowering the force-based and kinematic roll centers show marked improvement in grip, despite the increased roll moment and elastic weight transfer.

If you can modify the pickup points, it'd get you far. Unfortunately, the rear suspension is a bit more fixed than the front, which can pose problems.