Auto-x today went well
01-14-2002, 12:35 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Auto-x today went well
Hello,
Had a blast today at the auto-x. Most of the big names of our region (Joe Cheng, Gary Milligan, Robert Lu, Paul Buchmann) were not there, but a few were (Don Nimi, Andre Yeu, etc.) I can use Don as a gauge as he is dead consistent with his race prepped 240SX. Don has held several lap records across North America and might still hold the GT3 record at either Portland or Sears Point (can't remember).
My first run out in this unfamiliar car was a 45.9. At that point, I moved into FTD (fastest time of the day). As the day progressed on, others dropped in to the mid 44 second range including Don who clicked off a 44.5. I was at 44.1 at that time and was being threatened by several drivers entering into the 43 range but with cones.
With one run left, I was feeling very confident with the RUF suspension, it's very neutral with a slight oversteer bias, but totally throttle controllable. I decided to go for a "1010ths or weeds" run. The car was really dancing around, steering with the rear, but not rally style, just enough to get through the corner quickly (I was brought up in 100cc karts so that's the technique I use). As long as I was confident with the car and committed, it sang whatever song I wanted, it was really beautiful to drive, even on street tires.
My last run ended up being a 43.5 clean. The 2nd place finisher was at 43.9, Don ended the day at 44.5.
So, in Big Blue's first outing, she took home FTD, which was my personal goal. She was really fun to drive and very well mannered, as long as you drove it with authority, no wishy-washy stuff.
My co-driver and teammate in racing turned a 44.6 as his quickest time in the car. Several people were taking pics of the car, so if there are any cool action shots, I'll provide a link to them.
The power output of the car surprised me, the car felt very powerful out on the course and really flew. Even the low end torque was significantly greater than my 944TS. With the boost turned up, this car should really be a formidable auto-x weapon.
Today's course started off with a straight shot into offset gates. The 911's rear weight could really be felt back there, but being very aggressive on the throttle kept it following the front reasonably well, although a few times, I had a fright.
After the offset gates, it was into a medium speed kink. On my quickest run, I went through WOT and pre-turned through the kink. It felt very scary, but the car made it through without losing any sideways time. Then, it's into a very slow hairpin corner. I tried to widen the exit and get into the power, but there really wasn't much there.
As the boost came on, it was then time to enter a medium speed right hand sweeper leading to an opposite offset entrance. Wild fun in the 911 changing directions at high loads. She just pivots the rear, get on the throttle and she points her nose in the air and gets on with her business.
It was then into a few more offsets and into a painfully slow Chicago box. On previous runs, the c-box was my weakness. On my 1010ths run, I treated it like a very fast chicane and threw the car into the box and floored it out. Amazingly, I didn't hit any cones and was able to come to rest within the stopbox, resulting in a 43.5 time and laying down the gauntlet for the competition.
The 911 proved too tough as they were not able to match or beat the times. Another win for Porsche, it might be minor, but at least I'm racing the car, unlike the pepper brigade.
A big thank you to Weissach Performance for doing a great job on the suspension install, alignment and corner weighting. The car is very comfortable for me to drive on the limits and that's because of their careful attention to detail. Thanks Marty, Mike and Stuart!
fc-racer
Had a blast today at the auto-x. Most of the big names of our region (Joe Cheng, Gary Milligan, Robert Lu, Paul Buchmann) were not there, but a few were (Don Nimi, Andre Yeu, etc.) I can use Don as a gauge as he is dead consistent with his race prepped 240SX. Don has held several lap records across North America and might still hold the GT3 record at either Portland or Sears Point (can't remember).
My first run out in this unfamiliar car was a 45.9. At that point, I moved into FTD (fastest time of the day). As the day progressed on, others dropped in to the mid 44 second range including Don who clicked off a 44.5. I was at 44.1 at that time and was being threatened by several drivers entering into the 43 range but with cones.
With one run left, I was feeling very confident with the RUF suspension, it's very neutral with a slight oversteer bias, but totally throttle controllable. I decided to go for a "1010ths or weeds" run. The car was really dancing around, steering with the rear, but not rally style, just enough to get through the corner quickly (I was brought up in 100cc karts so that's the technique I use). As long as I was confident with the car and committed, it sang whatever song I wanted, it was really beautiful to drive, even on street tires.
My last run ended up being a 43.5 clean. The 2nd place finisher was at 43.9, Don ended the day at 44.5.
So, in Big Blue's first outing, she took home FTD, which was my personal goal. She was really fun to drive and very well mannered, as long as you drove it with authority, no wishy-washy stuff.
My co-driver and teammate in racing turned a 44.6 as his quickest time in the car. Several people were taking pics of the car, so if there are any cool action shots, I'll provide a link to them.
The power output of the car surprised me, the car felt very powerful out on the course and really flew. Even the low end torque was significantly greater than my 944TS. With the boost turned up, this car should really be a formidable auto-x weapon.
Today's course started off with a straight shot into offset gates. The 911's rear weight could really be felt back there, but being very aggressive on the throttle kept it following the front reasonably well, although a few times, I had a fright.
After the offset gates, it was into a medium speed kink. On my quickest run, I went through WOT and pre-turned through the kink. It felt very scary, but the car made it through without losing any sideways time. Then, it's into a very slow hairpin corner. I tried to widen the exit and get into the power, but there really wasn't much there.
As the boost came on, it was then time to enter a medium speed right hand sweeper leading to an opposite offset entrance. Wild fun in the 911 changing directions at high loads. She just pivots the rear, get on the throttle and she points her nose in the air and gets on with her business.
It was then into a few more offsets and into a painfully slow Chicago box. On previous runs, the c-box was my weakness. On my 1010ths run, I treated it like a very fast chicane and threw the car into the box and floored it out. Amazingly, I didn't hit any cones and was able to come to rest within the stopbox, resulting in a 43.5 time and laying down the gauntlet for the competition.
The 911 proved too tough as they were not able to match or beat the times. Another win for Porsche, it might be minor, but at least I'm racing the car, unlike the pepper brigade.
A big thank you to Weissach Performance for doing a great job on the suspension install, alignment and corner weighting. The car is very comfortable for me to drive on the limits and that's because of their careful attention to detail. Thanks Marty, Mike and Stuart!
fc-racer
