Tom@TPC Racing

We have not had heating issues running east coast and central tracks in the Summer with ambient temp in the 90's F. We do remove the front bumper to clean out the radiators during service like we do on Cup cars.

Tracky

How did you mount that rain light? custom made bracket? I can't tell from the pics but if I were to design a bracket, it probably would use the license plate mounting holes.

Seth Thomas

I didn't look that close to how it was mounted when I was in New Jersey but it appears to be mounted by a bracket to the license plate light location. This makes sense to as it would make it easier and cleaner to run the power wires for the LifeLine rain light.

Tom@TPC Racing

It is mounted by a simple L-shaped bracket made from sheet metal.

Manifold

Tom, what has your experience been with engine failures in the 991.1 GT3 cars? The replacement engine in my car failed after about 8K miles, and I'm getting the next replacement engine installed this week.

Tom@TPC Racing

Experience has been good with G engine. We change oil on this car after each race. For HPDE cars we change oil every 5-6 track days.

452gt3

How often do you change PDK fluids?

Tom@TPC Racing

PDK fluid and differential oil after each race weekend. For HPDE cars we do every other oil engine, 10-12 HPDE days.

452gt3

Thanks for the quick response on the PDK, both my GT3's have had the PDK replaced under warranty both tracked a lot. Dealer says about 1K to do this service Does that sound right?

Manifold

Those fluid changes are much more frequent (and costly) than what's recommended in the Porsche maintenance schedule for track use. Do you have any data which supports the conclusion that doing more frequent fluid changes extends the engine and PDK life?

Tom@TPC Racing

I prefer not to discuss cost of service.

Tom@TPC Racing

Nop. Just going with what we know to work for us. For the decades we've been in business and racing cars we have never went by what Porsche and Motorsport says for maintenance schedule. We do maintenance more frequently. It is a personal choice to do more than what is necessary to potentially be in a more favorable position. I am sure we aren't the only race team/shop that feel this way. IMHO, there's just no free lunch in running a 8500+rpm engine that produces 125hp per litre paired with a transmission that works equal to(or better than) a full racing gearbox of recent past. This is getting too personal but I even feel guilty and have empathy for the equipment when running towards the end of each maintenance cycle.

Manifold

During my last track day this season, I kept thinking - how can the car handle all these screaming revs? - and I was bragging about how durable the car is for track use. Then, last session of the day, the engine blew. So I know the feeling.

itrsteve

Tom, care to disclose which oil you're using? Clearly you guys are doing something right.

Tom@TPC Racing

M1 0w-40 on street cars and Cup cars. I know that there are other brands of motor oil that are advertised to have higher Zinc and Phosphorus but at the frequency of our service interval I don't think it matters. About that, I sort of have a silly theory that I discussed with someone yesterday in a casual convo. That is, what if the OEM recommended oil change interval is based on engine load per mile with average of a spectrum driver skill level? i.e., an intermediate skill level driver will typically have less full throttle time per lap or per mile of track use compared to an advanced skill level driver. This changes the load to the engine and the load to the additive package in the motor oil. I have absolute no fact to support my theory so changing the oil more frequently is better than not. Plus during the more frequent oil changes presents more frequent opportunities to inspect the oil filters to look for signs of possible future issues.