jford

After a few months of careful planning, two weeks ago I loaded the car onto a trailer and made the 900 mile drive to Chicago to swap trannies with a fellow Rennlister (Eric in Chicago). His car was going back to stock so the timing was just right to trade my US version for his Euro unit. Of course this was also a perfect time to make the change to the RS clutch and LWF as well as change the rear main seal and a few other wear items accesible with the tranny out.

Arriving in Chicago at about 4am the car was dropped off at Midwest Eurosports while my brother (who was picking up a 951 that he bought from a Eurosport customer) and I grabbed 3 hours of sleep at a hotel. Got back to Eurosport at 8am to offload my car and get a look at his new ride for the first time (pictures not withstanding). While we oggled at all of the fantastic cars at the shop (got a look at a few of the HWFM racing team member's cars as well) and test drove the 951 around O'hare the techs got busy swapping the two trannies. By three o'clock my car was done and ready for a test drive. For those not in the know, test driving a car in and around O'hare is next to impossible so I ended up only getting through all 6 gears once. They seemed to work fine, so back to the shop to pay the bill, get my brothers car and head to Eric's to spend the night before heading directly to Summit Point for 2 days of DE in the morning. The 18 mile trip across town took 90 minutes so I had ample oppurtunity to work the new clutch, never getting out of 3rd gear the entire time. Eric fed us, made us watch a Red Wings game and put us to bed.

Back up at 6am to drive back accross town, load up my car and drive the 12 hours (or so we thought) to West Virginia. Drive all day and into the night, me in the truck trailering my car and my brother strapped into his new ride, a fully race prepared 951 with no radio and a very stiff suspension. Did I mention my brother has a slight hernia? I guess it was the enthusiam of the new ride because he was grinning ear to ear the whole time.

Arrive at hotel at Summit Point at 1 am (fellow Rennlister Rezal already checked in and waiting patiently for our arrival). Up at 6:30 am and off to the track. Ran both cars for 2 days and had the time of our lives. Perfect weather, great track and a fun group (PCA Shattenbaum region) to run with.

We were fortunate enough to get two more days of DE with Trackmasters at Summit Point this Monday and Tuesday. So now, with 4 days of DE and some street time as well, these are my impressions of the upgrade: The car is awesome! The new tranny keeps you in the power band more as the drop off is less between gears. The lightweight flywheel makes it easier to heel toe (something I am in the process of learning) as the throttle is more responsive. Sixth gear is now usable on the highway (I never used 6th in my old box). On my initial test drive I stalled the car about 4 times but then the car adjusted to the new setup and I have not had a problem since. I am still a bit rougher on take-offs although I am sure that will change the more I drive the car. All in all a great upgrade which I am sure I will appreciate more and more as my driving abilities increase. Thanks to Eric and to Viperbob who provided the clutch goodies and shipped them ahead of me to Chicago and to Midwest Eurosports for getting this done all in one day without any hitches.

Gratuitous pic of car with new mods:



Jamie

akolodesh

wow!!! great upgrade. I have been considering the the g50/21 along with the lw flywheel for some time. OK, I have a load of questions:

Would you say everyday driving is still easy? Are you having to shift through the gears significantly more now while city driving? Can you feel a significant "seat of your pants" difference in acceleration? Did you swap out any other parts for more high performance upgrades while the tranny was out? What type of adjustments were doen after your stalling situation? Thnaks and good luck with it!

viperbob

Jamie,

I'm glad everything worked out .... NOW JUST GO OUT AND DRIVE THE WHEELS OFF......

jford

Aelx,
Yes, I would say everyday driving is still easy. I don't do much, if any, city driving, but I imagine you might be a bit busier..i.e. being in 3rd over 2nd gear at times. As for significant seat of the pants difference I would not say that it is dramatic although it is there. I think that the real benifits will be seen on the track more so than on the street. The ECU of the cars from 96 on takes care of the stalling issue on its own so there is nothing to be done there. There is definatly increased noise (like a mechanical chatter) from the LWF but it is only apearent to me when stopped with the clutch out. I don't mind it. I did not do any other performance upgrades other than swapping Eric's RS tranny mount for my stock mount. This mount should, I am told, allow less movement of the tranny under load.

If I have any regrets it would be that I did not get a chance to track the car before the swap. Ideally this would have given me an even better comparison between the two boxes.

Jamie

TheOtherEric

Ok, and now for the ultimate Noob question: what's the diff between euro tranny and U.S.? It sounds liek the gears are more closely spaced, so wouldn't that result in a lower top speed? And wouldn't you have to shift more often in everyday driving? (not that these are bad things...)

EDIT: ok you already answered that last question. But what about top speed?

jford

Eric,
I would assume lower top end although I don't think I will ever be able to confirm this. I have had the car up to 130 with the new box in 5th gear with a bit more to go, don't recall exactly how much more to go though. The gears are definatly closer and this does result in more shifting. I would say this is most apearent in city driving where you could stay in second with the old box and you would maybe prefer third in the Euro version. Also, on the highway I will be in 6th more than 5th with the new setup.

Jamie

Rezal

Don't know about you Eric, but I find my Porsche claimed 168mph top speed purely academic. The best I've seen on my 993 was around 135mph. I can't see how one can drive beyond 150mph unless it's on a banked track or Le Mans, which at that point, a roll cage would be a nice addition.

forklift

I would like to do this upgrade next year, but am somewhat concerned about top speed. I hit about 152 or so at VIR a few weeks ago and would not want to lower the current top speed of 160. If my car accelerates that much quicker, I would reach the current 152 earlier and might even bump 160....maybe. Manny is testing his 964 G/50 ring and pinion at Daytona this weekend and am looking forward to see what his top speed is w/ the 5 speed. If it is less than the 160, which I think it would be, I might try to put the Euro 6 speed in next year.

jford

forklift,
I will be at Watkins Glen in May and will be able to get more speed in the back straight there than in the front straight at Summit Point (or at least that is what I think will happen). I have only been to the Glen once and that was with my 964 (and at my first DE) and I hit 128 or so there so I think 140 or so will be likely in my 993. I will try to make note of rpm's and gear selection if that helps.

Jamie

Jamie

mike cap

Jamie,

Thanks for the photo post and the (epic) story. Your car is a beauty. Is till say you got WAY too much time on your hands.

Hope to see you at WG in May.

forklift

That sounds good thanks. At Summit I redline fourth at about 143 or so, and do not really have the space left for a shift to fifth. Hopefully I will carry more speed out of 10 this year for a shift to fifth....and a few 10ths of the lap time.

Thanks.

jford

Thanks Mike. Will definately see you in May. Too much time at the moment but that all changes in a month or so.

mike cap

Jamie,

Man, who I hate the Watkins Glen website. Can you give me the dates again for the DE there, please?

TheOtherEric

Agreed. Seems like closer gears in exchange for a lower top speed is a good tradeoff. I was just wondering if this is indeed the story.

maurice97C2S

Heh, heh !! Over here we have a few disused air bases - I organised a VMAX day on one nearby in Feb 2003. 2 mile straight, speed trap at 3/4 distance, 180 bends each end. A decent 993 (well, mine!) can come onto the straight at 90, pull 6K in 6th for an indicated 170 plus, genuine 163 mph. Little more to come....

The TTs do 17x, a lovely TT S 181 IIRC, but the X50 996 TTs had us all beat until a RUF BTR turned up ..... recently, not on my day. Seems to have caught the imagination of a lot of people who wouldn't normally track their cars.

Cheers, Maurice