os993

Greetings fellow Rennlisters,

I am an avid DE participant that enjoys taking my 95 993 to a place my car feels most at home - the track! I do such events 6-8 days a year. I do not trailer my car to events, but rather prep the car at home, drive to the event, play, and then drive home. Depending on where track is, I can drive anywhere from 2-4hrs each way to get to the final destination.

After such “exercise” days, my car just drives better. Not sure how much of a psychological factor this is, but car does seem to enjoy getting the valves cleaned out a bit, not to mention how much I enjoy assisting in this endeavor! I also just did a full 30k service (belts, plugs, caps,blah blah blah,,) and the car has 93k on odometer. Oh, bty, the car drives (and pulls) like a bat out of hell! Dyno’ing my car at the Racers Group even surprised(impressed) the Dyno guy, but I digress…

So, my question is such – am I totally risking getting stranded at the track by doing such events? I’m no yahoo, so I’m not talking about crashing the car, but I am talking about car breaking down on me. Hasn’t happened yet (3yrs, with 6-8 events per year), and I’m not really worried about it, but the thought did cross my mind over the weekend.

So, kind Rennlister’s, what do you think?

Ray Calvo

Dopey question.

Harder you beat the sucker, the better the chances of getting stranded. How many folks go home on a trailer each weekend that didn't arrive on one (and DON'T count "body customizations" as a result of clobbering that guard rail coming out of Turn Two, etc.)?

Edward

Oleg,

Like you, I think the car really does "like" to be driven (responsibly) hard, and thus far I have not experienced any untimely maintenence issues (approx. 6 track weekends/year and 63K on car).

OTOH, I don't much relish the thought of something as simple as a flat (I drive to/from track on Victoracers) or a broken fanbelt. I DIY as much as possible, but I HATE doing any unexpected fixes, especially when I'm not working out of my garage. I try to be as pre-emptive with my maintenence regimen as possible, and I hope this is enough. Like you, I too hope that I don't experience any track-related breakdowns. Am I just rolling dice here? After all, the track really IS more stress on the car than the street.

Edward

993Widebody

Although these are fantastic cars and extremely reliable, I would agree with Ray. You beat on the car hard enough and something is bound to break. However, keeping the car well maintained will limit the chance of you getting stranded greatly. Also - IMO, the more stock you leave the car, the more reliable it will be - at least as it relates to the engine and related functions.

Martin S.

When cars have broken at past events, generally something can be worked out. My neighbor allowed a 88 Club Sport to ride home on his trailer and the driver of the 88 CS drove my neighbor's car home.

The 993 is a fantastically reliable car. I have about 16 or 17 track days the last 1 1/2 years and the car has performed flawlessly. Do the maintenance and drive the car...it is that simple.

My wife commented that the car actually drove better after I returned from a track event, go figure!

os993

Thanks guys! Answers were informative and probably what I thought I'd hear.

I'm not planning on changing anything with my driving style (and track endeavors), just thought I'd check-in with our Panel of Experts.

Cheers!

88clbsport

Martin,
Just curious..do you know the guy with the Club Sport?
I have been trying to track down owners and get a small registry going. There were only 28 cars in North America, but 350 total RoW.

There are 2 other owners here in SoCal and a guy that used to own one who had a copy of a registry that was started pre-internet days.

BTW, what did we do before this and other Porsche/Car sites? I can't imagine not having the technology....I do remember calling people out of Hemmings with my dad when I was growing up!

Singh

I've only done one track day - a few weeks ago (2 more coming over the next 2 months).

The car drove better after the event.

Something that i wondered about on the day was if you're in third gear, at say 6000 revs, you're coming up to a turn which you'll need to be in third gear for but theres a bit of a way to go (a few hundred metres), should you change up to fourth (for probably only 4 or 5 seconds) and then heel and toe back down to third - or is it acceptable (and not abusive to the car) to stay in third approaching at or near red line for a few seconds, then brake and turn all in third gear.

Just a novice trying to identify the line before we get to car abuse as opposed to driving hard.

Thanks

Ajit.

Vinny '98 3.8 C2S

Sorry, I'm a little late on this. I instruct in Metro region and do about 12 track days per year. This thread got me thinking (a refreshing change for me) . In all those days, I don't recall ever seeing a 993 that was driven to the track go home on a trailer due to mechanical problems.

From personal experience, I drive to all events, try to drive the wheels off the car, drive home and never have gotten hung up. My son and I recently did over 470 track miles at NHIS (Loudon) and the car didn't sweat.

I wouldn't think twice recommending this to anyone who wants to do DE and prep at home. I think heavy modifications that are more geared for "speed' than reliability play a much larger part in break-downs than tracking the car.

Greg Fishman

[quote]Originally posted by Vinny '98 3.8 C2S:
<strong>In all those days, I don't recall ever seeing a 993 that was driven to the track go home on a trailer due to mechanical problems. </strong><hr></blockquote>

Only 993 that I remember breaking at an event was at a race when his rear toe link bolt broke. I always take a spare as this is apparently a weak link, if you do a lot of events it might be worth getting the RSR toe links with a through bolt that is much stronger.
Greg

johnsopa

I also recall a 993 C2S that was almost sent home on a trailer because a spark plug wire came loose.

(Sorry Greg, couldn't resist!)

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Greg Fishman

John,
Operator error shouldn't count.
If you remember it actually wasn't the spark plug wire but the actual spark plug that wasn't install completely or worked its way out. Another reason to fire that lazy mechanic.
I just hope I can help you as efficiently if you need a hand.
<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />
Greg
(already looking forward to VIR)

Richard C2S

My alternator belt chewed itself up when I was on the track at Pocono a few weeks ago. I always carry spare belts, so I cut off the a/c belt (saves time) and replaced the alternator belt. no big deal. If I hadn't been at Pocono, it would have happened on the highway somewhere.

The car does run better after a few track sessions. I think it's been called "an Italian tune-up" by some.

The big vulnerability for those of us who drive the car to and from the track is a tire problem. I haven't been able to bring myself to putting a rack on top of the car, but may do so.

Richard

os993

[quote]Originally posted by RAK:
<strong>My alternator belt chewed itself up when I was on the track at Pocono a few weeks ago. I always carry spare belts, so I cut off the a/c belt (saves time) and replaced the alternator belt. no big deal. If I hadn't been at Pocono, it would have happened on the highway somewhere.

</strong><hr></blockquote>

Hi Richard, what tool (part #) do you use to replace belts? I don't think it's supplied in the tool kit, and I recall past rennlister's having a hard time finding such a tool (hex-type tool??). My Porsche dealer also was stumped to which part I was referring to...

Also, what belts would you consider critical to have spares handy (alternator and..??)

Than you all for your very informative feedback.

tom_993

[quote]Originally posted by Singh:
<strong>Something that i wondered about on the day was if you're in third gear, at say 6000 revs, you're coming up to a turn which you'll need to be in third gear for but theres a bit of a way to go (a few hundred metres), should you change up to fourth (for probably only 4 or 5 seconds) and then heel and toe back down to third - or is it acceptable (and not abusive to the car) to stay in third approaching at or near red line for a few seconds, then brake and turn all in third gear.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Good question, Singh. And I don’t think there is a definitive answer either. It all depends on where you want to draw the line. If you just touch redline right before your breaking point, I think all would agree that you don’t need to shift. On the other hand, holding redline for ten seconds is far to long. So is holding redline for two seconds too long? There are many factors here. Holding redline is abusive, that’s for sure. How willing are you to abuse your engine for an extra tenth of a second off your lap time? How good are you at heel/toe downshifts? Is holding redline for two seconds faster than an up shift followed by a down shift? It depends on how fast you can shift. I think the bottom line is we all have to make the decision to shift or not based on the individual corner, how well/fast we shift, how willing we are to abuse the car and how hungry we are for a tenth of a second.

Tom
’95 993