Arrwin

Just finished a 2 day DE at Watkins Glen. Was wondering what specific things I need to check in terms of maintaince/failures. I'm assuming, brakes, tires, oil, anything else?

Should the brakes be bled? I am running Super Blue.

ca993twin

Did you administer an arena red butt kicking? I think your list is fine, and I'd bleed the brakes if they feel spongy. I'd bleed them before your next DE.

ceboyd

Unless you felt bad brake fade, I don't see a reason to bleed the brakes if you just put in fresh super blue.. I used to do the 'flush' after every DE day but no sign of any black overboiled fluid so I stopped and have been fine..

One thing I highly recommend you check is the mufflers... they seem to rattle loose and if the nut backs completely off the bolt, you get a nasty melted back bumper...

We now check the mufflers after every DE event to retighten as needed...

JC in NY

Check the tires to make sure there are no chords showing. Especially the insides.

993-CT

Arrwin, how was the Glen?

kkim

Arrwin,

After all that excitement, have you checked your shorts?

Hope you had a lot of fun, my friend!

Arrwin

Well...if you consider a consistent finger point over the roof a butt kicking than yes..i kicked some major booty!

Let me tell you guys...I don't even know how to accurately explain it. Talk about information overload! The Glen is loooong! This was my second DE, my last being Pocono North which is almost 1/2 the size with 1/3 of the turns. There were turns that I thought were other turns and places where I thought I needed to brake, I didn't need to. I'm just glad I was able to drive my car back in one piece, but was it fun! Actually...I would probably say more stressful than fun at this point, but what a great experience! The only problem is the drive is pretty far (5 hrs.) and by the time I will be able to do it again (probably next year) I will forget 1/2 the stuff!

I also realized how amazing our vehicles are! These cars just stick! For the last run of the weekend, I went on a ride with a fellow Rennlister ("JC in NY"). He is an instructor and races a 964 in Club Racing, but had his 993 there. The speeds that the red group takes it is just insane. What a rush! They know the track inside-out and process things 10x faster. It was truly eye-opening. John's an amazing driver in total control. Thanks again for the ride John!

Will have pics hopefully by tonight.

Oh yeah....my brakes (BIG Reds) felt great (even on the drive home), so should probably be OK. These brakes truly STOP you. No joke. I was way too timid on the brakes and this is one of the things I need to work on. I need to learn to really squeeze them and not baby them.

It was truly a great time and I am starting to feel the addiction....

Thanks for asking guys...couldn't wait to share my experience with you's!

Ray Calvo

Brakes/tires/oil are fine. Personally, I bleed brakes after an event because that's when I find the fluid has been fried and the pedal is spongy, and I don't want to leave it that way for street driving in between events. I think bleeding after an event is better than before (assuming frequent events). In the couple of weeks between track events street driving is not going to harm the fluid. Now, if you leave the car parked over the winter, then yes - bleed it before your first track event.

Would recommend checking the brake pads and rotors. Heat cycling can badly crack the pads before they are down to the wear limits, and pad deposits can plug the rotor cooling holes.

The mufflers surprise me; have never had a problem and the car ('95 993) has 90K miles on it now. They haven't been touched and show no signs of loosening. Can't hurt to check, tho.

ceboyd

...hmmmm... well, 100K mile 95 993 here had it come loose and back off the nut and melt away part of the rear bumper cover on the right side...


..In my 96 993 (only 33k miles) it has been loose several times on the left side.. but we have also had the exhaust off a few times and back on.. so perhaps if your exhaust was never removed, it isn't as much of an issue?? I dunno what to tell you but we noticed loosening on both the 95 and 96

amfp

Congrats in finishing DE at the Glen, a very great and historic track.

I would also check if there is any play in your front and rear driver wheels. In another words - after jacking up each side, just check if there is any excessive play in wheels.

JC in NY

It was a pleasure meeting you in person Arrwin. I can tell from your demeanor that you are going to progress quickly. When you become experienced and progress to the faster rungroups you are also going to make friends that you enjoy running with, and that is what you saw on the last session even if it was scaled back a bit. The 993 is truly a pleasure to drive at the limit. See you soon!

mooty

aarwin, congrats on hitting the track... addicting isnt' it.
everyone's opinion varies. but here's mine.
i would bleed brake no matter how pedal felt just to be sure. it's not hard and wont' take long.
check tire wear, pads, and cracks on rotors (as you track more, you see more wear).
i would change oil after 5-600 track miles. it's cheap.
wash the damn beast, afterall, it worked it's butt off for you ;-)

Wreck Me Otter

Check suspension nuts and bolts torque. They have a tendency to shake loose...especially if you go farming....I've lost a rear drop link, rear drop link mount, and a front shock (on the Miata) by not always checking.

Arrwin

Errr....kinda lost me at the suspension nuts....

Where/how can I check this?

Evan

Arrwin, Sounds like you had a blast. Was it like anything you could have imagined?