frayed

So, I picked up my C4S about 6 weeks ago, have put on 2500 miles, and from the moment I bought it, it proved cold blooded, and the engine never felt 'revvy', at least compared to the inline 6 in my M3.

Thinking it was carbon build up from being putted around by the prior owner, I used a regimen of Techron and Redline to clean it out. It didn't work, and wanted to stall on startup sometimes, and didn't run smooth. I also pushed the car hard, with some WOT runs. Still nothing really improved.

I went to the track, and wrung it out. Result? Car now purrs like a kitten. Seriously. No weirdness on startup, and it pulls clean to redline. Throttle response is back to where the gods intended it to be (though I'd still appreciate a ltw flywheel for a little more snappy response and easier heel toe downshifting, but I hesitate b/c of engine smoothness and NVH concerns from prior experience with ltw flys (how's that for a long parenthical? I'm in a competition with another board for parenthical usage)).

I still think it was a carbon buildup issue, but the chemical solution proved just not strong enough. No substitution for repeated application of a heavy right foot, lap after lap on a road course! I also think that the OBD II electronics in the car, which can be highly adaptive, adapted to the extreme demands of track use: heavy loading and WOT runs.

Just thought I'd share, for any of you feeling that your 996 has gotten a bit groggy. Go to the track. Your 996 demands it. Cheers.

LAJ_996

jeff,
what track do you go to?

roy

braincuttermd

I like your thinking!

frayed

LAJ, I went to TWS. Will go up in a few weeks again as well. Gotta keep the motor clean.

delliott00

Jeff,

So how did you like it compared to your E36M3? How were your lap times?

Lets do lunch again soon. I'm buying this time.

-Dave

frayed

You are buying? Cool. Mikado it is. They have fresh Uni and Otoro in.

Car was awesome on the track. I only got one day in which was cut short due to a Tsunami that friggen rolled in.

So, 3 25-minute run sessions. I got my laptimes down from 2.09, to 2.07, to 2.04 in succeeding sessions. After a full weekend, I'm confident that I would break into the low '02s, which would best my fastest lap in the M3 (with stickier rubber than the MPSCs I'm running in the Pcar). The car is a real piece of work on track; very dynamic and astounding exit speeds due to the grip the car will generate.

I was seeing 140ish at the end of the front straight, 10 mph faster than the bimmer. I haven't adjusted to all the extra speed yet, and was throwing out the anchor and dumping speed like a pansy in just about every corner. I was seeing over 120 mph at the end of the back straight. I'm confident the car will prove devastating on the track once I learn to trust it at turn-in.

The car really does wake up on the track, and *everything comes together* so to speak. My next outing I'll have some decent brakes (better than HT10 from Hawk and developed for the GAC series, speak to Andi Lin at Cobalt Friction if you are interested), one needed step to building this driver's confidence in the car.

Edit: Dave, I know your time to go to the track is very limited, but there's a one day event coming up, Thursday 9/23. $165, open lapping, no passing signals. Should be lots of fun. I'll be there bedding in my new pads.

mooty

frayed,

fresh uni, you sure know the best nigiri.
crack some quail egg on it, nirvana.

Robert Henriksen

Cool, glad to hear it went so well for you. Did you try much trail braking, or LFB?

frayed

mooty, mmmm, I'm a sushi/sashimi addict. Had some awesome sake toro and escalar (sp? some call it superwhite) today for lunch. Beside uni (no 1 fav) and otoro (no 2), I really, really like ankimo. I'm a freak though, having spent a lot of time with japanese clients, some of their exotic tastes have rubbed off.

Robert, I was trailbraking like a madman. I found the chassis to be incredibly tolerant of heavy trailbraking. I really like the car on track, it's really quite a bit of fun and very engaging. I left a *lot* of time on the track. I really am confident that it's a sub 2 car with PSCs. We'll see if I can shave a few seconds when I head back up in a few weeks, especially with some real brakes.

chris walrod