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That's a great video. Our local kid in the Hallet Race Shop, Grayson Strathman, beat Denny last weekend at Hallett. It was a really big deal. https://www.scca.com/videos/2031650
Got the car out yesterday for the potential new owner to try. I finally got the refreshed transmission installed that has the OS Gikken LSD. I went ahead and ran it first session just to get the car warmed up and make sure it felt right. I noticed the difference with the LSD instantly. It was huge!
My PB at Hallett is a 1:24.1 It happened when I was chasing a Corvette and running EBC Red Stuff pads. The backup pads I had bought from an RL'er were not the size they claimed and so the Red Stuff is all I had. And they absolutely suck on the track. I couldn't get enough bite to engage my ABS no matter how hard I tried. But basically not having brakes and turning in to scrub speed even though I felt I was way going way too fast turned out to be really good for my lap times. It taught me a valuable lesson.
So yesterday during my warm up session, I ran a 1:24.9, which seemed crazy fast for not even pushing hard. But my SRF was waiting so I gave my friend the keys and told him to have fun. He's a really good DE driver and the organizer of the event so he was more concerned about his ability to drive it than I was. It was fun watching him from the stands as he grew more comfortable with the car and began to push it harder. After a couple of sessions and a 1:28 he was grinning from ear to ear. He also had his C6 Corvette out and towards the end of the day hit a 1:23.1 which was the fastest time of the day up until that point.
But he was already hooked on the Porsche. The raw feeling of the race build with such a direct link between you and the road is in his words "visceral." I told him it would be a totally different experience from the Corvette but that I didn't know how to explain it. After driving both, his summed it up in that when you set the steering for the Corvette in a corner, even without nannies, there wasn't much else you have to do. But in the 996, you have to constantly adjust steering, throttle or brake all the way through the turn. It demands your total attention but rewards you when you get it right.
We were talking about what kind of time I thought I could do in the 996 now and I told him I didn't want to spoil the surprise, that I would let him find out what it was capable of. But he wanted to me give him something to shoot for so I took it out for a final session and let it rip. We (the car and I)were flying. Gone was all fishtailing on hard braking and the grip accelerating out of the corner was unreal. I never was able to get on the gas too early so I know I wasn't near it's limit. But the times got quicker every lap and the final one when they waved the checker flag read 1:22.6. I now declare this car officially "sorted." And while I'm going to miss it dearly, I fully expect to own it again one day.
Observation question from the Texas vid...either that is a very consistently fast track or the gear ratios/power band must be huge! It didn't appear the guy was shifting as much as expected. Any thoughts-comments?
Observation question from the Texas vid...either that is a very consistently fast track or the gear ratios/power band must be huge! It didn't appear the guy was shifting as much as expected. Any thoughts-comments?
SRF was a blast. With no power anything and the higher G's it was physically exerting to drive. I'm upgrading to a 300mm steering wheel which will help some and having to learn to seperate my hands from my body and not use them to brace all over again. But the open cockpit, low to the ground (you feel like you are laying down, not sitting in it) raw feel is crazy. It's also way more sensitive to managing the weight transfer and balance than I would have expected. But the smoother you are, the more it can do.
As for the track in the video, TWS is a big ***** track. After a day on it my nerves were totally shot. It's very fun but very fast. The number sectors that are over 100MPH are crazy.
That's exactly true - the Corvette just doesn't have any steering feel, so you set your course, ring down to the engine room for all ahead, and steam around the corner leaving a wake of tire dust and mostly-burned hydrocarbons. The throttle is 100% responsible for determining the radius of the corner.
SRF was a blast. With no power anything and the higher G's it was physically exerting to drive. I'm upgrading to a 300mm steering wheel which will help some and having to learn to seperate my hands from my body and not use them to brace all over again. But the open cockpit, low to the ground (you feel like you are laying down, not sitting in it) raw feel is crazy. It's also way more sensitive to managing the weight transfer and balance than I would have expected. But the smoother you are, the more it can do.
So kinda like a large size full-body lay-down shifter kart with suspension! That sounds awesome! Glad you are pleased. It looks like a blast. Enjoy!
TWS is a blast and I love the configuration. I have enjoyed it over many years. It is very sad to see it slowly decaying. Sewage permit not being renewed. Thus; the below have been rolled in for poop duty...
I am a little bummed though. Selling it to a friend and getting to watch him progress on it was going to be really cool. The thought of selling it to a stranger and not seeing it again is not my favorite.
04-10-2017, 07:19 PM
