Mike Murphy

Yeah, I had this discussion with my buddys that took his M3 to Joliet once. His instructor said to him, "you took your car to the limit," but I question that comment. Did he really drive 10/10ths the whole time? Did he use 99.9% of the brakes and gas and available tire grip the whole time?

And even if if he did, he was surely many seconds slower than an intermediate or expert with the same car.

The whole point isn't to win with the fastest times. Or to drive the car to the absolute limit. But then again, it's kind of hard to not use full throttle or to apply maximum braking pressure, so I can see why pads and fluids are important regardless of skill level.

ejdoherty911

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...heck-list.html

my two cents, your mileage may vary

Palting

I've been doing DE since I bought the car new in 2002, have more than 100 DE events by now. I gotta tell you, for the first 10 or 20 events a bone stock 911 will do just fine. No upgrades needed. Yet .

That being said, bleed the brakes and check the pads. If the pads are at 50% or less, bring an extra set and the tools needed to change pads. OEM pads are fine for the novice or intermediate level of DE, maybe even early advanced. Even the Mobil SAE 0-40 oil is fine. Still using it in the black/red run group with no issues. These cars are engineered way above the average driver's ability.

If it's been 10 years since your last DE, you'll need a new helmet, SA2010 or newer.

And of course, the usual stuff: tire gauge, lots of water,.....and an extra set of underwear, just in case! LOL.

ejdoherty911

Joe Gibbs DT40 is appropriate for your vehicle and for this driver education (not racing) event. The racing oils provided by Joe Gibbs racing are designed for 'race prepped' engines and very high rpm (over 9,000). Your bone stock 996.1 with no modifications is not going anywhere near the places Joe Gibbs racing oils are designed to go. Your street tires, original suspension, and lack of high speed driving experience means your car is not going anywhere near its limits. Have FUN!

Sneaky Pete

You can lead horse to water......

Mike Murphy

A lot of good info. I've also been studying and playing the track (playing this track on Grant Turismo 6 with a PS3 and a wheel).

I know these here video games are not real, but I think it's still better for me to memorize at least the turns and apexes so that I have an idea of what the track is like and I can focus on what the instructor tells me.

TonyTwoBags

If aliens ever find us, I'm confident they'll quickly realize how thick we are between the ears.

Slakker

The guy that co-designed DT-40 is the one that recommended not using it on the track. It's breaks down at 240F. I will swap back and forth with XP-9 when I take my DD to the track.

That being said, if you insist on running Mobile1, I would at least run the 5W-50. Several of the Porsche race shops around here run it and say they've had better luck with it than with the 0W-40.

Be sure to report back after your track day. My first track day was just about a year ago. To say I was instantly hooked doesn't really do it justice. I've done 38 more track days since then and have competed in 8 races. It's by far the most fun I've ever had with a hobby.

TonyTwoBags

The m96 in Hoovie's Apollo 911 (248k mile 996.1) just asploded on the track this past week during a sustained, moderate/high-G section. I forget which oil he used but am fairly confident he used street-spec oil during the track day.

AnthonyGS

sad I enjoyed his vids. The real problem is that even after a lot of noise and check engine codes for cam timing he just kept on driving it. I'm pretty certain he turned something repairable into a complete disaster doing that.

the video made me think more about oil control (read pan / baffles ) than oil viscosity.

Mike Murphy

Yeah, in one of his videos, oil pressure suddenly dropped while he was on the track. This was previous to the track video you posted. I assumed that pressure drop was oil pump cavitation or just the oil overheating. He kept driving it. Not sure I would keep driving.

And his car had a lot of miles on it. I'm sure that contributed to the issue he's having.

Mike Murphy

Interesting article that explains why most cars are only meant to do a few hot laps: https://www.google.com/amp/www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/amp30234/the-idiots-guide-to-tracking-a-completely-stock-car/

Heat.

Always the enemy, and there are no easy and cheap shortcuts to getting around it. Even a driver with no experience will still be encouraged to use 100% of the throttle and damn near 100% of the brake when driving, even if their lap times are slow. So all that heat has to go somewhere.

I'll be getting some pads and new fuilds after all.

jaetee

Well, the video is properly named. He killed his engine.

I agree with Anthony. Pretty sure what was going on was likely fixable... maybe would have required invasive and expensive tear-down, but likely fixable. Personally, I think he had his mind made up on doing an LS swap from day one. Otherwise, why keep driving it after the snafu at the track? And for that matter, why would anyone bother to track a new-to-them 248k mile car in the first place?

And did I also hear him say he was running Mobil 1 oil on the track?

Lots of carelessness on display in this video.

I guess it all depends on how aggressive you plan to drive on a track, but personally, I would not do anythng more than a short autocross track with an unmodified 996. Yes, these cars are designed out of the box for high speed driving, but more for roads like the Autobahn, with long sweeping high speed turns.

For a larger-scale track like Sebring, VIR, or Road Atlanta... At minimum I'd want a modified baffle setup to prevent oil starvation and would likely change oil and brake fluid/pads as many here have suggested. I would probably even want dedicated track tires as well.

That's not even taking the suspension into consideration... but not worried about blowing that up at a cost upwards of $10k.

rogazilla

Eeek... I just signed up Novice Night track at CMP... much shorter track though. 1 paced lap and 3 unpaced sessions (20 minutes). I will put the spin on filter and ready for new oil but maybe I am gonna look at different oil now. I have done many track days on motorcycle but this is the first time in a car. So I do think brakes will be applied and throttle opened more than street use while definitely not as much as intermediate or higher...

Plan was to put the costco M1 in and then replace after the track day...

ejdoherty911

Mobil 1 advanced full synthethic is just fine for the event you describe. You are not racing, you are driving a street car around a race track for a maximum of 20 minutes. You are on street tires and not a professional formula 1 driver (I'm assuming, otherwise you would be driving a GT2 or such). You should either flush the brake fluid (if two years old) or at minimum bleed the brakes. Also make sure your brake pads are 50% or better. That's all you really need to do to enjoy this driving (not racing) event. It's really fun to drive at a race track so enjoy every minute.