tguaturbo

Finally, after a month of ownership I was able to head to my local track in San Marcos, Harris Hill Road. Upon arrival, I saw some 4-5 997.2 GT3 Cup Cars in the garage and parking lot. I was told these cars were from the F1 races that had taken place earlier that day and that the teams were allowed to do some testing and tuning at H2R which I missed.

Ok, so the sways ft/rr were set at one click from soft both front and rear and my intention was to have them set at 1 click from full hard but my tech must have not been clear on this. Not sure how different the car would have behaved with the set up I wanted vs what I had.

Noticed the car is much lighter and had to keep telling myself not to overbrake, it stopped fast and lots of front tire chirping going on. I certainly got squirly in the rear coming out of a slight left hander just about the time that I said to myself, "I don't know if I want to make it into 4rth so I best back off the pwr a tad so that I hit the top of 3rd". Right then I must have lifted ever so slightly and then the back end began to wiggle but I caught it.

Monica and David who are instructors and good drivers were out and Monica asked if she could ride with me and give me some pointers. "The moment I saw her suggest that, I knew I was headed for a spin but figured what the hell, cant say no to free instruction".

We got cooking a bit and then on a turn where I have never ever spun a car since 2008, it happened and boy it happened fast! Left hander, Monica said stay in the power and let the car track out, so I did, just forgot to unwind the wheel Good news is that all I did was mow down some feild and get some grass and hay in the car but ended up *** backwards a straight shot outside the track.

I then let Monica drive my car with the understanding that I really did not want another off track excursion for the day if at all possible. She said she wanted to show me how the car wants to be rotated in a controled fashion and she did. Monica and her boyfriend have a 997.1 GT3 RS, she said that my car felt loose in the rear compared to other 996 GT3's she has driven????

Summary: Coming from a 996tt that was track prepped and running mostly with psm off this car, stops much faster, breaks away from you much quicker and when it does spin the back end certainly leads the way. I had gotten to a place in the turbo that when I felt an off coming, I would drive it off instead of slide sideways off. This car on first impressons just seems to want to go from the back with no real saving grace once you are a tad out of shape.

Out again today. I feel the need to keep playing and learning this car!

Tom

cfjan

You had a full alignment done before this, right??

Have fun and be safe!

tguaturbo

I did, here are specs:

LEFT FT RIGHT FT
-2.6 camber -2.6
8.8 castor 8.1
0.05 toe 0.00
LEFT REAR RIGHT REAR
-2.1 camber -2.1
0.08 toe 0.09
Front and rear sways set at 1 hole from full soft.

996FLT6

Set one from stiff rear and one from stiff front. It'll track better. Soften the bar as u get comfortable. Mike

JohnPG

^ This, one off full soft in the front will make rear loose.

996FLT6

U must have vice grip on that steering wheel. Use fingers : ). Mike

kk2

Doesn't everyone the first time they get a 6gt3 on track?

996FLT6

^ U betcha : )!!! Mike

himself

You should take some video and get some data. How did your lap times compare to your Turbo?

Your alignment and say bar settings seem to be fine generally. But tuning the suspension for your driving style will take some time. Some folks like a looser rear (stiffer rear bar) to get the rotatation done early. Others (like me) prefer a soft rear bar (trail braking and getting the power down). You'll get different opinions, so you should figure out what works for you and do that. [Some seasoned racers here say stiff rear, other TV racers say soft rear.]

What tires were you running? That could be part of the problem. Also, what brake pads?

It takes a different mindset to drive a 996 GT3. The car really is compliant and lets you know when bad things are going to happen - you just have to be trained to hear the messages. It doesn't speak Turbo.

-td

AudiOn19s

Rear suspension upgrades?

In my opinion not enough rear toe for a car with rubber still in the rear suspension esp if the toe links are stock. Heck I run more toe than that in the rear without ANY rubber in the rear plus solid toe links with bump adjustment.

I also am a soft rear bar guy but that's all preference. In my opinion if the rear felt unpredictable it's toe related. Stock suspension bits in the rear you should be around .2 per side to combat bump steer.

Andy

85Gold

More rear toe in min .2 each side. Rear Toe links if not already on car.
Front bar full stiff
Rear bar 1 off full stiff for AutoX and 2 off full stiff for Track

IMHO YMMV

Peter

FFaust

That behavior sounds nothing like mine. I find my car to be VERY communicative and predictable.

I've had the car for 2 years, and it's set up the way it was when I got it (just found no reason to change anything).

My sways are set to full stiff in front, and one hole from full stiff in the back. I also have a bit more camber.

The guy who set up my car says that that is what they like, and I certainly have no reason to argue.

FFaust

Oh, and I think that I have 2mm toe-in/side in the back, but he won't tell me. Says it's the secret sauce.

himself

Oh, I think his toe is in degrees, not mm. So, .08/.09 ~= 1.1 and 1.2 mm respectively. FWIW, I run .15 degrees (right at 2mm).

Giving it more thought, you might be able to run a stiffer bar in the rear given your low spring rates. But I wouldn't go to full stiff in the rear. [heh, that's a funny statement taken out of context]

-td

tguaturbo

I have RSS front and rear adj control arms on all four corners, RSS toe steer and dogbones in rear, locking plates rear, TRG adj drop links rear, all this was transfered over from my 996tt and control arms were rebuilt with new "I forget what you call it" at the outer edge, looks like a long bolt and nut?

On Yokohama AD08's for now. Thanks for all the advise, heading back out now to the track.

Tom