icruze

I am a few miles away from the 2000 mile break-in and to celebrate I will be taking my 997S to the track. I've done track events and racing schools before but this is the first time in a 911. I've been reviewing the advice/info in the Racing and DE Forum but I wanted to get more specific 997 advice from those of you that have tracked your car or have gone to PDE.

A few questions came to mind,

1. Do you keep the rear difuser up the entire time or keep it in automatic mode;
2. What is the RPM range that provideds the best performance;
3. Does keeping the PSM intrude too much to keep it on while on the track

Any other tips or recommendations you may have to seting up the 997S for the track would be welcome.

allegretto

I have now hot-lapped my C4S Cab at Autobahn, both with me driving and the track manager, a real ex-Indy racer.

I put it in Sport mode and it appeared to be a little more tossable than regular PASM.
I paid no attention to the diffuser but assume it spent a great deal of time up.

Revs vary, but in general it was all 3rd and 4th as far as I could take it.

the car is eerie, sticks like glue at speeds that really suprised me and just grinned at everything we threw at it. I do assume if you have a C2 its characteristics will be different but I was really pleased to learn about the subtlties he showed me in handling a C4.

Very cool!

I think you should lap it first with few tricks and just get to know the vehicle. After that, GO FASTER!

MJones

1. Do you keep the rear difuser up the entire time or keep it in automatic mode;
Leave it in auto

2. What is the RPM range that provideds the best performance;
Whatever feels goog up to redline

3. Does keeping the PSM intrude too much to keep it on while on the track
If your inputs are SMOOTH, it will not be a factor.

Have FUN!!

If you've not done PDE...consider signing-up...Barber is a great track

DJ23

Shifting between 4600-5200 will give great acceleration. This is where your torque is maximized, and thats more important than HP. Otherwise when cruising around town I shift at around 3000 RPM. Look at the torque and HP charts in the back of the manual to see what RPM each is maximized at.

As MJ has said, there's nothing like a course of PDE to perfect your skills. I have definitely been a better driver since I attended one in March of 2006. Learning how to balance the rear engined 911 is what it's all about.

Jay

doc2s

my 2c.

keep the spoiler up. will help if the track has fast turns.

don't coast. either on the brakes or the throttle . 911 are much more stable when you are on the gas even a light maintenance throttle can make a big diffrenece in some turns.

never lift the throttle.

keep psm on. sport mode off for your first day. with sport on throttle is too sensitive. after you get used to the car you can experiment if you want to.

take close care of your tire pressure. if you are aggressive with your driving and have low pressure you can destroy the edges of your tires (cord them). search for this thread in the racing forum "Corded MPS tires on 997S ".

most importantly be safe and have fun.

allegretto

Where are you running?

icruze

I'll be taking it to the Autobahn Country Club soon (full track). I'll be going to the Road America later this summer.

JFScheck

PDE - a must for all 997 owners!

texas911

Don't turn your PSM off. It just might save you. At least not until you find the limits of your car.

As for rpm, the 997 has great low end torque, it might save you a down shift depending on the track.

You'll have a blast, the 997 is like a scalpel on the track.

icruze

My wife got me PDE as a christmas gift ...now I just have to find the time to go there.

ronmart

With PSM on and using Sports Mode the car will allow for 18 degrees of a rear end drift (IIRC) which is PLENTY for most people. I've gotten some reasonably fun drift out of the back end on 3 occasions and despite some seriously hard driving, I have yet to ever have had any electronic intervention.

When driving hard I usually leave sport mode on (sports chrono only) and PASM set to sport for the stiffer suspension which I prefer on a hard turn as the default squat can be a little spooky even if the car responds well.

This car LOVES to be in the 3500 - 7000 RPM range when pushed, so as others have said you'll never have a reason to get out of 4th gear on most straights and lower gears everywhere else.

Road America has HUGE straights so you may hit 5th gear if you have the ***** to do it. You'll be doing some serious speed though!

If you have TPMS then you'll want it on so you can see the tire pressure (which gives you an idea of tire temp because the pressure increases with heat). I've had someone tell me he had to actually had to lower his tire pressure in his 997 and Carrera GT on the track because after hard track use the pressure started to get dangerously close to the maximum pressure which is a failure risk. This of course is the opposite rule of thumb where people generally add more air to their street tires before going on the track.

allegretto

Autobahn is great fun since there are two very different courses there. North is a tight course with short straights. Cars that don't have a lot of top end but stick well can be very fast there (think Lotus Elite). South is more demanding on the car and you since you can do more shifting and gain higher speeds, but the end of a couple of the straights can be hard on brakes and tires. If you have full track, which isn't often you can enjoy both.

Is the PDE going to rent both? That would be unusual, perhaps a Monday since the other 6 days are open to members on on side or the other almost always.

Seems like Porsches, especially GT-3's are one of the vehicles of choice among members. But some guys run RSR's and there is some very heavy iron out there. One of the guys has an F-1 Ferrari from a campaign in the 90's and at least one guy has a 90's NASCAR beast as well.

Let us know how you liked it.

MJones

Don't try to find the time..

Make the Time!!

You'll be glad you did

icruze

Thank you all for your input. I'm very excited to get on the track and I'll let you know how it goes. Please eXuSe the typing as I have my helmet and racing gloves on!

PDQ PDK CAYMAN S

PSM is defined as "please save me". Keep it on! I t will come on when braking hard anyway.
Find time........do not go if you do not have the time. Should you become hooked on this you will need time and money and lots of both.