Is that a GT-R in front you? Looks like you kept up with him for the lap...good driving!

 

I was in the green group, great to see someone from GGR on the froum As far as tires go, this is my second DE on Micheline PSS, I run 32 rear 31 front cold PSI, they are absolutely fantastic!

 

Yup, it was a GTR, I found following a faster car was a great way to get faster. Although at one point I did get overly zealous and tried to keep up with a GT3RS, I had a almost spin at before turn 4 and finally decided to back off a little for the rest of the day

 

Cool, nice to meet you here. Will you be in Buttonwillow?
I just ordered Michelin SuperSports, thanks for the tire pressure tip. I am assuming with PSS you mean the SuperSports?

 

I wont be at Buttonwillow, my fiance and I are planning a wedding this summer, so DE's will be on the back burner until at least Aug. Maybe I can sneak out and do a DE at THill since its less than an hour from my house lol. I do mean the SuperSport, for me, a proper alignment and PSI made a a huge difference on the track.

 

Can you please give me the details of your alignment?

Thanks
Chris

 

What tire pressure did you set them to?and how was it different than Boxster?

 

OK,

here comes the whole story, will be a tad long but bear with me.
Let's start with the end: In lap 4 of session two I heard a thumb, thumb, thumb from my right rear well, and I thought that I had a flat tire. What really made this noise was a separated piece of threat, hitting the inner wheel liner.

So how did this happen? And I can tell you that every single step in this conga-line of mistakes is due to my own negligence or stupidity, no-one else to blame here but myself.

As previously said, for the last 5 years I was tracking a Boxster S with fully adjustable suspension (PSS9 and adjustable sway bars) and DOT-R tires. The car was behaving super-neutral, and would when pushed hard slightly oversteer.

Mistake 1: Tire pressure:
My DOT-R tires had their sweet spot at 38 (hot) and usually gained 6 ~ 8 degrees during a session. But in the 997 I actually was on street tires and started with 34/32 cold which went to 40+ at the end of a session when the ambient temp was cold, so for session 2 I dropped the pressure down to 30/28 cold (aiming for 38 PSI). Great for my DOT-R but I was on street tires (RE050) which like like higher pressures...

Mistake 2: the tire pressure gauge
When packing for the track I couldn't find my original gauge and picked a gauge that was lying somewhere in my garage, turned out that this gauge was reporting pressure too high by 3 PSI, so in reality I started with 27/25 cold (waaaaaay too low).
Yes, Yes why didn't I look at the TPMS? My 986 didn't have one, so I forgot about it.

Mistake 3: A 997 is not a 986
More weight overall and much more weight in the rear. I was sliding in the rear much more than with the Box and the (under inflated) tires really didn't like it

OK, at least I took it easy the first two laps (like usual) to warm up the tires, but I never got the tires to full pressure and there went the whole ballgame ....

OK, new tires (Michelin SS) are ordered, and the old ones were almost ready for replacement, so no biggie here.

What really hurt that I was so looking forward to 2 track days which turned into 1 1/2 sessions. But then again, track days are almost like trips to a strip club. You leave with your wallet much lighter and there is nothing tangible you take back with you, except pleasant memories ;-)

OK, many lessons learned, and I will be much better prepared next time (Laguna-Seca on May 19)

 

Chris- where in San Carlos are you? I have a GTS and live on Cedar!

 

@mazadi:
Hello neighbor :-)
I live on Brittan Ave, close to Crestview

 

Awesome vids guys! It must feel great to see what your car can really do. I wish Hawaii had a track.

 

Hi guys.

Nice to see more people from PCA-GGR on here.

Here is a video of one of my faster laps (very noisy, a bit shaky video, sorry). 2:05.91

 

Nice driving Magnus,

and then we both shredded our inside rears ;-)

 

Yep, but they lasted ok, 10 track days, some street driving and 7 AX events.

 

Hey Chris & Magnus!

I'm running MPSS as well and had them set at 32/37 cold. I'm on a c2s and after a run they were up to 40/44 hot. I felt like they were starting to loose some grip. I might back them down a bit to start with next time and see how high they get. Ideally, you want to stay under 40 correct?