Elliotw44

I love this car! Back-to-back Track days at Area 27 in Oliver, British Columbia

Bullitt44

This post is motivation.

Elliotw44

Thanks. Gave you a follow on IG! Drop a few more fun moments from the Area27 trip. Leaving today at lunch for a drive out to Oregon Raceway park for some more track time.

Elliotw44

Clockwise and counter-clockwise days at Oregon raceway park. What a crazy racetrack to drive. I've learned a lot in the 1.5-track seasons with the car, and my times are improving. It's been fantastic and rewarding. Still much more to learn, one of the reasons I love this car.

vma1788

Looks epic!!

Elliotw44

I just got back from an excellent 300-mile drive in RS. This time I went across the north side of Mt Rainer on SR410 into Yakima, WA.(last time, I went SR12 which is the south side of Mt Rainer) I took the wife along for the ride. Started on the earlier side with an 8:15 am departure. We made use of my cupholders with two Starbucks coffees, and we were ready to rock. The drive was gorgeous views and decent roads. I'd say the SR12 roads were more enjoyable, but nice to try something different. On the way home, we stopped at a fruit stand and picked up some fresh fruit grown in Central Washington. Whoever said the RS can't get groceries!? Look at all the protection for the precious cherries. The car is over 35,000 miles now. After this road trip and two track days at ORP, the RS is ready for a spa day. That's scheduled for this Thursday. Well earned as well!

Photo fun with RS in the woods





Mt Rainer & RS



Tipsoo Lake with Mt Rainer in the background


Grocery Shopping

Elliotw44

Some bad news to share. My GT3RS needs a head gasket. I am having the same symptom mentioned here. It only happens at the track, but consistently. Going to be doing a mild top-head rebuild with new cam actuators(latest revisions). The saddest part is that GT3/RS head gasket is back-ordered in Germany—so bit of a waiting game for now. Hopefully, they come in stock soon. In the meantime, I can still drive the car on the street, but no track work until the head gasket is resolved.

Got some nice photos of my car recently so sharing a few of my favorites here:

RAudi Driver

I read that other thread when it was active and questioned if it was safe to drive on the street. My thinking if there is positive pressure pushing out to the cooling system, could there also be a tiny bit of negative pressure pulling coolant into the combustion chamber? Maybe an oil test could determine if coolant is entering the combustion area.

Subscribed to this issue.

Elliotw44

Thanks for sharing your concern. I am awaiting a Blackstone oil test. Depending on the results, it might be unsafe to drive on the road. I believe my car is in the beginning stages of this failure, and my local shop has another 997 GT3 with the same problem but much worse. That car is seeing cross-contamination in both directions(coolant in oil and oil in coolant).

Steve Theodore

Sorry to hear the news bud, and hoping for a swift resolution once the parts are available! I was hoping to show you my new GT2 brakes this morning in Redmond!

Wonderdan

That’s frustrating for a $100 part, I wonder if I should add head gaskets to my future proof parts bin. If I was going to spend the $ on the top end rebuild anyway it seems like I’d consider a 4.1. However as someone that wants to keep driving I don’t know how much I trust a 4.1 to not accelerate other wear parts.

I guess at a minimum you could throw the Dundon intake manifold on at the same time

Elliotw44

It's worth consideration for sure. That 4.1 kit is awesome. Cost-wise, a top-end rebuild is about 1/4 the price of a 4.1 kit. Also, you'd need to send the car or engine down to SW for the work. So it's more involved in $ and coordination. Based on those factors, I decided to do a top-end rebuild. I am considering some Dundon goodies while it's out, but that would get it close to 1/2 the cost of the 4.1.

vma1788

Ahh man bummer but you've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of this thing so it's all positives. I hope you get it sorted soon, i'm looking forward to ripping around with ya when my car is up at Dundon!

Elliotw44

Been a while since a journal update. Still waiting for the head gasket part to come in. But my Blackstone oil results came back and don't have any intermixing. So, I am continuing to drive the car. Hopefully, I've got a line on some parts and so after Rennsport Reunion VII the car can be repaired. Going to be switching up my exhaust system as well when I do my top-end rebuild. Dundon headers & Akra center muffler. My full Kline system(ss) will be for sale once it's removed.

What have I been up to this summer?
Trip to Germany!
Visited the Porsche museum, drove the ring, drove spa, maxed out a 440i on the autobahn, and visited AMG headquarters. What an experience it was. Bucket list item for me. It cemented a new dream to get my GT3RS back to the motherland in a few years and explore it all again.

Nurburgring
What a challenging track. One day there wasn't even enough to scratch the surface of putting down a real lap. So many blind elements and long laps really tripped me up as I found myself lost in a few sections. Luckily I had an instructor who was very helpful. Can't wait to go back and give it another go. It reminded me more of driving a mountain road with no speed limit than a race track. No runoff and lots of elevation. The pavement is also very rough in spots and so car placement is key. The amount of car culture in this little town is insane. More GT3s than civics. The atmosphere is like nothing I've ever experienced. It was quite addicting.







Spa
Very fun track to drive. ‎Eau Rouge is an experience and takes commitment to get the line correct.






track rental(i20 N)
Actually quite a fun car to drive. DCT transmission and decent horsepower. I figured I was going to be slow on new tracks anyway so no reason to rent something fast. Instead tried to focus on more lap time. I didn't do any prep in simulations which definitely would have helped.


Porsche Museum
So many awesome historical Porsches. Here are a few photos of my favorites. If you are going to Germany I recommend a pit stop in Stuttgart




AMG headquarters
Bunch of new AMGs that don't interest me. They had one from the classic fleet though. SL black series.




Back in Seattle and enjoying my car with the lovely summer weather. A few shots in a popular spot.





The car is currently sitting at ~36,500 miles. I have an upcoming trip down to Rennsport Reunion VII which I am very excited about. I am going to be taking the 101 down from Washington all the way to Monterey CA.
My exact route can be found here. By the time I'm back in Seattle, the car will have close to 40,000 miles!

vma1788

Hell ya. Looking forward to logging some miles with you next weekend! Weather is looking perfect.