First Track Day at Road Atlanta in the New Car
03-09-2007, 11:13 PM
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First Track Day at Road Atlanta in the New Car
I spent the day at the newly repaved Road Atlanta today in the GT3. Prior to the event, I had the car aligned to the owner's manual circuit specs (camber and toe). By the way, we needed a few factory shims to install in the front suspension to get the recommended front camber setting. The sway bars were left at the factory delivered position and I didn’t make any adjustments to the rear wing. I had hoped to have new wheels and tires, but commitments at work precluded my ordering new gear in time. My car came with the Pirelli Corsa tires. I lost the tire lottery.
My observations about the car are colored by my experience in my former track day weapon, a 993 RS replica with a highly developed suspension optimized for Road Atlanta. Additionally, I drove that car for over 4 years.
Having said that, I took an educated guess at hot tire pressures. I used 34 psi as a baseline. It was a cool overcast day with temperatures in the 50s. Also, the track has only been open for two weeks since the repaving.
I spent the first session with the sport setting for shocks and engine set to normal and traction control on. Others said that the track was very bumpy. I didn’t think so at all, but my last drive there was in the aforementioned car that was sprung with rates well over 1000 lb/in. I found the car to be very well balanced and neutral with regards to over/understeer but it transferred weight very slowly. While this makes the car easy to drive, it doesn’t change direction very quickly. I found the lateral transitions to be very lethargic. It was easy to compensate for this by turning in earlier and starting the weight transfer sooner. The brakes (steel) work very well, however, I was acutely aware of the car’s 3200 lbs (3400 with me in it). It isn’t a Cup car!
In subsequent sessions, I found that sport mode for both suspension and engine were faster a Road Atlanta although with the engine in sport mode throttle control must be much more carefully applied. Using the suspension sport mode, weight transfer and directional control were improved significantly. The engine’s responsiveness is great and it makes those amazing cup-car-like sounds as observed by others.
It is clear that the car has great potential. Removal of 300-400 lbs, a better suspension, lowered ride height, a much more aggressive alignment, racing seats and harnesses would do wonders. It would also be interesting to experience the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups with which I am much more familiar and accustomed.
I will begin the upgrade path slowly, first working with what the car came with. The next event, I will lower the car, have it aligned more aggressively, stiffen the roll bars and use a better wheel and tire package. If time, workload and availability permit, I’ll add the Euro seats, roll bar and harness. Saturday and Sunday will be work days as I have two students and will use the car to show them the line rather than drive for myself.
Finally, I am impressed that a car so comfortable on the street is as competent as this one is on the track straight out of the box!
Hank
PS. More to come after the weekend.
My observations about the car are colored by my experience in my former track day weapon, a 993 RS replica with a highly developed suspension optimized for Road Atlanta. Additionally, I drove that car for over 4 years.
Having said that, I took an educated guess at hot tire pressures. I used 34 psi as a baseline. It was a cool overcast day with temperatures in the 50s. Also, the track has only been open for two weeks since the repaving.
I spent the first session with the sport setting for shocks and engine set to normal and traction control on. Others said that the track was very bumpy. I didn’t think so at all, but my last drive there was in the aforementioned car that was sprung with rates well over 1000 lb/in. I found the car to be very well balanced and neutral with regards to over/understeer but it transferred weight very slowly. While this makes the car easy to drive, it doesn’t change direction very quickly. I found the lateral transitions to be very lethargic. It was easy to compensate for this by turning in earlier and starting the weight transfer sooner. The brakes (steel) work very well, however, I was acutely aware of the car’s 3200 lbs (3400 with me in it). It isn’t a Cup car!
In subsequent sessions, I found that sport mode for both suspension and engine were faster a Road Atlanta although with the engine in sport mode throttle control must be much more carefully applied. Using the suspension sport mode, weight transfer and directional control were improved significantly. The engine’s responsiveness is great and it makes those amazing cup-car-like sounds as observed by others.
It is clear that the car has great potential. Removal of 300-400 lbs, a better suspension, lowered ride height, a much more aggressive alignment, racing seats and harnesses would do wonders. It would also be interesting to experience the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups with which I am much more familiar and accustomed.
I will begin the upgrade path slowly, first working with what the car came with. The next event, I will lower the car, have it aligned more aggressively, stiffen the roll bars and use a better wheel and tire package. If time, workload and availability permit, I’ll add the Euro seats, roll bar and harness. Saturday and Sunday will be work days as I have two students and will use the car to show them the line rather than drive for myself.
Finally, I am impressed that a car so comfortable on the street is as competent as this one is on the track straight out of the box!
Hank
PS. More to come after the weekend.
03-10-2007, 06:17 PM
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Nice, where did you have the car aligned??? I am surprised stock you couldnt get the recommended track camber... dont the top hats have the ability to be adjusted?
More alignment information would be appreciated!
More alignment information would be appreciated!
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03-10-2007, 10:43 PM
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doc2s – the shims did not come with the car. They came from the dealer. They look just like the shims that we used on my cup car so any race shop should have access to them. They come in multiple thicknesses, Get a few 5mm and 3mm shims.
eclou – the alignment was done at the dealership. They do not have the capability to corner balance the car. I do have scales, a scale platform and Smart Strings and a Camber gauge at home. The corner weight was close enough not to mess with it. If I had had the time I would have done the alignment myself.
Jewels – Today was much warmer and the sun was out. I was careful with tire pressures but even so, the right side went over 36 psi. That didn’t feel so good. Just for fun I tried 29 psi front and 33 rear hot. Keeping in mind that today was much different than yesterday, 34 psi all around seemed better with the Corsas.
D-WISH – I work and live up here in Alpharetta. We should be able to get together. This coming week will be manic for me but it my schedule should be more manageable soon.
AndrewSS – I had the car aligned at Hennessy Porsche, the dealership here in Alpharetta. While it was there, they did a nice job of applying Armourfend. I think they call it Speed Film down here. Additionally they installed the radiator inlet grills that Gert sells at www.carnewal.com. They are pricy but fit perfectly and have a nice shape. If there had been more time, I would have had the grills powder coated black. I think paint would chip off and look terrible. That’s what happened on my cup car.
Trj – Here is my honest answer. For me the fun of driving comes from turning fast times. My old 993 RS replica was much more capable on the track with regards to handling but it lacked a hundred HP or so. The GT3 is without doubt faster and capable of significantly faster lap times. I also find it fun to get a new car set up for me. It’s like dancing with a new partner – a little frustrating at first but once you get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses it can be very exciting.
Every new car requires a good bit of adaptation from the driver. Over time, you get to know what the car will and won’t do. One big problem is that if you’ve ever driven and raced a cup car, nearly everything else suffers the comparison.
The GT3 has great acceleration and is very slippery aerodynamically. From a handling perspective, the car requires a good deal of time to transfer weight laterally. This is relatively simple to manage when negotiating a single turn. I learned yesterday to start the weight transfer early, way early, where you can, be aware of the weight on each wheel and use the throttle and wheel to keep the front from being overwhelmed. This is much more difficult to accomplish smoothly with a series of turns like the Esses at Road Atlanta or the turn 10A/10B complex. The car just can’t transfer and manage weight quickly enough to avoid dumping excess weight on the outside front tire.
I am surprised that the tires look so good. I drove a full day yesterday with about 3 hours of track time and four 20 minute sessions today. The tires look like they could do several more track days. The rears look especially good! Perhaps this is a phenomenon of a newly repaved track?
Timing is not allowed at this event. I am going to try to get some times tomorrow, but I don’t think they’ll mean much as the track has just been repaved. If I had to guess a time I would say 1:38 or so, possibly a little better.
Hank
eclou – the alignment was done at the dealership. They do not have the capability to corner balance the car. I do have scales, a scale platform and Smart Strings and a Camber gauge at home. The corner weight was close enough not to mess with it. If I had had the time I would have done the alignment myself.
Jewels – Today was much warmer and the sun was out. I was careful with tire pressures but even so, the right side went over 36 psi. That didn’t feel so good. Just for fun I tried 29 psi front and 33 rear hot. Keeping in mind that today was much different than yesterday, 34 psi all around seemed better with the Corsas.
D-WISH – I work and live up here in Alpharetta. We should be able to get together. This coming week will be manic for me but it my schedule should be more manageable soon.
AndrewSS – I had the car aligned at Hennessy Porsche, the dealership here in Alpharetta. While it was there, they did a nice job of applying Armourfend. I think they call it Speed Film down here. Additionally they installed the radiator inlet grills that Gert sells at www.carnewal.com. They are pricy but fit perfectly and have a nice shape. If there had been more time, I would have had the grills powder coated black. I think paint would chip off and look terrible. That’s what happened on my cup car.
Trj – Here is my honest answer. For me the fun of driving comes from turning fast times. My old 993 RS replica was much more capable on the track with regards to handling but it lacked a hundred HP or so. The GT3 is without doubt faster and capable of significantly faster lap times. I also find it fun to get a new car set up for me. It’s like dancing with a new partner – a little frustrating at first but once you get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses it can be very exciting.
Every new car requires a good bit of adaptation from the driver. Over time, you get to know what the car will and won’t do. One big problem is that if you’ve ever driven and raced a cup car, nearly everything else suffers the comparison.
The GT3 has great acceleration and is very slippery aerodynamically. From a handling perspective, the car requires a good deal of time to transfer weight laterally. This is relatively simple to manage when negotiating a single turn. I learned yesterday to start the weight transfer early, way early, where you can, be aware of the weight on each wheel and use the throttle and wheel to keep the front from being overwhelmed. This is much more difficult to accomplish smoothly with a series of turns like the Esses at Road Atlanta or the turn 10A/10B complex. The car just can’t transfer and manage weight quickly enough to avoid dumping excess weight on the outside front tire.
I am surprised that the tires look so good. I drove a full day yesterday with about 3 hours of track time and four 20 minute sessions today. The tires look like they could do several more track days. The rears look especially good! Perhaps this is a phenomenon of a newly repaved track?
Timing is not allowed at this event. I am going to try to get some times tomorrow, but I don’t think they’ll mean much as the track has just been repaved. If I had to guess a time I would say 1:38 or so, possibly a little better.
Hank
03-11-2007, 11:13 PM
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radiator inlet grills
Hi Hank.
I am glad to see you're enjoying the car the way it should be driven.
Can you give me more input on the radiator inlet grills.
1. Is it intalled from the inside of the bumber, if so how hard is it to remove and reinsatall the bumper.
2. does it screw into the bumper itself, if so how noticeable is the screw points.
If you have any upclose pictures it would be great.
Thanks.
I am glad to see you're enjoying the car the way it should be driven.
Can you give me more input on the radiator inlet grills.
1. Is it intalled from the inside of the bumber, if so how hard is it to remove and reinsatall the bumper.
2. does it screw into the bumper itself, if so how noticeable is the screw points.
If you have any upclose pictures it would be great.
Thanks.
03-12-2007, 07:21 PM
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akinla,
They actually rivit to the inside of the bumper. If your removed them, you'd have some nasty and very visible holes. You do have to remove the bumper. I had my car at the dealership and just let them do it. They charged me two hours labor.
Hanik
They actually rivit to the inside of the bumper. If your removed them, you'd have some nasty and very visible holes. You do have to remove the bumper. I had my car at the dealership and just let them do it. They charged me two hours labor.
Hanik
03-12-2007, 11:47 PM
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The day after: Thoughts from the weekend.
On the hour-long drive home from the track, I enjoyed the remains of a great weekend with the windows down (sunroof too), the sounds of an amazing engine and the comfort of good seats and a nice ride.
I am very impressed with the range of competence of this car. It is very fast and the only cars to pass it are dedicated big-horsepower track cars. It’s not nearly as sharp as a dedicated track car but neither does it require a trailer, tow truck and all the stuff that goes with that. I did miss having the shade of the tent, chairs, table and food that I normally bring in the tow vehicle. This makes me wonder about one of those tag-along trailers for some of that stuff. I arrived at the track with a torque wrench, small air compressor, tire pressure gauge and a few wrenches to adjust the sway bars. I didn’t use the wrenches! I changed the oil the day before the event. It did not use any. I only adjusted the air pressure and put fuel in it (it uses a lot of fuel!!).
When I got home, I washed the car, removed the tire marks and put it away. The tires and brake pads look great but the rotors (steel) do show the beginning signs of stress cracks. Also, I do recommend the grill inserts to protect the radiators. TPMS is a bit of an annoyance. There was always a warning on the annunciator screen about a flat tire or low air pressure. Each day this corrected itself on the drive home after adding some pressure back to the tires.
In total, I am very pleased with the purchase. The challenge that remains is to try to make the car a little better without diminishing its road worthiness by lowering it bit, increasing camber and using a better wheel and tire package. Oh yeah, there’s the driving part too.
Hank
PS. As an aside, I have to relate this story. One of the students assigned to me brought a ’02 996 Turbo. It had a modified engine that made over 600 HP. The car had an aftermarket suspension and MONSTER brakes. I didn’t know that it was possible, but I now know you can build and drive a car Xbox style. You could literally blast down the back straight of Road Atlanta (170+ MPH) or any other straight for that matter, stand the car on its nose with the brakes, turn the wheel and fire the car off to the next corner. This could incredulously be repeated turn after turn, lap after lap to great effect.
On the hour-long drive home from the track, I enjoyed the remains of a great weekend with the windows down (sunroof too), the sounds of an amazing engine and the comfort of good seats and a nice ride.
I am very impressed with the range of competence of this car. It is very fast and the only cars to pass it are dedicated big-horsepower track cars. It’s not nearly as sharp as a dedicated track car but neither does it require a trailer, tow truck and all the stuff that goes with that. I did miss having the shade of the tent, chairs, table and food that I normally bring in the tow vehicle. This makes me wonder about one of those tag-along trailers for some of that stuff. I arrived at the track with a torque wrench, small air compressor, tire pressure gauge and a few wrenches to adjust the sway bars. I didn’t use the wrenches! I changed the oil the day before the event. It did not use any. I only adjusted the air pressure and put fuel in it (it uses a lot of fuel!!).
When I got home, I washed the car, removed the tire marks and put it away. The tires and brake pads look great but the rotors (steel) do show the beginning signs of stress cracks. Also, I do recommend the grill inserts to protect the radiators. TPMS is a bit of an annoyance. There was always a warning on the annunciator screen about a flat tire or low air pressure. Each day this corrected itself on the drive home after adding some pressure back to the tires.
In total, I am very pleased with the purchase. The challenge that remains is to try to make the car a little better without diminishing its road worthiness by lowering it bit, increasing camber and using a better wheel and tire package. Oh yeah, there’s the driving part too.
Hank
PS. As an aside, I have to relate this story. One of the students assigned to me brought a ’02 996 Turbo. It had a modified engine that made over 600 HP. The car had an aftermarket suspension and MONSTER brakes. I didn’t know that it was possible, but I now know you can build and drive a car Xbox style. You could literally blast down the back straight of Road Atlanta (170+ MPH) or any other straight for that matter, stand the car on its nose with the brakes, turn the wheel and fire the car off to the next corner. This could incredulously be repeated turn after turn, lap after lap to great effect.