Edwin

I read a recent post where someone stated that traction control should not be used on the track. I have been running on the track with "Sport" on and traction control on. The traction control doesn't seem intrusive but my rear pads are wearing out twice as fast as the fronts.

What are the advantages to having traction control off on the track?

Bob Rouleau

I found that turning off TC at the track is better. My rear pads last longer and what I thought were "bumps" turned out to be TC interventions in places where it was not needed. It seems to be quite zealous.

Best,

997gt3north

My thoughts:
1) If you make a big mistake on the track, even if TC is ON it will NOT save you.
2) If you are too aggressive (but not stupid) with your right foot on corner exit the back end will get active but you will not see TC intervene - the system is very non intrusive.

Given that 1 and 2 are basically 95% true, driving with TC on does basically nothing for you so either way, leaving it on or taking if off will result in the same outcomes.

Now, if your track has a compression bump that unloads the rear tires (Uphill at Limerock if you are going fast enough) in this situation, TC does activate because both wheels start spinning in the air for a millisecond and the only result here is rear brake pad wear for no good reason. That said, if you go into this Uphill with your hands not straight as you crest the hill, when you land your car is likely totalled anyways so maybe slowing down the upcoming inpact by 2 mph is a good thing.

Unless you are driving like a crazyman, TC is not wearing your rear brake pads, it is an issue of pad temperature and the increased rear bias that porsche has dialled in for the 997gt3.

Personally, having the TC engaged or not for me is more of a "brain thing". When I first got the car I kept TC always on thinking that while we figure each other out it was better to be on than off. With 20 trackdays in the car, having spun with TC ON 2 times and having it not activate when i was too heavy on the throttle, enough so that the car was very loose on exit, I now realize that it really doesn't matter so I may as well turn it off and then what happens is my brain tries to be much smoother with the pedal inputs and I am therefore a smoother, faster and safer driver.

my 2 cents

roberga

I would like to know the answer. The 997GT3 and RS has a 28/40 LSD. The 996GT3 has a 45/60. The 997 one would think needs the electronics to match up with the LSD. I do not know the answer. Does PASM+TC+28/40 = a 45/60? Buy the way the cups and RSRs come with the 40/60.

cobrien

It seems to me that turning TC off makes a substantial difference on the track. Initially I was running in sport mode, and wasn't detecting any interventions so I assumed TC wasn't really doing too much. Then I was lucky enough to spend a couple of track days with Wolf Henzler and Dominik Farnbacher from Tafel Racing (my car, they'd drive and I'd watch, I'd drive and they'd watch - and laugh ). Anyhow, after about a quarter of a lap both of them shut TC off because it got in the way, and thereafter every time they got in the car the first thing they did was turn it off.

I then began running with TC off (hey, if they can do it, I can do it, right?). The biggest difference I noticed is that it's much easier to get the car to rotate and bring the back end around. Which can be good or bad, depending upon how far you go with it. I spun off into the weeds about the 2nd session I ran this way, and had a number of other cases where it came close. But there's no doubt in my mind that if you have the skill and drive correctly (I'm working on that ) that the car is faster this way. But clearly running with TC on can save you in some cases where you start pushing and go a bit too far.

Next season I'll probably run a few sessions with TC on to just to get acclimated to the car again, and then it'll be TC off thereafter. I'm noticeably quicker through the turns with TC off...the only drawback is you're closer to the limit and have to be ready to catch the car at any instant if you push a bit too hard.

GT3 Nut

I leave it OFF. Last weekend at VIR I forgot to turn it off one time and I saw the TC light come on at 140+mph while cresting the highest point on the back straight at VIR. I thought to myself: why in the world would TC come on? Did one or more of the rear tires come off the ground or at least unload that much to cause TC to intervene. Of course I did have the throttle to the floor, so maybe it was just enough unloading to cause it. I immediately turned TC off though.

Chris R.

I leave it on and never let off the gas...just let the electronics sort it all out.
Heheh.




Just kidding, in case that was not obvious enough.

mojom3

Since this is the first REAL rear engined car I have owned (had a VW back in college in early 70s) I will use TC until my skills improve enough to trust myself.
Drove M3 on tracks before but all it had was ABS and way less power. My car was driven by one of the racers at our last outing and he turned TC off and showed me what the car is capable off in a good drivers hands (not me). He races a cup car in the club race series so he knew what he was doing.

mdrums

If you turn PSM off it will come back on if it senses enough slip. So far the upcoming GT2 is the only car that when you turn PSM off it stays off.

mojom3

No PSM on GT3. And traction control does not come back on to intervene in any situation once turned off. When car is shutdown and restarted TC comes on by default and you have to turn it off again. Does not behave like PSM

ECS

Very interesting thread. I come from a 996 GT3 and now have 997S which I track quite a bit. No electro wizards at all in the GT3 and found it very controllable (after a good alignment job). Interestingly I have found the 997S in sport mode to be quite lenient on the occasion the back-end comes out or even going light over hills. It has never come on at the track even with quite a bit of tail wag. When I really pushed it at an autcross I was able to get it to come on but I am amazed at how high the intervention point is.

cgomez

Not true. PSM only comes back on if it senses a "panic" situation when you are on the brakes too and ABS gets engaged.
If you don't touch the brakes you can do as many spins as you wish and PSM will not come on...

C.J. Ichiban

I drove the first few laps nice and slow until I got the feel for the car (only had it for 10 days) then I drove with TC off. look guys it's very simple- just drive responsibly and once you get your line down, when to brake, etc- just push the car A LITTLE BIT further incrementally and you won't need it. it's okay to be slow and safe on the track- your car cost over 100k! if you slam on the gas every time you decompress the rear suspension (yeehaww oversteer), you might be getting into TC situations but you're not supposed to drive that style on the track anyway! lol.

car has tons of grip! get an alignment or increase the wing angle in the rear for more downforce if you want to change the handling.

I drove with TC on in the snow however.

Larry Cable

I believe that was me that stated this in the thread on rear brake pad wear.

Sadly there is a lack of real technical information regarding the various states of the car's electronic
systems.

My (perhaps mis)interpretation is as follows:

PASM(normal)+Sport(off)+TC(on) = all the help you are going to get from the car
PASM(sport) +Sport(off)+TC(on) = more aggressive PASM mappings = stiffer

PASM(normal)+Sport(on)+TC(on) = more aggressive engine mappings
PASM(sport) +Sport(on)+TC(on) = as above *and* even more aggressive suspension maps

PASM(either)+Sport(either)+TC(off) = as the above; TC nevers steps back in under any circumstances
until ignition cycled or the TC turned back on.

My experience @ Nordschleife after about 50 laps wet and dry is that PASM(normal)+Sport(on)+TC(off) is the most optimal in the dry (for that track) PASM(sport) is too stiff.

I personally ran TC(on) in the wet and TC did engage on a couple of occasions, I dont know if it saved
me (although it seems that it did as I am here) it was more a 'sanity' thing for me.

I believe that the ABD, ASC and EDC will when active will cause additional use of the rear brakes, in particular the ABD and ECT, although as I recall these systems only function at relatively low speeds
(does anyone have the factory technical product information book with the details)?

With TC(off) all of these systems are (as I understand it) completely deactivated.

Based on this, on a dry track I drive with TC(off) to avoid additional rear brake invocation, and to
improve the dynamic handling of the car as my "seat pants" sensor tells me the car handles "better"
without it on ...

YMMV

- Larry

Larry Cable

BTW I do not believe that TC re-engages if ABS is active on the GT3 ... I think this *is* true of other models but not the GT3 ... I could be wrong though.