Originally Posted by Veloce Raptor

I have a very hard time believing this is a trait of .2 GT3's. All 6 and 7 GT3's that I have driven tend to get slightly light at the front if throttle is applied too aggressively, lifting the nose, whereas this effect is greatly muted on much softer street cars like the 997S. So I suspect it is this, plus perhaps some set up deficiencies, which is really at play.

Answer me this: what does this guy normally race? Is it a Miata, perhaps?

Originally Posted by Fritz Flynn

I agree it's probably a combo of setup and how he's driving the car. You can't accelerate toward or go in slow and accelerate out toward the apex or you'll drive off it. You must carry lots of speed in with the car flat/balanced and let the car rotate on it's own as you slowly roll into the throttle.

This is the main reason these cars are a PIA to autocross but pure bliss on a big track because on the big track you can brake late and carry lots of speed in, through and out of the corner. It's a car that can take some getting used to and seat time may be needed to develop confidence in that heavy fat ***.

Also if the front tires have been pushing all over the track and are heat cycled out it won't be a fun car. It's a car that requires lots of manipulation/balancing to make it do what you want but it will do whatever it's asked to do once it's setup and has good rubber

PS You want a hard car to drive get a 70s 911 and once you learn to brake and corner well in that you'll be ready for anything LOL.

Originally Posted by montoya

Yes, has raced a Miata, but I'm not familiar with what he's racing now- he's all over the place.

Originally Posted by montoya

With no seat time his reference laps at ORP in a stock car with cups was around 1:50 ish, not slow. He also leaves margin in client cars, so it wasn't 100%.

Originally Posted by Seth Thomas

Without reading all the other posts about this and creating a bias by everyone else's answers, to me it sounds like this is one person's comments about the car and the way he was driving it on that track. If there was a setup issue on the car I feel like he would not have made the comments of "I was impressed however in the benign handling of the car at the track, it never surprised me and was easy to toss around." A 997 GT3 with bad setup does not inspire this kind of statement of confidence in my opinion. I don't feel this is anything wrong with the car either but mainly this persons lack of experience in the car and his driving style don't mesh with not having the weight of the engine over the front wheels.

Originally Posted by NorthVan

I am far from a pro driver, and I was doing a 1:51 in my 06 C2S.

Originally Posted by montoya

He's not an emotional guy, he's very rational and has no biases that I can tell. So assuming he's giving raw unemotional feedback, is there something that the GT3 does that can create the feel on the limit he's talking about in my post?

Originally Posted by Earlierapex

Placing the engine behind the rear wheels tends to make the front behave a little funny. Go to the grocery, put 3 cases of coke (or beer) in the back of your cart and try to get it to turn.

Does anyone else besides me drift their grocery carts?

Originally Posted by Earlierapex

Does anyone else besides me drift their grocery carts?

Originally Posted by montoya

I know a semi-pro driver, who has driven in some Pro SCCA events and also is a DE coach. He hasn't had a lot of seat time in 911's much less GT3's, but had the opportunity recently to coach someone in a 997.2 GT3. His comments were basically as follows:

"I had coached this same client in his 997S and was pretty impressed with the way that car handled, so when it came time to coach him in his GT3 I was expecting to be blown away by the way the GT3 handled. But when I laid down the fast "reference" laps for him I was frankly disappointed with the way the front end was unsettled. In sharp transistions I felt the front inside wheel was lifting and just couldn't get it settled. We played with roll bar settings as much as possible, but the issue remained. I was impressed however in the benign handling of the car at the track, it never surprised me and was easy to toss around. Just felt that there was more to give except for the way the front end remained unsettled."

So what do you guys think about this, for those that have lots of track time and consider yourself higher level competitive drivers, what do think of this? Is there a chance something is in need of repair in his clients car? or????

Originally Posted by 10 GT3

I was very disappointed with the handling of my GT3 when I first got it. My previous Carrera (X51 engine, ROW M030 w/GT3 control arms) had a far quicker turn-in and more neutral balance than the GT3. I went through 4 alignments to get mine setup right. Bottom line, as these cars come from the factory they are just rubbish for handing. They are setup far too conservative, basically for people who don't know how to drive a 911. There is nothing but understeer ragardless of sway bar or tire pressure settings. Just bumping up the camber doesn't fix it either. To fix it, all the center track arm mount bushings in my lower control arms are rotated to change the caster curves on all 4 corners. Turn-in is now sharp and it is dead neutral with both sway bars set in the center positions. It just sounds like he needs to get the suspension alignment setup right.

Originally Posted by 10 GT3

I was very disappointed with the handling of my GT3 when I first got it. My previous Carrera (X51 engine, ROW M030 w/GT3 control arms) had a far quicker turn-in and more neutral balance than the GT3. I went through 4 alignments to get mine setup right. Bottom line, as these cars come from the factory they are just rubbish for handing. They are setup far too conservative, basically for people who don't know how to drive a 911. There is nothing but understeer ragardless of sway bar or tire pressure settings. Just bumping up the camber doesn't fix it either. To fix it, all the center track arm mount bushings in my lower control arms are rotated to change the caster curves on all 4 corners. Turn-in is now sharp and it is dead neutral with both sway bars set in the center positions. It just sounds like he needs to get the suspension alignment setup right.

Originally Posted by montoya

Any chance you have a setup sheet for your track alignment?...