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????

BBMGT3

Some people just don't like 911's.

996FLT6

I can agree with him if it was a 6gt3 but a 7.2- don't think so. Driven a 7.1 gt3 on track it's SO planted(nannies off) if alignment is done correctly. Mike

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, or could this be something wrong with his client's GT3?

wanna911

The faster a car goes, the more handling issues will pop up. So unless you are driving at a pro(Semi Pro) level, then the two cannot be compared. Of course if he wasn't fast in the car he could be making excuses. That is always an option as well.

Even the GT3's can lift wheels if pushed hard enough. But that and unsettled is two different things if I'm not mistaken.

mooty

1. preference
2. set up

i am no pro, but have talked to several pro (as in paid pro, not just sponsors) and they never said GT3 front end unsettling or flighty.

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%.

P.J.S.

Set up
What is his alignment?

Bj Zacharias (paid pro) laid down a 1:44 at ORP in my car on cycled out mich slicks and he better not have been at 100% :-)

BBMGT3

It depends. Maybe front bar too stiff. Pressures off, whatever. If he's a pro then its likely that he would pick up on a handling deficiency very quickly, but at the same time he should be able to suggest feedback to ameliorate the problem a bit.

Edit: Another possibility is a lowered front ride height; I had this problem on my car. Suspension had no travel and so no amount of sway bar adjustment or camber would get rid of the bouncing front end under braking and turn in.

GT3DE

setup.

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?

tcsracing1

fresh owner, fresh car.

id say a dog **** alignment/set up.

but any pro would read into that and know what needs to be corrected.

Veloce Raptor

EXACTLY.

mobonic

I agree if you dont have much time in 911's the front end is light (no engine/weight up there). But thats what I love about these cars.

The front end of a 911 with a bad alignment or setting will always be bad, and worse if driven in correctly.

Tell your buddy to get a track alignment and check pressures then have your pro friend drive again, also put front bar on full soft.

I know it took a lot of time for me to dial all the front understeer out of the car once I went to a race suspension. I chased it from corner entry to corner exit, but now all is good and slight oversteer is how i like these cars.

montoya

Yes, has raced a Miata, but I'm not familiar with what he's racing now- he's all over the place. Recently been running an E46 M3 as a "guest" driver.

It could be this- just a poor setup. I'm curious to get him in my car, but that will be a while. Of course he adjusted quite a bit to get things right, but with no familiarity with the GT3 it's possible to miss something like ride height, especially at the track with limited time and when the focus is not on the car but on a coaching session for the driver.