This was the result of track days. Repeated braking from high speeds develops a lot of heat. This is why track pads are highly recommended. Of course with more capable pads you can then push the car harder and generate more heat. The rotors get hot and expand, then cool and contract. This slowly induces the stress cracks around the cross-drilled holes. The 1000 degree temps is what baked the rubber dust boots.

 

Track day !! so much to say but I'll keep it short.

My wife put together a video of the highlights for me and posted it on my channel. I only have a couple videos on there so easy to find if you click the link, it takes you to it.

Everybody there was really nice, great sense of "have fun" attitude there. Scooby and four others were instructors and helped us newbies understand a lot. The first set of laps was with the instructors and us new guys which I think were about 10 of us. So it was lead/follow and I was behind scooby... so you guys know.. scooby... he can drive.. a little lolol To clarify that you can see in the video around the 7 minute mark where my wife recorded him what looks to be almost airborn coming over the hill. A little further in you can see me going around a corner with a little bit of tire squealing but notice I'm in front of snoopy... ya know.. being a skilled driver and all like me lolol but then you can see scooby catching up setting the track on fire as he quite loudly squealing his tires and passing someone to show me what's what lol

Some of those cars were just sick. the lambo and those bmws blew down the straight at blurring speeds. I felt fast touching 120mph till Scooby informed me the bmw was getting 150mph not sure what that lambo was getting but it was cool.

My wife claims I was in the top 3 for loudest exhausts lolol I loved hearing my car down the straight, proud of my DIY exhaust

Guys it was a great, awesome, adrenaline filled day. So much fun and I gotta say ... I have a renewed respect and love for my car. All that work I did to the suspension... wow porsches rock on these tracks. I also learned a lot .. like get a bra for your front bumper cuz the pebbles and rocks will literally destroy the paint job as I will now be repainting my bumper very soon lol I wish I stayed longer by my little guy was spent, my wife was sunburnt and the food truck was 3 hrs late and theirs nothing else there so we hit the road.

enjoy!!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgh...able_polymer=1

 

Oh the food truck...what a disaster. Neat idea, but obviously needed a second option. They spent an extra hour prepping food after their arrival. I didn't eat until 3:30. It was delicious, but it was a disaster. We wound up sending the corner workers back out on course and got the cars running again. Then we had to grab tacos and run them out to all the corner workers between sessions. I hope lessons are learned from this and they either plan better or source food more locally in the future. Still just a minor blemish on a beautiful, fun day.

I got an extra 1.5 sessions in after food. The day ended after a car that shouldn't have been at the track decided to dump all of its coolant in turn 2. Unfortunately I thought the waving debris flag in turn 1 was still for the asphalt sealer I pulled up mid-corner during the previous session. So when I got to turn 2 I found the coolant and nearly lost control of the car. Not amused.

Brian, I agree with your wife. Your car was among the loudest there. When I was behind you on track I couldn't hear my own exhaust note and lost track of revs and shift points .

 

Ya the food was a little frustrating. It was pulling up as we drove out but we figured there would be a set up timee and it was already getting later in the day.

Its definitly something i would do again. My wife renewed her desire for your car lol so i think we are gonna pull the trigger on a cayman soon for her.

The exhaust lol i love it!!! Lolol few people commented on it their

it was a great time, thanks for the invite.

 

Sounds like fun,

I play tennis about 6 hours a week, and wouldn't you know, on Saturday morning I rolled my right ankle. Hobbled off and knew my Sunday track day was toast. Would like to have seen you guys and said hi.

Coolant spewing ducks. That's my biggest problem with essentially unregulated groups doing track days. I like the guys running 3 ***** but in my 3 or 4 runs with them I saw such stupid (rolling a Bmw at Waterford) to cars that were death traps spewing parts and liquid everywhere, that I've preferred to do this with either PCA or BMWCCA. I'll do a few private events with Platinum this year too, but those are much smaller.

 

I do wish the 3 ***** group (or any of them) would tell the Chump / Champ Car teams to **** off. They are building a "race" car for as little as possible and then ruining everyone else's fun when their cars break down. I've had at least three Champ Car teams lose their coolant on track at a 3 ***** event. As much fun as it can be, it's a racing series with zero requirement for driving skill or vehicle building ability. Questionable quality cars build by questionable intelligence persons and driven by questionable skill drivers. Who puts a ****ing plywood wing on a race car and expects it to last?

 

there goes my idea for a new wing lol

 

so Scooby, whats the difference from what I attended Saturday vs what you guys are talking about with this 3 ball thing?

oh and for the record so everyone knows... my car wasn't built for as little as possible and nothing out of plywood... wait let me think.. ya pretty sure no plywood lolol all high quality parts here

Scooby don't bring up my tire mounting abilities

 

The 3 ***** Racing group is much better planned, organized, scheduled, and run. To avoid food delivery issues, lunch is usually just lunch meat and make your own sandwich, or they cook burgers and hotdogs on a grill. Lunch is also included in your entry fee, not additional cost. They are also better about keeping people in their run groups, and bumping people up or down a run group depending on speed and skill. Their events handle 2-3x as many drivers with fewer hiccups. But I don't want to bash Midnight / Chad after one event. The 3 ***** group took a few years and learned their lessons to achieve their current efficiency. As long as Chad is learning from his planning mistakes I expect his events to get better.

Now there are still issues here and there as Andy mentioned. You still get people out there with questionable cars. Because 3 ***** makes you perform your own vehicle inspection they can't stop you from lying about it. It releases them of the liability for signing off on an unsafe car, but it does allow an unsafe car onto the track. No different than this weekend with the inspection form you had to fill out and bring with you. If your car had a problem it's your problem. The car that lost its coolant was the questionable / shoddy silver BMW 540i that was missing 1.5 bumpers. It didn't look track capable or ready in the first place, so I'm not the least bit surprised that it died. I'm an *******, but the kid got what he deserved. Considering the second car he brought was still wearing winter tires I think it's obvious he didn't read nor care about the safety inspection form and what's appropriate for a track day. We also overheard him bragging about lying to his parents about studying for classes at a friend's house while he was at the race track instead.

 

winter tires on a track? omg thats ridiculous

so when is the next track day that everyone is going to? now that i have my new catted x pipe installed I might be able to go to a track without breaking the db meter

 

Crap like that is exactly why I tend to stick to the more established organizers. I was probably with 3 ***** when they were teething a few years back. In my few days with them, I saw a Lotus that was so clearly overdone drain all its oil at Gingerman over a quarter mile, making us lose half a day; a dumb kid in a BMW 128 done up with a cage and AIM literally roll it over on the uphill tire wall at Waterford-- going no more than 30 MPH-- because he forgot to take his foot off the gas; coolant spewing at Grattan; a wheel come off a car at Grattan when the idiot forgot to torque his studs; an engine detonate on a Civic with a cage sending metal parts on to the track; and, best, an old Datsun "race car" backfire so hard that the rear end fiberglass caught fire. The driver didn't realize his car was literally on fire, nor did he realize for about half a lap why the corner workers were red-flagging everyone before it was put out. And, best of all, after he had the fire put out, he determined that it was fine to drive later in the day, and they let him. There is also the couple with an old BMW-- he fat as a pig but with a driving suit-- who were initially told their brake pads were too worn to drive, but after much yelling and screaming were made to sign a second waiver and were sent off in the brakeless car in some run group. (To be fair, that may have been an Autointerest track day).

I agree, the Chump cars are ridiculous. They're also usually too slow by half to even be on a track with a modern car. I recall a guy in a E36 Chump car going maybe 45MPH around Gingerman. Black flagged, but so what, he ignored it.

That's why the PCA and BMW rules make me feel more confident. Guys with real race cars, or a car they really don't want to lose tend to be more professional about the whole thing.

 

aww I see. That bmw arrived about an hour before we left... it looked pretty ruff. I didn't think he was there to race, I figured he was a spectator. After doing the event.. I think I would be afraid to hit the track with less then a worthy car. it felt pretty intense on the car to be risking anything.

 

I can't because my kid's graduating college, but next week on May 14 the Rally Sport Region PCA has a day at Waterford Hills. I'm a member and the RCR track days are great.

 

Tekkie we need to get together.. I want to compare the sound of our exhausts. yours sounded amazing when we cruised and now mine is done and love it so I'm curious the differences

How do you get involved in it/this stuff? become members etc. I'm completely new to this stuff and it is fun. pretty sure a cayman is in the plans soon for my wife who wants to do it as well.

Michigan needs more Porsche get together events lol

 

There are two sites that let you search and find track events throughout the US, https://www.motorsportreg.com and https://clubregistration.net . When you look for track events on either one of the web sites you will see who is sponsoring them. Each of these will let you register for a track day or weekend, just look for HPDE events. 3 *****, Autointerests, and a few others like Chin, VRPerformance and some I'm forgetting list events through the Motorsport and ClubReg sites. There are also essentially private events, like the Midnight Film one, that you have to hear about in other ways.

I like the events that are PCA-run for the reasons I said earlier in the thread. You typically don't have to be a member of PCA to attend a track event but if you join you get a discount. There are two PCA groups in Michigan, the Rally Sport Region and Southeast Michigan PCA group. The RSR group does more track events, but both sponsor events in the area throughout the season. The Toledo area PCA group, the Maumee Region PCA also does track events in Michigan and Mid-Ohio, and they too are a good group of (mostly) guys. PCA events are run under a set of PCA national club rules. The instructors are often older and have experience showing newbies around. Passing rules are typically enforced, and they insist on third-party track inspections and will take a look at your car.

The same goes for BMWCCA-sponsored track days. I've run a few of those over the years and they are mpretty much the same.

If you've got the bug, do the RSR one at Waterford Hills next week, registration is open until Friday I believe. PM me if you have any more questions, i'd be happy to help.