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oh gosh, i've been pretty delinquent in providing any updates here.
couple of track-related comments:
1) Hoosiers are bonkers... love the grip. the time difference between freshies and heat cycled out tires is about 4 seconds for me!
2) These Apex wheels are fantastic, so lucky to be doing this during a time when wheel options are more abundant. I can have stock wheels w pilot sports for standing water/snow on track, and two sets of apex with hoosiers and haven't broken the bank too badly.
3) The brake rotor + pad combo was fantastic and confidence inspiring... thanks for the easy-button package, Essex!
I didn't get much track time this season due to some family stuff and travel, but when i did get to play it was a blast. A shot from HPR paddock before first session of the day, and some office shots/proof of life:
Time to get to work !
Now that our season is officially over here in Colorado, i am enjoying driving the car through the mountains and peeping on some aspens as they change into their winter clothes.
Nothing much planned for the off-/next-season... maybe finally getting around to installing the passenger side seat and harness.
3) The brake rotor + pad combo was fantastic and confidence inspiring... thanks for the easy-button package, Essex!
I'm glad the Ferodo pads and AP Racing J Hook Discs are working so well for you. Thank you very much for your support! From one 997 owner to another, love your car, and the aero kit looks the business!
__________________
'09 Carrera 2S, '08 Boxster LE (orange), '91 Acura NSX, Tesla Model 3 Performance, Fiesta ST
Jeff Ritter
Mgr. High Performance Division, Essex Parts Services Essex Designed AP Racing Radi-CAL Competition Brake Kits & 2-piece J Hook Discs Ferodo Racing Brake Pads Spiegler Stainless Steel Brake Lines
704-824-6030 jeff.ritter@essexparts.com
well... idle minds do wander.
i spent a bit of time lusting after a similarly optioned, same year, Turbo... but decided against it ultimately. turns out, the best car to lightly-mod and take to the track, is the one you already own.
after a cooling off period, i came back to my car and finally installed the passenger seat, perhaps i'll take instruction from pros a bit this season.
while the car sits, i'm always drawn back to mild improvements in engine airflow. all previous cars i owned and modified i spent a bit of time trying to optimize the n/a engine as an air pump. i had some great success with this with my '99 integra gsr (would love to have that car back again), and to a similar extent my E46M GTS race car. both of those engines were fantastic examples that just needed some flow optimization. the 3.8L in the current car is also pretty great, but i am sure there is room, considering the packaging constraints.
these mods will consist of elements that impact/minimize pumping losses. so breathing in and breathing out... these things should be smoothed out, while not sacrificing torque and the necessary back-pressure on the exhaust side (as well as keeping the car street-legal in Colorado, where we have adopted much, if not all, CARB metrics).
starting at the airbox - the box itself does a really good job of isolating intake air from outside (cool) and not commingling it with engine bay (hot) air, so no changes other than a better air filter.
from there, the snorkel from box to throttle body could be smoothed as i don't care about induction 'noise'.
the throttle body itself is a tuning opportunity... the OE 74mm TB is upgraded to an 82mm TB on the GT3... and so, what's good for the goose is good for the gander... Soler performance further improves the GT3 TB to create an 'effective' 86mm TB.
and if want to play that game with the GT3 TB you need to upgrade the plenum, that's where IPD comes in... their Competition plenum mates up and includes the proper sized silicon snorkel.
i am hoping for a string of warmer weather to clear the roads around here so that i can do some before/after MAF readings... check out this thread for some technical details.
until then, no install photos... just stuff sitting on my desk taunting me
after i get some before/after test data from these, i'll be adding performance cats and software.
Interesting to keep tabs on your thread since our cars and our track interests seem to align.
Couple suggestions for you FWIW.
I deleted my rear seats and the Bose subwoofer module and the associated padding. Amazing but all of that was 40 lbs! I found a few DIY posts and videos, but it's very easy on your own. Less than an hour of work. So, the added weight of my new 34 lb rollbar is "paid for".
Also, I added Rennline track mats in front (both sides) since the stock carpet otherwise can get trashed a bit since the floor mats are not allowed on track. They're aluminum and hardly weight anything.
I also removed the rear seat backs (the lowers are just velcro attached and weigh almost nothing, but IMO look better than the bare carpet) and belts and the Bose speaker went when i installed the Ohlins, as the adjusters wouldn't be accessible with the speaker in place and as you mentioned, it wasn't necessary in my weight-loss program.
The BK harness bar is perfectly good for my purposes. A 'real' rollbar, one that bolts to/through the floor pan would be an upgrade i'd consider, but i'm still not 100% committed to irreversible modifications.
I have floor mats, somewhere, but they haven't been in the car in a long while. i've been keeping an eye on my driver-side mat just to make sure i'm not wearing it, i've seen the rennline pieces and have considered them as well, but it would likely accompany a full carpet removal (again, not ready to commit to that yet).
Dragged the space heater to the garage and it wasn't a difficult job at all.
Removing the airbox, TB, and plenum took probably 10 minutes... i spent probably the rest of the hour cleaning otherwise hard to reach places.
Comparing the OEM C2S TB and plenum with the Soler 86 and IPD comp pieces it's easy to see the volume differences, hoping there are some actual flow increases as well.
Putting the IPD plenum in wasn't difficult, just required some creative thinking... installing the rubber boots on the plenum resulted in a side-to-side width of 8", where the opening between the intake runners was 7".
So pushing the rubber boots up onto the body of the plenum allowed for easy positioning... but a fussy effort at getting the boots off the plenum and onto the runners when space and sight became extremely limited.
Eventually, i got everything aligned and hardware installed for a nice fit.
A new air filter was scheduled anyway, but an upgrade to BMC's is a nice bonus.
The real PITA was getting the air tube from airbox to TB mounted... i got it, but i think it may be a little longer than idea as the airbox is pushed a little to the rear (still fully in all three mounts).
Now to wait again... until the roads clear from the latest snow storm before i can get back out and check the MAF values.
After that i'll install the Soul performance cats and rerun the data.
Added Soul sport cats this past weekend.
No real difference in power potential from the MAF values... may need more time to adjust, or might need software to capitalize on new flow potential... that's next.
Comments from the install, which i did without removing anything other than the cats... may have been easier if i removed the mufflers first, but it wasn't necessary.
Had to allow some slack on the post-cat O2 sensors (black wires) to reach the new post-cat bung location on the Soul parts.
After installation the sound was the same just amplified like 2x.
Some pics from the cat replacement. OEM gutted Comparison Swapped
This is a great thread that I have saved for the time being when I have money to really pour into my 08 C2S. Question for you, @delirium45 , and anyone else more experienced with the M97 than I am: if I wanted to take my car to a couple of HPDE days a year and do plenty of spirited back roads drive through the year, what mods should I be looking to do to make sure I protect the engine from bore scoring and the large bearing from failure (although my shop says that my bearing is completely covered in oil all the time so I shouldn’t worry)
This is a great thread that I have saved for the time being when I have money to really pour into my 08 C2S. Question for you, @delirium45 , and anyone else more experienced with the M97 than I am: if I wanted to take my car to a couple of HPDE days a year and do plenty of spirited back roads drive through the year, what mods should I be looking to do to make sure I protect the engine from bore scoring and the large bearing from failure (although my shop says that my bearing is completely covered in oil all the time so I shouldn’t worry)
I've had about 5 track days since the year started, and the car is running like a top.
Just add fuel and tires, and change the oils.
Only challenge i have had is with the brakes getting a bit squishy after several hot laps at the limit.. i have upgraded the fluid to RBF660, pads to Ferrodo DS3.12, and front rotors to AP 350mm discs.
With the car being a good bit lower than stock 'sport' ride height, i wonder if i am getting any airflow into the rotors.
Anyone have a real solution for brake cooling / ducting, as the underbody air 'guides' don't seem to be doing very much for me ?
I've had about 5 track days since the year started, and the car is running like a top.
Just add fuel and tires, and change the oils.
Only challenge i have had is with the brakes getting a bit squishy after several hot laps at the limit.. i have upgraded the fluid to RBF660, pads to Ferrodo DS3.12, and front rotors to AP 350mm discs.
With the car being a good bit lower than stock 'sport' ride height, i wonder if i am getting any airflow into the rotors.
Anyone have a real solution for brake cooling / ducting, as the underbody air 'guides' don't seem to be doing very much for me ?
It's what we use in NASCAR Cup, IMSA, etc...currently one of the elite fluids in the market with the highest boiling points. Most people also note an improved pedal with this formulation over something like Castrol SRF.
If the fluid is then still boiling, then it may be a thermal mass issue with the discs, which means you'd want to go a bit bigger. Something like our front CP9661 or CP9669/372mm brake kit would be the hot ticket. Our Comp Kits make all brake issues go bye-bye permanently, regardless of how else you mod the car. https://www.essexparts.com/my-vehicl...2S/Iron%20disc
That is a big initial expense however, so obviously I'd try to go the fluid route and air deflector route first. I would be very careful about trying to install full ducts, however. We have seen that in most cases, ducts on road cars tend to lead to worse performance than better. Here's an article I wrote on the topic a while back: Do I need brake ducts on my track car?
Also, make sure you're doing a good cool-down lap at the end of track sessions. I've seen many folks boil fluid by hastily coming off the track and parking the car without any type of cool down lap. Once the air stops flowing, the brakes just sit their and cook!
10-17-2022, 05:40 PM
