Turn3 Autosport

At our tech day with Matt, which I believe you are attending, there should be an 2006, 2007 (09 spec grand am), 2008 and 2011 cars there for you to see. I believe the 08 car may be available.....

Cheers

FFaust

So for the initiated, how does a 997 cup car fit in with the DE/lapping crowd? Strictly on the practical side, is the sequential a problem if you are constantly coming up on slower traffic, and have to slow down to wait for a pass? Or do you just slow down a bit and still shift at WOT when the road opens up?

fleadh

It's not a problem, but you'll get no clear laps unless you're in a run group with other race cars.

-mike

FFaust

Thanks Mike, makes sense.

Otherwise, just wondering if it's possible to be gentle on the box, or if every shift is a slam. Like on a bike, you can shift smoothly --> possible on a cup sequential?

SSTHO

Getting better at the track and get more experience. No current goal to start racing seriously - time and budget is the issue.

Will be driving on the West Coast. Happy to keep a car in the US and fly down for arrive ND drive.

Yes, stock 996 is what I think I'm looking for to ease my way in.

Thanks everyone - info and advice is much appreciated!

SSTHO

I run in the top group locally. I have few DE's in PNWR and feel comfortable running quickly with the 2nd to the top group. I only have 4 DE's this year. None in the year before and ~30-40 in my last few 5 years.

I am a smooth driver, focus on consistency, and pushing a good pace. I am not at a racing level, but feel that I would need coaching to break out of my comfort zone and more experiences at different tracks.

SSTHO

Thanks Jeff! Looking forward to this.

early_grayce

I had quite a bit more experience than that when I bought my 7 Cup, and I have to say transitioning to a Cup car is intense. It's not anything like driving a 993, 996GT3 and even less like a 997 GT3. It takes serious focus and control. In your situation I would probably suggest a 6Cup... Lack of ABS and the sequential in the 7 requires that you be VERY comfortable with everything else. On the other hand, I'm a fan of "if you're going to go for it, go hard".... so if you do decide to get the 7, PLEASE hire a good coach and expect a few weekends at least with them. Just factor that into the price and be done with it.
Either way, you're going to have a blast!!

James-GMG

SSTHO,


First off, welcome to the potential passion and extreme fun of driving/racing a Cup car. No street car can give you the thrill of a pure race car, despite the GT3/RS being such a capable street car for the track.

There is so many things to consider when buying a Cup car and you should certainly take your time during your search to find the right car as well as the proper support for your needs/goals.

I have sold 2 Cup cars to the Vancouver area in the past 9 months and will be potentially working with a 3rd, so if you need any assistance with your search, please feel free to call me at GMG.

Plus, if you are interested in running the car on the west coast, we have a 2nd Tier of Racing Support for POC/PCA that supports Club racers, in addition to the separate Pro Racing Support. We are looking to expand our Club Support for 2012 and would be happy to give you some guidance during this process for you.

Regardless, if/when you buy a Cup car, you will quickly realize how much more fun a Cup car is to track vs a converted street car......not to mention so much safer.


Cheers,

James
GMG

J richard

You'd want to get moved to the fastest rungroup so you can drive "flatout"...

FFaust

bperry

Agree with the 996 Cup with stock power. ABS and an H pattern gear box makes the transition somewhat easier. There are so many opportunities in club racing with these cars. You should expect a steep learning curve to drive theses cars fast even moving from a GT3 street car. If you've never driven a race car on slicks it's an eye opener!

GTgears

I would say it's more a matter of being attentive than being gentle. Trying to be gentle is one of the biggest noob mistakes in moving up to a sequential gearbox. With a synchronized gearbox, you've got a built in "pause" as you make the shift while the synchro synchronizes.

A sequential is a kind of a dog box, with no synchros


The bang and the slam is the dog teeth on the gear locking into the slider/claw collar.

It requires committment. You've got to pull the sequential gearbox solidly and completely into gear as a single swift movement. But that's not to say that you can't do it with mechanical empathy while you learn to drive the car. The clutch, while not used in upshifts in racing, still works. You can still clutch while you learn to drive the car. And nobody is forcing you to flat foot shift at redline without lifting the throttle. There's things you can do to be more sure of getting clean shifts while you learn the car. And then once you do, you'll be able to shift faster than you ever have in another car.

BrandonH

huh, thats interesting, thanks for that. Actually not that different mechanically from shifting a hewland without a clutch, in fact the only difference is the hewland still has an 'H' pattern.
So could it be the only difference between a sequential and the racing boxes that have been around since the sixties is the linkage design??

GTgears

In some instances yes, and specifically yes in the Hollinger designed Cup Car gearbox. The box in the Cup Car still uses rods and forks that, while upgraded and stronger, are still somewhat similar to the ones in the H-pattern 996 GT3 Cup and GT3 street cars.

Many purpose built and designed sequentials do it differently. What they do is use a full length drum with all of the shift forks on it. All idler gears are on the pinion shaft and all fixed gears are on the mainshaft. The Porsche Cup gearbox isn't like this. It alternates pairs back and forth like a street box. Hewland, Ricardo and Xtrac sequentials often do it differently, as will ours.

But the root answer to your question is that a sequential is generally a variant of the good old dog box.