I do an event with Carolina's region at VIR every November. Great event, two weeks before Thanksgiving so everyone is in a holiday mood, weather is beautiful, etc. They have an approved list of shops and absolutely check to make sure that the shop that did your form is on the list. I don't know what happens if it isn't, even though I live way out of region the shop I use for tech happens to be listed in their doc...but they're listed in the guide under their full business name and the stamp is an abbreviation and I've had to explain that a couple of times in the tech line. I think they say that you can get a shop added to the list fairly easily but...if it's that easy why bother maintaining a list? Maybe this is one of those policies that exists because something happened once, like the warnings on chainsaws that you shouldn't shave your face with it or something. They're also the only region I've ever run with that physically checked to make sure my harnesses were pinned. I appreciate the attention to detail and considerations for safety but it feels a little overboard. Good people and good event, though.

 

I've done 6 or 7 PCA events, across two different PCA groups. Have always been able to utilize self inspections. Same applies to the other half dozen track organizations I have ran with over the past 7-8 years.

I have a lift and generally do all maintenance myself. I'm not a trained mechanic. But I have decades of working on my car and a few others.

More importantly, the check list is not hard to execute against:

Roll Bars/ Cages: Mandatory for all open & semi-open cars without manufacturer’s structural or deploying roll over protection; roll bars must pass the broomstick rule and must be covered with closed cell foam padding in any place where a helmet could come in contact with the bar. Open Cars with no roof must use arm restraints.

Safety Restraints: Factory or better installation in both seats; must be securely mounted; belts not frayed; equal restraints for passenger and driver. 4 point harnesses prohibited except Schroth Quick Fit on Schroth-approved car models only. 5-, 6- and 7-point harnesses must use seat with factory routing holes. Expiration dates adhere to SFI and FIA notification in DE Minimum Standards. Harnesses more than 5 years old must be replaced. Three point belts are not allowed with non-factory racing seats

Head and Neck Restraint (HANS): Required with harnesses.

Structural Integrity: No loose body or interior parts; no structural rust at or near suspension points.

Doors: Must be operational from inside and outside.

Windshield: No cracks in front windshield in driver’s direct line of sight. Does not impair vision.

Mirrors & Glass: Minimum of single mirror in good condition and securely mounted. All mirrors and glass must be intact

Brake Lights: Functioning and visible brake lights.

Turn Signals: For registered street cars, functioning and visible turn signals, left and right and front and back. Not required for unregistered race cars.

Gas Cap: In place and secure, gasket intact.

Fluids: NO DRIPPING LEAKS of any fluid of any type.

Fluid Lines (Brake, Fuel, Coolant): Routed correctly. No dry rot, cracks or leakage. Metal brake lines should not have rust or leakage. Check braided steel lines annually

Battery: Check for general condition of cables, corrosion, or signs of leakage. Battery should remain securely fastened when wiggled vigorously. Positive terminal covered

Throttle Return: Freely operating and proper spring(s). (NOTE: only ~26 years since Porsche 911's had these....)

Belts: Fan and other auxiliary belts in good condition with proper tension.

Brakes/Clutch Pedal: Brake pedal must be firm. Clutch Pedal must not bind and operate smoothly

Engine Compartment / Fluids (general): No excessive engine oil, coolant, or power steering fluid leaks. Hoses/ wires must be in good cond. w/ no cracks/ abrasions, and secured away from all moving parts.

Date of last brake fluid flush: Fluid type:

Brake Fluid: Sufficient brake fluid; premium fluid recommended. Brake fluid must be changed 90 days before first event, and 180 days thereafter.

FOR PORSCHE GT PASSENGER SEATS ONLY
Installation of anti-submarine belt per Section 10(h) of Minimum Standards
Additional inspection must be performed to ensure there is no fraying or weakening of harness belts, especially in area of seat punch-out.

Wheels – Overall Condition: No cracks, bends or flaws.

Wheel Bolts & Lugs: All nuts engaged; pay special attention to after-market wheels.

Wheel Center Locks: Make sure locking devices are fully engaged. Caps must be remove

Tires: General good condition. No cracks, cuts, cords or blisters; The tires used at the track should be teched on this form.

Brake System: Sufficient brake pads (3/16”/4.88mm minimum); rotors and pads are in good condition; no cuts or abrasions in brake lines. There should be no visible cracks extending to the edge of the rotor. With co-driver, pads should exceed minimum standard.

Vehicle MUST be raised to complete the remaining inspections:
Wheel Bearings: Proper free rotation; No looseness in hub.

Front & Rear Suspension: No excessive play; ball joints and tie rods secure; boots and all seals in good condition. No leaking from shocks/struts

Rear & Rear Axles: Check half-shaft bolts, half shaft boots in good condition; mounting hardware in good condition; no leakage.

Exhaust: Securely fastened and in good condition.

Rubber Brake Hoses and Fuel Hoses: Routed correctly. No dry rot, cracks or leakage. Metal brake lines should not have rust or leakage. Check braided steel lines annually.

 

The obvious counter point there is that people will just sign off their own cars without looking at it, and/or not having any idea of what they’re looking at. Which will lead to track incidents.

 

But it doesnt. In the last 4 years , for me, there have been just as many black flags at the pca events as there have been at private events. I will also bet 9 out of the 10 of those incedents would have never been caught by an inspection. The requirement for inspections r basic at best and the kicker is it clearly states on the form the the inspector/inspection shop is not liable. Its kind of a joke and only in place to satisfy the insurace requirement.

I can personally say no mechanic will ever critique my car as hard as i do. Its my a$$ in the seat doing 130mph(ish) up the esses at wg.

 

Maybe it's something about PCA drivers that need them


I do tech inspections for my region and we had someone come to the last one with an active brake line leak .

Overall though Hooked on Driving doesn't do anything other then have you check a box online that your care is good , and you are responsible for it.

 

If you have a PCA logbook'ed race car, do you still need a pre-inspection done by a shop to participate in a PCA DE?

 

I have seen this myself. My region does not do HPDEs so we have to drive to an outside region for these. That makes it virtually impossible to use their "approved" shops. Even after discussing it with that regions CDI and Safety chair some want to approve a local to us shop/dealership instead. I always wondered how that approval works. Easiest for me is not to support them as there are other ones just as far away with more situational awareness.

 

according to the PCA national minimum standards, yes. But you can skip the morning tech line, apparently, if the region allows:

from here
Again, regions can have more stringent requirements than the national standards and I don’t know that I’ve ever been to an event where this was allowed. And I can understand that to avoid adding complexity to a process run by volunteers at 7AM but it would sure be nice if they did this.

they ought to just exempt cars with current PCA logbooks from tech inspections entirely, considering you can race wheel to wheel with just a logbook but you can’t go to a DE without the hassle of getting the car tech’d. And then just send people home if their car causes any kind of incident. I think that would be a nice balance of accountability…we trust racers to take care of their car, but you don’t get any leeway when your car disrupts the event. Or you can get your car tech’d and be treated like everyone else.

 

And I’ve failed cars at Tech for having brake fluid that looked like Coca Cola, or was blue (Ate Super Blue hasn’t been made in over a decade), worn, mismatched tires on all wheels, grossly worn out brake pads, the list goes on and on.

For every person like you out there, there are ten more that just drive their cars and have NO idea mechanically what’s going on with it…

 

Im sure there r plenty of stories of crappy cars that get inspected and should fail ot need repaired. I fix jeep frame rails that have been rusted in half and folks r still driving them. I get it people suck and they r lazy.

What i am saying is that the pca requirement is only driven by the insurance. The inspection holds no one or any entity liable. Its randomly applied, differently accross regions which makes it reatrictive and in the op's case expensive.

This is not how u encourage new/younger drivers. I run 30+ days with pca and private. There is probably a 20yr average age difference and this is an issue. Also i regularly run with 6-7 guys that have newish cars that will not run with pca because the inspections r a pita. So much is left on the table because the policy isnt enforced consistanty......sound familure?

 

Just a PSA, that those running prepped race cars at DEs will want to consider having proper race inspections done periodically, because of increased wear from race parts that transmit more vibrations and higher stress loads, etc. nut&bolting and removing under-panels, etc done by a qualified race tech (unfortunateley that = $$).

 

Really we're talking about 2 days, over a hundred miles of travel and some dollars sometimes, to get your car teched for an HPDE and then let's face it, you're out there in your Porsche for a Porsche HPDE on track with Miatas etc., to fill the field, that you can later see in the pits on jacks, with parts strewn everywhere and slapped back together the last minute before session release. wtf, or stopping at pitout with the driver yelling torque my wheel, no, no the right front, hurry!!?!

The other thing is the nastiest attitudes I ever see while volunteering to tech for HPDE come from racers.
Most of the time it's always about the #'s and the helmets. ****ing retarded really.

 

Or u r on track with a gt4 that was prepped at a race shop and its braking like crap....so its in the garage getting the front end torn apart because the tech installed the brake pads backward. It works both ways and your generalization that somehow porsches at porsche event r immune from issues or not the problem any more infrequently then other cars is crazy.

Anything u put in the track is eventually gonna have an issue so blaming another demigraphic is pointless.

Again i think inspections have their place and so does self inspect. Not sure what the answer is but incossistant enforcement and requirements are deff not it.

 

racers and advanced drivers, in my experience. Dude, don't get mad at me because I'm asking the guy in the passenger seat to see his instructors wristband or trying to check your damn harnesses. Them's the rules, and if it means you get 3 seconds less track time then that's just how it goes. People spend more time being pissed off at the question than it would take to just answer it and move on. I try to volunteer on the grid or morning tech line at least a few times each event and dealing with some of the attitudes really helps me keep my own attitude in check when another VOLUNTEER (often with a green wristband) asks me to check something that I think is silly because that's what they were told to do. I did a DMTD event last week and it was wonderful to just have an open track, no inspections, etc. PCA DEs have some rules that I find cumbersome and think could be improved but if any of us are REALLY that put out by them there are other options.

 

I will admit to having done that when I was rushing to get a brake job done, but a) it was my car and b) I caught it before I put the wheel back on because I always double check after a friend told me a wonderful story about his dad having done this exact thing back in the day. But someone being paid to work on a track car? WITAF