dnitake

I was exploring the GGR PCA web site as I think about stepping into time trialing. Truly fascinating to see all the classes and how the handicap system works. (Truly fascinating to see how many uninsured rich people there are too <just joking>). I have a bone stock 996 C2 w/ R rubber. This would appear to rate 600 pts which would put it at the top of the TT9 class. Now if I had put that lightweight flywheel in (5 pts), I would be at the bottom of TT8.
So for all you DE'rs out there, this is worth checking out before mod'ing your car at least just to see what PCA thinks of said mods w/ regard to handicap points. For example, R-rubber is 100pts. Not sure how the other pca orgs do it, but here is the URL for GGR

http://www.pca-ggr.org/

38D

So true. Folks should also check out the racing rules (PCA/POC/NASA, etc) before they mod their car.

forklift

I am getting ready to take my Autothority MAF/chip out for this reason...and it will be for sale.

Edit, selling the MAF not the RSA.

Larry Herman

Uh oh Jim. No more 1:25s at Summit now!

dnitake

I find it weird that a base 996 C2 is 500 and a base 996 Turbo is 550. So my car w/ R-tires should dispose of a Twin Turbo car to car (of course, all else being equal)? The type of track would matter, but the venues are Buttonwillow, Thunderhill, and Laguna (didn't see Infineon) and I don't think they adjust for a HP vs. handling track.. A stock GT2 on the other hand is 725. A zillion comparisons can be made w/ all the mods and all the models, and the people assigning the handicaps are I believe human, but paying an extra $40K for a TT and get only 50 points??? :-)

Tom W

It's always good to look at the rules before you spend money. You have to decide why you're doing the mod you're considering. Is the mod to "go faster" or are you trying to win in a particular class?

I think that you'll find most of the fun in GGR time trials is in the sessions where you see if you are faster than or slower than someone else in your run group. The TT is fine for giving others a hard time if you end up being faster, but most fun is in the normal sessions. Try it without any mods for a while first and see how it goes. Besides, as a beginner the mods are not going to have much impact on your lap times.

See you at Infineon/Sears Point for TT #1 on Feb 25...

dnitake

I kinda spun that last sentence wrong, since it would (I think since I've never had a TT on the track) beneficial for the TT owner to only get hit by 50 points for an extra 115HP, wider wheels/tires, etc. Maybe the few hundred extra pounds puts the performance so close?

Tom W

The point system is a more recent development and most agree it will require "tweaks" in the future. Hell, my putt-putt car with medium mods was rated in TT5 with more points than a GT3 or GT2. Don't look for perfection in the new system, you won't find it. Just go out and have some fun.

dnitake

Hi Tom,
Absolutely, fun is key. I've been involved in handicapping sailboats and it gets taken SO seriously by a few, I wonder why they even bother. No intent to rant on GGR or the rating system at all. I have found that ratings tend to pretty good though to the say 10% level. And the C2 vs TT thing caught my eye because initially I thought the difference might be miles apart more like a GT2.
Oh boy, Infineon on Feb 25 huh? My first TT is going to be Infineon for cryin' out loud? That is the best track around but still has me more than a bit freaked. OK where's my pills...

karlooz

your first TT at infineon, hell is it your first time at infineon? just joking around.

more than likely going to rain . past 5 years or so the infineon TT has been rained out. the DE still went on though.

see ya there in TT5.

Tom W

I'm planning to be there Feb 4/5 (NASA) and Feb 24 (TrackMasters) and 25/26 (PCA), so I'll have plenty of chances to get rained on. That won't be too bad for me as I've never been able to get there before due to work and travel, so going slow in the rain is one way to learn the track.

Hey, your avatar shows you in what looks like the corkscrew, so you've survived LS. You should be able to survive Infineon.

dnitake

I've done a couple of DE's there, and it is the best circuit in NorCal in my opinion. Just don't screw up or you will have to explain to your wife why you just took a $500 taxi ride home. "Honey, that's the GOOD news...".
Running against a clock really won't change things for me as there is no way I'm going into a wall just because the timing made me get too gonzo. Not saying it won't happen, just not for that reason.
It is an amazing place though.
Rain... Sounds like a pretty good bet this year too.

dnitake

Tom W,
Was at Laguna w/ CDS a few weeks ago. It would seem we're pretty lucky here in the Bay Area to have such epic places to drive within a couple of hours.
Time Trialing is a more serious. The insurance is the big one. Any recommendations for these type of events?

dnitake

Hey,
As I reread the stuff I wrote, did I sound cocky? I'm not cocky. Bad juju to be cocky. Oh god, I'll have to get someone to read this and tell me if I'm was being cocky. If it seemed so, I'm really not, OK? Maybe a bunch of smileys will prevent me from getting jinxed. :-), :-), :-) squared. Did I pick the right smiley? Oh jeez, I hope so. What else might the Gpd of concrete and armco need to be appeased? Helpp...

forklift

LOL, I figure that thing is worth 2 seconds, but have no idea. I can't remember what the car was like before it. Maybe I will step up to the plate and get some Hoosiers and Motons and try to get some time back...yeah right. I have a feeling that if I do decide to race I will be driving to the track on my Toyos.

I am going to try to pull 150#s out of it though and try to get down to 2,760, but that won't be easy.