Mark Anderson

Thanks for all the positive comments. I must say my old car even suprised me. I had never been particulary fast at Laguna but this year my car seemed to be really hooked up. I need to check the alignment numbers and document them so I can return to this set up in the future. Stephanowicz has always been amazing at Laguna and it will be interesting to see his times with the new track surface.

VZ935

Mark.. what is your take on the new surface? What were the noticeable differences? I only got to turn a few laps at the Historic's and that was in a car with an injection problem with no power so no real laps or opportunity to get a feel for it.

Mark Anderson

My seat of the pants comparison is that there is more grip. I don't think that the reshaping of the straight leading up to the cork screw added any speed but my car just seemed to grip better. I talked to others who thought it was slower but they were in the minority. It would be interesting to see from someone who has data logging what the differences they are seeing. I just know I was almost 4 seconds faster this year and my times in the past have been within 1 second for the past 5 years.

mark kibort

I think you guys are getting the message. Sure, Stefanowitz would have his way with the Anderson 928 if he showed up and didnt break down! (how many races has he either crashed, black flagged or broke?)

If you look at the service record of Marks car and more to the point, my car ( the holbert 928 stock racer, no stroker engine, no mods except headers, suspension and wheels and tires.) the point is, with little effort and very little money, the cars do some amazing things. my stock 928, at near the same weight as Grand Am Cup GS (remember, factory race cars such as the new mustangs with crate engines, new BMW 320rwhp M3s, porsche 996s, 350z, etc) all driven by the best drivers around . (ie Auberlin, Law, Said, even our own Anders Hainer, etc etc) Im running with in a second of those guys at laguna at 1:40.2 and my car has no prep work, little mods and is 20 years older!!!!

The point is, the 928 is a pretty cool car. too bad porsche didnt really put any effort into it being a real race car in any point in time. Mark and I do most all our own work on the car, and even though mark has the bigger engine, it hasnt been any less dependable.

Now, the reality check. We always get all lathered up about times. Laguna is definitely differnet. Monza ran a 3 second faster time that the exsiting record there, and we have no other reference points. Mark Andersion ran 1:35s there for years in his car, running even a 1:35.xx with world chanllenge on DOTS, carrying 200 more lbs than usual too. however, his best time there was in the 1:34s with slicks. The cup cars, even in the supercup series last year ran 1:32s, while Henzler in the motorsport upgraded version ( like a restricted GT3RS as far as power) , ran a 1:30.xx in qual and 1:32 in the race. I would think that since mark has made no changes to his car and ran on beater tires as well as good ones and ranged from 1:30.8 to 1:32, there is a great chance the track is 2 seconds faster or more.

We will find out on Oct 1st with our SCCA race. If i run 1:38, we know its the track! (ive been running low 1:40.xx since 2002 at laguna in my car with little changes.)

Back to Mark Andersons 928. Talk about tuning and set up. Its has definitley evolved over the years, but hardly has been tuned professionally. It might be the nature of the car, but we have never seen that much difference in its handling due to different types of setup or even gear ratio changes. mark runs a stock transmission, stock ECU with no tuning, stock injectors, and a rising rate fuel regulator. (you see more trick stuff in your local highschool parking lot). Its 6.5 liters with a $3000custom CF intake that bought him 50 more hp vs the stroker engine mod alone.
Even if Loren had big restriction and didnt know his way around laguna like mark, its still amazing to see how this amount of technology can produce such a fast car.

a more recent comparison is at Sears point. mark has run a 1:39.9 there as his best time. Stefanowitz runs generally 1:37s and 1:38s on his best days. Look at the technology that these guys have. best tires, sequential gear boxes, CF everything, motors built to the hilt, 800hp, spotters, pit crew, logistic people, etc. Mark shows up in his truck, alone, races the entire weekend with no help and drives the rig home. (and his motor has 4.5 seasons on it too!) Heck, my motor hasnt been apart since it was made 20 years ago in Stuggart and 60 race days later, still kicking! Got to love it!

MK

Colin Emerson

After this performance maybe we will see more guys at the track driving 928's, I hope so.

4 Kurves

I think you may be right on the money there. I was just looking at the results and lap times from our POC event last year and while I don't know the exact config of all of the cars there the times from both the Red race and the Time Trial seem to be 2 to 3 seconds slower then this year.

This was my first time there with a Cup car so I can't compare but looking at the top GT3 street car times (what I drove last year) and knowing the competitors the 2 second gap seems to be consistent.

jrgordonsenior

Not only was Bobby competitive with cars with hundreds more HP, he was running on Yokohamas not Michellin Cups in a stock 996 Cup! His car had 2 large muffler on each exhaust pipe and he barely made sound. He was 3rd. both races....

I'm one of the ones who thought the track was slippery. I had lots of trouble turning in, but that's somewhat inherent to a Cup with it's small rims & tires. It will be interesting to see how the 997 and 996 cups fare there in October during the IMSA event. The fastest 996 cups there last year in qualifying were turning 1:31's with stock exhausts....

Mark Anderson

There has been an increase in the past few years and everything I have done to my car is an open book. I'd love to see more out there and I'd really like to see what could be done with more set up and know how experience. My car is really very basic and I do not have the time or resources to take it to the next level but I can only imagine what could be done with a bit more effort.

hacker-pschorr

Todd has been talking about a high compression 7 liter N/A race engine after he's done with the 427 Supercharged motor he is currently building.

Mark Anderson

I do not think the the biggest advance will be done with HP. I'll take better handeling any day over more HP. If you look at the car I was batteling he has a reported 200-300 hp advantage over me and yes he usually beats me but not by that much. A 997 cup has 100 less hp, smaller tires and about the same weight and with a good driver will beat me on any given day.

mark kibort

With the 997 cup putting down 385rwhp, (or more) and the close ratio gear box, the difference is not that great as far as hp. probably only like a 50hp difference. then add putting down more power at every shift due to sequential shifting, as well as their trick handling package, its not a wonder they run so fast!
For me, ill take that 100hp first, then the handling package! (but im already down 150rwhp to the stroker motor from the start!) But your right, that might get me in the direction of your times, but after that, an additional 150hp wouldnt do very much!

MK

Supercup will be running 1:29s or faster at laguna due to the new track in Oct.
so, will world challenge GT. You watch!

jrgordonsenior

I'll bet we'll see 1:27's from the fastest guys.... I don't believe the 997 cups have that much more power than the 996's, I've run against them enough to judge. But the suspension pick up locations and that sequential box really do make a difference. I can't wait to see what a 997 RSR will be like with all that and an additional 100 HP....

hacker-pschorr

Good point - I'll tell Todd you are interested as soon as he cracks the 1,000hp mark. You might have to wait until spring 2007 for that

Would your class allow soemthing like a Fabcar tube frame front end? Not sure that would help, just pulling ideas out of the air.

Mark Anderson

I believe PCA wants a factory tub from shock tower to shock tower. A while back I bought a Nissan GTP gearbox and rear suspension. I was looking into stuffing it into the back of my 928 but later decided against it.

earlyapex

Mark, congratulations! This thread has made me focus even more intently on making my car handle better.