Chulo

Nord Stern is a good event, but the 20 minute run groups are brutal. I plan on emailing the coordinator and asking if they plan on changing it. It's a fun group, and much less crowded than Mem Day. 1 day it always rains, tho. :-)

angelo1404

Hi Guys,

I was at RADE for the Novice Friday only (car #776). I had never been to RA before, and I am very impressed with the circuit.

My only other DE experience was at the Blackhawk Novice event, so RA is quite an eyeopener, to say the least...extreme braking and tons of gear changes.

I know this has been covered ad nauseum on this site, but here goes anyway...
I found myself struggling to change gears most of the day. My 2005 997 is bone stock, so I am considering a short shift kit and some better/bigger brakes for circuits like RA and Autobahn.

Any thoughts?

Also, I was disturbed to hear (from this thread) of the two incidents at RA. Does anyone have more details of the events?(driver, car number, experience level, run group)

As a new/novice track driver, any info would be extremely helpful.

Sorry to hijack this thread!

Circuit Motorsports

First time out people will sometimes get excited about shifting and be on such an adrenaline high that shifting doesn't happen very well. Do you have trouble shifting on the street? If not I'm going to take a guess that it was a technique issue on the track.

Contrary to what you think, Blackhawk is actually much harder on brakes than either Road America or Autobahn. I go through a set of pads in 4-6 session at Blackhawk and can get 8-10 at Road America. A better move than big brake kit would be good trackpads, and a fresh brake bleed with good quality brake fluid.

As for the incidents. I wasn't at this event but have been at many DE events at Road America. 99% of the time the incidents were caused by a driver getting in over their head. There are a few places where pushing hard can get you in trouble at Road America. There are other places where there is more runoff room/speeds are slower and you can get away with a mistake more or less unscathed most of the time. The events have always been run very safely up there. On top of that, the safety crew at RA is second to none.

TheOtherEric

It's sounds like it's just practice that you need. Shifting smoothly just takes a lot of practice. Ask your instructor for things you can do to improve.

LOL, if that disturbs you, then stay away from RA over PCA's labor day event. Typically, 2-3 cars get totalled per day. Last year was particularly bad. I'll never do the labor day event due to the extreme number of idiots out there. Two cars actually collided at the last corner. Amazing.

Azikara

I like what the Circuit Motorsports guy said: Work on shifting technique and forget about big brakes unless you just like looking at them. Porsche factory brakes are awesome. Get some Performance Friction PF97 pads all around, good fluid and decent braking technique and you will not have any issues. I race with the stock brakes and hardly even use them. They're fine.

It's easy to get caught up in the "I think I'll be faster if I modify this" game. At this level 90% of fast is between your ears and the coordination of hands, eyes and feet.

Happy driving

944TURBOS

Listen to this man! He is not only 100% correct, but he is also very fast! You do not need a brake upgrade on a 997. There is no way you are out driving the cars brakes. Like stated above, just change the pads and put some fluid in the car. I too race on stock size brakes in my GT3 and not only can I not upgrade them to a larger size, I really no not need to.

About the short shift kit, I would drive one before getting one put in. I have one put in my car and I do not like it. I might even remove it soon enough. Its notchy and in my opinion feels like crap. I would save the money on both these mods and if you modify anything, do the suspension. You can save a lot of money on these little mods and just get more track time, which will likely drop seconds from your lap times better than any single mod. Seat time/experience=faster lap times.

Chulo

As a novice in a VERY capable car, you'd really only need gears 3 and 4 at RA. Resist 5th, and certainly 6th. A 997's stock brakes are probably larger than the old big reds, which stop my 964 racer extremely well. So you are fine in the brake department. Blackhawk is a great place to practice, as is Autobahn. Are you going to do Autobahn? A bunch of us will be there.

Oh yeah... listen to Azzy and turbo s. On top of being great guys, they are consistent podium PCA racers, and both scary fast. Damn them.

In regards to the 2 cars that got balled up? Both should have been prevented, and were clearly driver errors.

Azikara

Ha ha ha! You should see 944TURBOS in a go-kart. That's what will develop your cornering smoothness and speed. Now he's graduated to a GT3 it's bye-bye!

Floodj

Ray, it was great meeting you at RADE, hope to see you at another event soon.

Angelo, I have to agree with the others about not modifying your 997. For your gear change problems I would recommend practice. It sounds silly, practice changing gears. Something my first Porsche mechanic said was to make sure you are letting the gear box work for you, instead of you forcing it to do what you want. As you drive around town try shifting gears with two fingers, either your thumb and index finger, or your index and middle fingers. You will soon know exactly how much force you need to use to move the transmission through all the gears.

I really enjoyed RADE this year (this is my second year). I put Hawk pads on, changed to some MPSCs, and had the alignment set more aggressive. At TRAC 07 I was pretty consistent with 3:05, at RADE 08 I was consistent with 2:55s. Not a bad improvement for my sophomore year.
--Joe
2.71

944TURBOS

Well thank you sir....however, I am consistently humbled every time I get in a go-kart....either I keep gaining weight or the younger drivers keep getting faster...which ever it is, I think I will continue to stick to the GT3! Speaking of karting, lets set something up for the near future.

jaholmes

Labor day race weekend is a zoo. Everyone is wound up. Even the slow group is fast.

Autobahn is a great track, I prefer it over Blackhawk. If you look on the ACC Calendar you can go out with other groups. Most of the track days are Mondays though.

I will be at Autobahn on the 9th.

Team944S2

Normally incidents occur when folks overdrive their car and or ability. Some folks have the $$ to buy a GT3 or comparable and never learn to drive. Started my DE days in an '86 944 with 143 HP. Better known as a momentum car. That was the best thing that has helped me to drive faster then many GT3's in the back section of Road America and they pull away on the front straight. Regarding the incidents, if it was you and your incident probably a stealth identity would be best rather then posting it on the web. Still some room for the June 9th Autobahn full track event!

RickEtheridge

A few from Saturday...

Rick

angelo1404

Thanks for all the advice/wisdom!
Reflecting on the day I spent on track at RADE, I was probably pushing too hard speedwise(I did catch 125 mph on the front straight) and that in turn caused me problems with braking/shifting. I do realize that.

To answer a few questions:
I don't have problems shifting on the street;
I wasn't part of either incident at RADE (I was gone by then);
I am still pondering a short shift kit;
I will be at Autobahn.

Thanks again everybody!

TheOtherEric

Don't worry angelo, we don't expect much from people who live in Homer Glen.
.