ervtx

Don't forget, you're next! (all before you have failed, ha!).

C.J. Ichiban

john G made me late to grid last time when I informed him that I'm not interested in what his magic suspension swap allows for, dude absolutely talked my ear off- he's really fast in his 944

ervtx

That's John... he'll talk your ear off because he as so much in his head!

C.J., FWIW, he and Steve Hill used to co-campaign an (RSA?), and when he took Noby's new/old spec boxter out for its first run on Sunday, he and I would cross lines of sight on every lap (him exiting rattlesnake, me exiting little bend), so he had to have been doing close to 1:30's. I'm not saying that Noby was slow, but John was faster. Much faster. Anyway, he'd be fast in your car too.

Also FWIW, GT3 owners from Houston, Austin... crap, from Europe I think, take their cars to John for suspension work - he's not just another local dealership mechanic. If he described a suspension change as magic, it probably is. Look at my case... I have yet to see another narrow body AWD cabriolet even close to a track, much less one that is 6 yrs old with a factory stock engine that keeps up with Caymans S's and 997S's... That's all suspension, not me or the motor.

Yep feels like magic. (Knowing John, it's probably just a bunch of math and geometry).

bsr_257

Russ, that was a 993RSR that Steve had flown in from the factory. Might still be in the Classifieds (guy in FL bought it). They raced it in SCCA GT1, Speedvision World Challenge a few times.

I went back to the shop w him on Sunday after the DE to help unload Rod Johnson's car. He has the green 993 RS Clubsport (raced in I class at ECR,real factory car, not a clone), drove all the way from Memphis for John to work on the suspension...

C.J. Ichiban

FWIW i did 1:29.3 yesterday while following a spec miata in the rain- on slicks in my mx5 with almost a full tank of gas...in my gt3 I should be able to do 1:20 , 1:21 or so but don't have any official timing yet. my RS with stock alignment and stock tires was 1:24, 1:25 running clockwise the 2nd time I tracked it...lord knows with some motons (like all the other guys run) or hoosiers (like all the other guys run) I'd would've been at or below 1:20.


my only issue was being late to grid! I've got a different setup and I run street tires (he likes going -3 camber or higher, and longer caster etc ) and I can still pass or keep up all the guys except one dude who's a PCA national instructor in our gt3s (motons, slicks, etc)...and I don't really think he's that much faster than me- well he was fast enough to crash his gt3 sadly a few weeks ago into the tire wall at MSR .

not everyone needs magic suspension, slicks, motons, etc- especially for DE and member days.

and think of it this way...having everyone get the same exact alignment is like following cars in the parking lot- you're not gonna find anything before they do- you've got to try your own style that suits your driving and maximize that rather than just copy everyone.

George A

CJ, John is "the" guy and he does know what he is talking about. His recommendations give you a starting point, not an end point. You fine tune to your needs/wants. I can't praise him enough for all the work his done to my car. As a matter of fact, he is one of the only guys I let touch my car. The best part is that he really isn't in it for the money, he works for a dealer. I know many have tried to take him away from there but he is comfortable with his environment. I'll get off my soapbox now....

G.

Veloce Raptor

What G said.

bsr_257

+2. CJ, I completely agree with you that you can't have a 'global' set-up that works for everyone with a GT3RS out there. Lot easier to fine tune if someone like John points you in the right direction.

ervtx

I get that. Just want to clarify some points I might not have made as well as I could have...

re: John probably doing 1:30's... I hope you didn't think I was implying anything about what your times should be, or that of any other car/driver. All I meant is that if you took my 1:30 as a baseline, the fact that I was able to pass Noby in Noby's new car, but not able to make any ground on John in Noby's new car (sorry, Noby), made the case that John had some driving skill regardless of the car, i.e. outside of his 944.

re: the magic in my own suspension... I should have explained that John did in fact take the time to understand my preferences, skill, and initial car set up before making suggestions (I had added coil-overs and lowered to to M030 a few years prior). The very first one was safety related... longer wheel bolts, duh! And almost every conversation starts with "well, since your car has a different ...", and usually concludes with "but your next event is at track xyz, so..." The fact that he has discouraged many other changes that are often embraced by the masses, and encourages me to learn the sport from the rubber up, vs. from the go pedal to the engine is an indicator of his genuine motive to help me improve along with the car. Didn't mean to imply that he had a single formula that he just copied over to my car.

Sorry if all of that was understood, but I didn't want you to think I was promoting his magic as a single technique or set-up.

bsr_257

Hey now, if you were given carte blanche with someone else's race car, you'd drive the **** out of it too

No offense taken on this end. Most of us know that John is a phenomenal driver (much better than this schmuck).

MJHanna

+3 On John I got him to do the final set-up on the 69 S which is not his one of his"normal cars" to set-up

Greg Smith

Do you have any dry times in the MX5 cup yet?

Blondurant

John's the BEST... master tech, driver, instructor. And he gets the nice guy award for giving a ride to my son on his birthday. He's Dr. Doolittle - with Porsches instead of animals. Maybe we should roast him or something.

Blondurant

I could definitely do a 1:20. No problem. I'd have to cut across the field after little bend over to big bend. But I'd probably be in the low 1:20s for sure.

Hamilton's dinger in the bottom of the 9th to win that game was one for the books. Along with his story. Those are the moments in baseball you wait for. Ball & Porsches, you're livin the life!

C.J. Ichiban

I did a few sub 1:25's today, (best was 1:24.6) with scorched tires, best time the instructor got was 1:23.8 in the same session, in his MER race car. I'm sure with a low fuel load and newish tires I'd be a lot closer to 1:24 flat. having AIM data really helps because there's no hesitation- if given racer guy can do it in his car, I can do it in mine- it just becomes about using your stones and a bit of finesse