User 52121

Question for the collective.

I've read that PSC's, when at or near the limit, can be fairly unforgiving tires. Snap, let go, spin, crash. Last weekend, my wife indicated, "We are doing DE next year. I want to learn how to properly drive your car." Yes, my wife rocks, and no, I'm not really going to argue with her. We both already auto-X, and I used to race years ago, so between us there is a good amount of experience.

My concern is with my wife driving my car during DE. She does reasonably well at Auto-X considering her competition is a 993, a GT3, and several Boxsters. She has zero track experience though. She also has a competitive spirit, which concerns me when the stakes go up as they would while driving on a track vs. in a parking lot. I don't want her getting hurt, so I need to make sure my car is fairly forgiving to drive - hopefully without ruining the fun for me, since we'll be sharing the car at events.

I currently run PSC's on the car (944 Turbo.) It's set up fairly aggressively for Auto-X (Bilstein Cup kit and Welt sways with a good alignment from local Porsche specialist Fischer Motorsports - it has lots of tendency to yaw in tighter corners) so I'm already debating having a different alignment put on the car for DE. I ran a handful of laps in the car at Blackhawk Farms back in October and the rear end had a tendency to gather up momentum of it's own while going through the bus stop/T4 section (short, quick, left-right-left-left.) I imagine softening the rear sway will help a little but not sure if that will be enough. I don't want the car to surprise her and I don't think I will have the opportunity to DE it myself before her to kind of "preview" the car.

Question is: should I go with a milder tire, too? RE-11 or something? I understand there will be less overall grip than a PSC on the track (especially once it heats up), but will it be more predictable? Or am I reading too much into some of the threads I've read here and throughout the web regarding PSC's?

Gary R.

It's her 1st day in instructed Green (or whatever the color is in IL) and I wouldn't worry about it. Does the car have proper seats/harnesses? She have a good helmet with a HANS or similar device? If not spend your $$ there.

User 52121

Getting there.

Car has seats (Recaro "Speed" seats) w/sub belt holes and a harness bar w/6 points. I'm not big on running harnesses w/o a rollbar at a high speed event (AX doesn't bother me) and am debating having one installed in the spring before the first event.

She does not have a helmet yet (well, she has a motorcycle helmet but that won't work for DE) so a new DE approved helmet is already in the budget. She already has one of those foam neck protector thing and a nice Stand-21 driving suit (long story) but we are both talking about getting a HANS device provided it'll be easy enough for us to share one.

Car is going to need rear tires next season, which is what prompted me to start thinking about this. For the cost of 2 new rear PSC's I can probably go new on all 4 corners with a lesser tire. But you bring up a good point - she probably won't be going fast enough to really get into trouble exceeding the limits of the tires.

Potomac-Greg

Good compromise for a 944 is the vaunted Redline bolt-in bar. It bolts into the rear seatbelt anchor points.

It's somewhere between a roll bar and a harness bar, but much closer to a roll bar in structural quality. Definitely a stout piece (I had one in my 944), and while pricey, they are transferrable and tend to hold their value.

http://www.redlinerennsport.com/SafeguardPage.html

kush07

You're reading too much into it. Her survival instinct will kick in on the track (as will her instructor) and she'll be fine.

As you mentioned, harness bars are not the safest things out there. In the very unlikely chance you roll, you've got nowhere to go. Rollbar is a great idea. Most regions accept a motorcycle helmet. I may be wrong, but I think the main (if not only) difference is fireproofing material in the helmet. Check with your local DE organization to see if they accept a m/c helmet. I'd be surprised if you guys could share a HANS.

Have fun.

User 52121

Yeah I've actually read a lot of good things about the Redline bar. A friend of mine is a fabricator (does awesome work) and can build and weld in a nice bar w/removable cross brace and harness bar (to let me still get my little guy in the back seat if needed) for around the same price as the Redline bar. I do like the fact that the Redline bar is removable though... but then, how much safety am I giving up?

User 52121

I know for a fact motorcycle helmets aren't accepted. At first I didn't understand it either - but after the reasoning as explained, it makes sense. Motorcycle helmets are designed to protect against *one* HARD impact (i.e. your head smacking the pavement.) DE helmets are designed to protect against multiple smaller impacts (such as being banged against a roll bar) without issue.

With a motorcycle helmet, if you accidentally drop it on the ground - it's toast. A medium sized thud against a rollbar could damage the internals. So the difference between the two types of helmets is at least with the internal cushioning.

You might also be right with the fire resistance. In all the times I crashed my motorcycle, I never had to deal with fire, and have not known anyone who had to deal with fire. Cars are a different story.

Gary R.

As for the HANS sharing, I do it with my wife at every event. Takes 30 seconds, just have both helmets set up for it. Most come pre-drilled and most companies will mount the posts for you so the helmet is ready to go when you get it. Be sure to get the sliding tethers option, makes using and getting used to it a lot easier.

Potomac-Greg

Depends on what your future plans are for the car. It's nice being able to unbolt the bar in 15 minutes and restore the car to being a 2+2 (for little tikes or the next owner). I can't speak for the comparison between a roll bar and a redline bar; but I can categorically say that a redline bar is far superior to a harness bar. The redline bar basically puts a tubular "B" pillar into the car and would no doubt improve the outcome in a rollover. How much, nobody knows.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

JMHO, but why don't you try the RA1's for tires?

They work over a MUCH wider temperature range and are very forgiving.

Veloce Raptor

TA-DA!! This ^^^^^^^^









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