c5_pilot

Anyone racing at MsR Houston this weekend ? What time is the race as the track was no help.

paralleltangent

I'll be there. There are two other 944s registered so far, and yet another who is pending, trying to work out some issues with his car. Schedule is posted here.

c5_pilot

Great thanks. I plan on coming out to see if this
is where I want to end up with my car. What number is your car as I can at least root for you

paralleltangent

#25. Find me in the paddock and I'll try to help your decision-making process.

M758

making my 84 944 in to a spec racer was the best thing I did for it. I have never had so much fun in a car until I started racing. My 944 spec car is more fun than my 944 Turbo S street car.

c5_pilot

That is good to hear as I swore I would not get a 944 that was not turbo, but this was too good to pass up and I wanted a dedicated track car. Since my daily is a twin-turbo Audi it is difficult adjusting to no power. Of course I fully expect the handling to compensate and the lack of power to hopefully make me a better track driver.

M758

Yeah the 944 NA has no hp, but on the track it not as bad as you thing. Here is why.

When tracking my 944 Turbo in stock form the car did not have enough hp. That was with 230 hp to the rear wheels. Being on track even in DE you do not have the power of alot of cars. With 130 whp 944 you have even less, but you soon learn "so what" straight line speed is for wanabes. The fast guys are fast in the corners. I remeber one DE I did years ago. The front straight was drag strip and way down the end my little stripped out 944 only hit 115 or so. I had a Toyota supra blow by me about 100 yards before the brake zone. Not surprizing at all. What was fun was that 2 seconds with him on the inside I simply drive by. He hit the brakes for the corner and I had time watch him go backwards. Then I looked-up and started planning on braking. I was built my lead position all the way through the twisty bits. He go me back on the main straight on the next lap, but anyone can go fast in a straight line.


Also consider this. My 944 Turbo S stock on street tires. Best lap at PIR 1:19. 1 yera later my 944 NA 130 whp stripped out on R-tires, but with stock suspension. 1:20. First race with the 944 with spec level susppension 1:16 and last event there in November 1:12.9. There is no way my 944 Turbo can pull a 1:12.9 at PIR in stock form. So despite the reduced Hp my 944 spec is faster at the track.

paralleltangent

I agree with Joe on all points. I tracked my stock 951 a few times years ago and while I don't have any actual lap time comparisons I know my 944Spec car is faster around the track overall. In a DE setting, the lack of horsepower really does inspire you to be better in the twisty bits, and hanging with or passing more powerful (and usually much more $$$) cars is quite satisfying.

Of course you can take a 951, strip it down, prep the suspension, R-comps, etc. and then the tables turn, however you'll spend more money doing it and you'll miss out on the opportunity to develop your skills in a car that forces (and rewards) maximizing your cornering technique. I haven't been doing this long, and I'm still learning, but I feel I'm further along that I would have been had I continued in the 951.

Now when you're racing other similarly prepped 944s this becomes moot, as the advantages (or rather overcoming the "disadvantage") diminish, but it seems to me that 944Spec offers close racing and further promotes developing yourself as a driver (real value gain, IMO) rather than continually developing the car ($$$$$ spent) to beat the other guy. I'm about to find out for real, as 944Spec in our region is finally taking off and this weekend for the first time I'll have others in my class to run with... or follow .

CAM14

Just a heads up for the MSR-H NASA race this up coming weekend, Looks like the Spec 944’s are being mixed in with Spec Miata and some other classe(s). Miatas are surprisingly quick for being a wimpy/slow car. A good SM can do MSR-H in around 1:49 with heavy traffic in the 1:52 – 55 range. They have less power than you but also carry less weight and can carry a ton of speed through the corners. Just be aware that most of the Miata guys know each other and drive very close to each other. Have fun and be safe, looking forward to hearing about it. Wish I could be there in person but have something else going on.

Sterling Doc

DE's quickly get boring without lots of HP - it never ends. I had my '02 GTI up to 320HP before I wised up, and went wheel to wheel. Racing is all about racecraft, and competition, which never gets old. Costs go up as a exponential factor to speed, and risks go up as well.

I remember the day I "retired" the GTI. It fractured a rotor around the hat, making a 2 piece rotor out of a one piece one. The other side was fractured 3/4 of the way around. Big brown stain moment from high speed, and the world's fastest exit down pit road (still at speed ). Too much speed, and too little safety equipment.

As above, my lap times in the 944 Spec car are similar, even though max velocities are less, with 1/2 the HP (and the GTI was on R-comps as well). Plus I'm having *way* more fun.

Sterling Doc

One other bit of advice to the 944 Spec guys. Get gridded behind the SM's if you can. SM & 944 Spec's have similar lap times on average (944 have the advantage at bigger tracks, SM's on tighter tracks), so there will be overlap either way, but having the pointy end of the SM hordes bearing down on you from behind can be intense, and sometimes problematic. Picking your way through the SM backmarkers, and mid-packers is better.

paralleltangent

^ +1

M758

This makes sense. The very best SM will be match for the very best 944 spec.

However given that 944 spec is new in the are I would not expect to see lap times as good as the best SM cars. It wil take time for the drivers (even experieced racers) to get 100% from their 944's like the SM guys are.

onefastviking

What about the SM guys that also have a Spec 944 car ? ? ?
Mine will be ready for the TWS event, besides I figure it will give Todd and Al a chance to get up to speed in their 944's.

M758

The cars are in fact a good match so it really comes down to driver and fine tuning.

Here in Az I personally have never found an SM that I was not consistantly faster than.

However that not really the entire story. Here in there are not that many SM cars. Maybe 2-3 at most. The 944 spec field however is one of strongest around. Our top drivers are the among top drivers in the country. Our mid pack 944 spec racers do run times with the SM cars.

Now what is interesting is that I looked at the times from the SCCA National SM cars when they had stop here at PIR. Thier times were insanly fast and just under our track record. Crazy stuff. I see similar issues at NASA Nationals at Miller. The top SM cars are equal to or slightly better in lap times than some of the top 944 spec cars. So if Texas has a competitive deep national champion type SM field I expect them to be faster than the 944's for at least a little while. It takes time to tweak the chassis and adjust driving style to get 100% from a 944.