Obturate

Lots to learn on my part.

tcsracing1

I have a Clubsport on Pirelli tires. The car is an absolute lapping machine!
I love the brakes on this car. And, they last a long time. (3 race weekends and 3 D.E events on the same rotors and pads.)

From what i have gathered;
The conti tire cars are 2-3 seconds slower on average.

Lap times are about 5 seconds slower then the 991 Cup depending on track and driver.

Depending on the track, the car will run with GTB1 and GTB3 caymans and as mentioned and have posted the fastest Cayman lap time at the Glenn recently.( I think Atlanta and NOLA were the same case but im not 100% certain so dont quote me on that.)

PMNA issued softer springs for the car. I have them on the front and soon i will add them to the rear.
The dampers are very strong/stiff with little travel. Slow speed stuff is bumpy, high speed stuff is actually decent thus far surprisingly.. (I think revalving these shocks next season is the answer however IMO).

The PDK is programmed different then the street PDK. it is more aggressive. You notice it around the paddock. It is aggressive. I like it. (you wouldnt want it this agressive in the street car).

The west coast and euro cars are running A/C. PCA Trophy east cars do not have the extra weight of A/C, but i sure would love to run with windows up and A/C this summer

PCA have announced 10 more cars available for the trophy east series.
I am not sure who else is able to get these cars and without commitiments, however once you have one of these cars you have great options to run it in a multitude of events.

I must say, the Trophy East Series has spolied me so far. The PCA staff taking care of the series work their assses off for us and the presence from PMNA in programming/updating our cars is not something club racers typically get. Being a new spec series for factory cars, PCA has really focused alot of attention towards us.
We get our own scales at events, seperate drivers meetings, our own run group and seperate press releases. Warming up and Racing with only the other Clubsports on the track has been been very refreshing. (no faster cars to watch out for and no slower cars in the way.)
In the series we have a nice mix of drivers. We have a pro who sets the benchmark for what the car is capable of, we have a bunch of seasoned amateurs and seniors along with a few rookies.
As far as club racing goes, we are spoiled.

ProCoach

I think lap times are irrelevant. This is a spec series, a driver's series. Are there differences between cars? Perhaps, but not more than can be compensated for by great driving. I like the fact that the series leader is less than .25-.4 seconds off pros of Andrew Davis and Jason Hart's calibers (and there are huge differences between "pros"), so it CAN be done!

IF you really want to test yourself, run Pirelli GT3 Cup, Cayman GT4 CS or the Michelin shod GT3 Cup...

If not, there is good racing in GTB1 and SPB, for sure.

cracker

Road Atlanta was a run away...second and beyond is what everyone else was racing (for). I guess 1:29.94 counts as 1:29 but barely, and that WAS the star (Hart). The GT4 CS is very quick considering its P/W ratio...the reality is most of the field was lapping in the 32-33 range - big difference.

Tony

winders

You guys need to chill. All I said was the lap times were not all that fast when someone said the lap times are "speedy". I didn't say the car was slow so just relax.

tcsracing1

You have a point. One wouldnt think the car is as fast as it is given the weight. The car is sand bagged IMO based on the fact that it is running a full street exhaust, stock ECU and full glass with power windows.
Still has the condensers too.

I am plesantly surprised to see the lap times it is laying down thus far however.

If you were to delete the power glass, add headers, tune, shocks and more wing, It would be a different animal.

Veloce Raptor

It runs racing cats, not street. Also has a much larger oil capacity.

audipwr1

Wish they would have made 100 of these for US and sold them for 100k - that would have been more approachable and competitive. Porsche makes money on racecars though so it is what it is

I'll remain with my cheapo SPB and 10+ car fields at each race for now

tcsracing1

same part number as street cats from what we can see.
sport exhaust flapper is left open however.
Supposed to have 100 cell cats from what was proposed. I dont think we got them.

takes an extra bottle of oil and computer is calibrated to understand the additional oil.

tcsracing1

SPB is best bang for the buck. Great place to be.

ProCoach

And your vaguely thread-crapping point is?

Read your post carefully, again. "The reality is most of the field..."

To me, that IS the appeal of a "spec series" like this one, Yoko GT3 Cup, Pirelli GT3 Cup, Ferrari Challenge, LBST, IMSA Lites, LMP-C and the list goes on...This phenomena is also true in those series, too.

To really excel, you need to optimize everything in the loose nut behind the wheel. THAT is why most people do this. A great example was Lucas Catania's run at Sebring and Jacques Lazare's run at Laguna Seca. Now, those guys were driving!

Hats off to Keith. Through hard work, allocation of resources, talent and more than a little dedication, he finds himself out front and nearly matching Jason's times. Of course, I was cheering for Rene (Masters) for the first few laps of Race 2 at the Glen, leading for several laps after a perfectly judged start and some good side-by-side racing.

I'm sorry if I sound a little irritable, but I see these drivers stepping up to support this series because they saw and see value in it. And they pay their way with the Regions, so all is good from a development perspective, IMO.

mehoff

My thoughts after a test and tune day with one of TrueSpeed's CS cars at Thermal:

The best way I can think to describe the driving experience of this car is "hilarious". Not in a bad way, but I definitely had a smile on my face the entire time. It is very easy (see Very, Very) easy to drive. This is the first race car I've ever driven where I was conscience of the fact that it didn't demand all of my attention (big note: was just testing and lapping, no racing)

The car had been upgraded to the same suspension spec's as CJ's cars, so can't comment on out of the box spec. I will say the car was planted; very neutral and compliant. For a few laps I tried to get it out of shape and just couldn't, though the ABS can be intrusive if you aren't familiar with how to adjust it in the cockpit (factory car driver inexperience there). I ran it without the the TC as I heard it could be nanny-ish

The car is not especially quick. We had a street/track 996 GT3 out there as well and the CS was barely a second faster on a 2:13 lap circuit. CS was on new pirelli's while the GT3 was on gutted R6's. I struggle to see how the CS would be faster than a GTB1 car, but I guess data doesn't lie.

I agree with some on this tread that it is the perfect entry-level gentleman racer car. It doesn't allow the driver to get in a whole lot of trouble (marvel of engineering) and is not on a knife's edge at the limit like a 911. It's no surprise to me that AM and PRO's are close on times. I'd go as far to say that set-up is probably more meaningful than the left seat....well, maybe....almost

I've been one of the skeptics of the PDK being truly faster than a third pedal, but no longer. It is crazy quick in manual mode and surprisingly complaint. Only issue for me was the car I ran wouldn't down shift while the ABS was activated.

This is not me saying I prefer the PDK; in actuality I am not a fan. I felt more like I was playing a video game than driving a factory race car; that spectacular feeling of driving a car in anger is muted if not absent with the PDK (but it is quicker!). I now understand why teams are pulling kids out of the gaming world instead of cars/karts....a lot of the skill needed to drive one of these cars fast is gone IMHO.

Final take away: I liked it. As I said, the driving experience left a smile on my face and was exceptionally comfortable. I ran the car on a very demanding track in 102 degree temps and got out relaxed. Triple stint an enduro, no problem! Would I trade it straight up for my GT3 spec 911 race car (worth about a third of the CS) - no chance.

joeykid

I think we should all be thankful that Porsche invested in a project like this. To support club racers with a spec racer that is well engineered and sold factory direct is a blessing. Clearly this car is already an over-achiever and fills a niche in the racing community. It doesn't have to be for everyone. The price of admission is not cheap. It does not offer the performance of a cup car and it does not need to. Nor does it offer the astronomical operating expense of a cup car. The list of GT4 racers and their credentials speaks for itself.
These are wonderful times.

winders

How many club racers have one again?

James-GMG

AMEN!!!!