Maxem

Yeah, I'm in. Early is good. So is Raglan.

Maxem

I hope you are bringing the red one Paul?

Leong72

Yes, large field of over 60 cars on the weekend - made it a great social event. Ron had organised for us to have dinner with the Wellington Porsche Club guys so that was a good start. During lunch breaks and service stops it was great chatting with many different people, but that many cars made it difficult getting into and out of service stops and therefore for some to find their place in the lineup at the start of each stage. You can imagine how long a 60 car lineup would be and if you went past the last empty slot and there weren't any spaces further ahead, that would be a problem if other cars had followed you. As the event progressed Tour leader Devon became more creative with his parking making it easier for us all to stay in the correct order into and out of service stops.

As far as the pace went, I think Macca is right when he says that GT3's and GTR's are overpowered for the Targa Tour - Maybe even a GT4. Unlike the last stage at Rotorua this year, when I needed to use the power of the GT4 to stay with the Lambo ahead (that stage was awesome fun!), most of this tour I found that making the GT4 engine sing only led to following the car in front too closely, with resultant stone chips, and having to back off. I don't think the total number of cars influenced that pace, as it seemed like the tour was in four distinct groups with each group's tour leader determining that group's pace. Devon didn't enjoy the first Jaguar (The white one) he got to drive and swapped to the Black Aston Martin Vantage N430 for the weekend. This helped with the pace.

I also suspect that the last stage in every Targa Tour could be the "Fast" stage. At Rotorua I had worked my way up the field, so thought the pace at the front was fast whereas it may actually have been this "Last Stage" effect. I know the last stage this time was much faster, but fortunately or unfortunately due to overheating issues with the GT4, we had opted to watch and follow the McLaren during this last stage. It ended up being one of the more fun stages of the event.

So on the way home Anthony and I had a discussion about our future in Targa Tours... We thought the driving wasn't the highlight this time, and probably won't be in the future. More of a social event, for which the cost in entry fees and time away is getting up there. Hence the thought that we may just stick to the 2-3 day events in the future. Things may change in the future if the numbers remain high and more work by the organisers was put into the "Tour".

Leong72

More Pics

kiwi 911

Dave and Jake - I don't have your mb's, still keen for tomorrow, say BP Drury at 8am? - text me on 021 752 245 if you guys are still on. Cheers PM.

P.s the invitation is open to anyone. Just text me.

gt38088

Overheating?? Leong any cause assigned to this now? Hope nothing requiring too much work. NITT coming up.
It really is critical at the front of the tour who is driving and what car. Needs to have the agility to push through the corners and maintain pace despite 160k speed limit.

I will post a vid of the last stage when we were pushing on - last stage and all that.

O2GO

Back to Cayenne tyres. When I first got mine back in the mid 2000's the intoxicating sound of the V8 and the cornering ability encouraged me to go through a set of Michelins every 15,000km. Oakura Road didn't help on that front when we had a summer holiday with the boys going to training in Whangarei regularly ;-)

John McM

Sounds like I need to take mine on the next road trip to finish off the existing tyres . By the way, Christopher M may want to visit my brother in law in Urenui to see his off the grid passive solar house. It has the makings of another road trip. Just need to find a way without so many gravel roads. Day 1 to Stratford, Day 2 back to Auckland via whangamomona.

Leong72

Seems to be a faulty thermostat. They hadn't done final checks till Friday but are confident this was the issue, so hopefully all good for Taupo Playday's next Sunday. Need some track practice before Queensland, which is the week before NITT.

Look forward to the video....

Pel

Any pics of today's drive?

Maxem

No, going too fast.....
Excellent run to Raglan, just Paul and I in the orange T and GT3. Beautiful weather and relatively clear roads. Lovely drive on highway 22.

Pel

Got out of bed at 6:30am ready to go, the need to assemble a cot, change table and drawers got the better of me, will be in for the next one in the SC.

Pel

Much traffic?

kiwi 911

Great run today Dave - really enjoyed following the 3.2-T. I found myself delaying getting on the throttle so I could hear your exhaust note.

Sadly Scarlett had a flat battery, so the 6GT3 got the booty call.

Dougie - I think the 6GT3 is 'almost' b road friendly, I managed to not get air-born or bottom out/scape once. I will need to verify this with that extra twistie road you took me down last time.

I think the Raglan Rd is my fav in the Alk region as you can crack on at a pace and not need to really exceed 100kph, there is also a solid 30 mins of sweaping twisties each way.

Might see if we can sneak another one in during Dec?

Cheers
PM

kiwi 911

No - 8am leave is a good call, you are home by lunch time.

We where only really delayed once.

Most people let us through, and we were polite enough to not 'blast' past people to avoid 555 calls.