Macca

Thanks Leong. However if it's this weekend for a photoshoot all we are likely to see is me chasing a bunch of other GT4s chasing you on the track lol!

Walt. Unfortunately the GT4 is personal owned. Thought you'd enjoy this however. In honour of Tania. My anti personalised plate plate. Pointless on NZ only green GT4 I guess...

Macca

...

gt38088

that gt4 is looking good Macca. Have to see it live.

Macca

This car in the UK is almost identical. Gives you some idea of what it looked like out there on the track Sunday LOL...

kiwi 911

^^^^ JMc there is a 964 at 2.18 for you to get excited about :-)

John McM

Lots more in this

John McM

Herman's engine case is split. My cherry is busted.

Obsessed

Congrats John. Is taking it apart the easy bit?

Leong72

Just did a post and video on Sundays trackday in the GT4 forum.....


https://rennlist.com/forums/gt4/9872...l#post14138344

Pel

Awesome Leong, looks like your squeezing everything out of the GT4.

I assume your not, but the gear selection display keeps showing 4 or N when you have problems finding 2nd, is the gate not opening for 2nd or can you get into 2nd but nothing is there? Is the new box under warranty? 31,000kms is a good effort usage wise.

John McM

Geez Macca, that would require a change of underwear

John McM

Not necessarily the easy bit, but certainly the less exacting part. There is a lot of cleaning to do before that can all go back together.

Macca

It did look that way for a few seconds I admit. I don't (luckily) have many moments usually. Neither for Leong who attempted similar at the end of the day...

Let's just say I was pushing on a bit hard given this was my first day out, second session in the car and it was stock with tyres that were well past their prime (it was on the originals from the factory 8000 km old).

The GT4 is faster than it feels on track. My best time was low 1.41.34 with some consistency between 1.41-1.42. Out of the box it understeers ALOT so I'll need to change the rear bar and get some new tyres and a proper geo as it rips through front tyres on stock geo. I think with a bit of seat time a high 1.39 is a possibility.

Have to admit it's quite a different car to drive at the limit and will need some decent seat time to learn to pilot quickly. I'm well versed with the 911 platform and have a bevy of mental and muscle memory tools on hand for getting out of trouble with those cars when things go a bit pear shaped!

The Cayman is begnine up to the limit but after that it's difficult to straighten out as throttle doesn't translate to crouching down like the 911 and once it starts to loose grip at speed in turns it does so more with all four tyres than just the rear (gets light at the front a bit). The lines in terms of corner entry are quite different and I really should have taken a passenger ride with Leong before going out. His video gives me a few clues as to how he's getting the car to turn in which is useful in hindsight, but I suspect with his -3.0+ front camber and different front toe settings he's getting quite a different feel at the wheel than I was in stock settings.

Overall summary from track day one is the car does not seem quick or full of drama from the driver seat although the lap times demonstrate its no slouch. The gears are tall and the box has trouble from 2-3 under load. It seems inherent in all 5 cars at the track on Sunday. The platform suffers from understeer on factory settings and is very reliant on the front tyres. Heat. Or age cycled ones are not recommended!

It's fun to be parry again with others. 5 x GT4 on track is as close to a one make series as exists today in Porsche Motorsport circles in NZ as far as I can tell. Although there is a range of experience in the seat, everyone seems to be driving these proficiently with typical lap times Sunday ranging from 1.41-1.45.

I do miss the GT3. It's only a few seconds a lap quicker at Taupo but every lap seems like an event. Naturally I'm more comfortable with the 911 platform at this time too. Today the GT3 has a new owner. I will miss her :-(

John McM

Interesting. I had only driven the C4 on the track before I drove the R. As you said, a different set of behaviors. What's up with the gearboxes? The 2nd/3rd shift is the problematic one in some G50 boxes but that is 20 years ago.

Macca

Yes. I think the mid engine traits become more apparent when you are pushing past 9/10ths. Up to that point its an easier car to drive on the track and get speed out of than a 911.

The overriding characteristic of the engine is "torque". In the GT3 its "revolutions".

The Cayman chassis seems very neutral until it isnt. It doesn't respond to weight transfer as noticeably. My Focus RS exhibits front engined traits on the track which you work with. Same for 911 with rear engine traits. For Cayman, its kinda mid engined so their are just simply less "traits" to give you a clue how to muscle the car into doing what you need it to.

The gearbox issue is well known and documented. I suspect they will all fail eventually. There seems to be a batch issue on third gear selector for cars built mid 2016. One of our RSG members suffered this on Sunday. Car simply wouldnt engage gear. It was transported back to Auckland and awaits a new gearbox. The more common issue is baulking on the shift from 3rd to 2nd under load. This is as you say the same with G50 and an issue that I experienced with my 993 before and (less so) after rebuild. You have to learn to work around it shifting your gears when the chassis is unloaded. Regardless it will catch you out 2-3 times on a track day. I dont know if there is a remedy as such but eventually the selector fails (bends) and they replace your gearbox. Im unsure if the new box has a remedy.

My car is having a new set of tyres fitted and the sway bars adjusted and a little more negative camber (as much as factory settings will allow, which to be fair isnt much). My RT RE10 pads and caliper studs/brake lines are being transferred from the GT3 too. And a new front splitter!

Ill try it again at Taupo in May or June during a test day and play with some of the lines I can see from Leongs video. I think with these changes and a day of practice the car should be quicker and consistent.

Its still for sale, though Im secretly hoping to keep it for a while :-)