John McM

Fully priced, but those seats are the business. Chris M, you could be back out on the track in days not years....

kiwi 911

Oooh - fighting words.........

Sean might step in shortly

I think we just let the lap times speak for themselves....
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John McM

I'll take a tow on the track but I'm a lost cause for doing warp speed on the roads. Macca said it looked different from his angle but at one stage I seriously thought we were about to be Maccaless with the outside corner pass. I just don't see the upside. I'll see how my footage of the run from Russell came out. That's more my thing, although I'd really prefer to be out there with the Z221s.

CS Mende

Tempting!!!! But as you say it means switching allegiance to the red tribe... Hmm...

I'm sick with envy today about the Northland trip after seeing all the pictures. Hard to fight the urge to just buy a "temporary" p-car so I can join back in sooner.

Macca - I think the OZ's look great. They give it a serious look without being as obvious on a white body. Really sharp.

O2GO

He he, I don't thrash it all the time Dave. In fact only went near 6000 rpm a few times. The trip with you was the most agressive by far that I've driven her. I just had to push hard with those pesky 993s on my tail. Sorry about that missed gear change, 1st and only time, promise. Embarrising.

Seriously, now that I've driven over 1,000 km in the C2 I feel I can begin to drive the car properly and exploit its potential. Today was really special. Driving from Russell to Oakura and onto Whakapara (where the road meets SH1) is incredibly familiar, twisty, challenging stuff, mostly done in 2nd and 3rd. I've driven it countess times over many years. After leading John and Michael for a while I could hold back no longer and pushed on hard. In the two Boxsters I've owned you can really drive this road hard. Aggressive heel and toe down changes into tight corners and bursts from the apex powering on at maximum throttle for a couple of hundred metres further down the road before repeating it again. Serious g forces in the corners.

I've always thought that road was made for a boxster/caymen mid-engine car. They just love it.

But the C2 is so well sorted with it's suspension Matt, I tried really hard but couldn't invoke any understeer or oversteer. I was trying really hard to get the back to hang out and it just tracked through. It was pretty amazing and I was delighted plus surprised. And when I mis judged occasionally going in a bit hard to a tightening corner I kept the power on and not a hint of traction letting go. She just hunkers down and turns in like she's on rails. And all this was on road tyres too!

I'm going to have a lot more fun in Lola!

Looking forward to seeing some of Johns video when he gets time to review it all.

Like Herman, she's now all clean and shiny again.

Macca

That's a purdy 964. For the right money (40k?) it would be a good buy and a great base to work from. Sport seats are very hard to find these days, add some decent shocks, some 17 cups and some aero mirrors with a Heigo half cafe a chip and some decent rubber and you are in business once again Chris?

kiwi 911

I think what we have all learned is that suspension is what it's all about.

Dave - you need to google the best setup for a long hood with your weight - i.e. torson bar size, get bilstiens etc. I believe you can get coil overs for early 911's. The suspension set up will make or break it.

Basically your car should be as quick as the white RS rep that Steve has, as this is a 3.2 in a long hood.

I believe this circulates in 1.19's. so should be a good guide for you. I think the tire width (195/205's) will limit the ability of the car. Flaring the guards like a 2.7 RS will give you 205/225's (same as my C3) and a lot more grip??

nzskater

Was hoping to 'accidentally' run into you guys today but you were nowhere to be found. Looks like you lost sight of each other as well. On that note for those on the SITT with an iPhone it might be handy to install the Find My Friends app and add each other. I've used it for road trips and snowboarding as a way of avoiding losing mates in tree runs and back roads. Great tool for those that suddenly find themselves somewhere other than planned and wanting to rejoin the group without wanting to make phone calls to those focusing on driving or avoiding cliffs.

peterC2S

Yup - and Doug's picture above is a great advertisement.

CS Mende

The wife even gave the thumbs up - I think she's more worried about losing me in the shop for the next year.

John McM

If as advertised it has so much going for it. You are still $20,000 + less invested than a 993 and it's a platform you know.

Macca

Thanks Chris. Im actually really happy with them. I may leave them on for a long while. They are easy to clean and give a great view of the brakes (although the factory rotors on teh car look too small now - Im still one caliper shy of a big brake upgrade unfortunately...).

John. That silver car started speeding up when Paul over took it. Drivers that do that give me the sh*ts. By the time I overtook he was doing 20kmph faster than when Paul passed him. I could see through hat corner and knew the opposing traffic was a long way away but when I nailed it I had my re entry point mentally calculated at around 200m before the apex of the corner. With the silver car speeding up I ended up having to slow a bit knowing I couldnt re enter on an apex at that velocity. Subsequently I lost a little time and had to be on the wrong side of the road for longer than needed and re enter under lateral loads. Luckily Ive been in much stickier spots. My concern was opposing traffic. I calculated I have 4-500m safety from the white car but infact that narrowed to 200m. It turned it came together and probably looked perfectly choreographed from the opposing direction. Not a risk I would repeat I might add. I really dont understand why people dont pull over to let us pass at sane speeds - they can see 5 times Porsches on their tail. I also really take exception at people that poodle at 100kmph then decide after they have been overtaken to lift their speed and take pursuit. It makes trying to overtake much more unpredictable than it needs to be....

Doug, glad to hear your settling into Lola. That Red heads been well broken in by her first RSG keeper (now moved through his brunet phase and onto blondes!) and Im sure you will benefit from some of what shes been taught. Theres a long que of guys behind you if you get bored in the future and decide to cheat on her LOL!

Theres plenty of understeer there and also oversteer if you invoke it. You just havent found it yet (and I done advise the road as a good place to comfort the oversteer part of that equation). They will push their nose wide if you overdrive them.

I had Dean set my car up for Touring last week. Front and rear sway bars at softest settings, shocks dialed down to 4 (10 being firmest) at front and 6 at rear. The car was a tad too soft today in the tight stuff but handled nicely on the fast bumpy straights. Softening the front reduces understeer as does increasing front tyre size contact patch. the 235/275 combo seem a really nice balance in this regard.

Ive always said driving a 911 fast on the road is quite different from driving it on the track. The drive back was fractured by traffic. Unfortunately (or fortunately) yourself, Mike and John werent around for our trip up. We hauled *** on the way up in comparison. Clear roads and some good choices (thanks for the itinerary).

The key I found (at least for me and for the 993) to driving the 911 fast and quickly is to turn in early and keep tight to the apex. On a two lane road you dont have the luxury of spare runway. Its easier to let off some lock than upset the car by tightening lock suddenly when you realise the corner (as is famous in NZ) starts to tighten harder after the apex! Driving the 911 fast is about balance. Dave and I were full on in conversation during our whole drive up (I was trying to keep his mind off the road LOL!) and when you understand the balance of the car you can transition without drama. The last key to that would be LFB and heel/toe. The former Im still learning and the latter is now second nature (although always gets a bit rusty between trips to NZ) but H&T is critical to keeping the car balanced shifting down into a corner. The other little clue to getting it right on the road is always being in the "correct" gear. I use a lower gear top keep the engine in the meat of the torque band as a safety net. As I get more experienced I find myself holding taller gears for longer (I know Paul holds higher gears than I do). Life turning in early the problem with a higher gear is having something left in reserve if/when it goes a bit wrong (you need to power out of a corner etc). the 911 makes fair HP but its no torque miester (infact its weak spot really). Once you get the balance thing nailed you can hold higher gears for longer but you need good flowing roads with decent surfaces. Part of the issue is NZ roads have lots of bumps and uneven surfaces which change surface condition (from slick to chip seal to new chip seal patches etc) constantly...

Just a few ideas for those who want a few ideas on getting the most out of their 911 on the road.

As I said to Dave on the drive up - the 5 day Targa NZ was a revelation as you are doing fast driving on 200km of closed stages day after day and you can really start to learn the car and build on your skills. Its like the NITT. By the second track its starts to come together and you are doing these one after another, if we had a third track on a third day we would all find we get even better again. Having long delays between experiences like this means you often forget some of the technique or cant afford the time to experiment and thus capitalise.

I think theres a tonne of good knowledge in the group. A long weekend away in some quiet far flung reaches, with some regular car swaps and plenty of sharing info will help us all become better and more confident road drivers. Once you get confident on the road, I think you can apply that to your benefit on teh track as well.

my 0.2c

O2GO

Good idea Jake. I've just installed it and sent you an invite John. Lets see how it works. Not so good when out of range of the network but may have helped today.

Edit: So Jake, when did you come through and which route?

Macca

Thanks Jake. Bloody good recommendation - have just downloaded that and suggest same for others on SITT!

kiwi 911

Yes - but a 993 is at least $20K better looking

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