nzskater

The surface at Sebring looks absolutely horrid, especially that last corner. He is bouncing around at least 50% of the track. Seems like a very qualified driver, and a very quick car.

ChrisB_NZ

No, good old 944 engine. Brakes might look a little different though.

Macca

Powershifting? Doesn't even need to dip the clutch do you?

peterC2S

Tease...!

996tnz

Yeah his seat is wobbling around a fair bit with it all. Was watching a Button Willow track vid (think BW anyway) and the surface also had lots of character. Perhaps a bit of a US thing or can the Track Tour guys confirm we have some similarly patchwork surfaces in NZ?

Enjoyed meeting you and your beast at the Sprints Jake. You're still fairly new to your car but we'll have to work towards getting you on track if you haven't been already A Contis driver training day was my start, but the upcoming PCNZ Gymkhanas are very low risk fun too.

996tnz

In the interests of sharing ideas and hopefully helping one or two others along the way, here are some areas I reckon I should be working on after reviewing the Sprints. I normally get smoother and faster during the day but cutting my run short kind of threw a spotlight on most of the basics:

1 - Lines, particularly corner entries (staying wide before an exit speed focussed turn in rather than turning in too early, esp for T1)
2 - targetting higher and more consistent mid-corner speeds
3 - faster exits (better lines and rolling on the accelerator earlier in some turns)
4 - doing more of my braking in a straight line. I'm happy trail braking to counter 996T understeer and rotate coming into the apex but I reckon I've been bringing that habit of braking while turning back too far back into the braking timeline tending to pull me in off line early (see point 1 above), destabilise the car, and extend my braking distances
5 - brake hard and late again, provided it doesn't compromise the above points.
6 - Smoothness for less haste, more speed. Once I'm driving faster smoothly, I can always hustle the car on top of that again for some more tenths but I think hustling makes it harder to work on improving lines and speeds systematically from a more consistent base.

All of the above are closely intertwined of course and complement each other. It's probably the least important of the above, but I reckon I braked later and harder in my first sprints when my mid-corner speeds were lower and I was on thinnish road pads with RBF600 that provided good feel (plus I probably had a bit more margin for error at my lower mid-corner speeds). My Pagid Yellow RS19/29s are pretty unburstable but they are thick and - likely as a consequence - a bit spongy. SRF is also pretty unburstable but is more compressible (read spongier) than traditional fluids so am missing that confidence inspiring precise linear feel.

My self-prescription for the above is some seat time with a focus on working just those basics rather than on how to fend off Paul in the twisties or how to get past Mack on the straights. Perhaps spiced with a bit of instruction too if I start to bog down.

That said, I'm jealous of those who aren't juggling pre-schoolers and track time as I have to be fairly choosy about which events I attend, lest the home front light up. So will see if I can squeeze that PlayDay between the gymkhanas and next Sprints.

BTW Doug - thanks again. Lola must've been almost loud enough to pass for the yellow terror when you dropped me off. A good thing since no-one else seems to have missed mine being at home yet!

Anyone else come away from the Sprints with a bit of homework?

nzskater

Indeed. I'm a very inexperienced driver but am fiending to get out there after the run in the 964 Cup Car. First venture will be on road tyres (just ordered a set of Michelin Super Sports from Tire Rack), but won't be until Spring as I'm away for the upcoming events.

Was great chatting to you and Chris about your cars given the similar platform to mine. Interesting learning about what you've changed (ECU, Exhaust, brakes etc), especially given the suspension hasn't been touched. I have little driving experience and have only taken the car home post GMG spring install but initial feeling is that the car is much more settled. Nowhere near as harsh as I was expecting but body roll and nose diving under brakes has been significantly reduced. Looking forward to taking it for a proper run once the repairs are done and the new tyres are in place.

996tnz

I did a double take when I saw a 'co-driver' in that car when watching it blast past from pit lane.

Glad it's feeling good. Will be interested to hear how it compares in bumpy bends if you get the chance. Started wondering about maybe beefing up the springs when I slapped another 80 odd HP and r-comps on mine but my softer sprung BMW750 already handled some bumpy corners better than the Turbo, so have held off still.

gt38088

Macca - correct if skilled at heel/toe can slot into lower gear with no clutch. I am upshifting with no clutch but downshifting with clutch, seems a bit brutal and unnatural. Although I did push it down a gear without clutch unintentionally once and it just sucked into gear smoothly.
Its probably a little easier on track where you know what speed and braking point you are aiming for whereas Targa you are improvising a bit more

mjg

In the video, you can see him stabbing the clutch (very quickly) on each shift. I'm not sure if it's a dog box, Porsche factory race cars have all tended to use synchro-mesh gearboxes. They did go to dog boxes in the later cars, but that came in with the sequential gearbox. There's a whine in the video, but I think it's coming from the diff/final drive.

Here's how the same driver handles wet night driving (newer GT3 race car here):

kiwi 911

Gymkhana flyer about to come out shortly.

Pete and Dougie - (no pressure) - but if you guys don't clean up, I will take the p*ss out of you guys for being non 911 drivers.

Doug - you will be excused if you sign up in the 964, but John - I will take the p*ss out of you if you don't beat Dougie or myself...............
.

gt38088

unlimited rebuild budget then?
given recent experiences SITT etc we probably wouldn't shift like that even if we could? sad to say

mjg

I imagine so, a gearbox refresh is probably fairly cheap in the TCO of a GT3 R/RS/RSR!

If I was shifting like him, I think I'd feel better about replacing my second gear synchro... since I'm already granny shifting it just hurts more.

John McM

Did that in the Turbo 3.6 last year. Might take Herman this year or the 996TT. Depends on whether Lola shows up....

peterC2S

Not that keen on gymkhanas - will leave it open for Doug and Geoff Sarney!