khooni

I get some squirming when I brake hard with lock on. I think this is normal as the car is struggling to deal with the braking force summoned while having lock. This doesn't happen on slower corners but at the end of long straights greater than 100 mph if for some reason the steering is not perfectly straight. Hence... get the main braking done when wheels are straight..... Imo

orthojoe

Yeah, you should definitely look into getting adjustable LCAs. I run the RSS, and ben runs the GT3 LCAs. They are similar in price. The RSS are monoball and look sexy. I doubt there's a difference between the two, though. Yes, the whole point of the adjustable LCAs is to be able align the car with more negative camber to even out the wear and dial out understeer. I run -2.0, but some run alignments even more aggressive than that. I would say -2.0 is the minimum amount of negative camber to start with.

My PS2s never treated me that well for some reason. Perhaps it's my driving style or perhaps they were too worn or heat cycled out. My new NT01s and 18" wheels should arrive this week, so problem solved. I'll stick with stock 19" PS2s for the street.

orthojoe

So I'm not the only one that has noticed this. It seems to be a PCA thing, which is why I don't run with them. Being an 'instructor' seems more like a social ladder rather than being a legitimate honor. No offense to the PCA instructors here who are legit.

the_vetman

Joe, you're gonna get us into trouble!!

In all fairness, I think your experience may be related to the region(s) that you've run with. Instructors in my region/chapter are simply excellent, and I've met those from other regions that were also excellent (more so with regions that are strict).

Let me say this: it had taken my first ever instructor 8 years to reach that status. This is definitely not the case with some of the other regions.

Also in fairness, I was not talking about PCA in general...

orthojoe

Haha. Agree that it does vary by region/chapter, and it's not restricted to PCA only. I remember my first time at Sears Point, my 'instructor' wanted to follow me in his car to see what my line looked like. Keep in mind that a) it was my first time at this particular track, b) I was on street tires and he was on r-comps, and c) by no means was I running anywhere near a respectable lap time at this point. My 'instructor' couldn't keep up, lost me, and then afterwards told me that I needed to slow down because he couldn't keep up. WTF? Really?

the_vetman

wtf is right... what struck me more, really, is why the hell would an instructor want to "follow you" in a different car when it's your first time EVER on that particular track??

orthojoe

To clarify it was my first time at the track, but the 3rd session of the day. He sat in my car prior to the 'follow lead'. Definitely not the norm, but the last time I ran with that particular organization.

haven't seen the "do you know smooth" video. please post link.

Christeen442

Some good advice above but for the occasional track day I feel that a lot if it is overkill.

Tires: check your tire pressures hot as stated above. At this point you are probably unnecessarily overheating your tires (tyres) and compromising grip and tire life.

Brakes: Leave everything as is except for changing the brake fluid once a year. Stock pads and fluid are just fine.
__________________

the_vetman

Took some time to find:



And now... for the main event... how the above should've been done:




BTW, I was speaking of non-PCA instructors... though I'm sure there are bad ones in PCA also (such as the one you had).

orthojoe

First video is unreal. Something wasn't right in that coach's head. Very bizarre.

2nd video is hilarious.

Vet, why are you tip-toeing around PCA? Are they part of the mafia in your region or something?

My bad coach experience wasn't with PCA, actually. My impressions on PCA have come from heresay as well as personal dealings with some of the people that run with or are involved with their events

the_vetman

First vid: that guy is a disgrace. How about instructing or teaching for a change?

My favorite moment on 2nd vid:
Driver (RHD): "Can I go faster now?"
Instructor (left side): "If you want to die."

I'm not tip-toeing around PCA. Flaming and causing ruckus aren't exactly foreign concepts to me, but mostly from my young & dumb days.. Just didn't want to offend readers and good PCA instructors who aren't even reading.

I can't comment on your personal experience (obviously), but can certainly see how certain region(s) can be that way. A relatively local region is known for being strict and "hard asses"/"******" (actual quotes from their own membership)... I've heard rumors that my own region used to be very stand-offish and unfriendly, but that has not been my personal experience so far. However, I rarely get to attend regional events due to my crazy-a$$ schedule...

orthojoe

Put me in the 'young & dumb' category.

That first video made no sense to me all. I just can't understand why the guy would act that way. He was babbling about wearing a closed face helmet for the first time in the beginning. Maybe he got claustrophobic or sick, and then freaked out. Maybe he was having a TIA. Or he was just a top grade *******. So strange....

5500

Khooni,
If you're gonna stay oin street tires and just do occasional days you can get by with stock suspension with as much negative camber up front that you can get. Plenty of track alignment recommendations out there, but just a tad toe out up front and a tad toe in out back and you'll be fine on street tires.
If you continue to use stock brake pads, keep an eye on wear. Once they (or any pad) reaches 50% thickness, they begin to wear exponentially faster and transfer more heat to the fluid. If you're trying to maintain your warranty, stay away from ATE Blue. It's nearly impossible to flush out all the dye and dealers have been known to void warranties as a result.
RE Fluids:
Mobil 1 engineer suggested no more than 2K miles of combined track/street driving based on heat related deterioration of M1 (specifically 15-50 which is thicker than our fill).
Mobiloil PTX 75-90 is the factory fill and the only transaxle fluid you should use with a stock transaxle due to the carbon content of the synchronizers. Not readily available in US but maybe different in Europe. I changed mine out at 10K miles and found an improvement in shifting. I suspect cleaner fluid may help the LSD last a little longer but not based on any objective data. It may help the transaxle (and by conduction the engine) run cooler.
Have a blast!

khooni

so yesterday i had an evening track day with the spyder. It was a GT Porsche sponsored trackday with Jethro Bovington gives free rides on a Porsche GB Gt3 RS. He's a real likeable guy and was drifting everywhere as if the tyres dun below to him... wait a minute they dun

but the noise was incredible.

The spyder performed flawlessly as I kept pace with 997 Gt3s. The car is more stable than the CR and moves around at the limit less. In a way, the more balanced CR is slightly more fun. Smoothness in the spyder is more rewarding whereas, get this, it is less upsetting to pitch the CR or Gt3 RS into turns than the spyder. But the stare factor on the spyder is about 3X more than the CR

the_vetman

lol RE: young & dumb and TIA.. I'm there with you, Joe. We're probably similar in age. At first I thought TIA was a car term.. was thinking 'wth is that?'