It's been a reflective sort of time lately, with not much happening on the touring front. At the beginning of March I embark upon the long haul south to Cheshire for the Oulton Park RS track day. I'm also including a visit to Porsche Centre Chester on the way. More news on that at a later date.
I'm looking forward to the RS track day event and, with my trusty skid-lid packed, I'm hoping for a few passenger laps in a variety of machinery with known, trusted, pilots. Now that I have given up track driving myself, I still enjoy the social scene and the paddock banter with other motorsport enthusiasts. It's great to be part of it still, even though I'm not now driving myself.
The recent email regarding the forthcoming Cadwell Park track day on April 7th did temp me for a split second. I would have loved to have had go at this superb little circuit in Lincolnshire. It's one of the oldest race circuits in the UK, and the current 2.2 mile undulating track is one of the most dramatic and exciting circuits to drive. It's not called the "Mini Nurburgring" for nothing. This narrow, twisty, track with swooping elevations would suit both my 718 CGTS, and my driving skills absolutely perfectly. I know from past experience how well my GTS performs against other more powerful cars on similar circuits such as Knockhill and Oulton Park. Cadwell Park would be another triumph for sure. More suited to bikes due to its narrow track width, I'm pretty confident my 718 GTS would be a formidable performer on this circuit. Good to see this track included in the 2020 track day calendar.
My Abarth is now 5 years old and, at 37,000 miles following a fresh MOT next month, I've decided it's now time to move it on. As I said at the beginning of this piece, it's been a reflective sort of time recently, and there will be further news on this particular topic at a later date.
To my surprise my name, along with this thread have been mentioned recently on other Boxster/Cayman related posts elsewhere on this forum. It's both very flattering and humbling to have your name mentioned as a "worthy" on Porsche related topics. I do not for a moment consider myself to be "an expert" in any car matters either generally or Porsche specific. My opinions are just that, opinions, and are in no way intended to be preached patronisingly as gospel or stated in an emphatic manner. I can only relate my opinions based on personal experiences over a 55 year motorsport orientated life. During that time I have built from the ground up two cars, my racing Stiletto Imp hill-climber, and my 1963 MGB Roadster tourer. In the case of the former, I sourced all components including wheels, tyres, steering, suspension, brakes, gearbox, engine, and cooling system all from scratch and built the car with my own hands into a competitive and successful competition car. The MGB was completely rebuilt mechanically by myself including the engine, in an historic rally configuration with wider wire wheels, uprated brakes, lowered suspension, stiffer anti-roll bars, Quaife LSD, negative camber front axle, and Stage 3 tuned engine. As a project, both of these cars were set up suspension-wise entirely by myself through trial and error. During this period of my life I learnt a lot about camber, toe, bump, rebound, ride height and corner weight settings. This experience also enhanced my sensitivity to subtle changes in the myriad of dynamic chassis adjustments that both cars had in-built into their construction. It is from that background that my opinions are based. For example, when I say that Power Steering Plus not only provides slow speed maneuvering assistance, but also enhances steering feel at higher speeds, this is my perception based on my past experience and feel of a car. Some drivers may not notice the difference, but I do.
I am always very grateful for the support and encouragement I receive from contributors on this forum. I am astonished that this thread has endured so long as it has. Particularly as it relates to a car that is reputedly so unpopular amongst the Porsche community.
Brian
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