We have had some success with the latest iteration of the car which I though some of you might find interesting. So we entered and competed in the World Time Attack Challenge two weeks ago. While we went quite well, we were beset with niggling fuel issues (Sucrogen E85) which resulted in running lean. Once this was "˜fixed' we then had an unusual problem with the turbo that unfortunately ended with us having to retire at the end of day 1 of the 2 day event. Sad to say but still good to be there and soak up a bit of atmosphere. I realise that Time Attack is not usually the domain for Porsche cars but it is a growing format and there are some extremely fast cars in each class. As a reference a well driven 997 Cup car will get around this track in the 1:30-1:33 range (on the usual Michelin slicks). The winning car in this year's WTAC did it in 1:24.8"¦on street legal R spec rubber! So you can see that these cars are seriously quick and in some cases unhampered by certain rules and regs. We managed a 1:34 in practice but never got a clear track with the rather too few laps we were able to turn in anger. I think given all the planets in alignment we could have got into the 1:32 bracket possibly. The leading car in our class was a Nissan R32 with a quoted 1000whp available. A lot of development went into this car and it was stupidly quick in the straights. Data showed that we were actually faster than it around the twisty bits so considering that it has 4wd, Sequential gearbox, more aero and other such things, we don't feel as if we've suffered too badly by comparison. They did a 1:31 to win the Open class. 2nd in our class was a well developed Evo driven by a highly experienced rally and track driver who was in the 1:32 bracket. Had we got a clear lap we would have won fastest RWD in our class. Unfortunately there were quite a lot of oil downs, red flags and blocking due to drivers not using their mirrors. You can see two examples in this short video where we were on target for a 1:34 flat according to the dash display. Due to the nature of the soft compound tyres you have only 1-2 hotlaps and then you have to come in or try and cool them down, so you can see the car not going flat out in some shots. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3EnuroMkgM&noredirect=1
So back to the turbo. 2 of the 4 bolts in the hotside compressor worked their way loose to the point that under load the housing would go off axis and the impeller just destroyed itself. Major disappointment after putting so much time into this build but what can you do. So after the event I found a new Garrett GTX3582 .82 and the workshop fitted it all up within that week so we could attend the last local Porsche club SuperSprint for 2013. There was quite a lot of buzz in the pits when the usual guys spotted our car in the garage. 2 guys in particular who have been dominating these events for the last 5 years were both walking past our garage and did the full double take and grinding halt when they saw the car.
You could hear them exclaim various observations and they wandered in to check it out. Their cars are a highly modified 996 Cup RSR (ex Le Mans) which has been updated to full SQ trans and a factory 4Ltr motor among other mods. The other guy has a lightened and "˜warmed' 996 GT2 which held the track records for many years. It was funny to listen to these two guys (who incidentally drove to the track in their 2 brand new McLarens!) look and discuss our car. They were joking about their time at the top drawing to a close, but you could also sense that they actually believed it. The RSR was the lap record holder at this track with a 1:04.41 and dropped it down to a 1:04.32 on this day. When we managed to get out after a few more fuel issues, we did a 1:03.00 and you could see their faces drop just a little. Our time was also set in the heat of the day while running rich and down on power so there is significant improvement to be gained still.
All very pleasing considering that this car has only just got back onto the track in the last few weeks. Great to see that the 944 chassis is still capable of some decent achievements all on the trailing arm suspension too.
This pic was taken during the practice session where Paul, the builder and No 1 driver of my car presently, went out behind many of the status quo. Within a few laps he pulled out at the top of the straight from behind the 650bhp + GT2 and slowly managed to sneak a nose past him. (Never been done before in club history!) Approaching the very fast T1 (where I had my accident!) he pulled past and slipped behind the beautiful 956 replica. Into T2 he outbraked the 956 and proceeded to walk away from them. All while on some scrubbed medium Yokohama R specs! The reason that Paul is driving the car as well as me is that he will develop it much faster than me. An ex Karting driver having won numerous state titles and 3 National titles, he also went to the World championships in Italy when he was younger. Can Steer!
Anyway, just thought some of you might find this interesting. Also note how much squat we're still getting out of some corners. This with 1360/1490lb springs!
So back to the turbo. 2 of the 4 bolts in the hotside compressor worked their way loose to the point that under load the housing would go off axis and the impeller just destroyed itself. Major disappointment after putting so much time into this build but what can you do. So after the event I found a new Garrett GTX3582 .82 and the workshop fitted it all up within that week so we could attend the last local Porsche club SuperSprint for 2013. There was quite a lot of buzz in the pits when the usual guys spotted our car in the garage. 2 guys in particular who have been dominating these events for the last 5 years were both walking past our garage and did the full double take and grinding halt when they saw the car.
You could hear them exclaim various observations and they wandered in to check it out. Their cars are a highly modified 996 Cup RSR (ex Le Mans) which has been updated to full SQ trans and a factory 4Ltr motor among other mods. The other guy has a lightened and "˜warmed' 996 GT2 which held the track records for many years. It was funny to listen to these two guys (who incidentally drove to the track in their 2 brand new McLarens!) look and discuss our car. They were joking about their time at the top drawing to a close, but you could also sense that they actually believed it. The RSR was the lap record holder at this track with a 1:04.41 and dropped it down to a 1:04.32 on this day. When we managed to get out after a few more fuel issues, we did a 1:03.00 and you could see their faces drop just a little. Our time was also set in the heat of the day while running rich and down on power so there is significant improvement to be gained still.
All very pleasing considering that this car has only just got back onto the track in the last few weeks. Great to see that the 944 chassis is still capable of some decent achievements all on the trailing arm suspension too.
This pic was taken during the practice session where Paul, the builder and No 1 driver of my car presently, went out behind many of the status quo. Within a few laps he pulled out at the top of the straight from behind the 650bhp + GT2 and slowly managed to sneak a nose past him. (Never been done before in club history!) Approaching the very fast T1 (where I had my accident!) he pulled past and slipped behind the beautiful 956 replica. Into T2 he outbraked the 956 and proceeded to walk away from them. All while on some scrubbed medium Yokohama R specs! The reason that Paul is driving the car as well as me is that he will develop it much faster than me. An ex Karting driver having won numerous state titles and 3 National titles, he also went to the World championships in Italy when he was younger. Can Steer!
Anyway, just thought some of you might find this interesting. Also note how much squat we're still getting out of some corners. This with 1360/1490lb springs!
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