Track day

[stuart tanner]

Hello,

Could somebody please advise me the next available track day. Im a 993virgin track day person but would like to enjoy to start doing some instead of just polishing for concours events. Currently have a 993 targa tiptronic. Would this be any good for track days being tip' ?

Would be most enjoyable meeting new people who do track days and people of similar interests.

Out of curiousity was wandering how trashed the tyres would get out of doing one. If got into it was thinking about looking for a spare set of wheels and tyres.

Any thoughts - suggestions appreciated. Im based in Wiltshire by Castle Coombe.

Cheers,

Stuart

 

[Sundeep]

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tt.asp?forumid=59

check out the post ref. date & booking

 

[Guest]

IMHO - I would have thought mixing concours and track sounds like heartache - the possibility of the odd dent is a wee bit higher on track

Mark

 

[Pickled Piper]

You will wear out the tyres at a considerably greater rate than on the road. The rate depends on your level of exhuberance and /or skill. It is a fun day out and the cars thrive on being driven hard.

I wouldn't bother buying a spare set of wheels until you have tried a few trackdays. If you get addicted you may wish to get a different size of wheel / tyres.

Taj

 

[mmylonas]

Stuart,

Bedford is excellent for the reasons noted by other forum members. If you call Bedford Autodrome several days in advance then they are normally happy to

 

[mmylonas]

...normally happy to give you the numbers of some local instructors who will take you round for the entire day if you want for a very reasonable price. Makes the world of difference if you're new to 911's and the track.

The downside is that with decent instruction it's easy to get confident with power applications and that will inevitably burn its way through the rear tyres.

Regards

Michael

 

[Sundeep]

ORIGINAL: MoC2S

Stuart, a few of us are doing Bedford on 14th coming .... lots of runoff there .. []

will see you there.....[] still debating the half day or the full day !


as for tyres, I got 7000 miles out my rears'... 17's Michelin Pilot Sports and that was a few track days and a few more days at the Nurburgring..... fronts were down to about 4.5mm

you'll be fine.....as you have to get some serious pace for the tyres to suffer serious wear and even at my last outing at bedford I ran a full day quite hard, but still tyres coped well... less could be said about the brake discs on that particular day ! although the prevaling temp's have a say on the rate of tyre wear......

 

[stuart tanner]

I looked at the track, did look like a nice fast one. What is this company like then that organises it ? How many cars do they usually put out on a track at any one time. Went to a Porsche one at castle coombe and it seemed very well organised. Not loadsa cars going out all at once. Appeared to be only 20 or so, could be wrong mind!!

Im getting very tempted to come down and possibly do the morning and doing half a day and see what I think. Perhaps have a chat with afew others of you in the afternoon and watch.

Is it just a Porsche day also.

Stu

 

[Shaun Leahy]

Did Brands Hatch Indy circuit last week, PCGB day, so there was a high ratio of corners per mile. Owing to lack of subscriptions, the organisers let in a late application and a truck pulled up and unloaded a set of Caterhams in the pits, which appeared to be full racing machines. [:-]

Whilst the breifing stated: no racing, no testing, overtale only on straights, just fun, Caterhams raced earch other for a lot of the day and overtook me once in the corners at turn in i.e after the braking zone had started. Of course Caterhams turn far more quickly and must have been annoyed at us holdnig them up in the corners, before they struggled a bit on the "straights" to get past. Overall that made the day annoying and the only plus for a PCGB day disappeared. Certainly if the PCGB day does not start Fully Booked a few months beforehand I will go to Autotrack and Goldtrack again in future.

 

[stuart tanner]

Maurice, Are you going for the full day, or just the morning or afternoon. Would be good to catch up with you down there and others if i can get in still, cheers, Stuart. p.s.Be good to meet the other porsche club members. eg. Sundeep, pickled piper etc.


[]

 

[RichardLW]

MSV rang me on Friday to say it was now fully booked - all day/morning/afternoon - and would I like to do one the next weekend? No.

 

[IndischRot]

Check your owner’s manual? It’ll tell you where to find it and where it goes. Plus loads more useful information too!

 

[Tim01]

Good point found the section. Any personal track day tips (993 specific)?

 

[jboult]

A lot depends on your level of experience taking a car on the track. If I take the question at face value (i.e. only 993 specific items, not the general tyre pressures, brakes, fluids, wheel nut torques, etc. stuff) then I have some general rules of thumb I use for mine. Other things to bear in mind are general stuff for rear wheel drive at the limit/on the track and this is list is a bit of a mixture.

1. I'm going to destroy the rubber, so accept in advance that new tyres are going to be incoming...! To be fair, it really depends on the track and I race as well so generally tend to push the car quite hard.
2. The 993 tends to wash out and understeer (at least on my suspension set up), so keep a good eye on temperatures/pressures all round, and especially the fronts. Bleed down regularly to keep within your preferred working window.
3. Using the throttle to rotate the 993 works well if you're comfortable with that, but can easily push car into understeer, so a little finesse works wonders.
4. I don't bother trail braking the 993 - I've never seen it make much difference to lap times (not that you'll be timing on a track day, Harry...), it just gives you more to think about. Getting it braked in a straight line gives more confidence to hit the turn in mark, clip the apex and power up early.
5. ABS is not quite up to standing the car on the nose but it does help sort it under heavy braking if you're a little late and a little enthusiastic. I don't find it remotely as good as the 968. Work up to later braking points and note that pad/disc temperatures are going to induce fade at some point (as will boiling brake fliud!). Don't be that guy that ends up going straight on at the chicane...
6. I tend to fix the tail up to aid in heat dissipation.
7. 993 lights are expensive. Tape them!
8. Keep an eye on those (sometimes useless!) gauges for levels and temperatures, especially with the heat sink as you slow down. I lift the lid in the paddock.
9. The 993 is a fantastic car, but it's not particularly quick or agile compared to modern or track focused metal, and is expensive to fix. Be prepared to keep out of the way more than you'd like!
10. I've seen a few 993s weeping engine oil when hot. Keep an eye under the car for spots and check levels.

With the 993 I tend to avoid traffic and busy sessions (first & last) and just have fun using the car quickly. I never bother looking to set 'personal bests' or anything like that, but I do like to give the car a good run out, and they reward 'spirited' driving.

 

[Tim01]

Jboult, thank you. That's perfect and much appreciated.

 

[turboww]

Take the eye out of your tool kit.
Take the plastic gromit out of the bumper and screw the eye into the hole.

 

[jboult]

Hi Tim,

Just wondering how your trackday went - any additional bits of advice you'd give to others considering the same that could be added to the list?

On a separate note, I imagine the Indy circuit at Brands could be a little frustrating in a 993 as you wouldn't get to really open it up much between braking zones, but would be fun in the technical bits. I'd certainly be interested to hear your thoughts on Paddock Hill in a 993 - one of my favourite bends when racing!

Cheers/John

 

[Tim01]

Hi John,
Everything you listed was right on the money and yes 'a little frustrating in a 993 as you wouldn't get to really open it up much between braking zones, but would be fun in the technical bits'. I probably only took her to 85% (apart for an accidental redline when on the Brabham straight) but understeer (more focused tyres would have made a huge difference) and lack of racing skills kept me there (also did not want to bin her). My car has the lowered adjustable suspension kit but I had not adjusted anything. The brakes were great, no fade at all. I kept the spoiler up and no over heating issues but kept it to 15 mins sessions at a time with 5 mins cool down between. As I was surrounded by numerous GT3's, GT4's, RS's and some other exotica I felt quite slow. The 993 did hold her own on the bends/technical bits, Paddock Hill bend and Druids she seemed to do really well, due to my lack of skill less so on clearways but have always had an issue getting the braking and turn in right. Got her to about 110 on the Brabham straight but if I'd got clearways cleaner another 5-10 would have been possible. All in all a great half a day on the track, possibly due to being a 4 not the most playful of cars i've been in, but felt very sure footed and communicative throughout. Big shock was on the DB test, thought the car was relatively quiet (standard exhaust) but at 5K revs I was 0.5 DB off the Brands Hatch limit!

Thanks again for your original message!