So.. It was off down to Laguna Seca on Monday the 31st of May.. Gorgeous weather and great track conditions... That's the good news.. The bad news was that the event was run with MANDATORY pointby in ALL groups, including advanced (What the H3ll was PCA thinking????).

I had all my new settings dialed into the Car.. toe-out (1/16th") at the front, ride height at 103mm front and 115mm rear and -2.6 degrees camber in front with -2.3 in rear. Old Hoosier R6's that I thought had one more track day in them (WRONG!!!).

First session was great.. The Car was turning in like a Shifter Kart.. instantaneous and precise.. so much so that my Girlfriend was slightly un-nerved by it, but she got used to it and ended up really liking it and as usual was the fastest driver in her Intermediate run group. The corner speed was better, the exit speed was better, with almost NO exit push.

To pass sound restrictions at Laguna (92db), I had a cobbled up solution, very baling wire and duct tape.. The good news... I passed sound easily.. the BAD news??? See below.. Picture of me with sad, pissed off pouting face...


One badly melted rear bumper !!! Entirely my fault.. lesson learned for next time.

My friend Frank turned up in HIS 2003 Seal Gray GT2... I had tried to persuade him to use Hoosier R6's for the first time, so he had bought the exact same wheel/tire package I have been running for the last 3 moths.. OZ Alleggerrita wheels in stock GT2 sizes, with 245/18-35's front and 315/18-30's rear.. Set at 39 psi hot.. His previous best Lap time at Laguna in his GT2 had been a 1:44 second lap on Michelin Cups... Today he ran a 1:39.... !!!!! in traffic, with no open passing... Not too far off of my best of 1:37.2. He will get there soon

My tires were utterly shot after 40+ session over the last three months.. I thought they would last one more day.. WRONG!! First session was good.. turning 1:39's on worn tires.. not too bad....after the second session, I went out and the Car would just not turn in at all.. it was BRUTALLY understeering, so I decided to pull in.. unfortunately, at turn 10, my misjudgment became apparent... With my friend Mike in the Car, I executed a PERFECT 360 degree spin.. and came gently to rest at pit entrance... no damage to the Car, only to my pride. For those of you that know Laguna Seca, turn 10 is a VERY, VERY bad place to go off... Back in the pits, I looked at my tires and they had a 2" band of cords showing on the outside edge of the tires (that hadn't been there when I checked them before going out).. So, I guess I will be going to -3.0 camber in front and -2.5 in rear, as that's what Frank was running and his tire wear was perfect, as were his temperatures across the tread and his pressures.

Anyway... it was a really fun day.. it was amazing to see my friend Frank gain so much time and confidence from the Hoosiers and now we can really have some battles... It is SO rare to see TWO GT2's at the track... Although we were feeling a bit "low rent" since a Bugatti Veyron turned up and was running in our group..






You HAVE to love this stuff.. You can't POSSIBLY have more fun than we had ... Porsche has built a benchmark Car with the 996 GT2.. it's bulletproof, fast as hell at the track and a HUGE challenge to drive fast, but once you get hooked by it, watch out.. It's a serious weapon, a riot to drive and i freaking LOVE this Car..

 

i was therre taking pictures hoping to get a ride. I saw your spin out, you got on 2 wheels. You recovered nicely. My friend has pictures of you spin, lol. I'll see if he can upload them.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1468057

 

I'd love to see the pics of my spinout...

 

looks like a blast, sucks about the car though. first damage in all your laps out there?

 

Yup... the only damage I have ever had at Laguna ends up coming from hot exhaust gases melting my rear... Sears Point/Infineon is a different matter.. I CRUSHED my 550 HP 944 Turbo there when a water hose came off my turbo and puked the entire contents of my radiator under my front left wheel while I was going through turn 8a.. I went backwards into the hill at about 90 mph and destroyed the Car...

 

Sorry to hear of the rear bumper carnage but I'm obviously thrilled that you didn't do any damage with the spin and had fun while there. I'm sure you'll better your personal best next time on fresh(er) tires and your slightly revised alignment settings.

 

Bummer about the rear bumper. Thankfully you were ok and now damage done when you inadvertently took the scenic route. What kind of times were the Bugatti turning? Very rare occurrence to see a Veyron out there on the track!

 

hey did you ever get those billet k24? and if you did how do you like them

 

The spin turned out to be entirely uneventful in terms of any damage thank goodness.. exciting, but in a bad way I haven't gone off track in over 7 years and it was entirely my fault and lack of judgment for going out on shot tires...

The Veyron was going REAL slow.. The owner has a couple of actual Race Cars and was just pussyfooting around, but major kudos to him for getting it out there... He's a brave man.. Those rear tires are just MASSIVE!!!! 365's

 

Great report and also a nice excuse to get s European bumper without the bumperettes

 

Still waiting to do the Billet upgrade... My budget has to recover from all the suspension work I have been doing, plus I have to buy a new rear bumper.

 

Given that this is my first rear engined Porsche, I am still learning about how to control it right on the limit.. With my 944 Turbo and my ZO6 'Vette, there was a continuity in terms of the balance front to rear and some similarities in their handling.. The rear engine in this GT2 needs a really light touch when it's at the limit.. I can drift the rear when neccessary, but it really doesn't like to have the rear end moving around on the downhill corners.. The rear end is REALLY sensitive through turn 9 and 10 at Laguna which are fast downhill corners.. 9 is seriously off camber, 10 starts off camber then turns into a really nice positive camber through the corner, only to go off camber again on exit.

Of all the Cars I have had in my life and all the racing and track time I have had, be it in Shifter Karts, cars or Motorcycles, this GT2 is the most involving, sensitive, intriguing, frustating (in a good way, like a puzzle), delicate in some ways yet brutal in others.. It really has me hooked..

 

As if I wasn't a big fan of the 996 GT2 already, folks like yourself have me reeled in hook, line, and sinker!!

 

Anybody read up from the Porsche web site on the new GT2 looks like a beast just from stock
http://www.porsche.com/microsite/911gt2rs/usa.aspx

 

HA! I'm just trying to drum up some buyers for the 996 GT2 to drive up the values...