Thought I would share my fun day today.......Great Tracquest meet today on the big track at Willow Springs. Well organized meet. Lots of instruction. Good food. Good people. Emphasis on safety and fun. Track workers on their game. I left early but there were no mishaps thru my stay. Learned a lot.

The TT is awesome on the track. My instructor had a GT3 and took me for a ride. Wow! TT is around 400lbs heavier than GT3 and it shows. Also learned that a great driver in a Carrera will be faster than novice driver in TT (that's me). Was able to get the TT up to 125mph on the front straight just before braking for turn 1. Turn 2 in the GT3 at the hands of the instructor was at 90mph. My best speed in the TT was no more than 77mph. Me being a bit green plus my OEM Pilot Sports felt squishy where the GT3's tires didn't. Do the Cup tires make that much difference? Between turns 6 and 8 I could get up to 110mph. Had some trouble staying on the right line thru turns 8 and 9...road is so wide and turns so fast and long. Need to work on my consistency there.

Used blue masking tape on the front end to reduce stone chips. It worked but is not the most elegant solution...ugly blue tape flapping everywhere. I will soon be hooking up with Bain at EDL to get the clear bra. Bodywork, tires and brakes came thru unblemished. Zero brake fade on 1 year old brake fluid.

ZED
04 996TT

nice man. glad to know y had fun!

Bhane @ EDL is the best u can find for the clear bra. all my cars spend more time with him than me in the first week.

Sounds like great fun. I personally stay on the streets. A much more technical course with lower speeds. I just can't get excited at the possibilty of losing it a 150MPH.

That's smart. Master the Streets track first, then hit the big track and let it all hang out. Streets is great fun.

Track days are very addictive. What sort of tire pressures were you running? If you were running them way too hot, than this might explain why you were disappointed in their performance.

You will be hooked and yes track rubber makes a huge difference! I have a track event in 3 weeks can't wait!

By your third event, very few will be passing you. You'll see 140 before you brake going into turn #1. Once you pass the crest on turn 8 you'll tap the break once and be in the 100+ on the big sweeper.

A wise man once told me "Don't race any car you would hesitate to push over a cliff" - Willow has a lot of run off space but you can still really really hurt the car if you do any off road time

It was a wonderful track weekend and it looked like you were having some serious fun -- I think I got you in one of the group photos. Todd's events are always great -- I know I had a blast!

Too bad you couldn't make Sunday -- it was EMPTY. Apparently, the Sheriff responded to "an exhibition of speed" call, but he let us off with a warning in return for a lap around the track.

man, i didn't know you will be there jack. i decided not to go b/c i will be at laguna next weekend ugh.

zed, glad you have fun in your TT. your instructor must be evan? dark almost black GT3.

re: What sort of tire pressures were you running?

Shame on me....I never even checked the pressures while at the track. Others were doing so with high tech measuring devices. I need to do some research on tires before the next run. I'm running OEM tires with 7k miles on the odo. My Champion wheels are half inch wider than stock, front and rear, so the shoulder of each tire is a bit rounded; can't imagine that helping any. Will have to step up the tire sizes and roll the rear quarters' lips.

Another thing is seat belts. My car was built with the GT3 seats which has decent lateral support but I was exhausted by day's end from bucking around in the cabin with the G forces. Using only the stock 3 point belts the only thing to hang on to for dear life going around those corners is the steering wheel and that's not good for comfort or road feel. What will it take to set up 5 point belts? New seats?

Zed

Jack:

Yep, that's me over to the right, next to the Caddy. It was a blast. I'm hooked

Zed
996TT

Instructor was John in dark GT3.

Harness bar and harnesses. Don't the GT3 seats already have the cutout for the shoulder harnesses?

My error, I meant factory Sport Seats...i.e. the ones with the hard backs. No cut outs. I thought those are standard on the GT3.

1 vote for roll bar and harnesses. Harness bar won't protect you in an unexpected turnover.