Recently bought a 996TT in yellow, love it so far. First Porsche. I hope to compete next year in the Optima Ultimate Street Car series in it. I did 3 events this year in my S2000CR and managed to qualify for the SEMA invitational. Great series if anyone is interested I could share more.

Been racing awhile and have set up other cars, Evo, STI, S2000, Mx5, Golf R but could use some help on this one as its doesn’t seem to be the coilover/camber plate solution.

The series doesn’t have many rules - the main one is 200TW tires. I’ve spent a lot of time on them over the years and the RE71R and the RIVAL S are both great tires. So based on some research it looked like 255f/315r was the max…however reading threads here folks are fitting way more tire - 275’s on 10” wheels front and 335’s on 13” wheels in back.

From here and other friends tracking GT3’s my starting point for alignment would be something like:
Front camber: -3.50º
Front toe: 0
Rear camber: -2.50º
Rear toe: 1/8 - 1/4” in
I’ve gathered that castor is important both F/R but I don’t know how much.

Doing this with adjustable lower control arms/toe arms/thurst arms. There seems to be many choices
here come the questions:

Is there a LCA that works best, allows more tire? Easier to adjust?
The elephant Racing ones seemed trick b/c no spacers are required.

I see PMNA product referenced by “pwdrhound” but google-ing I don’t see a place to purchase? Are these unobtainium type stuff?

If I have adj LCA with adj thrust bushing front and rear, do i need all the others b/c the OE toe/castor arms are not adjustable enough, they are weak or for some other reason?

Thanks in advance, I appreciate any help.

 

Pwdrhound will be a terrific source for you and can point you to parts sources too. Max tire fitment requires some mods. Toe adjustment moves so locks get used and monoball adj toe links. Pwdr, heavychevy, and others can give you good details all .the way up to aero and cooling.

 

Thanks BLKMGK! I continue to read and do more research. It does seem like maybe the first step could be front LCA with the thrust bushing and rear toe links with the locks as you mentioned. I believe with those I could get the alignment I noted. I still have not found any reason that the PMNA are "better" than the aftermarket items in terms of allowing more wheel/tire. No doubt they are quality but do come with the P-tax.

 

I've always wondered about the Ultimate Street Car stuff. I used to follow that stuff when Sport Compact Car was hosting/writing the articles about it.

Regarding parts-- PMNA is proven; The Motorsports parts are engineered by Porsche for use on the factory race cars with an unlimited budget... The other stuff is essentially untested by comparison. You have to go through someone with a PMNA account to get the parts which is why you aren't finding much by googling. Some dealerships can get PMNA, some can't.. From what I understand, they don't just let anyone open an account-- have to own or service a cup car/race team. Maybe I am wrong on that part.

It is expensive, but is saving a little money worth the potential risk? There isn't a guaranteed risk by running anything else, but Porsche certainly knows what they are doing... What race team runs the other stuff? I don't think anyone does.

Someone said something to me at my first DE, when I said something about an expensive and slippery slope that I was trying to avoid going down.. "What part of taking Porsches on a race track did you think was going to be cheap... The racing part or the Porsche part?"

 

Had to reset my forum account here, for some reason..

The Optima series is fun and well run. I did 3 events and managed to get in the SEMA invitational in a street touring S2000. I was probably the lowest HP car by some margin.

Good points on the Porsche products, I get that. It does seem that the aftermarket products aren't really any cheaper. For me cost isn't the top priority, I'd just rather not make a mistake, buy the wrong stuff then have to buy a second time. GMG seems like it could be a source for the PMNA.

 

Yeah, for the price differential... it is hard to beat the Porsche parts. Many threads between here and other forums where someone buys Product A and ends up spending more money later to replace it with PMNA/Porsche.

That's really cool that you did so well... Maybe I'll give it a go next year, don't think I'll be ready this year. Would be interesting to hear your experiences and what you were up against. Always been in the back of my mind, never thought it'd be realistic to do it.

 

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-u...ative-schedule


The series is run by and mostly sponsored by Pro Touring folks. I love those cars and hope to someday build one. If you want to win overall history says Corvette. Mitsu Evo has done really well over the years as well. Several Porsche's did well this year with a 997TT making it into the invitational and I believe finished 25-27 overall which is awesome. A friend has done well in a 991 GT3. They published an article "can a Porsche win" I'll try to find an post.


I don't have any affiliation to Optima or the series. I've run SCCA AX for years and was looking to transition into track events. New this year will be an AX only series - the organizers haven't posted details yet.

 

Is the weight requirement with or without driver? Seems the 996 could end up in some sort of weird classing dilemma... The natural fit would be with the modern sports cars, but it isn't hard to get 996 below that 3200# number before driver without looking like a tin can which would put it into GTL.

 

I believe it is weight without driver. I think most of the 911's ended up in GTS. All wheel drive goes to GTS also. They don't weigh every car, in fact I think they only weigh it someone protests. There were a few of these in GTL because there is only a 5% allowance from OE weight and there are lots of cars with carbon everything so i assume they are adding weight back to the car lower and where they want it.

Here is the article on a Porsche as a car to win: https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-u...ate-street-car

 

I'd like some information/confirmation on wheels and offsets. I've read a lot and it seems wheel tire packages can be classified into: easy, moderate and difficult - to fit.

My preferred tire for now
BFG 245/40/18 25.7"
BFG 315/30/18 25.5”
BFG 275/35/18 25.6”

Easy:
18x9 et45 front and 18x12 et40 rear.
245/315 tires

Moderate:
18x9.5 et45 front and 18x12.5 et42 rear
275/315 tires

difficult:
18x10 et38 front and 18 x 13 et46 rears
275/315 tires
Pwderhound has documented very well what has to happen to make this fit. For me this is probably a down the road setup.

Do the offsets for easy/moderate look correct? Suggestions for wheels would also be appreciated. Forgestar, Finspeed, CCW seem to be proven.

Thanks,
Kevin