There seems to be alot of people interested in just huge power and being able to go fast in a straight line. Now I am not saying there is anything wrong with that because I love the big horsepower too.

My question is why are not more people on this board setting up their cars for track events and doing track events? That is what Porsches are designed to do, not quarter mile racing.

I have to admit I have been caught up lately in the big power game, but after my latest track event at Grattan it reminded me how fun, challenging and rewarding it is to take your Porsche to a road course.

Now my question is can the bigger power cars running 850 rwhp and above be effective on a roadcourse? I don't know the answer I only know that my car almost has too much power at 630 rwhp as I was spinning ALL FOUR MICHELIN PILOT SPORT CUPS out of several corners.

Please don't anyone think I am bashing them or their cars different strokes for different folks. I am just curious how one of the mega hp cars would do on a roadcourse. I need to make some adjustments to my car before my next roadcourse event. I am going to do a corner balance, adjust my sway bars and improve my brakes.

It is still a street car so it will be too heavy but I proved this past weekend even a porker like mine can still get around the track fast!

 

I think a lot of people are interested in drag racing because it is way more accessible than a road track. There are at least 6 different drag strips I can drive to in less than 2 hours from my house but there is only one road track (Road Atlanta) and based on their website it looks like there is only one day per year you can actually drive on it (during the Porsche DE event).

 

Shane that sounds reasonable, the Peachstate region is doing a DE at Road Atlanta October 27 & 28 just fyi.

 

I saw that. I started to sign up for it but I didn't have all the information to fill out the forms and I probably won't have time to get around to filling them out for a couple of weeks (vacation). You have to get your car inspected by a qualified technician before you can even fill out the forms, too. It is probably already filled up at this point anyway.

Maybe next year.

 

absolutely agreed...I tell people that JUST my 480 hp is really WAYYY more than enough on the track if not too much and they all look at me like WTF...people dont realize HOW fast things come up when your on the track and just how much braking and smoothness is involved with a heavy car with tons of hp...

 

Buddy,

Having tracked (3) versions of my car, I believe the best set-up for a road racing course
is suspension, sway bars, ECU/exhuast and front brakes. Right now, my car is more
of a "handful" (translation=lots of drifting and wheelspin) on the road coarses.
My only reason for going back to the 1/4 mile will be to prove a point and show the power capabilities of this car/set-up. This current set-up does fulfill my needs being
a true power junky (having owned (4) Modded Porsche turbos), and is really exciting to
drive at 75-90%!! The car's overall "porkiness" could definitely be felt on Brainerd's high
speed turn #1 (designed for CanAm cars doing 180 thru there) where it wants to drift up
and off the track. Weight is a disadvantage regardless of how much power you have.
My car is also set up for future high speed events such as Texas Mile and Silver State classic and have done some chassis mods to prepare for that.
My car will be driven 200 mph within 18 months (It could do it today if I had
the right road to do it on)

MK

MK

 

Agreed on this. Its also about risk, wear and tear, getting to and from, equipment, time it takes, cost of events, frequency of events...

Of course you can argue that drag racing is more harmful to your car than road racing, but its 12-13 sec at a time and not 20 minutes of high reving, corner squealing racing.

For example you could drive your car to a drag strip, pay $20 bucks any random friday night, run 2-3 times and drive home, and on top of that its not that likley that you will crash. Many of us (including myself) have not had formal training at the track and are a bit hessitant to take the chance.

That being said I am sure it is 10x more fun than drag racing and I will be doing a school the first week in Oct so I can join the fun!

 

Roadcourse racing teaches you alot about the dynamics of a car beyond accel/decel, and has provided me not only with an addictive hobby but also alot of knowledge of suspension tuning, brake tuning, tire pressure set-up, engine cooling, etc. I would say it is analogous to chess vs checkers, though checkers is still plenty fun as well.

 

Marty have you changed your gears? You will need to do that to exceed 200 mph won't you?

Yes heavy street cars are not the best for the track but my car has to do it all street/track, etc...

 

Driver Educations Events are just that educating. If you have never done any roadcourse events they will give you an instructor and teach you the line of the track as well as how to negotiate any track. It is the cheapest drivers schooling you can get. A weekend might cost $300.00 versus $3000.00 to go to Skip Barber.

 

Good question Buddy,
Rebuilt my transmission (Todd K. did it), but kept stock gears and added steel
synchros for added strength/longevity). My rev limiter is bumped up beyond what I
need for the magic 200 mph.
(P.S. for the first year of Silver State (Open Road Racing) you have to keep speeds down, although I heard there are some exemptions)

The reason I like the modded 996TT best is that it is so capable of so many different things (since I cannot have 4-5 sports cars)

MK

MK

 

I do not take my car to track events nor was I expecting to do it. I do mostly street driving to and from work... late nights.... so I do not mind having the power.

markski

ps. I can easly change the cold side of my turbo to a .63 housing.. get quicker spool up and run at .08 bars... and that puts me right where a gt700 is at... so it can be done with some creative thinking( but I'm not sure how well it will do at the track).

 

having done both drag racing and road courses, they are both lots of fun. i just got tired of so much prep work for serious drag racing and its over in 10 seconds, or you broke something.

road courses are great for really getting to know all the limits of your skill and your vehicle, plus you can't help but get better. our cars are great for road racing even though they are heavy, but over 500hp can definately be a handful.

i will be going to the bmw cca event at calif speedway oct 6th and 7th, this is a great event for anyone new as you will be with an instructor until your signed off. you just need to join the bmw cca.

we are lucky in calif as there are many road courses to choose from. its great to see so many people on this forum take their car to some type of track, be it drag race or road course, just get out there and tear it up.

 

+1 well said and my feelings also.

Buddy, you have the hp but then also the weight, not an expert but what do F1 cars weigh and hp? probably 750hp and 1800pounds?
so different power to weight ratio. which of course throws off brakes and suspension.
It is easy for our cars to get F1 hp, but all the other parts of the equation are missing. So the jacked up hp is not usuable hp do to the void in other areas.
I think Marty has it correct. Best set up for our cars is mod up the suspension, brake up grade, reduce as much weight as possible, improve the exhaust and basic ECU flash. That's my opinion of best track set up for 996TT and what I run against all comers successfully.
the only other thing that would be at least me faster is more driving lessions from pro drivers.

 

Barber
Road Atlanta
Roebling
Talladega GP
CMP

All withing 2-2.5 hrs of Atlanta


There are tons of track days at road atlanta each year, I have done a lot (6 weekends) and havent even scratched the surface of all of them. Accesibility is not an issue in Atlanta.




Buddy, I think you are getting caught up in the forum life, truth is that there are MANY more TT's built for road racing and at road racing events than there are at the drag strip. The high hp guys are few and far between. I have pictures of 5 at a time at road atlanta and that's not even all that I have seen there. I know personally 10 people who are more road racing oriented and one tweener (Al Norton). 6speed is an anomaly, not the norm.

I do agree though, it takes way too much to get TT fast at the drag strip, when you can get a mustang, vette or viper and run 9's with 700 rwhp and less (and for cheap too), but if the TT is the car you love and want to be faster than anyone you find, then that is a matter of choice.