You are so right! I apologize for adding more confusion...

 

Barry, have you been pullin' all nighter's again?

 

Not quite ALL night. I do eventually go to bed before the sun rises.

 

LAGUNA 06.17.2012

It turned out to be one of our hottest days of the year so far. Driving down on Saturday the outside temperature was reading 108ºF while passing through Gilroy! I thought to myself, wow the IC's will be working hard to keep things cool and running strong without retarding the ECU. Sunday morning ended up being a beautiful day at LS, by 8:15 AM the sun was already out, the track was dry, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Perfect conditions for pushing the sound envelope, max of 92.9db. My first session of the day was at 9:00 AM, with ghetto LS tips strapped on to my Italian Exhaust System it was time to hit the track. Meatball after lap 2 ! What! It ended up being a mechanical. I actually lost one of my tips on the front straight. Typically for sound you get the Meatball at turn seven and then you are required to pull into the hot pits. I received this Meatball at start/finish therefore, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for me to go flat out through T5 and up the hill past sound...104.9db on a dry clear sunny day...that's loud.

Enrique and his crew were trying to get an EB Werks X-Pipe with LS tips fabricated in time for me to test Sunday, unfortunately were unable to do so. I can't even imagine what that system would have blown!!! Hopefully they'll get one together soon for testing on a 997.1TT. I know a lot of people are interested in their system for 997.1's.

New alignment and adjustable control arms did their job. I didn't experience any understeer to note. Did notice a slight increase in oversteer, which was totally controlled and didn't require any throttle adjusting. It was quite fun, the electronics never kicked in and snapped the car back into shape either which was a pleasant surprise. It was a very enjoyable ride. Didn't have any rubbing all day, had adjust slightly to the new steering characteristics / inputs. By the end of S2 the car felt "normal" to me, meaning I had adjusted to it. Oddly enough I set my second fastest lap for the day during S1, lap 2! Kind of crazy. The rest of the day was filled with heavy traffic and people "block passing" even after lapping them two or three times per session. This can get rather frustrating and rob some of the enjoyment from it, but it is something we all have to deal with.

The heat played a major role in increased lap times. Everyone had noted a decrease in power all day, even N/A cars. This was also verified by timing & scoring. Across the board everyone was 1-2 seconds off pace compared to our last LS visit. There were times when my car felt like I was in 5th gear coming out of the turns, it seemed like it took seconds for the boost to kick in. I kept a very close eye on my tire pressures and only once did my R6's get greasy....they made it 25 minutes with hard pushing working through traffic before I had to back off.

Our club has a break until the beginning of September, time to work on the car and have a few more goodies installed!

Hopefully EB Werks will have a 997.1 System ready by then. We have a benchmark for WOT sound now with a Tubi RACE System. It will be interesting to see where they come in.

Cheers & enjoy your weekend!
VID

 

Well its not easy, but its possible!
(to remove the sub woofer with a half cage in place)

Getting some upgraded software tomorrow as well as the "RACE" setting added in order to truly realize the gains if any by running race fuel.

Bonehead, I hope you will never have to gain access to your ECU. Its tough to get the sub out, but doable. If you ever have to, be sure to give me a call or email prior to doing so.



Finally received a new front Splitter from Champion after UPS lost it on June 22nd! A local restaurant owner called me and said "I think I have something that belongs to you in my storeroom". One of her employees sign for and stuffed it in the back room. It was a bit of the hassle going through the UPS Investigation process with no resolve. Luckily after 18 days of stress this matter cured it self. USP sure likes to finger point even though their Driver clearly delivered it to the wrong address!



Cheers!

 

Eek. I'll most certainly seek your advice on that one. But like you said, hopefully I'm done with pulling out the ECU.

What's with the new splitter? Old one take one too many curbs/driveways/low-lying road debris?
Mine could use a major facelift with all the rock chip pock marks through the clearcoat. But otherwise, it's going strong.

 

Original Splitter with almost 25K miles on it is actually still in great shape other than the fact my wife curbed it head-on with a parking block/stop and cracked it vertically through the center. A little dry carbon film has been keeping the damage somewhat disguised for the past few months. The plates on the bottom are getting a bit thin though! I plan on having the cracked one repaired. Just need to decide if I can get it done locally or need to send it back to CMS for repairs.



Hopefully I can get the damn sub back in without too much effort!!!

 

I took my sub out almost 2 years ago and never put it back. I don't listen to the radio most of the time anyway.

It looks like your next investment should be some mesh grills from Rennline. It will stop a lot of debris from clogging the radiators. I used to have to dig out leaves, twigs, and rubber clag from the track but no more since the mesh has been installed.

 

Hey Barry,

Do you have any decent photos of your Renline Mesh Grill Inserts? I have been wanting to do Mesh Grills since day one. I have some work scheduled very soon for my front end and was thinking it would be the perfect time to do the grills. I have yet to see any great or real images of Turbo grills installed. Have you seen the FVD versions?

Thanks.

PS: In-laws just left yesterday after a ten day stint. We might doing Holiday's in your hood this year...it has yet to be decided???

 

Interesting...I wish I had known that Rennline offered those mesh kits when I had mine custom made last year. Here's how it looked when they were being installed (pre-powder coating)






This morning...almost one year later.






Yes, those do keep things out of the inner areas but the items that do manage to get through are impossible to get out. Not much but there are some things in there.

 

Hey Jason,

Thanks for the images. What is the device or product you have protruding out of the lower left and right sides through the mesh?

 

If it's not raining tomorrow I'll snap some pix of the grills.

I haven't seen the FVD versions but the Rennline version is perfectly pre-cut and easy to install...once you get the nose off. I had someone do it for me.

I hope you get down here this year.

 

D, that's my Escort 9500Ci laser diffuser unit. That's why I couldn't go with those Rennline or any other pre-cut units. I had to get them custom made because of those diffusers.

 

Ok, so it's still overcast with occasional rain so the pictures may appear dark. Also the Rennline inserts come in black and silver. I have the black and that makes it harder to see as well.





Please no suggestions about cleaning the car.

 

Funny, def gotta do this mod. Thanks for the pics Ruf.

Ken