Track days in 911
 

Hi - I'm new to the forum.
Have just come back from a fun two days tracking my boyfriends Ford
GT and would like to get some time in my 911 ('08). Its a standard C2 with manual box.
My question is: any suggestions for wheels? I'd like to get a spare set so I can have Hoosiers for the track. They don't have to be flashy but do need to be strong and light. Also, any suggestions for upping performance? Again, I don't want to severely alter the car but thought an exhaust or flash tune may be in order.
I've tracked and raced bikes before but this 4 wheel business is new to me!
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to 6speed!

I think somewhere in the unwritten forum rule book it clearly states that any girl member that rides a Ducati MUST post a pic by their second post.
:)

For more power, you can't beat Maxspeed Motorsport's 84mm throttle body and matching racing plenum. Less than $1000. For wheels, you can't beat OZ for low cost and low weight. Cargraphic (German) makes the highest quality exhausts and can endure track events as they are mounted stress free and are spring secured/loaded separate tubes to handle heat swings (X-pipes and secondary mufflers). Great value, light, increases power, and lifetime warranty. Source from Vividracing. Start with the secondary mufflers (under $2000) as they relieve back pressure and pump up the power the most. Later add the x-pipe if you have an extra $1000 to kill.

Track wheels
 

Hey Thx for ideas Steve. Will def check out exhaust and throttle body. As for wheels any idea as to whether or not to change wheel size and go for something bigger or should I not mess with increasing contact patch?

Photo soon! Rob.

I'd say get a set of lobster forks since they are light and cheap but I'm guessing you'll want 18's instead of 19's.

18" for sure. Similar widths to OEM...8.5 and 11.

For track wheels I highly suggest going with 18" wheels. For Hoosiers you will have more size chooses too in 18" and better overall grip. Use 9x18 and 12x18....offset for the front should right at et50 and rear et63 for a 997 narrow body based car. The best bang for the buck in 5 lug forged track wheels are CCW (Complete Custom Wheel) you can look around here and reenlist and they pop up from time t time for around $2k. I ran these wheels for years.

For more performance doing anything to the engine to get any real performance feel is extremely costly. Free flowing exaust basically just adds noise but if you get the right exhaust you can take around 50lbs off the rear and that helps. All the money you will spend on ECU flash, throttle body's, plenums costs thousands and is basically a waste. I do a lot of track days and have run with guys that have all this bolt on engine stuff and never see any benefit for what these so called mod's cost.

I suggest taking the engine mod money and put it into pro level coaching. Mod yourself not the car. The car is very fast if driven the right way. If you want to mod and are going to use Hoosiers you are going to need a lot more camber than what the car is stock form will give you. Max camber on a stock 997 Carrera or Carrera S is right at -1 degrees. You need around -3 in the front and -2.5 degrees in the rear to use Hoosiers. You will need some GT3 Lower Control Arms to properly get that type of camber out of your car. That with some better coil overs like KW Club Sport or even Bilstein B16 Damptronics will allow you to lower the car properly and adjust it to corner balance it. Also a set of adjustable control arms to fine tune the handling is a good idea.

Hope this helps! Mike

Great advise.

Yes and no. The OP wants info on specific mods. Not everyone wants the same from a track experience. Some just want to have fun circling a track, not get into any trouble, and preserve their car for the main purpose of transportation. Others are striving to shave milliseconds off their best time. Making yourself a better driver is ALWAYS great advice and universally understood. Wish I had a dollar for every time it's interjected when not asked for. I frequented Nurburgring when I lived in Germany. People there take driving to a level far more serious than anywhere in the US. I had a lightly modified MINI JCW (turbo), in addition to my stock BMW Z4M Coupe. My tuner was the same guy who built MINI Challenge cars for the racing series. He holds the lap record for modified MINIs on the ring. His cars (example pic) were streetable race cars with full roll cages and race seats, LSDs, racing gear shifters (amazing difference), complete factory BMW Motorsport aero kits, huge brakes, KW Clubsport suspensions, OZ wheels, his own sway bars/intakes/and fan-exhausted bonnets, and all bolt-on engine mods for better cooling the intake charge and exhausting gases. Mods, especially in anything affecting grip and braking cannot be underestimated, as stock cars usually show their street compromises here mostly. Power matters too. It all matters for those wanting to shave milliseconds. My advice is take your driving itch to a kart track where you can drive at 10-tenths. Or buy a race-only car and have at it on a track. My guess is the OP just wants to have a little fun.

Precisely. On my first DE session, I was foutunate enough to end up with an instructor who used to make a living as a professional race car driver for 6 years and he personally drove my stock 997 to show me how a 997 was meant to be driven. I almost pissed on my pants while he was going around the track and at the same time, I was truly amazed at what this car was capable of. Then I realized that as a beginner, I have a long way to go before I could say I need to make my car faster. I am just saying this as a beginner's perspective. I am sure it would be different with more advanced drivers.

Well when I first moved to Germany in 2004, I learned quite quickly my brain needed to adjust to different speeds. Our cars don't even come alive at the speeds we're required to drive here in the US. I've always believed the best way to make something quicker starts with brakes and suspension. My car is plenty fast enough. I do like hearing the motor though, so I am an advocate of modding the exhaust as I prefer to shift based on sound and feel. Sound also has the added benefit of capturing the attention of other drivers. Safety first!

Sticky tires and more horsepower are a long way down the list of "things" to do for a novice track day person. Can actually be dangerous.

I have many track days in my 911 and have actually removed the stiffer suspension, and I'm going to sell my second set of wheels with the sticky tires. I run with another instructor that is 3 seconds a lap faster than me with a bones stock car of the same model as mine.

When I can beat him (not really racing either!) then I'll consider other mods.

Track day info
 

Hi and thanks to all for very informative replies. Sorry for my tardiness but I just got back from a trip.
I love the recommendation for more education, I couldn't agree more. At the Ford GT rally I got to drive with a few instructors and learnt so much. I rode with Mark McGowan (ford test driver and developer of GT project in 05/06) he seemed impressed with my driving and told me I could hold my own in the advanced group (I was happy to stay in intermediate group!) I come from motorcycles some things translate and others don't. I'm learning. I've done a bunch of days at Skip Barber at Road Atlanta and am going back early next year for 3 days in the open wheel cars. I got half a day in one this year and enjoyed it (especially the sequential gearbox) as close to a bike as you can get!
So to the C2. It seems Porsche made the perfect car! If there is not that much to gain and much money to spend then maybe all I need to do is get some spare wheels and some stickier tires (thanks for offset recommendations) - saves me money and nice to know. One thing though, the brakes? Are the stock discs going to hold up? Any recommendations for pads? I was thinking Pagids but not a full race grade.
Once again thanks for all the help!

There is no question that Pagids would give you better performance but stock pads are sufficient. Pagids are very noisy and not good for street use. You would have to change them back to stock pads after the track session.