Just got back from the IMS PCA event this past weekend. This was my first time running the IMS GP course and I had a great time. It was a well run event and we lucked out with the weather. First session on the first day was run in the wet with some rain and the rest of the event was sunny/partly cloudy and in the 80s. Just about perfect. The track overall is very easy to learn rather quickly and it's a smooth and fast course with a couple of very hard braking zones from 150 and 140+ down to 45mph or so. The track flows well. The track surface is smooth and easy on tires. I was on NT01s and after 10 sessions they still looked pretty good but the tread was pretty much gone. I'll be able to get one more day on them which is a plus.

The advanced instructor group had a number of skilled drivers and club racers in some very fast cars including a 997.1Cup, 997.2 4.0L Cup, various 996/997/991GT3s and a number of track prepped Vettes among others. There were a few cars that in my opinion should not have been in slower group along with a few drivers that were oblivious to their rear view mirror but overall the sessions flowed well even though I don't think I got more than 2 or 3 open laps all weekend.

Here is a HD 720P video of one of the sessions from my car to give you guys a taste of the track in case you get a change to make it out there sometime in the future. I guess they only run IMS GP once each year. I think my camera mic is broken as it sounds pretty distorted at higher volume. If you turn the volume down a bit it's not as annoying. Open up the link in Youtube by clicking on the header to get HD.




For the Turbo peeps, there was a pretty interesting race prepped 996TT in the group, fully gutted with plenty of track patina on it. Note that the headlights are actually just a decal on the blank cover. You can't tell unless you're 2 feef from it. Pretty funny. I stopped by to take a few pics but did not find the owner. Don't know if he's on here. You can see the car on lap #3 in the link above. I'm attaching a couple of pics below of the cars that ran in our group. Cheers....



Check out the headlight decal!






997.2 4.0L Cup and 997.1 Cup



Bimmerworld V8 M3 wide body

 

That looks like a blast. Those pokey cars need to clear out of your way.

 

Nice driving.
What downforce numbers do you think the RUF bumper with the 996 Cup Lip produces?
I called RUF and know one there could tell me....
Does it help a bit to eliminate understeer?

 

Nice, thanks for sharing

 

I'm not sure about the downforce numbers but the front end feels solid. Certainly zero issue with understeer and I run the front GT3 bar one hole from full stiff and the rear bar 1 hole from full soft in combination with a large rear wing and 275/335 tires. My guess there is a good amount of downforce from the bumper and the Cup lip likely helps also. I know years ago RUF ran their 590 car at Nardo to 217mph with this bumper so I would feef pretty confident it does the job. I have no complaints..

 

Nice video, John. Looks like a lot of fun.. Kinda dangerous looking moment there on one lap when everyone got stacked up behind the 997 coming into T1.

Do you left foot brake? Watching the inputs, and it could be overlap on the video, but it looks like there is some overlap in corner entry leading up to apex/trailbraking, and occasionally coming out of corners. I've been working on it in a Miata, haven't tried it in the Porsche yet.

 

Hey Chris,
No left foot braking. We have not hooked up the pressure sensor to Motec yet so the brake input you see is generated by g-force so it's not terribly accurate. I know some pros that do it and many that don't. Just depends I guess.

You should come down to Salt Lake and run Miller with me next month. It's the only time they run the full 4.5 mile track. I'll be there all 3 days. It's an amazing facility..

 

I don't notice much difference in left foot braking in the Miata... probably would be something worth focusing on a lot more in a PDK where it could give you another split second on throttle before moving your foot..

What are the dates? I'll see if it is something that I might be able to make happen.

Picked up some GT3 uprights recently so I'm gathering what I need to swap those in.. Would be nice to get everything dialed in and head out there. Maybe can talk Mark into making the trip too if he's done with his house and make a mini-meet out of it.

 

I talked with Mark and he's up to his neck in the house project so he won't be able to get away. The dates are September 15, 16, and 17. You can run 1, 2, or 3 days. I'll be there all 3. The sponsor hotel there is the Comfort in and Suites in Tooele. Their rate is $100 per night. Let me know, it's gonna be fun... I just PM'd you the link to the event.

 

I'll be there instructing all three days, hopefully have the race car out for at least Sunday so I can chase you around the outer loop. Pool party BBQ at the house maybe?

 

Sounds great Park! I'm always up for a pool party. Bring the race car Saturday so we can run the full track together.

 

You'll just have to wait for me at the end of the front straight what night would be best for a 6speed BBQ? My house is really close to downtown SLC maybe 20 minutes from that hotel

 

Probably Saturday night I would imagine. 👍

 

How would you rate your car performance(laptimes mainly interested) at the tracks you have raced so far, compared to:
- 991/997.2 turbo S with mild track mods
- 991 gt3/rs
- any Cup car
- any other exotics cars like Mclaren, Ferrari, Lambo etc

 

Hey Fadi,
Obviously not an easy answer as it's all driver and track dependent. You can put a mediocre driver in a fast car and it will be slow and vice versa. Based on running my current set up on 275/335 NT01s, I've not come across any 991/997.2TT that would even come close to staying with my car. The modded cars will hang in a straight line but not even close in the braking zone or in the turns. Same goes for a 991GT3 or RS. I would say the worst performers are the exotics like Ferrari or Lambo but I would say that is mainly due to the type of drivers in these cars even though having driven some of the exotics on the track (458 and and early generation McLaren) I didn't find either of those cars particularly fast.

I would say my car runs a pace on par with a fairly well driven 997.1Cup and maybe a .2 Cup assuming they're not on stickers even though again the driver has a lot to do with it. A Cup car with fresh stickers and a good driver is likely going to be faster than my car. Stickers compared to 10 cycle tires on a Cup seems will provide a significant difference in lap times compared to stickers or 10 cycle NT01s which are relatively mediocre all the way through.

A 7.1Cup driven by a top level driver like my friend Chris is definitely going to be faster than my car. On the other hand, the 7.1Cup in the video above was on mid life slicks and driven by a PCA instructor that has been Club racing it for 6 years was not even a match as I was significantly faster. I also managed to just outrun the 4 liter 7.2Cup that was there but it the right hands that car should crush my car (the owner of that car has been driving it for 3 years). In a straight line the 4 liter .2 and my car were virtually a dead heat to 150mph on the front straight but I was just ever so slightly starting to pull him. A better comparison is one with a local PCA Club racer that has a 997.2 Cup with a 4.0 Liter and an RSR gearbox. It's highly modded and he has driven it to 1st place in the PCA Porsche National Championships in 2014, 2015, and 3rd in 2016. On our home 2 minute track, on stickers he's about 4 seconds faster than I am. With slicks on my car the gap would most likely be closer to 2 seconds. Well driven 991Cups are significantly faster. No contest there. If I were to gut my car and make it a full on race car the gap would narrow significantly but for now I'm keeping it street legal. Hope that helps..