Tim makes a nice race car

[bnewport]

This weekend I brought Tims CR5 baby 944 to the track. I had the alignment fixed during the week and I was very happy with the car. And it drives like a go kart (without the acceleration!). Very cool.

 

Day 1

I redid the PCA Nordstern beginner school because they do braking threshold exercises and slalom runs. I also spent time with Jim Bryant a 944 PCA F class racer to get some instruction with the car. The first braking threshold run from 50mph was comical with lockup big time but I got the hang of it that then on and didn't have another lockup the rest of the weekend despite braking at my usual spots from about the same speeds as before so no ABS isn't a big deal although I'm sure in the wet, it's another story all together.

 

The slalom exercises were fun. I wasn't spinning the car in 3rd during the runs so we did them in 2nd at arount 6k rpm and then any lift unbalanced the car and made it spin. I got sideways once and corrected it and did a 180 another time and both feet up. The exercise was very useful in figuring the car out and how it behaved. It basically had a slight push as aligned which is exactly what the alignment shop said it had.

 

Heel and toe was next and the first session was comical but I'd gotten the hang of it by the last session that day after watching Jim do a session in the car from the passenger side. Jim said I'd managed a 2:06 on the first day but I don't believe him.

 

Day 2.

Day 2 was a ton of fun. The car is very easy to drive at the limit and communicates very well what it feels like and I was managing to get deeper into braking and then be at just the right speed for turn in after downshifting. When I got it right, it was a great feeling. I need the feeling more often though

 

I did a timed event in the evening and this was a cold lap followed by your only hot lap. I managed a 2:14 during this which given it's a one time deal and I know I screwed up turn 10 isn't bad. I did manage my fastest runs (ever) through turn 1 and 2. I was about 127 at turn in and about 120 at apex for T1. Turn 2 was about a 100 at apex and 115 before braking into 3 so my confidence in the car is growing. I'm pretty sure you can drive the car flat out through T1 and maybe 10-15mph slower through 2. A buddy reckons I should downshift to 4th before turning in to T2 but with the short fifth I don't know.

 

I ran a couple of sessions with another 944 and lead him around a session. The other car wasn't as prepared as mine and the short fifth nailed him pretty good down the straight plus the better T10 exit speed helped too. That said, it was a lot of fun during that session.

 

The next session was my last and the car started pulling left after T10 which is the last corner. I limped around to T2 where I pulled off the track to discover a puncture on the left front which I was actually happy to have given my history with mechanical failures. It turned out that the rubber valve stem had broken off and the tire was ruined. Within 30 minutes, I'd steel valve stems on all 4 wheels. If that stem had broken during the timed run or during T1 then the consequences wouldn't have been good.

 

Noone had a spare RA1 so that was it. I'll buy another set now to have spares and the track side guys don't have RA1s in stock.

 

Summary

Glitches. The rubber bead around the windscreen started flapping so I taped that down. The cover for the fuel pump on top of the fuel tank came off and was taped down. The left front bearing cover feel off. The rubber valve stems cost me day 3.

 

Overall, very pleased. Easily had as much fun driving the 944 as I ever had in the 996. No ABS and heel and toeing was easy to pick up and the car really feels like a go kart under braking and turning. Pretty cool for a 12K car. The car was a lot faster than the 996 through the infield section which is expected given the weight, tires/suspension etc and the new found lack of fear for banging it once I got the hang of it. It was fun chasing down more powerful cars on the infield.

 

So, sitting down at home now, it's the most fun track day short of Road America last year that I've ever had. Road America is the next track day and I'm going to change a couple of things before that.

 

I'm rewelding the front bar over the windscreen to be tighter for more head room in a pranger. I'm going to put 3 self tapping holds in the front hub seals to let my allen screw it on from 3 pts so it doesn't fall off again.

 

I'm converting my other set of rims to steel valve stems also and will have spare rubber available.

 

Anyway, very happy. Roll on Road America.

[Sterling Doc]

Overall, very pleased. Easily had as much fun driving the 944 as I ever had in the 996.

 

Good to hear - cheap affordable racing in Porsches - spread the word. Sound like you had fun!

Bring your car over for a NASA event or two as well. We'll be at Road America this year in front of a paying crowd (it's on the Road America flyer schedule). You can look up details here: http://www.nasamidwest.com. It'll be a blast. We also have contingency money available, if we have enough cars, which we definitely will have at Mid America Motorplex later this month (one of my favorite tracks outside of Road America).

[Spec944#74]

Congratulations on your new car! I've seen Tim's car and several others that he has built when the CA guys came out to PIR in AZ last fall and the build quality on all of them was exceptional.

 

I'm coming out to Brainerd for the club race in August to run DE with my brother and if you are there I would love to see the car. We have an 87 944S that is set up pretty well for the track and if we happen to be in the same run group it would be a lot of fun to chase you around for bit. I have alway been on street tires at Brainerd but I just shipped a set of shaved RA1's out there so I'm looking forward to being able to push a little harder on those. I'll be in a black 944S, car #182 if you want to stop by and say hello.

[Tim Comeau]

As in the other post, thanks, guys.

Billy and I spoke about the valve stem issue and I believe the problem occured because of using metal caps on rubber stems ( not as delivered). At speed, the weight of the metal caps on the rubber stems is too much and they cause the stem to lay over. It's been my experience that plastic caps are fine on rubber stems, or steel caps on steel stems is fine. The steel stems will install easily on the cookies, but present a problem on the phonies because of the curvature of the wheel in that area.

Anybody learn anything different?

[bnewport]

Could be. I've used metal caps on rubber stems on my 996 which does go faster but it had 18" wheels so maybe they don't spin as fast as the 15s do.

 

There were no caps as delivered. I put the steel ones on to help if the valve itself failed. I'd always been told to use steel because of the heat, especially on the front wheels with heat from brakes etc.

 

No matter now as the cookies have steel ones so hopefully, this won't happen again.

[Tim Comeau]

Yes, I was taught to always install the caps in case the valve fails, too.

[schwank]

Sorry to dig this one back up, but my local tire dealer just installed metal valve stems on my phonies when they were mounting the RA1's.

 

The stem is a shorter one to allow adequate clearance, but I ran a full track day on them with no issues, including several pressure adjustments up and down during the day.

[Tim Comeau]

Eric,

Got a pic of those valve stems in the phonies? How'd they get them tightened on the curved surface? Early offset, not ABS offset? Might be curved less in there.