[lawren]

Thanks to everyone for your input. Please keep the suggestions coming. I'm trying to get this car figured out!

Originally Posted by 1thenaton1

You've got all this money in wheels and tires and are running on the track with blown out stock suspension? Don't exactly follow your thought process there. I'd find some decent coilovers.

Heel toe is super easy in these cars. Use your heel on the accelerator by rotating it outward. The pedal coming up from the floor instead of down from the top really makes heel toe easier by a large factor compared to other street cars

I don't have coilovers but the car came with suspension that was recently upgraded to higher performance Bilsteins and they seem to be performing well. I have always assumed that the first upgrade that everyone should make is a decent set of tires!! Is that not true? FYI - new coilovers are planned for the near future.

Since that track day in the rain, i've been practicing heel-toe on the street and it's getting better but still not nearly as easy as the 997 especially with the race pads and that crazy initial bite. I think i'm going with the Rennline pedal cover suggestion.

Originally Posted by thstone

You just discovered the difference between 50/50 weight balance in the Boxster and 62/38 in the 997. The 997 carries a lot more weight over the (larger) rear wheels which help to keep it planted.

If the Boxster rear is too loose, you might want to adjust the sway bars to better balance the handling. But I would wait until you get a chance to try it on a dry track.

Tires also make a huge difference in the rain. I never thought of either of the tires you used as optimized for wet traction.

I had the same problem so I installed a set of Rennline pedal covers and accelerator pedal extension and height adjustor. This made it 10x easier for me to heel/toe. YMMV.

I'm looking forward to getting out there on a dry track to see what happens. I can tell that i'm going to love the car by the way that it drives on the street but that first track day experience in the wet was a little discouraging.

Like i said above, i'm going with the Rennline pedal covers.

Originally Posted by trygve

If the noise occurred in both turning directions, it's unlikely to be a wheel bearing -- it usually makes noise when turning in the direction that puts weight on that wheel. One surprising thing that can cause a grinding/roaring noise when doing a hard turn is the engine mount (or possibly transmission mount). When it goes bad, it can cause the engine to move just enough to allow something to rub heat shielding or other things, and it sounds horrible!

The other things I thought of when you described instability in the wet, with unwanted rear end movement under braking, are alignment and stiffness. If you have too much (relative) front end grip and toe out, the front will be very happy under braking and turn-in, but the rear will not. Unwanted rear toe out will also be problematic, causing the rear of the car to be unstable under braking. And in the wet you really have to soften the rear end relative to the front, so that the rear of the car is "compliant" and grippy--you might consider disconnecting one side of the rear sway bar so it is effectively removed from the car. This will keep the rear end more planted, which is vital in the wet.

Never thought about the engine or transmission mounts. I will give it a look. It is a horrible noise and i heard it again the other day during some spirited driving on the street.

I'm going to have the rear toe looked at soon but will probably leave any other adjustments until i get a chance to got to the track in the dry.