Spec Boxster Build

[rastta]

Another option would be to use a side scoop to feed air over the top. One of my side scoops provides direct air into an air box with my air filter located in the trunk. The other provides air directly in to cool the engine and starter. It also has twin fans located directly above the engine built into the engine cover which are activated by a switch. I have tracked the car in 100 degree temps and never had the oil go above 240 degrees and water temps sit right at 190 and that is with a stock 3.6L engine and oil cooler.

[thstone]

Christmas celebration with my family last night and we're spending tonight with my wife's family, so what to do this morning? How about completing the removal of the transmission! Plus, good to have two college son's home to help with the heavy lifting!

Have a great holiday!



Original on left, replacement on right. I need to swap over the shift cable mechanism.



New clutch was installed in May so no need to touch it...

[Brad Roberts]

Hmm.. Looks like the spring centered disc?

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Brad Roberts

Hmm.. Looks like the spring centered disc?

Yes!

By the way, I just texted you. Would like to come by soon.

[thstone]

Transmission swap complete!

Total time = 11 hours. That included the installation issue and a gear oil change. And this was my first time.

Thanks to everyone for the help with the installation issue (Transmission Re-Install Help)

Thanks again to Hughes46 (Mike) for the replacement transmission - it shifts perfectly!

[Brad Roberts]

I'll have you help on a few more We have it down to 1:15min at the track. Its not my favorite thing to do, but transmission's are in my spares package at this point.

[thstone]

Spent Saturday at AutoClub Speedway practicing with several other Spec Boxster drivers. One bit of good news is that the donor engine ran great all day - except for some smoking after the first session due to me somehow overfilling the oil! Oops!

All of this chaos was overseen by Brad Roberts; he and his crew did a great job keeping all of the equipment running (and removing some of the excess oil from my engine by dropping the oil filter) and coaching us drivers. Racing resumes in early February.

No better way to spend a Saturday!

[thstone]

I had a Traqmate TraqDash HD with two Mobius HD cameras installed this weekend by Brad Roberts and his crew. This is quite an upgrade from my existing AIM Solo lap timer and a single GoPro Hero 1!

All data systems seem to have some tradeoff's in terms of data, video, syncing, editing, or price, but this one seems to tick most of the boxes at a reasonable cost.

Initially the display is mounted with velco on the dash center panel but I plan to move it to the left windshield area next to the instrument cluster where it will be much easier to see without having to move my eyes too far off of the action ahead.

One camera will be pointed out the front and the other will be looking rearward. I may still mount an additional GoPro in the car pointed at me and then use Pinnacle video editing software to superimpose the interior GoPro camera onto the external Traqmate video.

The data system and cameras are all car powered so I don't have to mess around with charging batteries anymore! The data system is tied to key power so it turns on and off automatically. I can't tell you how many times I have been too lazy to turn on the cameras or forgotten so this will be a very nice automation upgrade.

[com3dorm3]

Very nice. I like the "car powered" setup.

[thstone]

Going Square!

I had the opportunity on Saturday at Willow Springs raceway to drive my car with the standard staggered setup (Toyo RR's 235/45/17 front and 255/40/17 rear) back-to-back-to-back with a Brad Roberts car running the square setup (Toyo RR's 255/40/17 at all four corners).

The difference was eye-opening! When I got out of the car, Brad asked what I thought and I yelled, "I WANT THAT! I WANT MY CAR TO DRIVE JUST LIKE THAT!"

Once I calmed down, I explained that the square car had HUGE front grip on corner entry and had more grip mid-corner, with corner exit mostly unchanged. More grip will correlate directly to faster corner speeds and fast corner speeds typically translate to better lap times.

My stock staggered setup generally feels neutral at corner entry but corner speed was ultimately limited by mid-corner understeer; whereupon I'd mostly steer with the throttle (slightly less throttle to tighten the radius - more throttle to push it a little wider). If I would dial out the mid-corner understeer, I'd just get mid-corner oversteer.

The only downside to the square setup is that overall the car is a little more loose, meaning that oversteer happens more easily and quickly than with the staggered setup. I realized this after finding myself in a 120mph power slide though Turn 8 (where I had never had any oversteer before on the staggered setup). I admit, the few moments before I caught it certainly quickened my pulse rate!

My best estimate is that this could be worth 1.0-1.5 sec's at a track like Big Willow.

I sent the car to Brad today to make the necessary changes so I can run square at the next race in three weeks.

[RedTele58]

Tom - what exactly is Brad doing for the set-up?

I'm guessing rolling fender lips and spacers? (And probably some stuff he classifies SECRET?)

Rick

[thstone]

Originally Posted by RedTele58

Tom - what exactly is Brad doing for the set-up?

I'm guessing rolling fender lips and spacers? (And probably some stuff he classifies SECRET?)

Rick

I'll PM you tomorrow. Some details are best kept offline.

[thstone]

Here is a video from Saturday's race at Willow Springs!

Since I previously posted a video showing me going from 3rd to 7th in five corners, I thought that I'd post this one showing me going from 8th to 3rd at the start!

The subtitles are somewhat self-explanatory. The sun was murder in Turn 2 and again in Turn 9 - straight into your eyes. I was half-blinded even with sunglasses.

The new video camera worked great and you are welcome to click through to YouTube and watch it in full screen HD.

I'll post the qualifying race later in the week where I started DFL and moved up to 8th.

Starts are kind of insane. That is what makes them so much fun!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnSod7TxwRk&feature=youtu.be

[Brad Roberts]

After a few voice mails and phone calls I was alerted to the fact you had posted about our "test" weekend at WSIR

Square: there is no secret sauce (waves hand through air)

I will say this: if you are running your car so low? that you *think you need to roll your fender lips? You are already way way..way behind in suspension setup. I lost count of how many cars I have RAISED back up from "slammed" and watched the customers go MUCH faster. It never fails. Ever. People/shops think because they see a CUP or RSR slammed? that they *should run their 9X6/9X7 slammed also.. LOL keep doing that.. Most of those who run the cars based on what they have seen (or read sometimes) have NO clue *how Porsche obtained the ride heights (and kept proper suspension geometry) Until you buy the really really expensive Cup/RSR uprights? OR you work on Cup/RSR cars? you wont know how Porsche did it

I've had plenty of people comment about our cars and the ride height (they look 4WD to most) but the people who are commenting? Are always behind us on grid... hmmm???

[com3dorm3]

Originally Posted by Brad Roberts

After a few voice mails and phone calls I was alerted to the fact you had posted about our "test" weekend at WSIR

Square: there is no secret sauce (waves hand through air)

I will say this: if you are running your car so low? that you *think you need to roll your fender lips? You are already way way..way behind in suspension setup. I lost count of how many cars I have RAISED back up from "slammed" and watched the customers go MUCH faster. It never fails. Ever. People/shops think because they see a CUP or RSR slammed? that they *should run their 9X6/9X7 slammed also.. LOL keep doing that.. Most of those who run the cars based on what they have seen (or read sometimes) have NO clue *how Porsche obtained the ride heights (and kept proper suspension geometry) Until you buy the really really expensive Cup/RSR uprights? OR you work on Cup/RSR cars? you wont know how Porsche did it

I've had plenty of people comment about our cars and the ride height (they look 4WD to most) but the people who are commenting? Are always behind us on grid... hmmm???

All good info. Im running a squared setup on ROW M030. Would it be fair to say that's a good reference for ride height when switching to coilovers?

[The Radium King]

the turn-in benefits you are seeing are not from a square setup per se, but because you went wider in the front. now you've got the front locked-in and you can carry a lot more speed into corners but the back is now feeling loose with power on. what about 265 or even 275 in th rear to get it to stick a bit better.? if you like the square setup for tire longevity, what about softening your rear bar?

[Topless]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

the turn-in benefits you are seeing are not from a square setup per se, but because you went wider in the front. now you've got the front locked-in and you can carry a lot more speed into corners but the back is now feeling loose with power on. what about 265 or even 275 in th rear to get it to stick a bit better.? if you like the square setup for tire longevity, what about softening your rear bar?

Softening the rear is the secret sauce. He can't go wider in the rear due to spec rules.

I will be very interested in Tom's lap times this year running square. I gathered a lot of data in my car running both square and staggered over 5 years. I was faster at Streets and AX but not WSIR, BW, SM, or AAA Speedway running square. Our cars are different though with his stripped, caged, and 300 lbs lighter. Square results in awesome braking and turn-in but I saw lower speeds at the end of long straights in my car. Everything is a tradeoff.

[rastta]

On my Boxster I run 250/650/18 front and 280/680/18 rear. Since I've made no changes to the setup from the previous owner - I figured why mess with something that was successful for him. In the one year I've had in the car - I can't see anything I really need to mess with quite yet.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Topless

....Everything is a tradeoff.

Agreed. There is no free lunch!

But after driving the square setup, I felt strongly that I will be able to make up enough time in the corners to more than offset what I might lose on the straights and net faster lap times.

And we'll know the answer in three weeks when I'll be racing again at WSIR with the square setup. Stay tuned.

[thstone]

Whew, what a weekend!

First, you may notice the new graphics on my car. I am proud to announce that I will be a sponsored race car driver for House Automotive in Pasadena, CA for 2015. (Official press release coming in the near future).

House Automotive is an independent Porsche service center managed by a Porsche dealer trained team including certified Porsche mechanics using the proper factory equipment. Visit their website at HouseAutoGroup.com

Thanks for bearing with me for the commercial break, now let's get back to the racing; this week I raced with the POC at Willow Springs. Competition in the Boxster Spec Class was intense and I am going to have to up my game if I want to run up front with the leaders.

Results:
Race 1: Started 7th, finished 5th, 11 cars
Race 2: Started 8th, finished 6th, 9 cars
Race 3: Started 8th, finished 7th, 9 cars

Overall, the lap time differences between 1st and 8th was only 2 seconds so I'm not that far off the mark but I am going to have to work for every 1/10th of a second. With the field this close, it made for some very tight and competitive racing! The field tended to split into two groups consisting of the top 4/5 and a second group of the other 4/5. I was battling it out in the latter group.

For example, in the 3rd race, all four of us in the second group literally stayed together for the entire race. Actually, that sounds like a Sunday canyon drive which this definitely was not. We were dicing it up continuously for for 14 laps with position changes on every lap. There was never more than 1.5 cars length between any of us. If fact, most of the time, I couldn't have read the license plate of the car in front of me - that is how close we were.

And the passing attacks came from everywhere. I was mostly 3rd of the 4 cars and I was continually attacking the 2nd car while he was trying to pass the front car. At the same time, I was busy defending the fourth car who was trying to get by me. All while going 60-130mph. Cars where sliding around, drivers were putting two wheels off into the dirt, no one was giving anyone any extra room. It was kinda insane.

Racing like this is exhausting, both mentally and physically. When people say that race car drivers aren't athletes, I have to disagree. I was actually panting inside my helmet the entire race and despite the 70F temps, I was soaked with sweat when I got out of the car!

A funny moment; I'm racing my arse off and thinking to myself "Damn, this is exhausting, we must be getting close to the end of the race". So I look down at my data display and it says "Lap 7"! Oh crap. This is only halfway???? What????? Ahhhhhh! I hope that I can keep driving at this level until the end.

While my position results were less than stellar, I had some of the most fun that I've ever had in a car on the track and dicing it up like that is really what wheel-to-wheel racing is all about. I'll take that experience over time-trialing all alone to a win any day. (Or so says the guy battling it out in the middle of the pack! )

I want to thank Brad Roberts for all of the track support and advice. He made some last minute changes to the setup that really helped in the 3rd race.

I'll talk about my first experience of running with the square setup and get some video posted in the next few days.