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.

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!

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...ps793515dc.jpg

Original on left, replacement on right. I need to swap over the shift cable mechanism.
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8f15c473.jpg


New clutch was installed in May so no need to touch it...
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...ps48ae14ff.jpg

Hmm.. Looks like the spring centered disc? :)

Yes!

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

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 (http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/55205-transmission-re-install-help.html)

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

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...ps32416d28.jpg

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.

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!

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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.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5f5134f4.jpg

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...pscd0ab7cc.jpg

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

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.

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. :)

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! :)

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qnSod7TxwRk?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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

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 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.

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.

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. :)

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.

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Sounds like a lot of fun Tom. Few things are more exciting than going nose-to-tail and door to door in a wolfpack for a full session. You have been out of the saddle for quite a while with mechanical issues so give yourself time to regain the edge and as always, preserve the car. You can't win if you don't finish. Lots of BSR drivers in that group are going to get excited and toss a trans or motor in the heat of battle. Cool heads prevail!

:cheers:

What? Lost my edge? :D Good point and I am sure that you are correct. I need to keep that in mind and temper my expectations accordingly.

I know a couple of drivers who experienced that truth (can't win if you don't finish or if you spin off track) this weekend. Another excellent piece of feedback.

Wow, excellent write up. Someday I may graduate from AX to W2W.

Here is some video from last weekend. This is from Saturday's race - unfortunately my video cam didn't turn on at all on Sunday.

As this video shows, sometimes its not all about finishing place; the race itself can be quite rewarding even if you're back in the middle of the pack.

As usual, the start is insane. The BSR group got our own start (only Boxster's, all of the other cars started a half-lap in front of us) so it was pretty even. I got a decent jump but forgot to downshift into the first corner as the traffic piles up. Then I have no torque on corner exit, have to downshift, and in doing so, lose a little momentum and drop back one place.

There was a little bit of controversy after the race when I talked with the driver of the maroon car - he didn't think that it was entirely fair that I caught him after he slowed for the dust cloud. He wasn't mad but he did mention it.

From my point of view, the yellow flag is thrown just as I pass the flagman meaning to drive with caution and no passing. I could see the car that spun off to the left and there was no one else in from me but the maroon car so I maintained my speed through the dust whereas he braked heavily.

I didn't feel badly about it as I didn't literally pass him in the dust cloud; merely caught up to him. It still took me two laps to actually make the pass (including one failed pass attempt), so he had more than enough opportunity to drive away from me if he was indeed faster. And he had multiple laps after I passed him to get it back from me (which he almost did!).

All in all, a very fun race. :) Enjoy in full screen HD!

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YmG3_dkB0FM?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thanks for sharing....

The side by side action at the very end -- was very tense to watch -- I'm sure it was fun as well as a handful.

Mike

Very nice battle with the maroon car. Looks like your car could hold the corners much tighter.

The maroon car was also warned at the end of the race not to show up again with full fiberglass bumper, hood, etc.

Damn - I watch that full screen with the sound up and it feels like I'm sitting next to you - I can feel my pulse and respiration increase!

Living vicariously through Tom's videos - Thanks! :cheers:

Rick

Me too, I love watching them.

After one race weekend and one practice day, here are my thoughts on running a square setup;

Thus far, I have posted consistently slower lap times at two different tracks while running square vs staggered. Somewhat disappointing.

The staggered setup tends to understeer. Dial out some of that understeer and the car can be fairly neutral (balanced). With this setup, I was able to match class record times in BSX and post some pretty fast BSR times. But they were still a few seconds off of the fastest BSR guys (who all run square).

The square setup tends to oversteer. A lot. If you like to drift at 120mph, then put another set of 255's in front, don't change a thing, and that rear will slide with little provocation. The problem is that the car loses grip when the rear is sliding and its hard to go any faster.

At first, I thought it was me. I thought that I had to get used to the car being loose and not to fight it - kind of let the car have its head and keep my foot in the throttle and keep it out of the ditch (meaning counter-steering like a madman to keep the rear of the car in line with the front!).

But alas, nothing helped. At least nothing within the driving skillset that I possess today.

So, where do I go from here? I still think that the square setup will be faster. Why? Because the front end grip is hugely increased over the staggered setup. That should allow faster entry and mid-corner speeds - which should result in faster corner exit speeds which results in faster straight line speeds. Basically, faster everywhere.

The next step is to work to tune out some of the oversteer. This should help plant the rear of the car through the corners so I can increase the speeds.

I'll let you know how it goes...

I run square on AX events and any non-smooth action makes me do a 180. Bigger sway bar (GT3) is the commonly prescribed solution to help balance the car.
I'm tuned in to see how you address it.

keep the fronts wide and make the rears wider?

Different cars with different setup will respond differently. Duh! :o But for what it's worth I ran both ways quite a bit. My best setup for square was middle adj hole on the front sway and softest rear sway setting. When running staggered I liked full soft/soft running NT-01s. Tires with more lateral grip might need more (firmer) sway settings but try this as a starting point.

I did a lot of testing over 3 years and nearly always ran faster staggered but only by a few 10ths. AX was faster square hands down. In racing, a good square setup might benefit heavy braking, passing into corners and holding your line in heavy traffic. Data showed I nearly always gave up some top speed at the end of a long straight.

Everything is a tradeoff.

Don't underestimate the fact that you have been out of the saddle for a while and the edge is dulled a bit. Back when racing MX/Grand Prix I found that sitting out for 6 months due to injury required 1-2 months of weekly racing to get my competitive edge back. My first few days back in expert class usually resulted in a DFL finish. :o

Back in the saddle this weekend for the PCA California Festival of Speed!

Wow, what an excellent event! I had great time racing and had a lot of friends and family attend and they all had a great time.

For the record;
Sprint Race #1: 3rd of 8 (started 4th)
Sprint Race #2: 4th of 7 (started 7th)

More photos and details coming in the next few days!

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I usually post a nicely edited highlight video of the race - and I still intend to do that - but let's start with a 45 sec video clip of what not to do!

In Sunday's race, I started last (7th) and worked my way through the field to battle for 3rd. I was doing everything that I could think of to get by but just couldn't get it done.

Then this happened.

Nothing major and it was nice that when I came to a stop, I could see that the down-track traffic was clear so I could immediately get underway. I had put a big lead onto the the cars in 5th and 6th and while they did catch up to me, I was able to hold them off for the 4th place finish.

Be sure that the replay is set to HD for the highest quality.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r4NeLt2lB6k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4NeLt2lB6k

A nice photo from the California Festival of Speed last weekend. Working on the videos!

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Tom where did that spin come from? Wham! Too shallow and too hot to the apex?

I think that it came from diving in too hot. I was trying to trail brake at corner entry but since I came in so shallow I had to put a lot more angle into the steering which broke the rear loose and then I wasn't quick enough to catch it.

Subsequently, rather than carrying too much speed at corner entry, I came into that turn a little wider and a little slower and concentrated on getting on the throttle as soon as possible to get a good launch at corner exit (the old adage of slow in and faster out is always a good bet).

I like your "Wham" characterization! R-compound tires let go somewhat quickly and without much tire squeal beforehand so you better to be ready when that happens or the car will come around fast like this one did (thank you Boxster low polar moment of inertia).

I am also glad that the audio didn't catch any of what I was yelling to myself inside my helmet... :)

Here is a short video clip of Race #1 at the PCA Festival of Speed at AutoClub Speedway. There is a spin in the first tight corner and everyone gets jammed up - chaos everywhere!

Recommend watching in HD full screen! (YouTube will often default to low quality)

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9yGBHEPIgIE?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Just spent the last hour reading this thread and watching the videos. Great stuff, thanks for posting.

As Harry Callahan said in Magnum Force, "A man's got to know his limitations". I'll stick to AX!