986 takes the top spot at Global Time Attack Round #2
 

The 986 crowd was represented well at the recent Global Time Attack event held at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway in CA. Rounds #2 and #3 of the four round Pro-Am series took place on back to back days in opposing directions on the desert road course. As a first time entrant, the Porsche caught a bit of attention during registration and tech inspections. The real interest sparked after the first practice session when the car started to scream down the front straight and posted lap times over five seconds quicker than the entire field.

The temps over the weekend rose to a ridiculous 117 degrees outside the car, 175 degree track temp, and who knows how hot inside the car. The heat was really the theme of the weekend, along with that new Porsche. It just kept running lap after lap and improving throughout the sessions. Most of the competition would run two laps stints before they would suffer overheating issues and retire for more ice. There is quite entertaining article by Wed at MotoIQ.com about everyones battle with the heat. Jay at Revvolution.com also wrote up a quick review of the weekend, including his visit by a rattlesnake in the infield interrupting his photos.

Articles here:

Road Trip: Global Time Attack PRO-AM style. (986 in car video link with great audio)

Shift-S3ctor Global Time Attack Chuckwalla 2013 - Auto Blog | Revvolution

HRG Boxster - GTA Pro-Am by Shift-S3ctor Round #3, Chuckwalla CCW - YouTube

MIQ GTA HRG Boxster - YouTube

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Well done Eric! Gave those Sti drivers a show you did. Sort of bringing a gun to a knife fight. :D

I am curious how you kept the car cool during continuous lapping in 117F. I have driven out there in 106F and while she never completely overheated, I did see oil temps around 245F and could feel the heat soak affect on hp. Tires just turn into goo at those temps.

Nice....Porsche itself should take note of your developments!

I am always curious as to how those monster rear wings are sized and set up. Would this not make for a skittish front end .....yeah I know everyone does it and it works...

Yes, there were Evo's, STi's, a crazy GTR, and a Corvette that were competitive. The top Evo was just over 600hp, the Corvette and STI over 500, and the GTR I was afraid to ask. They were running Michelin or Conti slicks, and the HP/weight was better but the Boxster was hard to beat on a track like Chuckwalla.

The heat was rough, but we had a lot of practice in May and June. Buttonwillow, Streets, and AAA speedway all had temps in the 90's or more recently so we thought we were prepared. Didn't make it any more enjoyable, but it did give us a leg up. At the beginning of the year, we tried on some of the thick core CSF aluminum radiators and switched over the street center radiator to the 996 cup version with the exit out the top of the bumper. Not only is the exit different, the cup car center radiator is over double in size. While not new, the big openings in the fender liners and lack of fans or a/c condensers help the radiators breathe at speed better too. This kept us down to a max coolant temp of 209 over the weekend.

Tires were getting killed. A fresh set of slicks lasted four sessions with surface temps over 250! That hurt our chances to go back to back on the overall wins, and we had to settle for 2nd on Sunday.

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On my car, I went with a Porsche cup car proven set up. I have a 996 cup front bumper with splitter and the 996 cup rear. With the square tire widths on my car, the front has a lot of grip and the wing does help keep the rear end behind me. We added a little bit of rear wing angle later in the day to try and help the overheating rear tires keep the rear end in place even more.

I snapped this quick picture so I could remember where I moved it from, but it shows the amount of adjustments available.

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Great Job! Chuckwalla is a fun track in a 986

this car is the sexiest thing on 4 wheels

Eric, Major props. My brother constantly talks ish to me. In a way hes right bosxters are pretty weak, however the chassis is amazing! The whole reason I got my Porsche a couple months ago was because of your build. and seeing the potential this chassis has. As mentioned in the prototype thread I did my hard top too. This is amazing results for the 986. Obviously the stock 2.5 can't hang but you put the proper motor in it and look what happened. Haha I cant stop rolling in laughter at all the amazing cars you put the smack down on that day. Well done. Also this is my new background image. Such an amazing shot!

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