A continuation of this story

I’m up, I’m dressed, I’m ready to roll.

I jump in the car, they finish fueling and I head out.
Get dumped into a big pack, one turn and the. The long back straight,
I approach the hard right hander and while I thought was awake, my body/brain had forgotten how to heal toe... did I mention the pack I was in the midst of.

Massive wheel hop! Serious code brown moment... fortunately the rest of my race brain is functioning and somehow I make it through the corner, hands, elbows, and expletives are flying.

I woke up for real, real quick :-)

No further issues!

Mike

Testing, testing, ... 1,2,3. Round 2.

I'll be testing in a highly modified GT-4 Boxster this Friday at Willow Springs.

From the seller:

New engine and trans with only an hour on the powertrain for a shake down. Less than 5 Hours on all suspension components. Fresh paint and new 997.2 Grand Am front end conversion. I had the car built for POC (Porsche Owners Club) GT4 class. Car recently dyno'd at 275 WHP at a class weight of 2,876 lbs with driver and on Hoosier R7s. You can run PCA GT3 and NASA GTS-3 with slight adjustments as needed. Note that the engine is restricted to its current HP which gives it a flat torque curve... unrestricted the engine is capable of approx. 315-325 WHP so you can run a higher class if desired.

Engine and Trans
- Fresh Rebuilt 3.8 Engine restricted to 275 WHP for POC GT4
- Deep Sump Oil Pan and Porsche Motorsports AOS
- Third Radiator
- 6 Speed Transmission – with Shorter Ring & Pinion Gears, 996 Oiling Shaft, Guards LSD
- Transmission Cooler
- LWFW and Racing Clutch
- Racing Exhaust
- Numeric Racing Shifter

Suspension and Brakes
- JRZ RS2 Coil-overs with 700/900 lbs springs
- GT3 Sway bars
- GT3 Cup Control Arms
- Tarett Monoball Suspension
- Boxster S Brake Conversion with 350mm Giro Disc Upgrade on Front.

Safety
- AIM MXL2 Data Logger with Trans Temp, Engine & Oil Temp Sensors
- Custom 1.75” 4130 Steel Cage
- Sabelt Race Seat
- Momo Steering Wheel with removable adapter
- Aero and Body Compnents
- Fresh Paint
- 997.2 Grand Am Front End Conversion
- HRG Custom 996 Aero Roof
- Getty Custom Wide Body and Side Skirts
- Dry Carbon Fiber Hood
- Carbon Fiber Doors
- GT4 Clubsport Rear Wing with Custom Uprights
- I have the Original 986 Front end with fenders, Carbon Fiber Hood and Cover Lights, and Joe Hoth Front Spoiler.

Car has never had any collisions or large offs by both myself and the previous owner. Well taken care of and stored by Vali Motorsports. This car is an absolute blast to drive and easy to maintain.

Your thoughts?

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That is one nice looking race car! Are you going to be able to register it and drive it to and from the track? And what about your philosophy that the engine is a consumable? Are there suitable used engines available as/when needed?

How was it? The first time I took my Cayman out with the bigger tires and slight power increase I was still running my old boxster speeds and wasn't sliding the car hardly at all, it's going to take me a little while to get used to the higher limits...

Wow, wow, wow!!! Ahhhh that is a sweet race car! I hope the test goes well and that this becomes Stone2. Can the hp limit be removed so you can eventually compete in other classses of racing? What is a 996 oiling shaft?

Edit: okay I dropped speed read routine ........so I will change the question to how is the hp restriction accomplished and changed?

I am looking into that but most likely this car would like require a truck and trailer. The springs are almost twice as stiff as the Spec Boxster so the ride would be pretty hard.

3.8's are generally not consumable like our beloved 2.5's. This engine would require rebuilding. The big question is: how often? If I could get 100 hours (three racing seasons) between rebuilds, it might be reasonable.


3.8's are readily available but they not cheap (~$15K).

Testing on Friday....

My understanding is that they use custom ECU maps, but I'll confirm it on Friday.

And yes, the whole point is to be able to retune the engine power to meet different class requirements.

Wow, that was FUN!

On Saturday, I drove a couple of pretty cool cars at Willow Springs Raceway.

First up was the Boxster modified for POC/PCA GT-4 class duty.

With a 3.8L flat six de-tuned to 275hp, it had torque from 2500 rpm to redline. With Cup car suspension, Avon slicks (275F/305R), 996 Grand Am Cup front bodywork, plus a huge rear wing, it had a TON of grip.

Handing was generally neutral with just a hint of oversteer. Acceleration was strong and the 6-speed manual trans made it easy to keep the engine at the torque peak. This is what a Boxster race car really should feel like. It was that good.

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Then I had an opportunity to drive a Cayman GT-4 Clubsport PDK!

The Clubsport is the factory race version of the Cayman GT-4 with 425hp and all of the factory go fast parts - many from the 911 Cup car. As expected, this is a modern racer with every electronic aid known to Porsche to make it go fast.

Handling was biased towards fairly strong understeer which inspires confidence but not fast lap times and in Turns 2 and Turn 5, it was simply frustrating. The engine was much more peaky as compared to the 3.8L in the Boxster, but having 425hp on tap was a dream.

The most amazing aspect of this car was how easy it was to drive fast. You just go fast without really trying. The driver workload level is amazingly low for a race car. The PDK takes care of all of the shifting (including downshift blips) to a reasonable degree and the electronic aids smooth out all of your mistakes almost indecipherably.

The end result is that I felt like a hero in this car. No, I WAS a hero in this car! I was ready and capable to race IMSA GT-3. Or Prototypes. Or Le Mans. Or Indy. And I was convinced that I could do it. The car is THAT good.

The downside is that the car convinces you that you are THAT good. It makes you think that you're a better driver than you are because the car is doing most of the work and making up for all of your myriad of mistakes. The PDK bangs off upshifts incredibly fast and smooth and makes you sound like a hero on the downshifts with perfect blips of the throttle (listen to the Cayman video, that isn't me cranking off those downshift blips).

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The truth is that it's all a bit intoxicating. This is what the magazine writers are feeling when they write their reviews and why every review is glowing. But just like any drug, when I sobered up and realized that it wasn't ME doing all of those amazing things, there was a bit of a let down as I came back to the stark reality that I still have a lot to learn as a driver.

Also IMHO the PDK is far from perfect. It is amazing for what it does well, but it would still occasionally hunt for the right gear with a quick downshift, an upshift, and then another downshift, which unbalances the chassis and it would sometimes hold a gear longer or shorter than I would have liked.

The problem is that the PDK can't see what is up ahead - it is responding to what is happening RIGHT NOW and making the best decision in that moment whereas I can see what is coming up and plan gear changes ahead of time to take maximum advantage of the track and racing conditions. With that being said, I suppose that is why the paddle shifters are there. :)

A huge shoutout to my friend Paul Bolton who made all of this possible and who was an incredibly gracious host.

All in all, a fantastic day and a wonderful experience. I'm not sure when, but a GT-level Porsche racer might be in my future someday.


Heading out onto the track in the Boxster...
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A run down the front straight in the Boxster....
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A run down the front straight in the Cayman. Listen to the PDK downshifts...
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Tom thanks for the article sized post. It was fantastic reading and viewing!

That Boxster is setup similar to mine with similar whp out of my 3.6 (271 for me). I also run stock brakes and rotors and don't run near as much rubber 245/275 f/r. It truly is a ton of fun to drive.

Tom,
Have you digested the tire budget?

Yes, well understood and attainable.

I am way behind in updates, but I'll just start with today's fun.

At the last race, the clutch pedal went to the floor and stayed there. I reached down with my toe and pulled it back up and it worked normal again for the rest of the race and the drive home. Disaster averted. :)

So I order a replacement slave cylinder and go out to swap it this morning. Instead of the expected clip-style clutch line retainer, I find that this slave has a hard line with a nut that screws into the slave cylinder.

WTF? This ain't gonna work.

So I check the numbers on the transaxle and find that they aren't where I expect them to be. Curious.

Searching around the trans and I find "VW Audi LAU 012 301". A quick search on this forum and I find that I have an Audi A4 transmission.

Then I do a little bit more searching and find that the hard line slave cylinder is from a Boxster S.

Then I'm worried that the gear ratios might be different between the Porsche and the Audi transmissions (even though both are Audi!) and if so, then maybe I need to swap a Boxster trans back in so I don't have any advantage or disadvantage.

I do another search and find that there is a 0.2 difference in 1st gear. 2nd and 5th differ by 0.06 (or less) and 3rd and 4th are exactly the same. The final drive ratio is also the same.

So I'm not going to worry about these minor differences in gear ratios and just replace the slave cylinder with the S version and get it ready to race again!

Anyone need a 97-99 slave cylinder?

Audi LAU 012 301 transaxle...
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I was expecting to find a 97-99 2.5L slave cylinder (this is the new replacement that I bought)...
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But I found an S model slave cylinder (that you can see was leaking so this definitely needed to be replaced)...
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First, I am fine.

This happened in Race #1 Sat afternoon at the Porsche Owners Club (POC) races at Laguna Seca. I am pretty sore this morning, especially in the shoulders and chest, but nothing that a couple Advil can't cure.

The car was pretty banged up. Broken right axle, broken sway bar drop link, broken toe link, bent wheel, heavy body damage, front bumper damaged, headlight smashed, the engine runs but has a really bad sound, etc.

Here is what happened:
As copper colored #911 Spec Boxster goes to the inside to make the pass at Turn 11, the red #707 puts his right side wheels in the dirt. I am following the #911 on the inside, but as the #707 tries to pull the car back onto the track, it hooks, and makes a hard left turn right into me!

The hit lifts up the right rear of my car and then spins me into the inside wall.

As you can hear, I was pretty upset. I apologize for the language, my emotions where pretty high at that moment.

The engine started up but it doesn't sound very good today. In the video, you can hear the broken axle grinding when I try to drive it. No bueno. They put it onto a flat-bed tow truck to get it off the track.

I am hugely disappointed in the #707. And yes, everyone makes mistakes, but the organizers mentioned in the drivers meeting several times that if you put two wheels into the dirt, DO NOT try and bring it back onto the track or it will hook and you'll go straight to the inside.

The driver of the #707 was issued a penalty (a 13/13 in the racing world).

I have to say HUGE THANKS to Vali Motorsports for the at-track repair. They replaced the key broken parts and had the car running again in about 3 hrs last night and I was able to get it home this morning.

Watch in full-screen HD with sound.

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That stinks. 1 M-F bomb after that doesn't require an apology. At least you were able to get it home and now you can assess the damage.

Yup, I was thinking the same thing.

Remember; eventually all that's left of this incident is the great story you get to tell people. ;-)

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

That really sucks Tom. No need to apoligise for ANY language when something like that happens.
What is important is that you are Ok. It also sucks, that you have to pay fopr the repairs that someone else caused.

Vali is great. A while back when my clutch blew out on my way to Willow Springs, Vali told me if he had that parts, he could have had me up and running in 3-4 hours and would have only charged me $500! Too bad he didn't have a clutch set for my car there.

Do you think it might be time to get a trailer ?: :p

In any case, as I said, the important thing is you are OK

Wow, sorry to hear and glad you are ok! Hope that your car will be repairable.

Dang... that just plan stinks to say the least. Sorry to hear, Tom, but most importantly glad you are fine. The rest can be repaired / replaced.

In watching your vid, it's clear why #911 Boxster ran out of track and the rear slid into T11 gravel trap. However, #707 should not have been anywhere near the gravel based on line. His apex line looked late to even a school line... except he never turned in... Tunnel vision unfortunately probably set in and he stared at the #911 Boxster until his hands lead him into the gravel too...

Such a shame but again glad you are ok.

Keep racing and keep posting updates :)