The Parr 996RS goes into retirement

[Steve Rance]

The Parr 996RS has gone into retirement. After 3 years of track work it has fallen upon me to give it a good home. This car has been to just about every track in the UK as well as Spa, the ring and Lemans Bugatti. The origional brief was to develop the car as far as we could without modifying the drive train in any way, just suspension and brakes. It took third pace in the GT battle in 2005 and missed 2nd by 800/ths of a second to a 700BHP Skyline. The car's last outing was at Spa where - on Michelin cups - it regularly ran in the 2.47's with a fastest lap of 2.46 which would have put it 12th on the grid at the Porsche Open race last month. During all that time, it has never missed a beat or suffered any kind of mechanical failure nor has it's track behaviour ever been anything but impeccible. What is more, the car has never been off or suffered rev range 2 over rev and remains totally unmarked and immacculate. Just amazing. What other manufacturer could produce a car that quick and that reliable? Thank you to Parr motorsport for engineering the chasis to a point where I can honestly say is the sweetest handling 911 that I have ever driven.

It's history and the fact that it is one of the few 996Rs's with no accident damage makes it a very special car. I am looking forward to looking after it in it's quieter years..

Steve R

[carreraboy]

Steve Rance said:

The Parr 996RS has gone into retirement. After 3 years of track work it has fallen upon me to give it a good home. This car has been to just about every track in the UK as well as Spa, the ring and Lemans Bugatti. The origional brief was to develop the car as far as we could without modifying the drive train in any way, just suspension and brakes. It took third pace in the GT battle in 2005 and missed 2nd by 800/ths of a second to a 700BHP Skyline. The car's last outing was at Spa where - on Michelin cups - it regularly ran in the 2.47's with a fastest lap of 2.46 which would have put it 12th on the grid at the Porsche Open race last month. During all that time, it has never missed a beat or suffered any kind of mechanical failure nor has it's track behaviour ever been anything but impeccible. What is more, the car has never been off or suffered rev range 2 over rev and remains totally unmarked and immacculate. Just amazing. What other manufacturer could produce a car that quick and that reliable? Thank you to Parr motorsport for engineering the chasis to a point where I can honestly say is the sweetest handling 911 that I have ever driven.

It's history and the fact that it is one of the few 996Rs's with no accident damage makes it a very special car. I am looking forward to looking after it in it's quieter years..

Steve R

So What's next Steve?

[SidewaysSid]

Steve Rance said:

The Parr 996RS has gone into retirement. After 3 years of track work it has fallen upon me to give it a good home. This car has been to just about every track in the UK as well as Spa, the ring and Lemans Bugatti. The origional brief was to develop the car as far as we could without modifying the drive train in any way, just suspension and brakes. It took third pace in the GT battle in 2005 and missed 2nd by 800/ths of a second to a 700BHP Skyline. The car's last outing was at Spa where - on Michelin cups - it regularly ran in the 2.47's with a fastest lap of 2.46 which would have put it 12th on the grid at the Porsche Open race last month. During all that time, it has never missed a beat or suffered any kind of mechanical failure nor has it's track behaviour ever been anything but impeccible. What is more, the car has never been off or suffered rev range 2 over rev and remains totally unmarked and immacculate. Just amazing. What other manufacturer could produce a car that quick and that reliable? Thank you to Parr motorsport for engineering the chasis to a point where I can honestly say is the sweetest handling 911 that I have ever driven.

It's history and the fact that it is one of the few 996Rs's with no accident damage makes it a very special car. I am looking forward to looking after it in it's quieter years..

Steve R

Said it before Steve...Most satisfying and rewarding road car I've driven on track. Thanks for entrusting me with your 996 RS at Spa in 2005 and 2007 it was great fun.

[Steve Rance]

carreraboy said:

Steve Rance said:

The Parr 996RS has gone into retirement. After 3 years of track work it has fallen upon me to give it a good home. This car has been to just about every track in the UK as well as Spa, the ring and Lemans Bugatti. The origional brief was to develop the car as far as we could without modifying the drive train in any way, just suspension and brakes. It took third pace in the GT battle in 2005 and missed 2nd by 800/ths of a second to a 700BHP Skyline. The car's last outing was at Spa where - on Michelin cups - it regularly ran in the 2.47's with a fastest lap of 2.46 which would have put it 12th on the grid at the Porsche Open race last month. During all that time, it has never missed a beat or suffered any kind of mechanical failure nor has it's track behaviour ever been anything but impeccible. What is more, the car has never been off or suffered rev range 2 over rev and remains totally unmarked and immacculate. Just amazing. What other manufacturer could produce a car that quick and that reliable? Thank you to Parr motorsport for engineering the chasis to a point where I can honestly say is the sweetest handling 911 that I have ever driven.

It's history and the fact that it is one of the few 996Rs's with no accident damage makes it a very special car. I am looking forward to looking after it in it's quieter years..

Steve R

So What's next Steve?

I'm concentrating on racing now. The 997RS was a big dissapointment to me and doesn't inspire me at all. From what I've seen so far, in terms of on track performance, it doesn't move the game on far enough. the gap between the MK1 Gt3, MK2GT3 and the 996RS were substantial. I dont see a gap yet between the 996RS and the 997RS other than it being easier to drive. I'm sure the Americans love it as they missed out on the 996 but I feel dissapointed for the Uk/european market. It was a great experience working with Parr on the 996. It was a difficult car to get right and took a long time to perfect but each geo was an improvement on the last and brought a better balance. The one we ended up with was the result of almost 2 years of testing and I think is one of the best developed set ups on any track biased road Porsche. I feel privilaged to have been part of that. Unforntunately for me, it brought back my passion for racing. I was adamant that I wouldn't race again but here I am. Now I'm back into a full blown race car, driving road cars on track days don't appeal any more. I'll still do some days. I really enjoy helping my friends get thier car's working and getting the best out of thier driving. I think i'll do more of that

[Steve Rance]

SidewaysSid said:

Steve Rance said:

The Parr 996RS has gone into retirement. After 3 years of track work it has fallen upon me to give it a good home. This car has been to just about every track in the UK as well as Spa, the ring and Lemans Bugatti. The origional brief was to develop the car as far as we could without modifying the drive train in any way, just suspension and brakes. It took third pace in the GT battle in 2005 and missed 2nd by 800/ths of a second to a 700BHP Skyline. The car's last outing was at Spa where - on Michelin cups - it regularly ran in the 2.47's with a fastest lap of 2.46 which would have put it 12th on the grid at the Porsche Open race last month. During all that time, it has never missed a beat or suffered any kind of mechanical failure nor has it's track behaviour ever been anything but impeccible. What is more, the car has never been off or suffered rev range 2 over rev and remains totally unmarked and immacculate. Just amazing. What other manufacturer could produce a car that quick and that reliable? Thank you to Parr motorsport for engineering the chasis to a point where I can honestly say is the sweetest handling 911 that I have ever driven.

It's history and the fact that it is one of the few 996Rs's with no accident damage makes it a very special car. I am looking forward to looking after it in it's quieter years..

Steve R

Said it before Steve...Most satisfying and rewarding road car I've driven on track. Thanks for entrusting me with your 996 RS at Spa in 2005 and 2007 it was great fun.

You are welcome Gary. Always a safe pair of hands. It was nice to hear how easy you found the car to drive and how good you felt the balance was. Many people think that the car was so extreme that it needed a pro drive to tame it. In truith it is so well set up that any reasonable driver would be able to drive it. That is the brilliance of the set up.

[anonymous-user]

Fantastic , Steve , whats the milage of the car then , i bet shes raked up some miles! Good on you and i can vouch for Parr too , although only a stage 1 set up on my car , its amazing.

ATB

Paul

[timmo]

Sad to see it go into retirement !
I use to love trying to follow you round the various tracks !


tim

[Steve Rance]

PAULD996RS said:

Fantastic , Steve , whats the milage of the car then , i bet shes raked up some miles! Good on you and i can vouch for Parr too , although only a stage 1 set up on my car , its amazing.

ATB

Paul

Actually, its done less than 10k miles and most of them on the road! Glad you like your set up, they are primarily a race team and have so much experience at International level GT racing. Since I have been racing for them, they have never given me a bad set up. To truley unlock the potential of your car I would strongly reccomend fitting JRZ suspension fitted and have a replica of my car built. It will be the best 6K that you ever spend on the car. Pound for pound, far more effective than any other form of tuning the car and keeps the engine and gearbox unstressed

Steve R

[anonymous-user]

6k is a lot of money but in comparison to other things , relitavley cheap , under 10k , WOW! good going.

I may have to think about this , it just seems that , right now , i cant see how it could be better!

Thanks

Paul

[Steve Rance]

PAULD996RS said:

6k is a lot of money but in comparison to other things , relitavley cheap , under 10k , WOW! good going.

I may have to think about this , it just seems that , right now , i cant see how it could be better!

Thanks

Paul

When you get quicker and load the car up, you will find it becomming unstable under heavy braking and loose in very quick corners with standard suspension. the shock and spring rates are too soft. its a problem that cannot be engineered out of the chasis without changing them. The spring and shock rates on the RS are softer than the MK2. I think it was primarily engineered for a Ring time. Although most Journos who tested it fell into the trap of thinking it was an RS ergo it must be stiffer. Many still refer to it as a car too stiff for the road and site the MK2 as being a better road compromise. Poor journalism

Steve R

[DanH]

Steve Rance said:

It's history and the fact that it is one of the few 996Rs's with no accident damage makes it a very special car. I am looking forward to looking after it in it's quieter years..

So are you going to be taking it on in its retirement?

It is a shame you've lost interest in track days as I definitely think I missed the boat on titanic in it's peak and when you were always around offering your advice/instruction. Even the couple of pax laps around Spa helped immeasurably.

Still, if you and Tim fancy getting together for some m3 action that would be wonderful. I've got 3 way adjustable dampers on mine and not the first idea how to set them up

[anonymous-user]

Steve Rance said:

PAULD996RS said:

6k is a lot of money but in comparison to other things , relitavley cheap , under 10k , WOW! good going.

I may have to think about this , it just seems that , right now , i cant see how it could be better!

Thanks

Paul

When you get quicker and load the car up, you will find it becomming unstable under heavy braking and loose in very quick corners with standard suspension. the shock and spring rates are too soft. its a problem that cannot be engineered out of the chasis without changing them. The spring and shock rates on the RS are softer than the MK2. I think it was primarily engineered for a Ring time. Although most Journos who tested it fell into the trap of thinking it was an RS ergo it must be stiffer. Many still refer to it as a car too stiff for the road and site the MK2 as being a better road compromise. Poor journalism

Steve R

Poor but unsuprising journalism! Thanks for the info , unfortuantley as much as i would like to go ahead our main track car is the atom and rs a weekend/occasional euro hooning/ring car. By the way , im off there this weekend , bottom line is , whats the optimum HOT temp for MSPC's , sorry to go off topic.

Thanks

Paul

[clubsport]

Steve, a great car, very quick on track...I have exercised my indicator stalk many times when I saw you approach in the rear view miror
Just curious, how do you retire a 10K mile RS?
I appreciate track days are probably lame now that you are back racing, but it is enough £££ to have tied up as a potential long term investment and in the short term there are perhaps better Porsche to use on the road?

[Steve Rance]

PAULD996RS said:

Steve Rance said:

PAULD996RS said:

6k is a lot of money but in comparison to other things , relitavley cheap , under 10k , WOW! good going.

I may have to think about this , it just seems that , right now , i cant see how it could be better!

Thanks

Paul

When you get quicker and load the car up, you will find it becomming unstable under heavy braking and loose in very quick corners with standard suspension. the shock and spring rates are too soft. its a problem that cannot be engineered out of the chasis without changing them. The spring and shock rates on the RS are softer than the MK2. I think it was primarily engineered for a Ring time. Although most Journos who tested it fell into the trap of thinking it was an RS ergo it must be stiffer. Many still refer to it as a car too stiff for the road and site the MK2 as being a better road compromise. Poor journalism

Steve R

Poor but unsuprising journalism! Thanks for the info , unfortuantley as much as i would like to go ahead our main track car is the atom and rs a weekend/occasional euro hooning/ring car. By the way , im off there this weekend , bottom line is , whats the optimum HOT temp for MSPC's , sorry to go off topic.

Thanks

Paul

2.1 bar all round

[Steve Rance]

clubsport said:

Steve, a great car, very quick on track...I have exercised my indicator stalk many times when I saw you approach in the rear view miror
Just curious, how do you retire a 10K mile RS?
I appreciate track days are probably lame now that you are back racing, but it is enough £££ to have tied up as a potential long term investment and in the short term there are perhaps better Porsche to use on the road?

Its kind of earned it I think. The sheer irony that it's possibly been driven harder and quicker than just about any other RS and never had any kind of off. Its done its job and I think is about perfect. Parr have amazing data from this car. They dont need any more. Maybe, I'll wheel it out once in a while. The last time I drove it at Spa, i remember thinking Christ that was flat out, but then it's always been flat out, absolutely 10/10ths. Whatever set up Parr gave me to test, it was always at 10/10ths, sometimes 11/10ths. Sooner or later it's luck, or my luck will run out and it wont be a small one. It's probably one of a handful of 996RS's that haven't had an off. Add that to it's provinance and its a special car.

Its odd but i've done so many laps in this car that it's almost become part of me.

The 997GT3 is not a driver eater. In 10 years time I've no doubt that most will be un bent. The 996RS will go down as the last 'non' driver aid car and the very fact that most have bee pranged highlight the Porsche had kinda got to the edge of the 'leave it up to the driver' envelope. Now you get a little exta help from Porsche and it will get a little more with every new incarnation because frankly chasis capability is now much higher than the average driver.

In 10 years time you will be very hard pushed to find any 996RS that wont have been bent at least once. At the rate they are being written off, you may be hard pushed just to find one. But there will be at least unbent one, and it will be in my garage. Thats why I want to keep it..

[ken993]

[quote]
When you get quicker and load the car up, you will find it becomming unstable under heavy braking and loose in very quick corners with standard suspension. the shock and spring rates are too soft. its a problem that cannot be engineered out of the chasis without changing them. The spring and shock rates on the RS are softer than the MK2. I think it was primarily engineered for a Ring time. Although most Journos who tested it fell into the trap of thinking it was an RS ergo it must be stiffer. Many still refer to it as a car too stiff for the road and site the MK2 as being a better road compromise. Poor journalism

Steve R [/quote]

I'm just trying to understand this adjustable suspension a little better.

The upgrade gives you a stiffer set up, which is fine in the dry but not good in the wet, can the suspension be too stiff, I guess the answer is yes, so what happens when it's too stiff in the dry ?

How does bump and rebound rates work ?

Rather than asking you to write an in depth reply is there some reference material which explains all this ?

[ChrisW.]

A silly question --- does a GT3RS have a front bib spoiler as the GT3 does ?

I have seen some that do, and some that don't ...

Steve, I have just sold the GT3 to buy the RS you told me I should have bought !

[DanH]

ChrisW. said:

A silly question --- does a GT3RS have a front bib spoiler as the GT3 does ?

I have seen some that do, and some that don't ...

Steve, I have just sold the GT3 to buy the RS you told me I should have bought !

Yeah they should have the spoiler, but they get knocked off. approx 100 quid for a new one.

[ChrisW.]

DanH said:

ChrisW. said:

A silly question --- does a GT3RS have a front bib spoiler as the GT3 does ?

I have seen some that do, and some that don't ...

Steve, I have just sold the GT3 to buy the RS you told me I should have bought !

Yeah they should have the spoiler, but they get knocked off. approx 100 quid for a new one.

Thanks Dan,

Chris

(It's amazing how many seem not to have them --- see the ads !)

[phatgixer]

DanH said:

ChrisW. said:

A silly question --- does a GT3RS have a front bib spoiler as the GT3 does ?

I have seen some that do, and some that don't ...

Steve, I have just sold the GT3 to buy the RS you told me I should have bought !

Yeah they should have the spoiler, but they get knocked off. approx 100 quid for a new one.

£169.... Got one a week ago ready for fitting when I get minute. Bloody dead pheasant on the line.