Trackday tips 993

[chinoloco]

Hi all

Just bought my first 'performance' car - unless you count a 1.8 honda accord - 993 manual targa. Got kirkistown track booked tomorrow evening with instructor to teach me about the car/limits etc before I stuff it into the scenery somewhere else on my own.

Anyone got any tips on how to explore limits without mullering my lovely new car? Is it OK to rev it hard without redlining, is a normal 993 built to withstand a couple hours track use without killing the gearbox, clutch, engine, brakes etc?

Would putting normal 95ron gas in the tank slow the engine down and run it cooler? Tyre pressures? Book says 36/36 for 17" rims for normal use. Bit lower maybe give a bit more grip on the track? Will the normal pads/calipers run longer than a few laps before giving me brown pants moments at the end of straights? Oh yeah, does the targa have any sort of roll bar or will that lurvely glass roof disintegrate should the unthinkable happen?

Cheers
Dom

ps - after reading the thread about the unfortunate soul who faceplanted his gt3 into eau rouge barrier, i'm going to take it easy!

[nick_968]

Use the best fuel you can get, the car can take all day on the track redlining in every gear. Our 993 track car regularly gets used for most of the day as it shared by 2 or more people, it gets a 15 min break every so often but is quite capable of being driven hard all day long. Make sure you let the brakes cool down before you come in. Drop the tyre pressures as well. If you use it regularly on the track then change the pads for something better and bin the shocks and springs for a KW V3 kit or similar.

[Pickled Piper]

The car will thrive on it, it's what they were designed and built to do. Engine will happily take high revs all day long. Make sure your brakes are in good condition with a recent fluid change and they will give you no problems.

Mine always runs better after a good thrap round a track.

Enjoy!

pp

[chinoloco]

Fantastic thanks guys makes me feel a lot better, great to know it's as strong as it feels!

Do the cabs/targas have any sort of roll protection?

Really looking forward to it, these cars are a privilege to own.

[clubsport]

Best to have uprated dot5 brake fluid fitted,, brakes will get hotter than normal for road use,,,,don't stay out on track for more than 20-30 mins let both the car and yourself cool down. When you come in, don't apply handbrake, leave in gear,,,to much heat and handbrake can stick on etc...

When you drive on track you will generate more heat in tyres, especially at the back, let down tyres to allow more contact with road and help even wear,,,,e.g. on 18" we use say 32 psi hot all round (front and back).....see what works for you and don't forget to re inflate before you drive home,,,tyre pressures will fall as you are going slower, you can wear edges of tyres or ding rims on road potholes...

Don't overfill car with oil,,,you need it approx 1/4 above mimimum of min to max levels on dipstick....car will run hot and at higher revs than on the road, oil expands you don't want to blow any oil out.

Until you get familiar with how it handles, probably best to run with no less than 1/4 tank of petrol in tank....car more stable at front with more juice in to help balance of car etc...

Remember brake in a straight line get it in gear before the turn and keep smooth power on through, accelerating out of turn,,,sudden easings off of power may have you looking in the direction you have just come (unexpectedly!), have fun

[Rawhide]

clubsport said:

Best to have uprated dot5 brake fluid fitted

Without wanting to sound like a pedant you need dot 5.1 rather than Dot 5 They are very different and dot 5 won't mix with dot 3, 4, or 5.1

I'd highly recommned www.carlimits.com I learned so much there and when I did a track day afterward I had no fear of the car. I still have a lot of respect though.

Make sure you drop tyre pressures quite a lot. I was told 10psi. Drop it a bit less and see how you get on, you can keep dropping it then.

Have a great time!

[EVO575]

Let us know how you get on and what you thought of Kirkistown,I wiuldnt mind going to it myself for an evening

[chinoloco]

Thanks for all the tips. Kirkistown is a fantastic track - big, fast, different technical corners/chicanes so you don't get bored, good runoff areas and barriers. I had a good instructor which really helped, I'm used to race karts and the lines for a car are completely different!

They normally recommend increasing tyre pressures to stiffen the sidewall and reduce roll, yet you guys recommend dropping them? It did roll a bit, I guess new suspension and dropping the sprung mass would probably be best way to fix that? (not this paycheck it wont)

Also, I had really bad brake shudder through the wheel and pedals - I'm guessing warped discs But they're virtually new, they were changed all round a few thousands miles ago and sailed through the PPI as 'nearly new'. You can feel it very mildly in normal driving, not enough to worry, but when they heat up on the track its really bad. I think they were fitted by OPC, would there be any comeback? Or is there a way to fix them, like shave them on a lathe or something?

[clubsport]

weight and heat at the back end really heats up the rear tyres when tracking a 911...when tyres become over inflated you end up with centre part of tyre on track and less outer edge, effectiveley meaning you have less rubber in contact with the track, therefore less grip.This is why we let them down..
hard to tell on brakes over the net, often when brakes are used hard you can get pad deposits on hot discs giving the effect they are warped, maybe try to remove deposits with emery pad to see any difference and perhaps up grade pad material next time out on track.

[EVO575]

Hi Chinloco,
Could you mail me some details thru of the Kirkistown driver tuition as I would like to get something organised for myself?.My mail is [e-mail]
Thanks.