2003 Porsche 911 Turb-OOOOH

Washed the car and the track wheels today.  Everything looks nice now.  Need to play around with downloading my Traqmate data. 

No track events in August, just an auto-x with the PCA. 

DO NOT TURN OFF TRACTION CONTROL FOR....THE FIRST YEAR.  I'M SERIOUS....MY OLD RACING BUDDY TRIED IT FOR FIRST TIME AFTER 5 years OF HPDE IN HIS '09 TT.  RESULT...SMACKED ARMCO IN FIRST LAP.

Seriously...this guy is a 15 year PCA instructor.  20 years a national licensed road racer.  Just sayin'.

PS:  All caps intentional.

Also clean out the front radiators if you have not already. Mine had a ton of stuff in there and ran cooler by at least five degrees after

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

Sorry to hear about your friend.  I plan on a measured approach on this car but will be turning traction control off at some point.  Don't think it's gonna be 5 years either.  You can tell when it really intervenes, its really obvious.  The rest of the time the light is just flashing on the dash, which I assume is it controlling wheel spin vs a car spin.

wearymicrobe, I'll check the radiators but I don't expect them to have much debris, car just turned 30k miles on me this past weekend.

In reply to docwyte :

To quote my bud (after his crash), "That computer has far better reaction time than me."

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

I do plan on getting track insurance from Lockton or the like for it.  I wasn't really worried about my M3, if something happened finding another chassis was easy and cheap.  With this car, I really don't want anything to happen to it.

I may play with turning the PSM off at the auto-x next month, just to see how it feels in an environment that should be much lower speeds and safer

In reply to docwyte :

Yeah, instant depreciation on the racetrack sucks.

So happy to see someone enjoying these cars as they should be.

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

Totally!  That's why I'm going to drop the coupla hundred for track day coverage.  I can afford that vs writing off the car!

Funny you say that about enjoying the car.  I posted up on Rennlist when I got the car and how I planned on using it.  Another member there chimed in saying that I shouldn't take it to the track as that'll negatively impact the value of the car.  I've never been one to "save" my cars for the next guy.  Now I take care of them for sure but I use them the way I want!

In reply to docwyte :

Yup...Rennlist Internet pundits who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.  Ferdinand would not approve.

Haven’t seen video yet!

also, you started at 2:10 but were running 2:11’s later??

In reply to jfryjfry :

Keep forgetting to bring the traqmate and gopro with me to the office so I can download and play with them.

Yes, because the last session of the day, temps were much, much higher.  Plus I wasn't pushing nearly as hard because it was the last session of the day.  That's when mistakes happen and cars get damaged.  So the fact that I did a 2:11 on the last session while driving even more conservatively says a lot.

Seller of my car has a GT2 rear decklid/wing for sale. Debating picking it up as its already painted to match my car.  I kinda like the way they look but also like the way the stock wing looks and the stock wing is currently working correctly. 

In reply to docwyte :

WARNING!  PORSCHE 911 ACCESSORIES ARE LIKE A DRUG THEY DON'T MAKE.  As one pundit said..."Makes heroin addiction seem like a mild craving for something salty."

(​​​This coming from someone building a backwoods faux rally car who just spent $900 on an aftermarket shifter for a 32 year old 911.)

I just spent £80 on an umbrella sheath as it’s the specific one for my period of 911. 

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

Honestly I'd rather have an exhaust.  But it seems like there's no way I'll lose money on this GT2 decklid so if I don't like it I'll be able to flip it easily for what I have into it.

Adding a tune is the biggest bang for the buck, basically it adds 100hp and over 100ft lbs at the crank.

I was offered a set of the Euro 996 GT3 front seats, which would've been a great period mod but they were just too much $$.  They're worth quite a bit now, they've doubled in value over the last 8-10 years.

In reply to docwyte :

Last I  recall those were selling for five to six thousand?

Vintage Pcar stuff is nuts.  Saw a set of early 911 (c. 1967?) sport seats needing upholstery attention with an asking price of $8,000.00

Nuts.

In reply to Dammit :

Crazy across the pond, too.  

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

A good set costs around $4000 now.  They used to be $2000. There's just too much other stuff I need to spend money on than dropping that kinda coin on a pair of seats.  Obviously I'd be able to sell them for that, or more down the road, but timing is just off for me.

I need to get clear bra on the car, would like the tint the windows, then maybe a tune and an exhaust..

Ok, so managed to dump the Traqmate data and video and create something.  This is the first session of the morning where I had my fastest time of the day.  Unfortunately I had the GoPro mounted upside down on my windshield, yielding an up side down video.

Windows Media Player doesn't allow editing, so I was unable to rotate it.  Any suggestions on a free program that'll let me rotate the video?  What I have now is pretty hard to watch since its upside down...

Thanks for the help in rotating the video using YouTube.  Unfortunately now the Traqmate dash is upside down.  Doh!

In reply to docwyte :

https://youtu.be/ped23nTP0Tw

Thanks, just did that but now the Traqmate dash is upside down.  Is there a way for me to rotate the raw video on my computer?  That way I can pull it back into the Traqmate software and add the dash so everything is right side up...

Picked this up yesterday from the guy I bought the car from.  It's a Misha GT2 rear decklid wing.  Wing is adjustable for angle of attack, already paint matched, body worked and dry fitted to the car.  I need to either buy the GT2 wiring harness or the Rennkit box so the wing warning light won't come on the dash.

I was a little torn about getting it as I like the way the stock one works but the price was right, it's already been fitted/body worked to my specific car and painted.  Plus no shipping since it was local.

He also has a Tubi exhaust but unfortunately the cat matrixes have been hogged out and its missing the 90 degree pipes that the exhaust tips mount to.  I'm waiting to hear back from my friend who runs a custom exhaust/rollbar fab shop locally to find out how much it'll cost to have those 90 degree tip pipes fitted/welded and also just to see how much cats would cost. Then I'll make the guy an offer.

I don't need to pass emissions here for another two years and its only an OBD2 check of the readiness monitors.  I've ordered a tune from UMW and can have them set the rear O2 sensor readiness monitor to "set", so the missing cats won't jam me up.  Tune is supposed to add close to 100hp and over 100 ft lbs of torque!  Comes with a data logger to the tuner can make tweaks to the tune as well as a flash loader so I can flash back to stock if I want.

So far, I am not seeing anything to convince me that buying a 911 Turbo is a bad idea...this is not good.  

Just registered for the PCA Auto-x next month.  Got my AF schedule and I have duty the same weekend that the last PCA track event of the year is.  Dammit!

Looks like my last event of the year will be the NASA event at the end of September at PMP.  I think there's one more PCA auto-x around Halloween, so that'll wrap it up for me.

After that I'll wash the car and it'll live under its cover with the trickle charger plugged in on the lift.

Ok, update!

I got the flash loader/data logger from Ultimate Motorwerks.  Followed their directions, copied the stock tune from my ECU and emailed it to them.  Got an email back saying "Uh, your stock tune isn't so stock.  Don't know what tune it is and it looks funky.  Please do a few logs and send them to me"

Ok, well I guess that explains why the car feels so strong.  Managed to go out on the local tollway and find some space to do the 3rd gear pulls the tuner wanted and log them.  Went home, put them on the laptop and emailed them off.  Waiting to hear back now and for my updated tuned file so I can upload it into the ECU.

At least now I don't feel badly about putting a tune on the car, seems like it already had one. 

Next up I've scheduled an appointment to get clear bra and window tint done.  Shop will touch up all the (not many thankfully) rock chips on the front end and wet sand the spots before they put the clear bra on, making everything look new again.

Then I called my body shop, ironically the same one that had done the paint/bodywork on the GT2 wing I bought, to ask them how much to actually put the GT2 wing/decklid on the car.  Got quoted $130, done!  Well worth that to ensure all the gaps are lined up and I don't have to get the brain damage of doing it.  Now just have to work out how I'm going to get both the car and the decklid to them, then get the car and stock decklid back...

Oh yeah, I'm going to replace the stock shift knob.  I don't like the way it feels and it looks like it belongs in a base boxster.  Complicating matters is its one piece with the shift boot.

I ordered a separate leather shift boot off eBay for $24 shipped and am now trying to decide on what shift knob to get.  I don't want a metal one, they get too hot in the summer.  I like the delrin Function First knob but they only have the taller ones now, which I don't want.

I'm thinking about maybe this 997 GT3 one...
https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/997GT3KNOB.html