Die Welt ist Flach - My Porsche Cayman adventures

Started off the season with an Autocross double-header.

First up was TAC/TVR in Huntsville AL.  Very fast and flowing course.

I even managed to spin the car at a rather high rate of speed.  A friend pointed out that all Porsches eventually become FWD.

I was really proud of this one, I had an actual competitor in my class, and I had one of my highest raw time finishes in a long time - 22/108 

The next day was a mixed conditions race on a very green Twin Fountains raceway with my home TRSCCA region.

Without anyone in my class to compare to, and more favorable conditions for the second run group at the end of the day, my PAX standings were pretty soft relative to the fastest times.  I believe there was another second in the car if a rubbered in line had formed.  Still managed 11/70 in PAX. 

The 200TW tires are a ton of fun to drive on, and the new brakes are very effective for autocross.  I'm looking forward to the PittRace time trials in a few weeks!

Another weekend, another autocross!  This was a low-key event with the Tri-Lakes Sports Car Club.  I managed to pull off top PAX as well!

Made a parking buddy:

Cars looks great, goes great....  enjoy!!!

I need a cayman!

I love how the color pops in the Eddie Rapid photo!

TurnerX19 said:

I love how the color pops in the Eddie Rapid photo!

Heh, all I have been able to look at is where the paint is mismatched from whatever adventures the car had before I rescued it.  Speaking of which....

The clearcoat was pretty well borked on the passenger's side.

But it wasn't anything the buffer couldn't deal with.  (PC7424 Yellow Pad, Menzerna Final Polish II)

The rest of the car was treated to Nu Finish

And we're ready to head out to PittRace for the SCCA Time Trial Nationals:

I'll get around to detailing the car proper once it'll have a few months off from trackday use later in the summer.

In reply to red_stapler :

Awsome Cars, Keep sharing more designs.

Well, here we are almost a year later, and it was time to return to PittRace for the SCCA Time Trials Nationals event.   I was hoping to get redemption after such a poor showing last year.  I think I did:

20th overall, 1st in Sport 4.  I spent 0 time with a wrench this event.  I showed up, took my floor mats out, put my helmet on, and went out on the track.

Now that I have some seat time, and a frame of reference, PittRace is definitely one of the more challenging tracks I've visited.  The most difficult part for me is just staying in my seat.  With the RS4s the car will sustain well into 1.2G through the esses.  The modest bolsters on the Komfortsitzen are no match for that, and it makes it a real challenge to go through the esses while sliding back and forth a good 3-4".  Plus the brakes are so strong now they pull you forward out of the seat.  I tried the inertial lock trick, but the belt just wasn't effective.  I think a more sporting seat would be sufficent at this point, we'll have to look into that over the winter.

The GRM board seems to be back to "failed to fetch content" so here's a link to the video.  Unfortunately the battery in the GoPro died before I ran my best lap of the weekend.  I managed to dip down to a 2:05.9.  I think there's a lot more in the car, and a 2:02 should be possible with some practice and a bit more secure driving position.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFxoxfFOH_Q

I'm really happy with the added polarizer over the lens.  It helped cut down on wind noise, and gives a nice clear picture through the windshield.

Next event is the TT at CMP over Memorial Day weekend.  Here's hoping for another S4 trophy!

Oh hey, I made the front page of the SCCA website for a little bit:

https://www.scca.com/articles/2012242-getting-faster-is-easier-with-apexpro-data

The Laser Focus meme is kinda over, but I did manage to win at CMP!

Congrats on 1st place. Have you considered the CG lock seat belt tensioner?

hvoxi said:

Congrats on 1st place. Have you considered the CG lock seat belt tensioner?

Thanks!  I'm pretty sure the CG lock has been out of production for a few years now, hasn't it?

Oh hey, it's been a minute since I've updated this thread.  I wasn't happy with the front brakes still, so I finally upgraded the front rotors and calipers to ones from an '09 base:

I went with Raybestos ST43 pads this time around.  Still a fan of the hardbrakes Ti shims, so I installed a set along with the pads, and moved the ones from the front to the rear (with a bit of trimming).  The slotted rotors should act a bit less like a cheese grater on the pads.

With Time Trials Nationals coming up, I decided to get some NCM practice in on my 38th birthday with Chin TrackDays.  Had the front tires flipped to get some fresh tread on the outside shoulders, and we were off!

The ST43s are UNBELIEVABLE.  They're smooth and consistent, and they never give up.  I managed to set a new personal best on a fairly lazy lap:

Things didn't go so well on the way home.  I had some vibration in the steering, probably from rubber pickup, and around when I got off my exit on the highway the power steering pump started protesting.  I initially thought that I had just overheated the steering from the vibration, so I put on my "I'm never getting laid again" headband, and looked around under the engine cover.

There was a bit of power steering fluid below the reservior on the top of the engine where the overflow discharges, but nothing else seemed amiss.  I figured it had just run low from overheating.  Topped it off and ran a longer overflow hose to discharge under the car.

Later, I was going to scrape OPR off the front tires and found this:

Further investigation revealed that power steering fluid was just gushing out of the pressed in lines at the rack.

There weren't any new replacements in the United States.  I tried sealing them up with JB Weld, but after several attempts it was still leaking at a pretty generous pace.  I was desparate enough to look into disconnecting the power steering pump, but unfortunately the belt routing would go through the center shaft of the pump.  So in the end, I had to withdraw from Time Trials nationals.  Kinda a bummer since I was looking forward to it all year, but I managed to salvage some fun by flagging a corner and playing crewchief for some friends.

Lemons into lemonade.  Nice!

Finally, some cooler weather!  I replaced the power steering hoses with a used pair out of a junkyard on eBay for $100. Had a solid day of running at NCM last weekend with BingeTokyo and managed a new personal best - 2:27:49

We've come a long way since TT nats last year:

The trackside photographer managed to get some fantastic photos too.  Here's one of my favorites:

Some winter projects include removing the ancient clear bra, and maybe installing a GT3 front swaybar.

Drove it to brunch this weekend for the first time in a month, and I must have damaged the 3rd gear synchro as it scratches on downshifts to 3rd gear.  Looks like removing the gearbox will be this winter's project.

How do you like the Redline fluid in the transmission? I'm looking to change the fluid in my 01 base Boxster. Redline has always been my go to but I've heard conflicting things on the interweb. 

spandak said:

How do you like the Redline fluid in the transmission? I'm looking to change the fluid in my 01 base Boxster. Redline has always been my go to but I've heard conflicting things on the interweb. 

Now is probably the wrong time to ask considering the synchro issue!  I didn't really notice a difference from the OE fluid.

In reply to red_stapler :

Fair point haha I hope it's not too bad for you

The first piece of the winter project has been acquired.  Drove out to Charlotte NC to a salvage yard that had this G87.01 from a similar Cayman with 80k for $800.

I don't know if you having found something already but I've been using a seat belt clip to keep the lap belt tight in my GTI. It make a huge difference. 

https://www.amazon.com/Seatbelt-Adjuster-2-Pack-Locking-journeyxl/dp/B07GRDB1NP/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=seat+belt+clip&qid=1580325088&s=automotive&sr=1-21

So, I discovered that you can pull the exhaust off the car with just 6 nuts and 3 bolts, using a 1/4" ratchet:

And our goal is already in sight:

Looking forward to this, Michael.