I now have a couple of events under my belt with the car prepared for SCCA AS, and/or COM Stock, and/or
PCA "Production" class. I fitted an exhaust(
FabSpeed), Bilstein (non adjustable) sport shocks, and tires. Being a creature of habit, and cheap by nature (
) I went with Kuhmo 710s, 245/285 on 18" TireRack aftermarket (read: cost effective) rims in stock "S" size. Other than that, bone stock...no desnorking, no chip, etc. (According to my math, this cost about 1/2 what Hoosiers on factory rims would have cost...)
Verses a 911 or BMW 3-series, which have dominated my car collection for the past 25 yrs, this is a unique creature. This whole mid engine thing just might catch on! It's taken me a while to really fully comprehend the grip and balance to a fraction of it's full potential. Last season I ran it in "strictly stock" at
PCA events and had a lot of fun dicing it up with some fast Boxsters. I won two events, came second in two events, both to the same guy. But once I fitted the r compounds the car really came alive.
Here's what I've learned over the past month, so hopefully this will make it easier for others in their learning curve....
1. go much faster than you think you can in slaloms....the car has almost unlimited ability to do slaloms, about as fast as your eyes can focus, MUCH faster than a 911 or front engine car.
2. go with very low pressure if you're running 710s, I mean 25 lbs max...which is around 3-4 lbs lower than we thought just last week. My codriver (the brains of the operation) dropped them during his PM runs and handed over the car to me and it was absolutely a different car, and I took nearly 2 seconds off my time.
3. experiment with pressures front/rear. being an old 911 guy I naturally migrated toward the 2+ in the back...not so much with these cars. we had great results with dead even, or even 1-2 + in the front.
Other than that it was back to basics: don't be afraid to use the brakes...remember, when in doubt slow in fast out; look and keep ahead, always do most of your turning BEFORE you get to the gate, not at the gate, or even worse, after the gate; don't be afraid to spin...it's like falling skiing, if you're not doing it at least once a day you're not trying hard enough; charge those slaloms HARD, remember to turn when your first headlamp crosses the line between the cones, nearly everyone turns too late.
Net result is that in a field of 60 we put this little 2.7 only 0.5 seconds off FTD all classes combined, just getting nipped by a modified GT3 RS, and a 2200 lb 375 hp all out carbon-bodied 911 race car, both on race rubber. These cars can do it, guys. I hope these hints will help....
