I woke up early this morning and decided what the heck I'd go to our annual father's day autocross at the Woodlands (hosted by KCRPCA). The skies were threatening rain so I left my track tires at home and headed to the Woodlands parking lot (about 30 mins away). I figured not too many people would make the trek but was astounded when we had 15 cars (all Porsches) at this event. I had promised my wife I would be back early, being father's day and all, so I set my limit at 3 runs max.
The course was a .44 mile eye loop configuration with2 slaloms and some very tight turns over a parking lot that has significant elevation change (for drainage). The weather started to improve and the sun came out just in time for the first run, so yeah I could have used those track tires, but well too late now. [img]/fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/tounge_smile.gif[/img]
After walking the course I was the first car out, car #1. I decided to keep the car in 1st gear during this run unless I really had to shift into 2nd and I would run with sport mode and
PASM ON although the parking lot surface was fairly rough, probably hasn't been paved in 20 years.
First run a respectable 52.457 seconds.
Several people opined that I really ought to be in 2nd gear for a smoother ride so I tried my 2nd run entirely in 2nd gear.
Second run, 53.209 seconds.
At this point I figured I'd go back to being in 1st gear the whole time but needed to work on some areas of the course to eek out more speed. Just before I was ready to take off one the participants who was new who I had instructed on his run asked if he could ride with me. Sure! Climb on in, there's no way I'm going to be able to match the club race 944 Turbo S on race tires today anyway so let's have some fun.
During the run I hit the wipers once and sprayed the windshield right as I needed to run in so that was a little hairy as for 2 wipes we couldn't see much. I kept pushing though, just trying to improve on my prior runs despite the weight penalty of a passenger.
Third run - 48.783 - FASTEST TIME OF THE DAY!
Woooot! Stock tires, wipers runnin', passenger hanging on and I managed to set the top time!
Needless to say, a great Father's Day so far!!! There were some people taking pics so I hope to get a few from them because I didn't have time to snap pictures and use my blackberry while on the course... [img]/fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/shades_smile.gif[/img]
Chalk up another success for the Cayman S!
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PASM - Porsche Active Suspension Management
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This active damping system offers continuous adjustment of individual damping forces based on current road conditions and driving style.
The driver can choose from two setup modes, ‘Normal’ and ‘Sport’, using a separate ‘damper’ button on the center console. ‘Normal’ mode is designed for general road driving and circuits with uneven tarmac. ‘Sport’ mode is intended for smoother track surfaces, where the harder settings help eliminate pitch and roll.
In either mode, PASM continuously evaluates the current conditions while automatically selecting the corresponding damper rates from the respective set of mapped values.
A range of sensors are used to monitor the movement of the body under acceleration, braking and cornering maneuvers, as well as on poor road surfaces. The PASM control unit then evaluates this data and modifies the damping force on each individual wheel in accordance with the selected mode. The result is a significant reduction in body movement as well as a better grip on the road.
For example: if ‘Sport’ mode is selected, the suspension is automatically set to a harder damper rating. If the quality of the track surface falls below a certain threshold, the system immediately changes to a softer rating within the ‘Sport’ setup range. When the quality of the tarmac improves once more, PASM automatically returns to the original, harder rating.
Need more information about PASM? Click this link: FAQ for PASM |
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Linear Mode
