[sguy]

I'm still tired and still thrilled with the weekend driving Eric's car at Portland raceway. Eric was great to work with and there will be video and stories to follow (outright win, secret exhaust modification, brake woes). I have started racing this year and did my first two Novice races in a Honda CRX at Spokane raceway in July (it was mentioned on the forum). For my third novice race, Eric was trusting enough to allow me to drive his car for the Novice sessions on Saturday, and then for a points race yesterday.



As much as I had respect for my car on the track and the satisfying experience, there is another level to a race prepared car and the thrill of driving it was also on another level. I'm still pumped from the weekend.



My first practice session Saturday was learning the car and what it could do on the track. We had speculated that Eric's car would drive and handle like mine (that I had previously driven at PIR on track sessions) only more acceleration because of less weight, better grip, but still the same handling balance and capabilities that we all love in these cars. We were right. I quickly took to driving the car and finding ways to get the most out of my talent (that was the hard part) and what the car could do on the track. Eric also drove the car on Saturday to qualify for his race on Sunday. The car was busy on the track. My second practice session of Saturday was more of the same, only faster, smoother, and finally getting laps that were starting to feel right. The Novice closed wheel race was the last race of Saturday, and we were gridded by "random selection", but I had the pole position and a Mustang next. I set the pace for the start at mid-RPM in third and got the jump on the mustang with the green flag. We pulled door to door down the straight, but I knew I would out-brake him and did entering the chicane. He was slow through the chicane and held up the rest of the field, while I was gone to turn 4 and a clear track ahead. I lapped the slowest car in the field on the fourth lap and managed to lap all but 3 cars in the 24 car field by the checkered for an outright win. I can't tell what is more elating, driving such a satisfying car, or winning a race (even a novice race).



Eric took some pictures with my camera of the race that I'll post later, and Eric will have some in-car video. I'm sure Eric will tell some of the other stories of the weekend, and I'll write about my Sunday race later.



Cheers, Stephen

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

Stephen hit the hightlights, but what is sweet without sour? This past weekend was Round 8 of the ICSCC Championships at Portland Internatitonal. Stephen was running the car for the novice race and the Group 1 race on Sunday. I was also running the car in Group 4. That meant I had to keep the car in one piece so Stephen could race. That proved to be the challenge of the weekend.



I took the car out Saturday morning for practice. The car was handling and braking well. The only issue was the 2-3 gear changes. It was a known issue as the syncros are about non existent. Luckily 2nd gear is only used in the chicane. With careful shifting it was manageable. Stephen took the car out for the 2 novice practice sessions and had pretty smooth sailing. At least it looked like it from the pits. In the afternoon I got back in the car for G4 qualifying and noticed the car was much louder than normal. Hmmm? It turns out to be a sizeable hole in the bottom of the muffler. Crap. With a little over an hour until Stephen's novice race we try to brainstorm a solution for keeping the muffler from completely falling apart and not having the car go over the sound limit. We couldn't come up with anything we could do in the short time frame so it was decided to just run it and cross our fingers.



Stephen was gridded first on the grid and blasted away at the start of the race. He was fast and smooth and frankly looked like he was in another league. He lapped the field up to 4th place! And there were 24 starters. It was impressive.The muffler held together too, maybe rattling and packing hanging out, but togther.



Sunday started wet so I skipped 2nd round qualifying for G4, as there was little chance of improving Saturday's time on a damp track. It also gave me more time to fab a muffler patch. A piece of aluminum flashing and a few big hose clamps. Ugly but it might get us by. The track dried pretty well before G1 qualifying for Stephen. He looked smooth and got his lap down to a 1:29.7 which is only 2 seconds off my best time at the track. The aluminum was not up to holding the heat of the exhaust and blew out again. So it was off to Home Depot for a thicker piece of steel. It was a rush job to get this new patch on before my G4 race.



I got a decent start and was able to pass a 964 that had qualified in front of me. Unfortunately a Camaro was able to power by on the back straight and that would prove to be problematic. The 964 tried to pass a few laps in, but overcooked the passing attempt into the chicane and had to short cut the chicane and be held. The camaro was all but impossible to pass as he would blast away on the straights and take up all the road in the corners. With an M3 closing in on me I was getting desperate to get by. If I was on my own I could run faster lap times than the camaro. I finally squeeze by, but run out on to the big rubble strips at the exit of turn 7 and get bounced around pretty good. But he drives around me on the back straight. Arrgh. I also notice the anti-lock light has come on. What's that about? I go to the brakes at the end of the straight and they feel funny on initial application and suddenly the car shoots right and smacks the right front corner on the concrete wall. I get the car straightened out and run staight onto the grass at the end of the straight. What the hell was that? The car seems to be driving alright but I head for the pits as it was too hard of a hit not have caused some serious damage. s***, I crashed the car and I just told myself not to screw up because Stephen was running it next.



The right fender and bumper cover are mangled but somehow the suspension is undamaged. The wheel is unmarked, probably because I was able to turn the wheel before impact and it was parallel to the wall. Being the never say die types we go about trying to slap the car back together for Stephen's race. A combination of cutting, pounding, drilling, tie wrapping, and taping had it back into one piece. Ugly. Cycling the ignition had turned off the ABS light and all the sensors looked to be connected and good. I took the car for a quick test drive around the paddock and it showed no ill effects. I think there might have been a ground that was rattled that caused the ABS to turn off. I'm sure Stephen was a bit apprehensive about going out in a car that was just crashed but he was a trooper and was a big hand in the pits and rolled with the punches.



Stephen went out for the race. He qualified 10th, but on the start the M3 in front of him missed a shift and as a result a bunch of cars were able to get by before turn one. He started working his way back thru the field and I imagine regained some confidence in the car. He ended up turning a 1:29.9 in a wounded car. But towards the end of the race the braking issues returned and I could see him struggling in the braking zone into the chicane. The car should not be locking wheels, but it was. He held on to the finish and brought it home not far from where he qualified. This guy is good. The tape and muffler held together too. Pictures and video to follow

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Renalicious]

Wow, that sounds pretty intense! Makes me wish I was able to go down there and watch the action. But alas! But it's great to see you guys really putting that car through it's paces, but it sucks that it had problems during the races too <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/sad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Looks like it's gonna need some major work done to it finally huh? Tranny, maybe body work, new exhaust? Will you be able to continue this season? I'm looking forward to coming out and cheering you guys on at the 4H enduro in a couple of months <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

I think the car is done for the season. There are just too many things hanging on by threads, let alone the accident damage. It needs a good winter of love. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> I may still run the enduro in Steve's M3.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Renalicious]

Doh! Ok, keep me posted about that enduro race, even if it is an M3, I'll come and support the local 968 racer <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

Here is a couple of laps from my Group 4 race. One video is from in-car and one from the M3 directly behind me. You can see my right rear lock up and spin me into the wall. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/ohmy.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> It also scares the crap out of Steve in the M3.



In-car



Chase cam



I encode some of Stephen's races soon too.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

Here is some clips from Stephen's novice race.



Novice Race

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Renalicious]

Damn! Eric, I think it was a good thing you were so close to the wall, because it looked like it stopped you from spinning out of control and possibly completely wrecking the car too. With all the recent racing incidents in the past several weeks it's good to see that this one was so minor! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/ohmy.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Maybe it's a blessing in disguise?



As for you race, you were really going at it with that Camaro and you so could have taken him on I think! Maybe now, during the winter, you'll be able to throw in some performance mods and finally out power those pesky Camaros, as you're clearly out handling them as it is <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Steve looked like he was driving a very relaxed race in that M3, up until you dropped out, then he seemed a bit shaken for a few moments. His car sounds great though!



Stephen's race looked great too! He was really forging ahead in that 968! Clean lines, clean shifting, clean passing. Way to go Stephen! And yeah, that muffler sounded like it was on it's death bed <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[pmcrespo]

Eric, Steve! Absolutely awesome! Sounds like a fantastik weekend (minus the sheetmetal and brake woes).



Congrats to Steve! A great car and a great driver.. What else can you ask for!



If that was your car hanging by threads this season... your competition better brace up for next season!



Congrats again Steve... best luck to you going forward....

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[sguy]

Eric, Thanks for putting together the video of my Novice race, it showed some of the highlights and not too many of my bobbles. I had forgotten that I decided to only shift to 3rd for turn 1 at the start because I did not want to miss second. I wish it was that easy to pass other cars in the race on Sunday.



WOW I did not know that Steve was that close behind you when you "Walled". He had been running a comfortable distance behind until then. No wonder he was shaken, if you had come back left you would have been together with bad results. It could have been worse and it's good that no one was hurt. In my Novice race you can tell I was cautious at certain times around other cars to make sure there was no contact.



The brakes were a struggle for me during the race on Sunday. At least they did not fail at the start when I had to jab them to avoid the car in front (that got my adrenalin even higher). In pre-grid just pushing on the brakes, I could tell they were softer than earlier. At one point in the race, they were soft enough that I thought if they got worse, I might come in to avoid hurting me, others, car, etc. with a brake pedal that went to the floor. It did not get worse, but I had to back off some.



Cheers, Stephen

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[968workaholic]

[quote name='Eric_K' post='40166' date='Aug 20 2007, 03:28 PM']I think there might have been a ground that was rattled that caused the ABS to turn off.[/quote]



Sometimes when you drive over large rumble strips, it throws the sensing wheel out of whack and the sensor can't read it. Hence the ABS light comes on and your ABS doesn't work. Cycling the key fixes it because there is no real problem, just that the sensor couldn't read the wheel speed when you went over the rumble strips and it set off the ABS light. It would help if you put in a switch so you can cycle the ABS on and off to avoid that in the future. Im sure you would have been able to put some lengths between you and that comaro had that not happened. Good Luck!

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

Thanks for the reply, workaholic. Yeah, I haven't found any sensor/wiring/ground issues. After searching on Rennlist, it appears it is not an unheard of problem on tracked 944s. But it is an unfortunate error mode - to just turn off. I also need to figure out why the car was so evil with the ABS off, maybe too much rear bias.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[RS Barn]

My Turbo Cup car had a reset switch for ABS. Also helps in a backward spin to shut off ABS.

Erik when my TC would cut out it was always the front end that would light up. That's with the 51-33

The only time I had the back get lose like that was at Sebring when a car dumped oil in a braking zone and only one tire was on oil without ABS. That's how I found out ABS wasn't working

Pete

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

My Turbo Cup car had a reset switch for ABS. Also helps in a backward spin to shut off ABS.

Now that would take skills! Flipping a switch while spinning backwards! Was the ABS switch a factory thing or a later band aid?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[RS Barn]

[quote name='Eric_K' post='40310' date='Aug 23 2007, 08:40 PM']Now that would take skills! Flipping a switch while spinning backwards! Was the ABS switch a factory thing or a later band aid?[/quote]



It was a Factory item. Many folks have copied for reset value and backwards spin option. I actually have factory response to ABS problem with wheel deflection over bumps. You can also recycle key after turtles to reset ABS. I actually cycled key frequently to reset DME/KLR overboost on TC. I also looked for ABS light and did the same.

Pete

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[rustech]

Sorry if this has been covered, but why only the right side lockup. That still doesn't seem normal whether w/ or w/o ABS.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

Yes, that is the $64k question. Even with ABS disabled you would think the car would have normal braking until the point of lockup. But the rear is locking way before it should and only one side. Maybe the ABS was masking an underlying problem. At the end of the next race when Stephen was driving he was locking the LR going into the chicane (after he also ran over the same curb). To me that rules out a plumbing or a caliper issue - since different sides are locking up. Don't know really. There were no braking issues in sessions leading up to the 'episode'.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[pmcrespo]

[quote name='Eric_K' post='40170' date='Aug 20 2007, 04:04 PM']I think the car is done for the season. There are just too many things hanging on by threads, let alone the accident damage. It needs a good winter of love. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> I may still run the enduro in Steve's M3.[/quote]



Dude... I am Having EKR/968 racing videos withdrawal symptoms..... <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/mellow.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[badberry68]

Could'nt the intetia of hitting the rumple strip have opened the caliper on that side whereby making the brakes not grab evenly? I have heard of this hapening on motorcycles following a tank slapper...just curious if it applies to cars also.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[bob blackwell]

Great video and great racing, Good Job! Bob Blackwell.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.