Lime Rock Park trip report

Sun Sep 23 17:04:49 PDT 2012

A Boxster feels about the same inside as a 996 to me. The rear seats of a
996 are only a touch more useful than the rear seats of a Boxster - they'll
hold grocery bags and not much else. The big thing you'll notice between the
two is the Boxster has a lack of power, but really all of those engines have
such a smooth power curve that none of the non-turbo cars feel as quick as
they actually are. With all wet sump Porsche engines you need to be very
aware of potential oiling system problems. It's wise to leave room in the
budget for any or all of the various fixes documented here:
http://www.lnengineering.com/accusump.html

-Cody

-----Original Message-----
From: Lee Levitt [mailto:lee at wheelman.com] 
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2012 9:29 PM
To: Cody Forbes
Cc: Grant Lenahan; Quattro List
Subject: Re: Lime Rock Park trip report

What a blast...this was my 5th and 6th day on the track (after 10 years of
autocrossing on an intermittent basis).

My son is taking my A4 tomorrow, so I need to start looking for a new car.
(I have a '99 A6 as an alternate DD and winter car).

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago on the list, I'm thinking about a
2002 911 (996). I should also probably think about a 2001-2003 Boxster S.

The 911 is a better daily driver for me, while the Boxster is probably a
better autocross/track car. For the next couple of years I'm probably
looking at 2-3 track days a year, plus a couple of autocross events. I'd
probably have to put a rollcage on the Boxster.

3 years out, my daughter will be out of college and I can devote a bit more
time (money) to playing. Maybe a couple more DE or more autocross events,
maybe at some point a dedicated track/autoX car (but still street legal).

I recently drove my first 996 and loved it; haven't driven a Boxster yet.
Moving from an A4, a Boxster may feel very small.

996 should run about $20K, Boxster in the $10-12K ballpark.

Thoughts?

Lee

On 9/22/2012 7:32 PM, Cody Forbes wrote:
> I'm participating more and more in Audi club DE's, been sponsoring a few
recently even. Potomac region has one at VIR in November I'll be at and
Georgia region is doing their first stand alone HPDE at the new Atlanta
Motorsports Park in a few weeks. If you attend I'm easy to track down... I'm
the guy in the A5 that is passing all of the Corvettes and Porsches* ;-).
Potomac runs a good show and has their stuff together, Georgia is an
awesomely nice group of guys whom have much potential.
>
> -Cody Forbes
> * - except for the GT2 run by Potomac's chief instructor. GT3s on
R-compounds depend on the driver quality but easily leave on the straights.
>
>
> On Sep 21, 2012, at 7:52 PM, Grant Lenahan<glenahan at vfemail.net>  wrote:
>
>    
>> Glad you enjoyed your HPDE with PCA. I run with my local chapter, NNJR.
We encourage and welcome non-Porsches at both DE and AutoX, and, i think run
among the most professional and safe events out there.  Size helps - and
NNJR recognizes that all our non-P car friends help make it a viable and
sustainable program!
>>
>> I love LRP too.  In my (slow, old, base) boxster, i'm relatively quick
through the twisty bits --- esses, Big Bend, West Bend.  I'm overlay
cautious, with good reason, in the downhill and i'm just plain power limited
int he straights.  But its a far more complex and rewarding course than its
1.52 mile length or  relatively few turns indicate.  and yes, its historic.
Very.
>>
>> The problem with LRP is that its expensive, hard to get dates at, and so
close to NYC and the tri-state metro area that everyone wants to go.
>>
>> Join us at some remote but wonderful tracks like VIR (early Nov.) or 
>> Mid -Ohio (May)
>>
>> Grant
>>
>> On Sep 21, 2012, at 6:48 PM, Lee Levitt wrote:
>>
>>      
>>> I attended a two day High Performance Driver Education event put on by
the North Country Region of the Porsche Club at Lime Rock this week. Tuesday
evening a friend and I caravanned out to western Mass, had dinner at an
excellent Japanese restaurant in Great Barrington and then headed south to
Lakeville, CT, where Lime Rock Park is located. Tuesday evening we had some
pretty heavy weather...fortunately, we got most of the driving done before
it started.
>>>
>>> Wednesday morning started out damp but with no further precipitation. We
arrived at the track at 7, unloaded our cars and went through tech
inspection. At 8:15 the club held the mandatory driver's meeting, focusing
on safety and the programmatic aspects of the day. At 10:30 I got my first
of four runs in for the day. Each run is about 25 minutes or so, or
approximately 10-15 laps, depending on speed, traffic, etc. A full out race
car will lap the 1.5 mile course in just under a minute...my best time was
just under 1 minute 14 seconds (although this is *not* timed event or a
race.).
>>>
>>> Day One was great...we got reacquainted with the course and I picked up
some tips from my instructors. Stay in fourth gear for the uphill, into the
turn at the top of the hill. Seemed to be faster and cleaner. Is Big Ben a
single or double apex turn? Don't know...let's try both!
>>>
>>> Day Two started out beautiful. Fog in the low lying areas, with the
hills poking through. Just gorgeous. New instructor had some things for me
to try...different lines through Big Ben, shifting into third for the uphill
(definitely faster!). Then he asks "do you want to solo?"
>>>
>>> Yikes. Leave the comfort of a knowledgeable instructor and venture out
solo among the GT3s, Cayman Rs, 911 Twin Turbos and a couple of hot
Mustangs? No!!!
>>>
>>> I mean Yes!!!
>>>
>>> Last two runs of the day were solo. Without a ride-along instructor, I
found that I was able to focus 100% on the task at hand...no voice in my
helmet over the intercom, no noticing the instructor bracing for a turn...
>>>
>>> So I found myself driving full out on a historic race track. Paul
Newman's home track. The track where Sir Stirling Moss held court only a
couple of weeks ago! What an unbelievable experience. And my last run was
the last of the two days...and half the cars had left...so it seemed like I
had the track to myself. Unbelievable!
>>>
>>> Then it was time to load up the car and head home. This was the last 
>>> hurrah for me with this car...on Sunday, it's moving over to my son 
>>> and I will start looking for a new fun car in earnest. It has done 
>>> well...more than a few people were surprised at how well a little 
>>> 1.8 turbo Audi avant did over the two days...almost keeping up with 
>>> the big Porsches and other high performance iron! While I did wear 
>>> my arm out giving point bys on the straight, I did keep up pretty 
>>> well in the twisties and perhaps embarrassed more than one Porsche 
>>> owner who could not keep up with the little Audi. :)
>>>
>>> Good times, good friends, good food, great memories!
>>>
>>> If you have an opportunity to join a local club for a HP DE, go for it!
>>>
>>> Oh, and by the way, the club owes me a trophy -- I placed first in 
>>> the under 2 liter station wagon category! :)
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Lee
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>        
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>    