[s-cars] Watkins Glen report

[Bruce Mendel]

I was the driver of that UrS4, and let me tell you, it takes some effort to
run with Porsches, especially race prepped ones. My arms and shins hurt from
bracing myself in the car! Also, I am pushing that car about as hard as it
will go in its current form, turning 2:26's at Watkins Glen. To be faster
than that, the car needs less weight, more power, stiffer suspension, and/or
a driver with more guts than I am willing to expend at a driver's education
event.

As far as valid comparisons, they usually are apples to oranges, as no two
cars are identical. Overall, I'd say I can run with stock late model
Carerras, 993, 996 (but no turbos), 944 turbos including ones modified for
more HP, all running on track tires like me. My extra HP advantage
compensates a bit for my heavier car and slower cornering times. I pull away
on straights, they catch up in turns....and so it goes. Under braking seems
about even, but then again I stand on the stop pedal pretty hard.

But the twin turbos, a GT2 (ohmygod was that car fast), and certain older
911s that were full-on 2400 lb 3.8 twin-plug 350 HP+ race cars just blew
past me, except when we were in was no passing areas. :) Even some E36 M3's
in modified form, and some highly modified E30 M3s could not only keep up
with me but pass me. Oh well.

But it's always nice to pass a few $75K trailered Porsches on the track in
my big four door sedan with room for five that I drive to and from the event
with all four of my track wheels/tires in the trunk! For a dual purpose car,
it's hard to beat. But it's no track car. Taka has the right idea....my
ideal car is a hollowed out 951 Porsche, with an LS or LT-1 Chevy V-8 in it
for super reliable and cheap maintenance, and tons of cheap go-fast parts.
Check www.renegadehybrids.com. Heresy, I know, but fun.

Bruce
'93 S4, car and its driver tired from the Glen


----- Original Message -----
From: "TM" <t44tq at mindspring.com>
To: "'Keith Maddock'" <Keith.Maddock at trw.com>; <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2002 4:13 PM
Subject: RE: [s-cars] Watkins Glen report


> Keith-
> Forgot to mention a couple things-
> I was running Sumitomo HTR-ZII 255/40R17 street tires,
> Hawk HPS pads with Ate Super Blue fluid.
>
> My point about the 951 was simply that it was amazing to
> see a UrS4 lapping similar times to the 951. The 951 is a
> clearly more capable car, the guy behind the wheel was simply
> not good enough to smoke the UrS.
>
> I really don't like running my daily driver at the track mainly
> because if something bad happens, I won't have a car to drive.
> If I have a primarily-track car, I'd probably still keep it
> street-legal (at least for a while) but if something broke in that
> car, I could still drive around in my daily driver.
>
> I'm either going to get a 951/951S, turbo Miata or a fully prepped
> E30 BMW- leaning toward the 951 because it allows me to run with
> all PCA regions, doesn't need a ton of prep to be track-capable
> (for driver's ed, not racing) and the turbo motor allows for relatively
> inexpensive power tweaks compared to a BMW 6 cylinder or building up
> a turbo Miata motor from the ground up.
>
> Taka
>
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