I need some track help.. what's the best line?

[Eric Mckenna]

Ok,
I have a few buddies that I am going to Putnam with this weekend and we have a little well.. I am SURE you all know how it is..
we are going to see who can get the best lap time on the track.
the looser buys the beer on Sunday night.
So I am not taking my best pal ( my 911 ) but I am rather doubling up on my ladies 951.. which I have only driven once at Mid Ohio.. but it's a very easy car to drive fast..
so here is a track map can any of you track GURU's please help me out with the best line for a 951 around this puppy..
I want to lap well and beat my bro's.

BTW we only run the outside of the track not in in field sections.
Map of track:


Thakns Guys..
I'd do the same for you. ahahha!

[masraum]

The best line is the one where you get to maintain the highest speeds for the longest possible time. Follow that one and you should be golden!!



Good luck!! Let us know how it turns out.

[John Brandt]

try to carry as much speed through T-1 as possible. It's less brakes, an earlier turn in, and a lot faster than you probably think.

Get back on the gas quickly though or you'll probably spin at ~100MPH like I did

That's what I learned this year.

were you there with MORPCA this year?

[Eric Mckenna]

I've have done it before in a 911 many times. so I am not a novice to the big tracks... but just wondering if any of you guys have driven a 951 and the best way to lap one at a track like this.
i WIL lfor sure let a know how it all goes.
should be fun. hell if it wasn't I would be DEAD! hahahah!
Thanks guys..

[Eric Mckenna]

Originally posted by John Brandt
try to carry as much speed through T-1 as possible. It's less brakes, an earlier turn in, and a lot faster than you probably think.

Get back on the gas quickly though or you'll probably spin at ~100MPH like I did

That's what I learned this year.

were you there with MORPCA this year?

John,
No I normally go with the OVR/PCA or the Wheel Source track day.

[89911]

Originally posted by Eric Mckenna
we are going to see who can get the best lap time on the track.
the looser buys the beer on Sunday night.
So I am not taking my best pal ( my 911 ) but I am rather doubling up on my ladies 951.. which I have only driven once at Mid Ohio.. but it's a very easy car to drive fast..

Eric, I'm all for going fast, but this sounds like a recipe for disaster: unfamilar track, unfamilar car, and the desire to push your car to the limits. Just have fun and let the best times come. When you start pushing your car to gain time beyond what is "comfortable" bad things happen. Be safe!

[k9handler]

Be safe Bro...and don't beat up Ashers car or she will hurt you bad! LOL

[jakermc]

I track my 911 on a regular basis and have tracked my 968 as well. Biggest differences for me between the two cars is how I set-up before a turn and how the throttle is applied during the turn.

With regards to set-up, there are some turns that I have to tap the brakes on prior to turn in in order to balance the car, i.e. bring more weight up to the nose. In the 968 I am able to take these turns without hitting the brake prior to turn in. That car is much easier to toss into a corner and keep the car balanced. I found the same thing was true with my Boxster S.

With regards to the throttle, I find that I hit full throttle on the 911 much sooner than the 968. This may be related to tapping the brakes, but essentially almost immediately after turn-in I am at full throttle as I head towards the apex. My car has a tendency to oversteer in the turn if I am too light on the gas. With the 968, my throttle application is more gradual as I build speed approaching the apex.

Last difference, again related to the throttle, is in slow turns. In the 911 I use the throttle to turn in the tight twisties, inducing lift-oversteer to rotate. In the 968 this really didn't come into play.

[Noel]

Eric, is this the PINK 951 that your girlfriend drove at Mid-Ohio in April?

I'd make you buy the beer just for driving a pink car!

Be careful, this sounds like a recipe for disaster to me too.

[Zeke]

"I need some track help.. what's the best line? "

"Didn't I see you out here before?" "You're doing very well today, do you mind if I ride shotgun and pick up some pointers?"

Not your best line, "Is that gorilla your husband?"

[rattlsnak]

>>Ok,
I have a few buddies that I am going to Putnam with this weekend and we have a little well.. I am SURE you all know how it is..
we are going to see who can get the best lap time on the track.<<

Sounds like a "hey ya'll, watch this!" to me. Nobody here wants to be your mother, and we all try to pass the car in front of us at the track, but I was involved in this exact scenario a few years back with a buddies car ending up on its roof trying to catch me.
Fast = Smart, do both and have fun!

[k9handler]

Ha Ha Noel....I was going to say something but I thought I would leave Eric alone on that one! So Eric now that the cats out of the bag, make sure to post some pics of you and the pink 951.

[KobaltBlau]

Originally posted by jakermc
I track my 911 on a regular basis and have tracked my 968 as well. Biggest differences for me between the two cars is how I set-up before a turn and how the throttle is applied during the turn.

With regards to set-up, there are some turns that I have to tap the brakes on prior to turn in in order to balance the car, i.e. bring more weight up to the nose. In the 968 I am able to take these turns without hitting the brake prior to turn in. That car is much easier to toss into a corner and keep the car balanced. I found the same thing was true with my Boxster S.

With regards to the throttle, I find that I hit full throttle on the 911 much sooner than the 968. This may be related to tapping the brakes, but essentially almost immediately after turn-in I am at full throttle as I head towards the apex. My car has a tendency to oversteer in the turn if I am too light on the gas. With the 968, my throttle application is more gradual as I build speed approaching the apex.

Last difference, again related to the throttle, is in slow turns. In the 911 I use the throttle to turn in the tight twisties, inducing lift-oversteer to rotate. In the 968 this really didn't come into play.

I have driven both "transaxle" porsches (front engine rear transaxle, yes I realize rear engined cars have a transaxle too but this name is used) and 911s on the track, and this description is good, and consistent with my experience.

I feel like I need to brake more with the front engined cars because they don't turn in as easily with the large mass in the front. I use a more traditional slow-in-fast-out approach with the transaxle cars (powerful and heavy-ish ones like 951 and 968), while I feel like you have a little more in your bag of tricks with the 911 (power on understeer is one big difference).

Overall, the experience is not that different from just getting into another 911 with different suspension and power characteristics: you still have to work up to faster laps.

[ted]

Originally posted by Eric Mckenna
so here is a track map can any of you track GURU's please help me out with the best line

No Guru is going to look at that drawing of the track and try to tell you the fast line. That track map is missing some important details, like camber and elevation changes. To find the line quickly get an instructor first thing in the morning. You could prioritize the turns, the most important turns (to be on the gas soonest) are the ones leading to the longest straights.

Fact is as novice drivers you will be in the slow run group with designated passing areas and most likely will never get a clean lap to compare times.
Lap times are not the goal at this point, staying on line demonstrating smooth and safe car control while driving in traffic and maintaining situational awareness would be a more realistic goal.

Have fun and try to get some meaningful instruction too.

[Eric Mckenna]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ted

Fact is as novice drivers you will be in the slow run group with designated passing areas and most likely will never get a clean lap to compare times.
Lap times are not the goal at this point, staying on line demonstrating smooth and safe car control while driving in traffic and maintaining situational awareness would be a more realistic goal.


Thanks Ted,
I understand all that......just because you do not know me or haven't driven on the same track @ the same time as me...doesn't mean I am a novice driver... I was simply asking anyone who may have owned a 951 in the past who have tracked one..for some insight.
I know what the PURPOSE of a DE or TRACK DAY is....
BTW, I totaled the car because I am a novice and over extended myself in a car I didn't know. oops!


Eric

[ted]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Eric Mckenna

Originally posted by ted
Thanks Ted,
I understand all that......just because you do not know me or haven't driven on the same track @ the same time as me...doesn't mean I am a novice driver...

No of course not, but the question you asked and your intentions for the DE event raised a yellow flag in my mind.

[Eric Mckenna]

ahaha! I can see how that may be been interpreted..
"no harm no foul"..



Eric