Video from Laguna Seca

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imported_doug

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If you have a high speed connection, please right-click and save-as this video - I have limited bandwidth per month and the load on this will be heavy for several days. (If you have a modem connection, don't even think about it.)

Greg Laps Laguna (60Mb - high res)

Greg Laps Laguna (20Mb - low res)

Get the download started, then read the following report while you wait.

This year - my 2nd time at Laguna Seca with Tracquest. This is a non-competitive event. You can have instructors, and you can drive as fast as you want - but rules are there to promote safety - and slower cars let you by without trying to block you. I ran in the "intermediate" or "blue" group. Last year I ran in the novice or "yellow" group. The red group is restricted to instructors only, and a few known racers. In Blue, there was a Ferrari 360 Spyder, a 355, SteveR's M5, a couple 993 twin turbos, a couple C4S's, multiple 996's in C4 and C2 variety, Corvette's, M3s, and a boatload of misc Audis, Boxsters and Miatas of every vintage and designation - some with chips, r-compound tires, the works. These are serious guys and most of them track their cars much more than I do.

But in over 250 miles on track, I never encountered anyone I wasn't able to catch, pass and pull away from once they let me by; I was never passed (and I wasn't blocking anyone.) I credit this to decent, but certainly not outstanding driving skills, and an absolutely outstanding, amazing car. All of my instructors (day 1) and passengers (day 2) were blown away not only by the power, but by the brakes - so let me get to the "data" by starting there.

Last year I started to get some fade on the 2nd day. I decided to replace the stock pads with Pagid Oranges for this trip, and I replaced the stock fluid with ATE Super Blue. I had ZERO fade, and I was really, really using the brakes. Laguna is hard on brakes to begin with - the end of the front straight is 120mph+ DOWNHILL into a 40mph hairpin, and there are many other places where you brake from over 100mph. I don't yet know how much life I took out of my rotors, but the brakes were just phenomenal. (And they didn't squeak the whole way home. Wonder if that will last?) I had a seasoned Boxster S driver ride along with me one session, and a friend with a 360 Modena in another, and both felt I had WAY more brakes than they did.

With the exception of the brake pads and fluid my car is 100% stock. And it was just plain fast. I left PSM (dynamic Porsche's stability control) on, but there were definitely times it intruded. I learned how much I could drift or toss the car without it coming in and tried to stay there, because once it does come on it will scrub a little speed in a hurry. I'm pretty sure I have the skills to manage the car in the situations where it was intervening had I turned it off, but I chose NOT to use Laguna Seca as the place to find out. Believe me, if you want to explore the "beyond PSM" limits of this car, you have to be driving REALLY hard, and you better have plenty of runoff room as you learn. I wasn't racing - and my decision to leave it on may well have cost me some time - but I was never overly angered by it either (as in the M5.)

The SmarTire system was both a great tool and a security blanket. By default, its temperature alarm is set for 179 degrees (I have no idea why they picked this) and I saw no reason to change it. But as I got better (and the track got a little warmer) I was showing temps near 200 degrees - and that is hot, any way you slice it. I rarely see more than 110 on the street, and that is on a hot day. So the alarm started to go off. I was able to quickly check and ensure that the pressures were all still fine, though, so I didn't worry about it and kept right on passing people.

The stats:

I ran 7 30 minute sessions - these are usually 14 hot laps plus warm up and cool down makes 16 laps. LSIR is 2.238 miles around, so you're doing 35.8 miles per session - for a total of 250 track miles.

I was getting 5.6mpg !!!!!! (Or, 1/2 gallon a lap, or 1 quart per minute.) I tried running 100 octane (which was available at the track for (gulp) $5.50 a gallon. I am pretty confident that the 996TT (stock) doesn't get any benefit from it. I think it runs as strong on 91, unlike the M5.

Top speed on the track is about 125. The tiny analog speedo is impossible to read and the digital speedo takes a little time to update (I saw it jump straight from 120 to 123 once, and I was in the throttle for another second or so - but I never saw it read higher. When I went back to the video I could see the tach and I think I may have had another mph or two.

I set a goal of breaking 1:50:00 lap time. (My best time last year was 1:51:60.) I didn't do it, but I also never got totally clear lap. (I only ran one session without a passenger - and the passengers cost me about 1.5 seconds a lap.) The lap in this video is 1:50:40 - and that was more than a full second better than last year. Moreover, you'll see I slowly caught another Porsche (he was fast!), but my power advantage came on strong up through 7 and I had to back off early going into the corkscrew. He let me by going into 9, but I had to abort the race line to make the pass. I think that was worth at least 0:00:40, so I'm awarding myself a "virtual 1:49" anyway.

I am now officially ready for new tires - my original Pirelli's have just over 10K miles and the rears are now decidedly devoid of meaningful tread.

Most importantly, even with a bra protecting the front, I have numerous little scratches from gravel or rubber strikes - and this is DETAILING weekend!!
 
Cool write up Greg! I was unable to access the video so I'll try back later. Last year I took a 3 day racing class at Sear's Point however we used open wheeled formula cars. I'm sure I'd dig on doing laps at Sears or Laguna in my own car so thanks also for the link. :xyxthumbs
 
Short Cut - Thanks for letting me know. My bad - I screwed up the URL for the smaller video. Never, ever hand-type a URL!!! it should be fixed now.

Driving a super car on Laguna Seca has to be one of my longest lived fantasies - and having it fulfilled was both thrilling and a dream come true. If you ever drive there, I suggest you download and hold onto the high-res version of this video. If you study it, and memorize the turns by number, you'll be able to learn more of the fine points when you get there.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me. There are lots of organizations and ways to get on the track - but I <strong class='bbc'>really[/b] like Tracquest.
 
hey,



i enjoyed the video :xyxthumbs , but you forced me to install Quick Time :nono ,



mpeg, or avi in the future please
 
Greg, that's a great video. And you're pretty modest...that's some kind of driving. I know that track. I spent two days on it on my motorcycle with CLASS in 1996. Top speed down the front straight -- 130 MPH for me, 140 for some of the instructors on faster bikes. The corkscrew looks so much easier in a car. Thanks, that brings back a lot of good memories. I, along with a bunch of guys from up here (Canada) are going down to do another course there in November. Hopefully, we'll have as good a time as you seemed to have had.
 
great video reminds me why as a child i fell in love with 911's and cars in general- question for you i see you used a sony trv730- i have a dcr -pc9, the palm style, mini dv-fire wire sony. and was wondering what you used to convert the video from mini dv to a p/c usable format? thanks again
 
2wheels- I've watched some bike races there - very scary! I once saw a guy in the full-tilt 500 class fail to brake enough into the corkscrew - actually got MOST of the first pat of the turn done, then rode over the red and white curb on the right side, into the dirt, AND STAYED ON IT and rode back onto the track. I was (and still am) amazed.



nyrep - I got completely fed up with trying to do a decent job on video with my PC - it can be done but it is a hassle. I switched to Macintosh. Now I plug the camera right into the computer with firewire, use the built-in iMovie software (and iDVD to make full-quality videos onto DVD) and that's all it takes. SO easy!
 
I couldn't get the sound to work in that movie, is that something with my computer or your movie?



Nice movie, I see that Porsche is pretty quick.
 
Yeah, the 500 GP guys are unbelievable. Laguna Seca is actually one of the safest, if not the safest track in America. All bikers I know dream of riding it. It's a lucky man who lives close enough and can afford to run it regularly. For instance, the tires I run are ZR rated tires, and if the track is mostly left-handed, like Laguna Seca (I ran a lot at Seattle International Raceway, which is left-handed also), the left side of my tire is totally cooked off after the second track day....that's only about 300 km (200 miles).:scared



But anyone who says cars are slow in twisties or a roadrace track should watch your video. A REAL sports car in the hands of a good (but not expert) driver will keep up with a bike. The only place where we have you beat is in powering out of a corner, and that's just a power to weight ratio thing. When we get to expert levels, well then, it's up to the individual driver and how much cojones they have.



I am curious, Greg. How long do a set of tires last for you, since you use them on road and on the track? Or do you use a second set for just the track? Seems a waste to commute in ultra sticky tires. And do you run different pressures, or the street pressures?



Oh yeah, BTW, where we really have you beat is in fuel economy. Running flat out at 12,000 RPM all day, I got about 12 - 15 mpg. :) On the street, I get about 35 mpg.
 
2wheels- Interesting that you say Laguna is safe - There are a number of places where the concrete walls are a little close for my tastes, and the big dip drainage curbing at the exit of 9 scares the hell out of me!!! I haven't run there, but I am told (in this area) Thunderhill is a great track - and there is unobstructed runoff area EVERYWHERE. But you're right - I'm lucky to live near to Laguna Seca - in fact I'm half way between it and Sears Point - which are the only two tracks I've run so far - and both are great, well-known courses,



As for tires, I got 10.5K miles out of the stock Pirelli's - including exactly 4 track days. I don't track the car that often - I hate to beat it that much. But as we speak the car is getting its second set. The fronts probably still had 35% tread, but I'm replacing all 4 anyway, and I'm going with the same tires again. (Choices are extremely limited in my sizes - my other choice were Yokohams, and they simply aren't as good.)



I do lower the pressures on the track, because the track puts WAY more heat into the tires than any street driving you can do - hence you end up with much too much pressure if you don't.



And yes, there is sound in the video - in fact it is in stereo, with one channel mostly engine sound, and the other with my "voiceover" on it.....
 
Greg, it must be the different lines that cars use vs. bikes. I remember 9 quite well, but I don't remember the curbing. The turn that had everyone in the course panicking was 11 because the concrete wall is in the line of sight as you turn in, and if you run wide early....whammo! No was went off in that corner though. But about 5 guys went off over 2 days...the worse being a broken collar bone (he put his arms out as he was falling and the weight broke the collarbone) in turn 2. But there were gettoffs in turns 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7.



I also ran the Streets of Willow last year. This was a great track for bikes, but may not be for cars, since there are no really high speed stuff. Turn 1 is the fastest, and it's about 90 mph. Maybe 110 on the front straight. The big track is probably better for cars, with turn 5, I understand, being full throttle, as long as your tires hold. The Streets had miles of runoff everywhere, as it's in the desert. The only bad part is that, since it's in the desert, there's no grass, so it's rocks everywhere.:scared
 
Wow... Nice Video! My Father Has a Silver 2001 996 TT. I love that car. I will post some pics all detailed sometime. The power that car has is immense to say the least!
 
carguy said:
...scares the hell out of me!!! I haven't run there, but I am told (in this area) Thunderhill is a great track - and there is unobstructed runoff area EVERYWHERE. But you're right - I'm lucky to live near to Laguna Seca - in fact I'm half way between it and Sears Point - which are the only two tracks I've run so far - and both are great, well-known courses,
Click to expand...



I've run both Laguna Seca and Thunderhill. Both are great tracks but I find Thunderhill a lot more enjoyable. Thunderhill is mainly rented out to car clubs and practice sessions so it isn't well known nationally but it is a great track. It is 3 miles long and has about 15 turns which are each a little different which keeps it very challenging. Also, as for things to run into, only the exit of turn 12 has a wall. The rest of the track is wide open with a lot of run off area.
 
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