Genn McMenamin
Porsche Carrera Cup GB - pro-am2 2009 Champion
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Glenn's Blogs
997RS test drive at Silverstone experience centre.
997RS test drive at Silverstone experience centre.
Managed to blag an hours drive in the new RS at the Silverstone experience centre today.
Think the Grey/Red colour combo is prob the best for the car IMO.
I drove my own RS over there so I can make the best placed comparison, and after jumping out of mine and into the new one, I felt a slight disappointment in the lack of difference in the cabin, I didn't really get that 'new version' feel from the interior, as everything was almost exactly the same as mine, including the seats. didn't like the door opening pulls, and think they will look quite tired very quickly. Also it had the standard rubber dash, which I think cheapens the car a tad.
Drove around the short test track, then the low grip track, and finally on the wet skid pan, which in itself is very difficult, no matter how quick you are at catching a slide !!!
No surprises in that I just feel the car is 5-10% better in most areas, you can feel that extra bit of urgency from the engine, and the PASM in sport mode now actually has a bit of feel to it, as it allows the car to pitch and roll a little when trying to load the the nose.
If you were jumping into one for the 1st time, no doubt you would be blown away by it, however, I'm glad I saved the £40k upgrade fee, as I just don't feel it is worth that kind of money for the difference, as ever with Porsche, evolution rather than revolution.
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Close responsesPorsche RS day at Oulton Park
Porsche RS day at Oulton Park
Once per year, many of the die hard Porsche Club GB members organise a Porsche specific track day at Oulton Park.
I went to one of the early ones of these a few years ago, but have missed them all since, due to skiing or other commitments.
Knowing early that I could actually make this years date, the scene was set for a showdown on track with a few of my forum mates attending the day. Many of these guys are also experienced racers now, and like me, still love to have one of Stuttgarts finest in their garage, so that they can do battle when the chance and crowd arrises.
The day started of a bit damp, but this is always a great chance to get out dial yourself more intimately into the car and track, albeit at slower speeds.
The day lived up to it's billing, and myself and the guys had much fun tussling on track. Track manners were exceptionally good by all that attended, and I can only remember 1 red flag all day, due to dropped oil at Druids.
See following for in car footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWTOE7oseSo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c16Dvp9zb2Y
997.2 Turbo Test Drive
Just drove this beastie, and I must say, it should come with its own ASBO warning, as it is offensively quick !!!!!!!
Got a 4 hour extended test drive courtesy of Silverstone OPC.
Car was a white Coupe, with PDK Paddles, Sports Chrono, Spyder look wheels with Steel brakes.
The PDK steering wheel is a high quality item, the metal centre section along with the matching paddles give a real feel of class to the cabin. The wheel itself is nice and thick, pretty much a leather version of the one that comes on my 997 RS.
Turn the ignition key, and you instantly know that it is no longer the old GT1 derived block sitting behind you, it’s now more reminiscent of Carreras of old, with little noise at idle, but I nice deep bellowing sound when under load.
This sound is deepened when the ‘Sport’ button is depressed, so some sort of Exhaust valve like the RS going on there too.
Pottering along busy roads the car is totally benign, the gearbox in normal mode, making nice seamless changes, not holding revs for an annoyingly long time, and on the look out for an up change when possible to save fuel.
In ‘Sport’ mode things liven up dramatically. The revs keep high enough in anticipation of a large prod of the loud pedal, so it is always best placed to deliver instant grunt.
Also when pressing this button, the dampers go into sport mode, which is completely pointless unless on the smoothest of surfaces, or more specifically the track.
‘Sport Plus’ takes things a stage further, the revs never seem to fall below 4k, and the response from the throttle pedal is razor sharp, again, not really necessary for the road unless you are feeling like a total hooligan.
Using the gearbox manually through paddles is a rewarding yet, surprisingly pointless exercise, as the Auto changes through the box are just so beautifully and efficiently timed, I couldn’t imagine bettering them myself. Also, the fact that there are so many forces going on and things happening so fast when you nail the throttle, that the luxury of not having to worry about perfectly timing the next up change, simply adds to the accessibility of the cars massive performance.
The usual downside to using an Auto, can be the lack of engine braking when slowing down for a bend, also not holding a low enough gear to power out the other side. Here the PDK box is wonderfully intuitive, in ‘Sport’ mode, down changes under braking are perfectly judged for fast road driving, it’s quick to select the next gear down after a second or two on the brakes, and holds it for long enough when you need it. ‘Sport Plus’ again takes this to the edge, and holds the car for absolute maximum performance, this again is only for the right time and place.
The PDK and the engine is a match made in heaven, the gears are so well matched, and seamlessly changed, that there really is hardly any feel of Turbo lag at all, as the gearbox seems to know how to make the most out of the wide power band, and works it magic to keep you in it at whenever possible. I can’t imagine a manual gearbox making the car as good an overall package without PDK.
On top of this impressive drive train, is a surprisingly sorted and rewarding Chassis. I only had a brief drive in the Gen 1 997 Turbo, a while ago now, but I do remember it being a bit wallowing. The new cars fantastic handling quickly became apparent, as it felt very taught and communicative, it reminded me of the 997 RS actually, obviously a bit softer, but very firm but feelsome steering and great damping.
As expected with a 4wd 911, there is great grip in all conditions, the power this car can deploy in the wet mid bend is amazing, you can literally plant your foot in any condition, and the car just goes, and without drama, any PSM intervention is very subtle, although there is enough slip angle there to make the rear a little more playful than my old 996 Turbo, where full power in the wet was a jerky power on/off affair, here things seem to be so much smother, and effortless.
I had a quick play with the launch control, unfortunately it couldn’t work all it’s magic, as the rain was pouring down at the time. When I did try it, it was amazing to feel the individual wheels working out where the most traction was, while the car was snaking up the road, I’m sure it was a whole lot quicker than a human effort would have been !!
I didn’t bother playing with the Dampers in stiff mode as the roads were wet and bumpy, the car hardly rolled anyway, and was very flat when cornering., I would love to try this thing on the track with them on though, as I’m think it will be a total weapon, and could easily keep with nearly anything in dry conditions, and in the wet, well, I think it would be untouchable by anything other than a GTR.
Overall, very impressed with the car, it will do exactly what you would expect a 911 Turbo to do in this day and age, which is devour nearly anything out there on the road today, by combining power, traction and usability to perfection.
Can’t wait until mine comes in March
- Gen 2 turbo (posted by Porscheman on 13/01/2010)
- Car for all seasons (posted by blow dog on 19/01/2010)
Bikes Bikes Bikes !!!
Since the age of 5 I have been keen on my push bikes, Having all the usual school boy classics from the trusty Raleigh Chopper, and Ultra Burner, and first racer paid for by my very own paper-round earnings, to now, where as you will see a bit of an addiction for a bit of Carbon/Aluminium on two wheels !!
Around 1995 I got into the whole Mountain bike craze, and was regularly pounding the tracks of my local woodland. There then started to be man made specific bike trails in Wales advertised in the major bike mags, and once I experienced these, my interest took another level.
Did a 400 mile Grand tour of the Rockies in 2005, starting from Denver, this was a supported ride over 2 weeks along the Rocky Mountain trail to a town Called Durango.
Starting at an altitude of 10,000ft and climbing up to 12,000ft pretty much everyday, the altitude was a bit of a killer, but I experienced trails and scenery like you could only imagine, it was a totally amazing and gruelling experience.
See above for my Rockies pics
In early 2006 Some die hard Tri-athlon friends of mine talked me into a local Duathlon, this was basically a 5km run then a 16km bike, followed by another 5km run. Not a massive task, but I was far from a strong runner, but decided to give it a go.
I was going to borrow a friends road bike for the cycle part of the event, as I did not own one of my own at the time, as I never saw the point of road riding, and used to take the P**s out of these Lycra clad weirdo’s whenever I saw them.
Tried the said bike, which was clearly too small for me, so decided for some strange reason that I should buy one of my own. Me being me, I couldn’t just go and buy a cheap one that would be adequate for the task in hand, no, I had to go straight in for a £3k thoroughbred, as I had convinced myself I would use it again if I did another event.
Anyway, the event went well enough, but I really took to the cycle part of the event, which was similar to a bit of a road race, which gave me a bit of a buzz if I’m honest.
From then on, against the grain, I joined a local cycling club and soon got into my local weekly circuit race series at the Milton Keynes Bowl, and also started doing the odd 10mile Time Trial here and there.
From then until now, I have got more and more into the racing scene, I moved from a 4th Categories race licence to a 2nd Category in my 2nd season, and now spend as much time on the bike as possible.
Unfortunately my competitive nature has made me look for any advantage possible when competing, and I now have accumulated a rather large collection of bikes, which honestly all are for slightly different events (no, really !!) - see above.
Still have a soft spot for my mountain bikes though.
- How do you get invited? (posted by blow dog on 19/01/2010)
Intrax Suspension by Oakley design
When i started to get to grips with the new 997 GT3RS, i new that the new fangled Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) would be a compromise.
Obviously trying to be a compromise of trying not to shake your fillings out or bounce you into the nearest ditch on a bumpy B road in soft mode, but stiff enough to be rewarding enough on a smooth GP circuit to make you feel at one with the car in stiff mode.
In soft mode it was indeed very compliant on the road, actually for the 1st time, the GT3RS was a credible all conditions supercar car for even the most meagre of talented drivers, even treading on the toes of the super sure footed 997 Turbo.
However, for me, the car was designated primarily for trackdays and trips to the Nurburgring, and i soon found the PASM far too compromised for serious trackday driving. OK, so who am I to say that Porsche haven't got a clue on how to sort the handling on their hallow trackday car...? Well, i think even they would agree, the car is designed to feel great to the majority of trackday goers, but anyone with enough Porsche specific handling experience behind them, can feel that the suspension is giving an artificial feel to the car, and not allowing the driver the proper feedback and weight transfer to balance and load the car as they would like. Basically it was an understeering, wooden mess IMO.
Enter Intrax Suspension by Oakley design.
Long story short here, but some friends and i managed to secure a group buy deal on some 4-way Titanium Intrax Dampers which were specifically developed for the 997 GT3/RS.
Once fitted, the handling transformation was a revelation, you could at last exploit the full potential of the great chassis the 997 has over its predecessor the 996 GT3.
Unfortunately, 18 months on, these dampers have developed a problem. The inners sleeves have come out of the main body of the damper, leading to lots of play and movement in the shock itself.
Apparently there is a manufacturing fault, and Intrax have agreed to take the units back, and refurb them with an update, all under warranty. They do say, that these units are really designed for exclusively for motorsport use, whereby the units should be serviced every season, and are not normally exposed to the very salty winter conditions that we see on our UK roads.
I have resisted the urge to put the standard PASM back on the car, as i have invested £5k in these new dampers, but if they fail again, they are going in the bin !!!!