New letters

[thoward]

Nothing a good pressure washer and an airless wouldn't take care of..

 

[ThirdHatt]

LuckyDave, You win the cleanest engine room contest hands down. In the world of Hatteras engine rooms, you are the man.

Now, let's head out to the track sometime and you can chase the tail of my 951 with your 951 as long as you can keep me in sight!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Nothing a good pressure washer and an airless wouldn't take care of..

After the scrubbers !! At least its dis-infected ! I wont waste the paint till they are on the ground. Caterpillar yellow with chrome valve covers just to confuse everybody, and to keep it in the "family". ws

 

[thoward]

Looks funny w/o intercoolers and turbos

 

[luckydave215]

"Now, let's head out to the track sometime and you can chase the tail of my 951 with your 951 as long as you can keep me in sight!"


You got it. Is there any money at stake?

BTW I have the points lead in in KSS at the moment - and 20 years pro racing under my belt..........

 

[ThirdHatt]

Luckydave, I never race for money-- just for fun! I've been PCA Racing for 10yrs and SCCA for nearly 20yrs. I have never had less than a podium finish and never a DNF. I was the Super Production/GT-1 Champion for the GBR Series. I assume your record is stellar as well.

Once we agree that we both can drive, we must look at the cars. I am lucky enough to have a pro-built 2.6L engine making 507hp on low boost and 548hp at "qualifying" setting. It weighs about 2425lbs, full widebody with 11" and 12" slicks. 370hp simply won't keep up.

Let's suffice it to say that with all due respect your Hatt is faster than mine, but my Porsche is faster than yours. Fair 'nuff?

 

[ThirdHatt]

Tod, sorry to temporarily steal your thread with the racecar chat with Luckydave. I just found out there's a fellow 944 Turbo racer in the HOF!

Back to your "New Letters". As you may or may not know my boat will be coming out of the paint booth soon and I will need to have the name re-done. I had black letters with gold accents, all vinyl. The yard suggested "engine turned" gold over black. It is much more expensive than the all-vinyl but if it looks that good I'll have to do that. Is that what you went with? It sure looks good in the pic.

 

[luckydave215]

"Once we agree that we both can drive, we must look at the cars. I am lucky enough to have a pro-built 2.6L engine making 507hp on low boost and 548hp at "qualifying" setting. It weighs about 2425lbs, full widebody with 11" and 12" slicks. 370hp simply won't keep up."

You're certainly racing in a higher class than I am. The car I'm driving is (almost) showroom stock.
Most of my (bike) racing years were spent racing various Gp classes and AMA Superbike class. And I always got well paid, or I didn't ride. Once you cross over to riding as a pro, you can't go back.
Now days I ride an Aprilia Tuono in the mountains for fun, and the other bikes (I have 7) whenever.
The Porsche club racing (even though I have a fully sponsored ride) is something I do with my brother in law for the fun of it.

 

[ThirdHatt]

I can imagine that getting paid for racing would indeed be addictive. More power to you! All I have ever done is race for fun. The class I run in Porsche Club is GT-3 which all 944 Turbo's run if they have any real modifications from stock. "E" class is where bone stock 944 Turbo S cars run and "D" class if they have just ONE mod like a chip or upgraded brakes. You can't get a 370hp 944 turbo from any one mod, so in PCA I believe you would be running in GT-3 as well. I'm sure you know, GT-3 is unlimited mods (Porsche chassis and block) good up until 2622cc. My motor was custom built to 2608cc to stay in GT-3. The (stroker) 2.8L guys have to run GT-1. My car is very competitive in GT-3 and often competitive with the GT-1 guys. It's those pesky 1900lb turbocharged 911's always seem to give me a wake-up call! Cup cars too, they're QUICK with a good driver.

Be careful on those bikes Dave! I know you can ride but many of the folks out on the roads can't DRIVE!

 

[jim rosenthal]

Just curious....for those of us who don't drive/race Porsches, how fast are these cars? Like: top speed, lap times, acceleration? What else would race in GT-3? Are these Porsche-only races or do other makes compete as well?

 

[ThirdHatt]

Jim, I primarily race with the Porsche Club, so I have less experience with "other" cars than someone like LuckyDave who has raced many different cars, bikes, etc in different venues. The times I have raced other venues, my car is quicker throught he turns and under braking than a factory racing Viper GTS-R but they are a bit quicker down the straight. Top speed of my car is currently gear limited to 176mph. I barely get into 6th gear on most tracks I run (Road Atlanta, Sebring, etc) so top speed is not as important as acceleration and handling.

It all boils down to power-to-weight ratio for acceleration. My car only has about 5lbs for each hp to carry, so it accelerates pretty smartly. I'm sure if I could get a decent launch (in a perfect world) I'd probably get a sub-4 sec 0-60 and maybe a low 11 sec 1/4 mile. Porsches in general are not meant to launch though. Rolling starts are much easier on the cars.

 

[thoward]

I run SCCA but in a Formula Vee which is like a super low tech open wheel Indy car based on old VW drivetrain. We top out at about 120. The Vee class is only a 65hp car so it is really a drivers class. 1 mistake and you are out of the running, you just do not have the hp to makeup for a missplaced wheel. I have never been into closed wheel racing even though that is what I was raised around. My grandfather ran Grand National(the beach in Daytona) back in the day. My uncle won the Camel Lights Division of the 24 Hours of Daytona. I got to work as crew on that car as a teen. What an experience! My uncles both race SCCA ITS Mazda RX7s. They top out about 140 but only run a little faster track time than my Vee. It is funny, at least for me, I have no concept of speed in a race car. When you are flat out and everyone is as fast as you there is no feeling of speed, and you allways want to go faster. When I ran Karts we were doing 50mph but on an 1/8 mile track you were busy and the action happened as fast as in the Vee.

Tracks are the big thing at least for me. Sebring is rough and hard on the cars, you need to be real agressive and have some brass balz to do well at that course. Road Atlanta is more like a dance, You need to ease up on the grip and be real smooth through the corners. Daytona is not too exciting for my car as the track so big and fast you need to be doing 150+ to really hammer it.

 

[luckydave215]

For more interesting power to weight ratio, try racing AMA Superbike. 325 pounds, 200+ horsepower. Power slides at 180 mph on the banking at Daytona.
Throttle control is just a little impotrant in this class.

 

[Boatsb]

All this talk about speed from guys whose boats cruise under 20 Kts.

 

[thoward]

For more interesting power to weight ratio, try racing AMA Superbike. 325 pounds, 200+ horsepower. Power slides at 180 mph on the banking at Daytona.
Throttle control is just a little impotrant in this class.

I got to watch those boys run Road Atlanta before Panoz screwed it up. OMG that was unreal! I would like to get a few hot laps in a World of Outlaws car :O

 

[ThirdHatt]

Tod, you are so right! Racing is racing, no matter what type of car you do it in. You're a racer and I respect you for that. Sebring and Road Atlanta are two of my favorite tracks. It's all about setup. Once you are set up for the bumps at Sebring, you are good to go. Keep the hammer down (yes, even through turn 14) and just when you are about to see God, hit the brakes! I even won Sebring in the RAIN one year! Road Atlanta is indeed much smoother, but with THREE pavement changes thrown at you in various places on the track you really have to know where you can push and where you can't. They were supposed to resurface a couple years ago but had not last time I checked.

LuckyDave, That AMA Superbike stuff sounds incredible but it's not for me! I'll leave that to the kids who think they are immortal. I prefer some sheetmetal and a full roll cage around my precious body when I'm on the track! IMHO, 5lbs/hp is still quite respectable for a full-body car. Motorcycles are a whole different ballgame.

Boatsb, That's why we can tolerate such slow boats-- because we haul a$$ at the track and relax while cruising on the water! It makes for a real nice balance. Besides, at least there are other trained, licensed drivers out on the track. All it takes to go fast on the water is money, no talent or training required.

 

[Boatsb]

Thats not completely true. It takes knowledge and talent to go fast safely on the road or the water. Just because some kid buys a $20K tuner doesn't mean he has any experience in fact usually the opposite.

I mispent my youth going fast on water and not on land. I had a pickup that did 50 MPH in anything and a boat that could break 100. Most of my races were against the local police and I always went faster and many times won. A few times I was out maneuvered by multiple vessels and radios but thats in the past.

When you talk about organized, sanctioned and legal racing it's a whole new subject for many. I do a little of that but Pinewood derby is just not the same as what you guys do.

 

[ThirdHatt]

Most of my races were against the local police and I always went faster and many times won. A few times I was out maneuvered by multiple vessels and radios but thats in the past.

NOW we're talking! I'm sure the statute of limitations has expired long ago so Scott...DO TELL!!! We're all friends here!