Quote:
Originally Posted by ForeverCar
Appreciate your input. I expect significant increase in NVH. If tires, springs, anti-roll bars, and dampers remain mellow, I wonder how it would feel. Maybe there still won’t be sufficient compliance for road use?
When I had a 991.2 GT3RS, I didn’t think it’s very hard. Springs were a bit stiff and I think the tires (Cup 2) could use a softer sidewall for compliance. IIRC, the stock setup doesn’t use many “rubber” bushings.
It’s more a curious exercise to see what eliminating all the “soft” bushings while keeping compliance in the tires, springs, and dampers would do (and keep anti-roll bars stock or similar). Might be a bad idea. Since it’s not a daily driven car and one of the goals is feel, I wonder what it’d feel like.  |
One thing that almost no one does, and I mean pretty much no one (myself included), is to start the whole process with
yourself.
(I absolutely include myself in the following. And this is in no way meant as a criticism of you, or anyone else here.
And this is soooo long winded.)
I think one of the car worlds biggest problems is the assumption that we think we can all basically drive well, and that if we just had the right equipment or mix of equipment we would be even better.
If we are slower on the track than another guy, its because he has more power. His brakes are bigger. That wing is carbon.
If we are passed on a mountain road, well, its because his tyres are stickier. His spring rates are more suitable. His car is better.
The simple truth is that if we invested time, energy and money into our driving it would be the single greatest performance/enjoyment improvement that we could make.
With the added bonus that it would be transferable to any car we drove.
And here is the irony...when/if we do get driver training its usually from those that perhaps can help us the least.... a racing driver may be a very good racing driver...but why do we think he can
teach, ie has the ability to clearly impart knowledge? Why do we think he can automatically drive anything else well (that is not his own racing car)? Why do we think he has any insights at all into driving on anything that is not a race track?
A racing driver is (most) often not a great driver in other circumstances. In fact often they can be rubbish.
Watch a current Formula 1 driver try and drive a manual well. Watch a Formula 3 driver try and slide a car cleanly. Watch a modern (4wd) WRC driver (ok, maybe not a Finn) try to drive a rwd car properly quickly on the dirt. There might be the odd exceptions (stand up Walter Rohrl)...but it will simply prove the rule.
Ditto for brake experts, suspension or engine guys, tyre techs etc. They can be experts in their chosen fields but their driving skills are usually not up to the level of their technical or mechanical mastery... for them to be at their best they need to work with a driver who can accurately describe/feel/repeat what a car is doing when he is driving in particular ways, in particular environments.
I will never be a geat driver, I will never truly understand the complexities of suspension or engines and I will never be able to extract %100 from any car I drive.
BUT, I am lucky to have a close friend who can. He is a freak. He is the guy that Audi gets to slide their R10 for TV adverts, he's that guy that AMG gets to teach people how to drive in the snow in their C63's. He can slide an old 911 on dry bitumen all day long. He will embarass a Ferrari in the hills in an MX5.
His Porsche collector friend gives him a 993 GT2 (right hand drive....google the value of those 9 cars...) and says go out and have fun, show me what it can do.
But his crowning glory is that on a drive day (or any version thereof) he must be able get into a strangers own car and immediately drive it quicker than they can... from the get go. Think about that...(I'm "all at sea" in a hire car I pick up at the airport for the first few miles)... their own cars, from lap 1.
He's the one that helps me understand what a car is doing, and why.
The one that sits next to you as you drive and desribes why the rear sway bar is too thick, and then sits next to you again when you put the standard one back on and lets you understand the feeling.
He's the bloke who gives the feedback to the damper guy who then makes my perfect dampers from scratch.
He's the bloke that helps find the perfect brake compound for my uses.
He's the guy who talks me out of putting "too much" tyre on my car.
He's the guy that persuades me to give up on left foot braking...because I will never develop the "feel" in that foot that I need.
But more importantly he has taught me so much about driving, about getting more out of a car. About road craft. About the psychology of driving. Driving quicker and safer. Driving around a cars "problems". About driving fun.
These guys are out there, but they are rare.
If I had the resources, I would find the perfect teacher to learn from.
Best investment ever.