FTS' Blog - Summit Point - Jefferson, 04/24/06

Published Aug. 24, 2009 at 4:50 p.m.
I attended Potomac Chapter's High Performance Driving Clinic...Its not quite an HPDE, but geared toward new comers to track events...However, there were very few people in which this was their first event, most had few events under their belt.

There were a good mix of Porsches, so overall it was a worthwhile event; there were a track-prep'd 914, 996 Turbo S, 997 and 997S, 930s, 964T, 993C2 and T, 944s, etc.

The day started with some fog and drizzle and turned into moderate rain late morning, but in the afternoon just before lapping sessions, it was all sunny and very pleasant...In the morning we had skid pad, slalom and braking exercises...It was disappointing...no matter what I did, I could not break loose the rear-end of the car, even in the wet skid pad...Couple of times, the rear stepped out but could not maintain or spin it; as soon as I'd lift off the throttle ever so slightly, the front would grip and recover almost without counter steering...Even though it was disappointing as the purpose of the exercises was to literally loose grip in a controlled manner, but it gave me significant confidence for the afternoon, where I really did not want to loose it .

We had two 25-min. sessions in the afternoon...1st session in the afternoon went well, my comfort level increased with the car...The car, again, felt so predictable and easy to drive that I kept increasing my pace...The circuit is a short one, 1.1 miles, so even though there were few car in my group (7 or 8), there were moments of tight traffic...The new comers usually could not give a point-by as they were busy dealing with the course and their car...During the last 5 laps in the 1st session, I got stuck behind a modified 944 Turbo...He had amazing power down the short straights, but was all over the place in the corners...It was obvious the car was very difficult to drive...I'd give about ~1000 ft advance to him on the straights but would catch him by the second turn and he just did not think of giving a point-by nor his instructor, so it was frustrating but I remained patient.

Being behind couple of newcomers, I had to be cautious under braking and stayed on the brakes longer than normal...Toward the end of the first session, behind the 944, I cooked the brakes and I had to slow down to cool the brakes; that was unnerving...By best lap time that I could record was 1:06.

2nd session, everyone was better in giving point-bys and I wasn't held back...I started to push slightly harder each lap...The amazing thing was the car...So unbelievably predictable, so stable and so compliant, I really cannot imagine a more satisfying car...Generally, I am quick to criticize cars, the handling or power delivery, etc...But with the Cayman, I just cannot find faults...Power comes very linearly and the handling is just superb.

I always had problems on this track with turns 5 and 7...T5 is a left hander leading to the back straight, which is the longer straight, taken in 3rd gear at about 60 mph...If you don't brake and turn-in at the right moment, it is easy to miss the apex and loose speed on the straight...With the CS, it was just point and shoot, almost too easy...T7 is a decreasing radius left handler leading to front straight...You approach this turn at around 90-95 mph and the exit speed is about 40-45 mph, so you can imagine the braking...I never could place the car as deep as I should with any other car I had, but with the CS I could place the car where ever I wanted...Controlling the CS with brakes or throttle is so easy, I went deeper in that corner, and in second gear, the car launches forward at a very brisk pace onto the front straight...The second session was much more fun no doubt...I lapped mostly in the 1:04 rage and had one lap in the high 1:03s...Brakes held very well, but toward the end right front tire was getting greasy due to heat.

The tires, Falken 615s, were also very predictable, giving plenty of notices before loosing grip gradually...The wear also seems quite acceptable, once I got the right pressures on them...As I felt more and more comfortable with the car and started to better understand the messages through my fingers and bottom, I believe I was at about the limit with the car given the limitations of my driving...However, in this case it was clear that the real limiting factor was the tires...The combination, the CS and the Falkens, are again very predictable and easy to drive, but the CS can certainly handle higher grip tires without problems.

Overall, great day for me and the Cayman.


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