JimB

A couple of additions from the soon to be frozen north. If there may be critters around, stuff some steel wool in your exhaust pipes. Change your oil. You don't want the contaminants in the old oil settling to the bottom and sitting there for the winter. Fill with gas to avoid condensation in the gas tank. Adding stabilizer won't hurt but is probably not necessary. Do not start the car unless you can take it for a long drive. It's not enough to just let it warm up in the garage. That will cause condensation to develop on the inside of the cold engine. Start dreaming of spring. Jim

Yea but where was that 1? :) Actually there were two 996s entered in C but one left on Saturday morning. He must have had a problem. Most of the bigger races you'll see two or maybe three. The class is still dominated by 993RSCSs and progressed RSAs. 3.6L 996s are just now getting to the price where guys will convert them to race cars. Jim

Gregg, Stock (sort of) 996s dominated the Gran Am Cup series for a number of years. This year the NASCAR guys that run the series have tilted it in favor of the new Mustangs. The M3 is also really strong and has been for awhile. It's a pretty fun series to watch. In club racing the the 3.4L 996 is no match for the 993TT, 993RSCS and the progressed RSAs that run in C but my 3.6L X51 is doing just fine. We qualified first and took first in the sprint at Road America last month and qualifed second and took second in the enduro. Jim

Gregg, I would think that given that we're from the same neck of the woods we would be hanging out at the same track events but obviously not. I see a lot of 996s at the track. I haven't done an official count but I would guess more than 993s or 964s. In club racing the number of 996s is growing pretty rapidly. Neither 993s or 964s are really competitive there. RSCS and RSAs are but not the stock cars. Between club racing and Grand Am Cup there is plenty of 996s getting a good work out. Also, where do you (and others) get the idea that the M96 can't be rebuilt or that it's a throw-away engine? The concept, which I love, is that Porsche can rebuild their engines much more efficiently than the local mechanic can. In doing this they can also manage quality and gather huge amounts of engine wear data. They don't toss old m96s, they rebuild them and sell them to the next guy. Pretty smart I think. If they announced a similar program for air cooled engines people would be elated. On the Excellence article. It is just one engine. On the other hand, it is nice to see one with a few miles on it turn up looking good. Jim

It looks like LSD is becoming a thing of the past which is really unfortunate. The downside on street cars in that locking your differential while still turning can induce a whole bunch of understeer. Light front tires because you are on the gas and two big back tires trying to go straight can be a little scary. In a race car you are used to it and know when to expect it. I would guess the lawyers are all over this. When I updated my 99 to a 3.6 X51 I intentionally updated it to an 04 because that's the only year Porsche offered their best engine with LSD. In stock PCS club racing you have to run combos that were available from Porsche. LSD make a huge difference on the track. Jim

Rumor has it that there might be a Euro MK1 GT3 Club Sport racing in PCA stock C next year. A 99 I think. Can you guys give me the lowdown on this car or guide me to a site with detailed information? I'm curious how it will match up to my 3.6L X51 C2. Thanks. Jim

Ok, I'm with you guys. Anyone that would be seen on the street in that car is some kind of weirdo. I think poser is too kind. Do you have his number? I wouldn't mind buying some parts. :)

Surgeon, I see what you mean. For the most part you are right. Most cup cars in club racing are hand me downs from other "pro" series where they buy new cars every year of two. There are, however, several new cars running in PCA every year. Check out the recent Putnam race on MyLaps.com and you will see a 2005 cup car in group 1. You'll also see a very fast 996 in group 2. :) (just kidding) Dell, I just don't get the poser title. If the guy was racing the car then he's a racer not a poser. If he blew it up he's a racer without a car. There are lot's of those around. All club racers decorate their cars in some way. I've chosen to make mine pretty subtle but others plaster their company name all over the car. Others chose to mimic a favorite pro car. Especially if it's historic. Others like to put the names of the companies whose products they use on the car. Moton, Olin, Hoosier, etc. I don't know this guy but if he's a racer and his only sins are that he can't afford a new engine right now and he plastered some decals on the car then he's in pretty good company in club racing. Now, if this is his street car, I'm with you all the way. From the pics it looks like a very well prepared car though. Jim

Surgeon, Actually there are specific classes for cup cars in PCA. GTC3 is the class for 996 cup cars. There are also classes for 993 and 964 cup cars as well as super cup 996s and R,RS, RSR. This car could be a 99 996 cup car. They weren't much different than a stock 996. They even had the clam shell rear wing like the stock cars. Nothing like the later cup cars. I really don't know though. I've only seen one and didn't pay that much attention. It would explain the decals and GTC3 class. Jim

I think I'm missing the joke. It looks like a perfectly valid GT3R club racer to me. Not the Porsche GT3R model, the PCA club racing class. It's for 2.8 to 3.4L cars built to GT specs and running slicks. On DOT tires it would be GT3S. I can't imagine that it would be competitive but who knows. It does seem silly to have GT3 Cup decals but the the rest of the car looks pretty well done for that class. Lexan windows, cup wing, etc. BTW, my race car's exhaust system is six inches long. Straight from the header out the back. It probably doesn't sound that great either but I gained 13 hp when I did it. :) Jim

Thanks Loren.

Can someone with an X51 let me know where the rev-limiter kicks in? I need to have mine at factory specs and I don't want to be leaving any revs on the table. Thanks a lot. Jim

Rick, I know way more about cam adjuster problems that I want to. It was the biggest problem to overcome when I swapped a 3.6L X51 into my 99. If your cam timing adjuster is actually bad it will be obvious. Put the car in a gear where is won't accelerate too fast. Floor it and see what happens around 5800 rpms. If your cams don't switch, you will loose 50 or 60 hp. It should be obvious. Assuming that the car accelerates fine, you probably have a sensor problem. That's good news. There is a sensor on each side that reads a little disk on the end of one of the cams. I can't remember if it's intake or exhaust. I would guess that it is giving a bad reading. Just a guess though. Good luck, Jim

Wow, that's way louder than I would have expected. Are you sure they were measurings it properly? You should be under 98 my any method I've heard of tracks using. Usually from the side of the track near a high RPM point. 108 at 4500 seems crazy. Edit: What track were you at? They wouldn't let my car in the same state if they won't let a stock car with PSE on the track.

Mike, I have the cable/laptop setup that Loren is refering too but it would be great to have a small version like the Kragen in my tool box at the track. What I can't tell from the web site is if you can reset codes. Do you know? I tend to set off my check engine light fairly often and need to reset it at the track. Thanks, Jim

That doesn't surprise me at all. I've built a 2900 lb 996 C stock club racer with a 3.6L X51. It's a pretty fast car and I expected to have my way with a friend in his new GT3. I couldn't even get close. Those cars scream. Have fun. Jim

If you're not a DIYer, give Steve Weiner at Rennsport Systems a call. I think his shop is in Tualitan but I could be wrong. I have the Evo system on my race car. I'm a little sceptical that it actually adds any hp but I haven't done a before and after dyno so I don't know for sure. Jim

1/4, I like the way you think. I just purchased a 10x10 inch piece of plastic from a stereo installer and cut a blank with a Dremel tool. I used a long screw at each corner to hold it in. It's lasted a couple of seasons of racing and still looks good. Jim

We use nitrogen at the track all the time. Primarily to regulate pressure as the tires heat up. Unfortunately our tires never have a chance to deteriorate from the inside. :) The other problem with air is that, unless you are using your own compressor and take great care, you really don't know how much water you are getting in your tires. I don't use nitrogen in my street cars but if it's easy for you to get, go for it. Next best, use your own compressor and make sure you bleed the H20 out regularly. Last resort, the dreaded gas station pump. Jim

The first time I read that article a couple of years ago it made perfect sense to me. I could never buy into the idea that heat behind the pads would actually warp the rotors. Either way, whether the vibration is caused by warping or deposits, I would have a hard time imagining it happening on the rear rotors. Our car's brakes are very biased to the front. We actually run higher friction (Pagid Blacks) pads in back and lower friction (Pagid Oranges) pads in front of our 996 race car to shift the bias to the rear. That doesn't mean that the problem isn't in the rear pads or rotors but I would be surprised if it's what we traditionally thought of as warped rotors. When you have the rotors changed, make sure they give your suspension and wheel bearings a good going over. A loose bushing/bolt or a bad bearing could also cause a vibration. As long as they have the car up on the rack it shouldn't cost anything to do a good inspection. Jim

Harry, I race with a friend that has a GT3R and while I'm not able to look at it right now I really doubt that you can make it work on a 996. The radiators on the GT3R are much larger and sit at a different angle. Hence, the openings on the bumper cover are different. The cover is also very low and very wide. You would have much better luck transferring the suspension or the tub from a GT3R then you would the bumper cover. I could be wrong but I sure wouldn't spend any money until you know for sure. As for your problem, those parts on a race car are literally consumables. They hit the track so often that we end up patching them together on a regular basis. There is really no magic to how it all fits together. Just make sure it's secure. We have used screws, bolts, wire ties and fabricated plastic to make it all last a little longer. I'm sure you can do the same. You won't win a concurs but you can put off the $2k for a while. None of it is visible anyway. Good luck, Jim

hayaku, We use the factory jack points. They work fine. Jim

Thanks for the info although I know how PSE is activated. It is easy to install an RPM switch that will send 12 volts at a given RPM. In my case I could set the switch to send power (or remove power) at 6000 rpms. What I'm curious about is what is happening inside the exhaust. Has anyone seen a diagram that shows what is happening inside? If not, has anyone seen an application where a baffle is adjusted real time? Thanks again for the help. Jim

I have a 99 996 race car with a 2004 3.6L X51 engine. All we are allowed to change for club racing is the intake and the exhaust. I have the Evo intake. For the past year I have had cats followed by straight pipes. Last week I removed the cats and replaced them with six inch pipes running from the end of the header out the back of the car. We put the "pre cat" O2 sensors in the pipes and hung the "post cat" sensors in clean air. The good news. First, I took 32 lbs off the back of the car. I was already at the minimum 2910 so I had to add the weight back in but it's much better on the floor in the middle of the car than hanging off the back bumper. Second, I removed a huge source of heat from right below the air intake. Third, I added 13 rwhp at 7000 rpms. Finally, she's scary loud and blows fire. No racing value but still fun. The bad news. The car has a ton of scoot over 5500 rpms but absolutely dies under about 5000. Unfortunately we did not dyno below 5000. I'm going to redyno with and without the cats tomorrow but I already know what the results will be. Tons of power from 5500 on up. No torque below 5000. This is not all bad as a race car spends a lot of time above 6000 and not much below 5000 but when you do the car is a pig. The question. The solution seems simple to me. Add a baffle that adds back-pressure at low RPMs but opens up at the point the torque curves cross. The challenge. How am I going to put a variable baffle in my straight pipes? Does anyone know how they work on PSE? Any other ideas? Thanks, Jim

Any chance that you will be bringing your 996 to the club race at VIR. I'll have my 99 (updated to 04 X51 specs) there. It's always fun to get on the track with another 996.