Carpokes

Tom wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 11:25 am Wow, those are the longest spark plugs I think I've ever seen. Which motor are those for?

Here's a better picture to judge by. They aren't all that long overall, but they are very thin. Pretty long reach, too.

We drove over to Tampa Thursday for a tour of Big Cat Rescue. Returned yesterday. Car ran just fine. I4 sucked as usual....

Did my 5th track day with this car yesterday. The tires were well worn before I started and I think I have used them up now.

At the end of my 2nd session of the day:


At the end of my 3rd session of the day:


I am likely going to replace these these with another set of PS4S, this time in GT4 sizes and then find a set of dedicated track tires in 19". I live in the Phoenix area and our tracking season is just about over until the fall so I have time to find a deal on used track wheels.

I also want to add some camber so I will be using the advice from @blueline and likely start with Tarett front camber plates and rear toe links.

J-Dub wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 10:21 am Did my 5th track day with this car yesterday. The tires were well worn before I started and I think I have used them up now.

I am likely going to replace these these with another set of PS4S, this time in GT4 sizes and then find a set of dedicated track tires in 19". I live in the Phoenix area and our tracking season is just about over until the fall so I have time to find a deal on used track wheels.

I also want to add some camber so I will be using the advice from @blueline and likely start with Tarett front camber plates and rear toe links.

You definitely got your wear out of the tires Jeremy! I know you had fun too.

The additional neg camber will certainly help. So far I've found that the fronts are good for roughly 15% or more actual track miles and the rears maybe 30% to 35% more. (That analysis is ongoing.) Of course the handling and turn-ins and straight line driving on track are greatly improved with the better alignment that's made possible by the Tarett parts.

The forged Apex wheels came last week and they are nice. Very light. After I use up the current Michelins on my OEM wheels I'll switch to the new 19" Apex's, starting out with MPSC2's. I'll do a set of Hoosier R7's after the Michelins are cooked. The Hoosiers will be a blast, no doubt. (I used A7's and A6's for a lot of years in the past on a 'Vette and they are fun.) I'll have bigger up front on the 19" wheels (265/35-19 vs 245/35-20 OEM) but am sticking to the 295's in the rear, albeit 295/35-19 vs factory 295/30-20. Hopefully you will find a good used set of 19 inchers. I think they'll make a difference and 19" tires cost less too.

A big yes and a wise move to shutting down for the intense Arizona summer heat on track. Temps on tarmac and paddocks are so much higher. Even here, the hot months are mostly unbearable on track. A 95° degree day will be 15° higher at the track. That's close to danger levels - not good for people or the cars so it's hard to fathom what a 110° or higher day would be on track - 120° or more?

Due to the tires as shown above from last weeks track day I did a few things this week.

1. Bought some used track wheels, 19" OZ Ultraleggras 8.5 53 front and 10 40 for the rear. They came with Michelin Cup 2 tires, 235/40 and 265/40 that look to have a few more track days left. Not the most aggressive fitment for sure but will work. After I burn up these Cup 2s I am considering going to 255/35 and 285/35 for my next track tires. I put them on last night and was surprised to see that after two miles the TPMS sensors were recognized, sweet! What I like about these wheels is they are made specifically for the Porsche, same lug bolts, they take Porsche center caps and I don't need to run centering rings or spacers. The guy also gave me a bag of lugbolts, some stock and some longer ones in case I ever do want to run spacers. I also removed the security lug bolt, I don't like those. Don't feel like I can tighten them down with out them feeling wonky.

2. Ordered new Michelin PS4S for my OE wheels in the GT4 fitment of 245/35 295/30 20. The rears are in a warehouse in California so they will be here next week. Michelin is offering a $110 instant rebate right now, feeling like I am hemorrhaging money so every bit helps.

3. Ordered Tarett camber plates for the front. I measured my car and found that it has 1 degree of camber up front and 2 degrees in the rear currently. As a this is not a dedicated track car, step 1, my goal is to go to 2 degrees or just over front and rear. The rear being there and still having room in the toe arms eccentric it is not required for me to buy adjustable toe arms yet. I called and talked to Tarett and apparently the talk about less bump steer with the offset bushings does not apply to the 718 chassis. It does apply to the 981 and other chassis where the ball stud mount is vertical.

Some pictures with the track wheel setup. Still working on which center caps I will use. The OZ racing are black with carbon fiber centers and OZ racing in white lettering, I don't love them. Will try some Porsche caps shortly.
As I am not a fan of dark wheels I am considering trying plasti-dipping them but I am torn as they are track wheels anyway so who cares... but you have to like it...?

@J-Dub

Great moves Jeremy and a super outline of what you did and where you're headed!

The OZ's you got are great-looking wheels and, even though you might not like the dark as much, they'll get the job done. I generally like the lighter wheels too although darker is better for my Maytag White GT4. Your OZ wheels look more grey anyway so I think they look fine with the red. For what it's worth, the winter wheel/tire set I have for my red TTS are grey due to the fact that the lighter colored 911 wheels sets from Porsche were not available at the time I bought them, but they look good to me - just kind of like they are covered in brake dust! (Just kidding!)

The plasti-dip could be a good winter project. Hopefully not too costly because I'd be curious as to how the dip holds up to street and track use. Will it chip off and can it be touched up - that sort of thing.

Yes, it's nice to be able to use OEM wheel bolts (same for me and the 19" Apex track wheels I bought). My new Apex wheels are stored at the dealership where they'll stay until I use up the MPSC2's currently on the OEM's along with some other partially used tires. Interestingly, I've been thinking of doing the exact same thing as you which is to put PS4S on the 20" OEM's for off season use.

I bought 5mm spacers from Apex to use with the OEM front wheels for cosmetic reasons due to the fact that the -2.5 camber pulls the fronts pretty far into the well at the top. The fronts look much better now with the spacers. I also bought ten of Porsche's extended wheel bolts from Suncoast that are 5mm longer to use with the OEM front wheels and Apex spacers. (Porsche part # WHT004676A. Stock bolts are 53mm total length and the Porsche extended are 63mm.)

Here's the link to the Apex 5mm spacers.
https://www.apexraceparts.com/store/acc ... r-kit.html

I bought two sets (by mistake - a story for another day) so if you ever decide you want a pair, I have a set of two still sealed in the bag. (Naturally, Apex put them on sale after I bought mine at $64.) I don't mind keeping the extra set but if you want my extras, give me a shout to see if I still have them and we'll go from there.

Installation is complete on the Tarett club sport camber plates, I installed them with them slid all the way in on the slots. Before the stock mounts were about 60% of the way slid in and I was at 1 degree camber up front. Now with them slid all they way in and the camber plates I am at 2.3 degrees front camber. I set the front toe in to 0 degrees.

All measurements given are as measured by me in my car port with basic hand tools. I have not yet had the car professorially aligned.

The club sport plates raise the car .1" according to the Tarett website due to the additional stack height. On my car I found the front sits 0.2" taller but some of that is likely from the additional camber.

The car looks a bit tall to me anyway but now with the front even taller I began to look at the availability of sport or lowering springs. I see that Eibach makes them and the lowering is minimal at 0.5" front and 0.3" in the rear. H&R makes them but lowers around 1.2" front and rear on PASM cars. My concern is each of these options are progressive wound springs, great for s street car but not good for a track car. The factory Porsche springs are linear rate springs. H&R also makes a set where the fronts are height adjustable from 0.4 to 1' and the rears are fixed at 0.8" lower on a PASM car.

I emailed DSC Sport/TPC Racing to see what they recommend for springs since I am using their PASM controller, they let me know that they are working on a linear rate conversion that has adjustable height collars similar to what is on the GT4. They estimate it might be ready around August. This solution will require different top mounts/camber plates.

I did consider cutting off 1/4 of a loop from my factory springs to compensate the ride height, still considering it but the solution from TPC does seem like a interesting long term solution. Still trying to understand the rear toe links, I wish I could see a set installed on a lift to better understand.

Finally today I am getting new set of PS4S N0 in the GT4 spec of 245/35 295/30 20 mounted to my factory wheels today.

Tim, I am still working on my setup but if I do decide I need some spacers I will let you know for sure.

Some good progress Jeremy.

If it were me I'd wait until you have some time on track and/or more adjustments with what you have now before lowering the front with changed parts. Personally, I would never cut the springs - can't go back if they don't work out and there could be other unintended consequences. Clearances need to be considered which is why Porsche says "nein" to using control arm shims as those with GT3's often do. Even though those particular GT3 parts are the same on a GT4, the clearances are not the same. Less wheel room in the GT4??

Following is the direct quote from the 718 GT4 tech manual courtesy of my Porsche dealership's lead tech:

"Front-axle camber setting: The camber adjustment on the front axle on the Cayman GT4/Spyder is performed only via the supporting mount. The intermediate plates on the 2-part wishbone must not be changed, as this can result in an impermissible wheel overlap at the wheel housing."

Also, you should be able to achieve more negative camber than you are currently measuring and I think you might find that to be the case with the pro alignment you are planning.

The toe at or near zero is where the consensus seems to be. However, as you can see, I chose to run slightly negative in the front and even further from zero on the positive side in the rear. This works very well for me. My current alignment setup seems about perfect based on what I'm experiencing on track.

My alignment specs done last summer after the Tarett upgrades:

Thanks Tim,

Super interesting about not adding shims as those parts are specifically designed to allow shims to be added. Likely this is a legal release of liability type of warning.

Loving the look of the new wider tires, I also added silver caps to try to brighten up the wheels.

J-Dub wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2023 2:03 pm Thanks Tim,

Super interesting about not adding shims as those parts are specifically designed to allow shims to be added. Likely this is a legal release of liability type of warning.

Loving the look of the new wider tires, I also added silver caps to try to brighten up the wheels.

Your car looks great! Good pic next to the red flowering crepe myrtles. I agree that the look of the silver caps enhances the whole car. They match the outer edges of the wheel spokes pointing to the caps. Nice visual with the blacked out spaces throughout the rest of the wheel.

The 'no shims' edict for the 718 GT4 was apparently related to clearance issues which could lead to potential warranty/liability issues as you mentioned. And yes, they are the identical parts as those in the GT3 where shim use is permissible.