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by J-C Etter
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Crime, gum, insects, but there's something yellow underneath.
After three track days and no washing at all, the car got gloriously dirty and covered with gum streaks from the front facia to the roof. Grime, dead insects, and slick tires residue will require long hours of washing and cleaned, crowned my first circumspect and humble foray in the world of detailing. The Zaino All-In-One treatment exceeded by far my expectations with a deep silk smooth shine.
I swore the Laguna incident would not happen again. Two solutions: ugly add-on mufflers or finding a way to keep the exhaust valves shut. Like most manufacturers, Porsche works around noise restrictions by using flaps actuated by a vacuum line. On the 997 GT3, they are open at rest (no vacuum). A Bay Area dealer has developed a simple work around using Porsche parts that allows to:
- retain the OEM behaviour and its sudden transitions,
- keep the valves permanently open,
- keep the valves permanently shut.
The fix only takes 15 minutes to install. Switching mode takes 10 seconds, but is a bit delicate when the engine is hot.
Exhaust too loud for Monterey wild life - brakes up to Porsche's reputation.
The third option allows to run flat out without bumping into noise limits, and is said not to have any impact on performance. The second is only bearable if you stay above 3000 rpm all the time – barely viable on open roads – or with roof and doors open in order to avoid resonance. The exhaust note gains in purity even if it does not have the character of old air cooled engines or the puffy metallic rasp of a 996 Carrera. Crossing back the bay over Dumbarton bridge with my new plumbing installed, pelicans drifting in the breeze, flat 6 singing howling, a great vibe that could have ended with an unfriendly chat with a CHP officer. With the valves always open, the car is a total tease, begging to be revved. Another track day became quickly a matter of a survival for my driving license.
GT3, track, sun, chair, fresh water: winning formula.
Hence Llihrednut (video). Don’t googlemap it, it’s nothing else but Thunderhill run clockwise. A wacky but ingenious idea to make a new track out of a known one. The resulting feeling is strange as the sequence of turns is familiar and predictable, but all breaking and turn in points have to be learned again. I struggled a bit with the gearbox going into turn 11 and turn 5, downshifting neatly into second while breaking and changing direction is really not easy. That’s where paddle shifters make a ton of sense, a dilemma between efficiency and the challenge of getting things right, lap after lap. Three sessions only (the first one got red flagged because of very serious accident) were a bit short to find my marks on this ‘new’ track.
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