Then came Laguna Seca’s turn (video). The contrast with my ballistic and lardy 996 Turbo X50 couldn’t have been starker. Took me only 3 laps in my first session to get black-flagged for noise, courtesy of the county officer in his cabin. Mandatory detour through the paddock, open the engine cover, wait a full two seconds, close it. A pointless ritual, as the only cure would be to short shift in 4th between turns 5 and 6, and stay clear of the redline elsewhere to avoid rubbing stewards eardrums the wrong way. A huge spoiler, but the car impressed me nonetheless.

Few cars jump from street to track with such ease and no modifications whatsoever. Engine, brakes, tires, suspension, seats, everything works towards a near flawless experience. Trailing an exhaust-challenged Gallardo, I got a glimpse of what this car can be if driven properly. Unvoluntary late breaking to the apex and suddenly the front end bites harder, the gets a hint lighter and steers in delicately. Tricky as it leaves little margin of error, and unorthodox for the Ferrari driving school which insists on inline breaking. Trailbreaking seems to be part of the solution to resolve the complex equation that governs a 911’s handling. Hard wired steering is a precious ally in the corkscrew, but I am a bit underwhelmed by the relative absence of detailed feedback from the front end. Rear grip is such that traction control rarely intervenes, even in Laguna’s downhill sweepers that would torment my 996 Turbo’s PSM.

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.