Topic: My first HPDE of the 2010 season - Pocono Raceway North Course

[kennysabarese]

So my Lime Rock track outing was cancelled so this was my first event of the season. Again with the Northern NJ Porsche Club. Pocono raceway is where NASCAR comes once a year. We ran the North Course which uses turn three of the tri-oval (the tricky triangle)
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Track conditions were terrible, the pavement needs a lot of improvement, but it's close to home, no hotel required, which keeps the cost down, so there's no reason not to go. You go clockwise, so right onto the nascar turn and straight where you pull some big lateral Gs which feels really good with the Kirkeys and harnesses.

My instructor didn't feel so good in the Kirkey's though, he was like over 250lbs and so he didn't really fit in them... so I ended up with another instructor.

So as many of you know my turbo cover went missing at the mod meet and the DDM blanket wasn't ready so I made my own turbo cover form a piece of aluminum. I don't know if it really helped, and it looked really silly, but it was fun to make it work.

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DDM agreed to send me a stock turbo cover they had laying around. It didn't arrive until friday, so I was able to put it on for the saturday session. Anyone know where it came from? It had awesome graphics!
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So my first run out was the first time on track with my new brake pads, Porterfield R4S which I got from DDM. I guess they hadn't fully bedded in cuz they made a huge stink and weren't too grippy. I was very worried. But after cooling down between runs, they turned out to be vey consistent and didn't seem to fade at all. They weren't perfect, but I'll give a full analysis in my brakes thread tomorrow.

I also made some changes to my pedals which I will go over later in my pedals thread.

So everything was going fine until my second to last lap, when all the sudden, while WOT in the big straightaway I suddenly lost boost. No noise, no CEL. It was really strange. So I drove in and took a look around, everything looked fine. Plugged in HPT and saw some codes, but I think they were old cuz there was no CEL (can you get codes without a CEL?) Figured it was limp mode, but that was strange because I hadn't gotten it at least 2 months with the latest tune from Lyndon.

Let it cool down, then started it up, got a puff of smoke out the exhaust. I was worried. But no smoke while it ran. I get in the car and pull it out of my spot and got some more smoke. Really worried... drive around a bit and there is no more smoke, so only the first few pushes of the pedal had it. So then I push the pedal enough in second to build boost and at 6psi i hear a wooshing noise. Different from when the throttle body elbow pops. So I actually feel better about the noise because the smoke went away. I grab someone smart and make the noise happen in front of them, and they say wastegate or a hose popped off.

I had looked so I figured, crap, wastegate, Then we looked inside and look what we found, which I hadn't noticed the first time.
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I've never heard of anyone popping this hose before so I didn't even think to look there, and it doesn't really jump out at you anyway. So tightened that up and everything was fine! WHEW

So yeah that was the weekend. It was fun. Got sunburn from driving top down on the track, went fast, passed some Porsches, got passed by some Porsches, saw a 480whp GT35 Evo8, a brand new GT3 RS with under 100 miles on it. And a Porsche Carrera GT which is like a 400 thousand dollar car or something.

Here are a few more pics, I'm waiting more to trickle in from the other folks at the event.
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My dad on the podium
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Pit main straight start finish line and main flag stand.
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my mother and I with the pacecar
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Lots of expensive Porsches

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[Vanguard]

How are you running all these track days with no rollbar?!

[Kelu]

Cool, track racer, nice topic Kenny Those Porsches which you passed didn't offered a swap of cars? 

What are the other pads which you used before? Looking forward to your topic about pads.

[DeepBlueGXP]

Sweet.  I had that hose pop off with ChuckDoc's car.

[kennysabarese]

I burned through the stock pads at the track last fall, so I had to grab something to do the last day so i got some cheapo ceramics. Then I bought the porterfields and did an entire brake job. with used, but clean, rotors.

This is my thread about brakes. I thought I had started a thread for the actual brake job... but the "see threads started by me" doesn't seem to work for me still.

Here is the thread http://www.kappaperformance.com/forum/index.php?topic=4058.0

[kennysabarese]

How are you running all these track days with no rollbar?!

There's a pic of my rollbar in the first post, with black SFI padding on it. It also says I have a rollbar in my sig.

[kennysabarese]

Sweet.  I had that hose pop off with ChuckDoc's car.

Cool. Is there a trick to get it to stay on better?

[Uranium-238]

Was that the Miata club event, or a different one? I was all signed up for the Miata one, then had to drop out because how they worked the payments. (Pay in full 2 months in advance, loose it all if you can't show up.)

[Brad Kenny]

Kenny, what nice company to drive with. Looks like it was definitely an eventful weekend. Learned a little, drove a lot. Just to way to do it. Only wish I had the time and money to get into racing, just not enough of both to go around.

[Critterman]

Kenny - Joe used ducktape and aircraft safety wire on Chuck's car - no problem

Your dad knows the pose on the stand - great picture, get it framed for him.

Can't be the rotors, has to be the pads

[kennysabarese]

Was that the Miata club event, or a different one? I was all signed up for the Miata one, then had to drop out because how they worked the payments. (Pay in full 2 months in advance, loose it all if you can't show up.)

Porsche Club. Does anyone read the post or look at the pictures!

[Uranium-238]

I did, somehow I missed that. Combine that with this being about when the miata club was supposed to run, and one thing led to another...

[kennysabarese]

Kenny - Joe used ducktape and aircraft safety wire on Chuck's car - no problem

Your dad knows the pose on the stand - great picture, get it framed for him.

Can't be the rotors, has to be the pads

Hrm. not so sure I understand how you'd use the wire... I could see the tape on the pipe to make it more grippy.

Good idea on the photo.

Rotors: It's gotta be the pads, because you mentioned you did AutoX a few times with those rotors but I know you aren't fast enough to glaze over the pads

[Critterman]

Hell, I'm not fast enough to have to use the brakes

Drill 4 small holes at 90 degree's to each other.  run the wire through the holes in the rubber and metal and tighten, then ducktape everything.  -  Just have to explain everything, you must be an engineer.

[DeepBlueGXP]

just tightened with German torque specs goodintite and didn't have an issue since.

[Gentleman Jack]

Critter,

did you use bare wire or was it iron oxide coated?  I've heard that wire with an iron oxide coating can be much easier to work with, but it does leave orange dust everywhere? 

GJ

[Whip]

Thanks for sharing, Kenny.  Pocono Raceway is very close to where I grew up.

[Critterman]

Critter,

did you use bare wire or was it iron oxide coated?  I've heard that wire with an iron oxide coating can be much easier to work with, but it does leave orange dust everywhere? 

GJ

Stainless of course, after all it is aircraft safety wire.

[kennysabarese]

Here are some pics a photographer took... Not paying 35 bucks for the high res. But you can see the car is leaned over a bunch and I have Z0K swaybars.

[kennysabarese]

Some more photos, none of my car. But a few of me in the driver's meeting.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=378097796309%3A2134837156&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharer

[DeepBlueGXP]

The last shot was a red Solstice

[GXPinKC]

It sure was DeepBlueGXP.  Thanks for all the pictures in post 19 Kenny.  Man, you took a bunch of pictures, enjoyed them all.  Loads of Porsche's there.  Pocono is sure a clean racetrack and well kept.  Glad your dad could take in the activities.  Thanks for the post.    

[JRinKY]

Vanguard: How are you running all these track days with no rollbar?!

If you have something that looks like a roll bar, and you can convincingly call it a roll bar, there are certain groups at certain tracks that will let you run.

[Graywolf]

Kenny Popping turbo hoses is a real problem, I have popped hoses in three different locations, your spot , at throttle body,and just in front on top. I ordered the DDm clamps but they are no better than the stock clamps and some don't fit well. As a tempory fix I double clamped these spots and so far it has worked. We need to find someone that makes a great turbo hose clamp.

[Gentleman Jack]

New IC piping would solve that wouldn't it?  Someone makes some nice ones that are able to be powder coated, painted...

Someone chime in and remind me who makes those?

GJ