Phillip Island Track day

[WGA]

Attended Phillip Island track day this week. A lot of interesting machinery. My group was pretty much all Porsche GT cars with a Cup car, a GT2 Clubsport and a couple of GT4 Clubsports circulating very quickly.

Another group consisted of Mclarens, Lambos, an 812 Superfast and an AMG SLS! Much respect to the owner of the SLS! That's a very expensive machine to be risking on track. And to my surprise, all seemed to circulate without fault all day....whereas...my 4RS lost 1st, 3rd, 5th and reverse gears. Goes into Porsche tomorrow for diagnosis.

[mc968cs]

2 hours ago, WGA said:

whereas...my 4RS lost 1st, 3rd, 5th and reverse gears.

interesting as I know of 992 GT3 now having same symptoms.  

[WGA]

41 minutes ago, mc968cs said:

interesting as I know of 992 GT3 now having same symptoms.  

Not the first time it has happened to me. Was in a GT4 Clubsport last year on track when I lost 1, 3 and 5. Car ended up with a new gearbox. I fear mine will suffer the same fate.

[sleazius]

More than likely (new box) based on reporting on rennlist.

[LeeM]

 Is that under warranty being on a track?

[911rox]

1 minute ago, LeeM said:

 Is that under warranty being on a track?

Typically yes unless the failure was caused by abuse. PDK pretty much a sure thing to be covered as electronics prevent that 👍

[Harsh]

On 30/11/2023 at 14:01, sleazius said:

More than likely (new box) based on reporting on rennlist.

box,box,box

[WGA]

Gearbox got all its gears back once the transmission cooled down...and before getting it to the dealer. They could of course see the fault in the logs and acknowledged the problem. But before a new box can be installed (has to go to Germany for approval), they did a PDK SW upgrade and want to see if the problem happens again. If it does, it will give them enough to request a new box from PAG. However, my understanding is that the problem typically only occurs once the box is put under a lot of stress which only really occurs from sustained hot laps on track. Next track day is not until February so its wait and see until then.

[LeeM]

 Well that's not brilliant PR for what is a track inspired car then 🤔

"Ja, zis veekickle vaz designed for ze clients to take it on ze racetrack, but vee do not recommend doing more zan 2 laps at a time" 

 

[sleazius]

23 minutes ago, WGA said:

Gearbox got all its gears back once the transmission cooled down...and before getting it to the dealer. They could of course see the fault in the logs and acknowledged the problem. But before a new box can be installed (has to go to Germany for approval), they did a PDK SW upgrade and want to see if the problem happens again. If it does, it will give them enough to request a new box from PAG. However, my understanding is that the problem typically only occurs once the box is put under a lot of stress which only really occurs from sustained hot laps on track. Next track day is not until February so its wait and see until then.

Given most of these decisions are decided by bean counters instead of engineers, I always find it interesting the cost benefit analysis that must have been done. Skimping slightly on build quality to save money now, at the cost of gear boxes being returned in the future. They obviously know that the vast majority of cars are never going to be driven in serious anger, so it is far cheaper to engineer the cheaper solution into the car and wear the risk for the warranty period.

[donR]

Also a good reminder of those who track their cars regularly to change their gear/transmission oil periodically due to the high temperatures, unlike Porsche recommended intervals which seems like never. 🙄

[WGA]

To be fair, this was my 4th track day in the car and its first problem. Also, when up in QLD, I asked Luke Youlden how reliable the 4RSs had been so far and he said that after 6 events and 800+ laps, the only things they have had to replace were brakes and tyres.

And I am pretty sure that its exactly the same box as in the GT4 Clubsport cars which seem to handle multiple GT$ competition race events with a problem.

[cafe_racer]

37 minutes ago, sleazius said:

Given most of these decisions are decided by bean counters instead of engineers, I always find it interesting the cost benefit analysis that must have been done. Skimping slightly on build quality to save money now, at the cost of gear boxes being returned in the future. They obviously know that the vast majority of cars are never going to be driven in serious anger, so it is far cheaper to engineer the cheaper solution into the car and wear the risk for the warranty period.

Thought about a cup car @WGA?

[WGA]

On 11/12/2023 at 11:10, cafe_racer said:

Thought about a cup car @WGA?

Yes, but have decided against it considering it requires even more maintenance and set up than a GT4 CS. I had great fun driving a CUP car in QLD last month but after chatting to the pit crew about the runnings costs, warm up procedures, etc I finally decided that its not for me. And besides, while I got a reasonable lap time out of it, bringing realistic, I am not good enough for it to do it justice.

[WGA]

Back at PI Thursday and Friday. Thursday was very quiet but Friday was a full house with one of the more diverse group of cars I have previously seen at the Island. I took my GT3 Touring and my 4 RS to drive back to back.  Unusually, this time around, there was only one other 4RS plus one 992 3RS attending. 

The track has only just been resurfaced and this was on of the first events on the new tarmac. Thursday was sunny and warm so by the end of the day, the track became a bit slippy as the oils started to rise to the surface. Friday was overcast, cooler and no wind! Plus with the rubber from Thursday, the track was faster. Indeed, the two days were best track conditions I have ever encountered at PI.

So overall, it was a perfect couple days....except for the *%##! Porsche Track App. It worked perfectly on the Thursday all day. Then come Friday, it refused to connect to the same car! I tried all the usual tricks...rebooting, shutting wifi on and off, etc, etc...but it just refused to work. When it does work,  it's good, but when it doesn't....it's a piece of crap. So unreliable. Glad I took my RN One as a back up to log my Friday laps.

Anyway, some photos of the day.

 

 

[mc968cs]

Thanks for the write up and awesome pictures.  How does the gt3 touring go and feel with its more subtle wing setup.  Is it still quick?  

[WGA]

45 minutes ago, mc968cs said:

Thanks for the write up and awesome pictures.  How does the gt3 touring go and feel with its more subtle wing setup.  Is it still quick?  

According to Porsche, there is no difference to the aero on a winged GT3 vs a Touring. Considering the size of the wing, it's either terribly inefficient or they are telling porkies. 

Anyway, it is still very quick. Indeed, i am still a bit faster around Pi in the Touring than in the 4RS. Although to be honest after years of driving the 911 platform, i am still adjusting to the completely different driving style required of the 4RS in order to go fast.

[cafe_racer]

My mates there in the m2 and m3CS. Sounds like it was fast conditions. I never had much luck with the Porsche track app so use a Garmin instead. 

[WGA]

8 minutes ago, cafe_racer said:

My mates there in the m2 and m3CS. Sounds like it was fast conditions. I never had much luck with the Porsche track app so use a Garmin instead. 

The only reason I continually try to work with the Porsche Track app is because of its ability to output VBO files for export to Circuit Tools. I have nearly all of my historical track times in that desktop app and, unfortunately, the Porsche track app is the only one that I am aware of that outputs VBO files. I would have bought a VBOX however I want something thats easily portable from car to car and once a VBOX is plumbed in, it's not easy to move. I have a RN One. which is a handy portable device, but stopped using it a while ago precisely because it does not output a VBO file either.

Any suggestions of track apps that output VBO files are welcome.

[mc968cs]

2 hours ago, WGA said:

According to Porsche, there is no difference to the aero on a winged GT3 vs a Touring. Considering the size of the wing, it's either terribly inefficient or they are telling porkies. 

Isn’t that hard to fathom!  

[cafe_racer]

2 hours ago, WGA said:

The only reason I continually try to work with the Porsche Track app is because of its ability to output VBO files for export to Circuit Tools. I have nearly all of my historical track times in that desktop app and, unfortunately, the Porsche track app is the only one that I am aware of that outputs VBO files. I would have bought a VBOX however I want something thats easily portable from car to car and once a VBOX is plumbed in, it's not easy to move. I have a RN One. which is a handy portable device, but stopped using it a while ago precisely because it does not output a VBO file either.

Any suggestions of track apps that output VBO files are welcome.

Think it’s called the Vbox hd lite. I’ve been contemplating getting one so that I can compared with other Vbox files. 

[WGA]

45 minutes ago, cafe_racer said:

Think it’s called the Vbox hd lite. I’ve been contemplating getting one so that I can compared with other Vbox files. 

Yeah I have looked at that one but it doesn't have any visual readout of the lap time while driving. You need to install another device for that so it becomes far less portable to switch from car to car.

[WGA]

As you are all probably aware, Phillip Island was resurfaced recently. The first couple of track days I had on the new surface were okay if a little bit bumpy in areas where there were previously no bumps.

At the track day last week, the new surface has deteriorated further. There are now quite a few resurfaced black patches around the circuit to fix the new surface. Especially in the Hayshed, Lukey Heights, MG and turn 11 areas. I hear that the track is soon to close for 6 weeks for another resurfacing attempt. Hope they get it right this time.