951 is the best track toy

[tazzieman]

Evidence is evidence , and there's nothing like competition for sorting out the men from the men 

You guys complaining about the prices of modern Porsches should go off and have a play in one of Bruce's last century machines.

 

 

Yesterday (Saturday 3 August ) PCNSW Supersprint No 4 for the year at Sydney Motorsport Park ( Eastern Creek ) South Circuit ( very small go cart sort of  circuit )  last south circuit for the year ( thank God for that )

 

Cool windy conditions but dry , track conditions were interesting as a GT3 dumped its engine oil contents over quite a bit of the track & on most of the racing line during one of the morning sessions 

 

Patrick Garvan's 1986 Porsche 951 ( modified into a track car on a budget ) took out the honours for the day for being the fastest ( best lap time)  & naturally his last century front engined Porsche with No ABS , no Traction Control , no Sequential Racing Transmission, fended off the large group of GT3's & a GT3RSR ( factory built RSR ) & now with the later 4.0 RSR engine & latest sequential trans & traction control  etc 

 

This is the 4th Supersprint in a row that this outdated last century front engined Porsche has achieved the best lap time & it was done on "R" spec tyres ( not Slicks ) , the reason is this car is mainly a Time Attack project car & a PCNSW Supersprint car a distant 2nd 

Paul McKinnon ( fabricator & co driver of this 951 ) & Patrick Garvan owner & driver have come a long way in such a short time with this 951 

Sean Buchanan ( just before we went overseas on Holiday ) dismantled Patricks 951 engine to see how this engine is holding up to the flogging it gets & Paul & Sean did some more interesting mods & by the time Sean got back in Sydney ( a day before the Supersprint ) Paul had refitted the engine and fabricated another custom inlet manifold ( similar concept to what Sean is making for another 16V twin cam monster engine he is making ) & on the Dyno Pats 3.0L 8 V engine is putting out more power at less boost than before ( evolution at work )

 

Richard Perini , owner & driver of the GT3RSR 4.0L race car is a great competitor & a very approachable & likeable guy & I am sure is having a bit more fun now he has some stiff competition , before this 951 of Patricks , Richard had little or no competition & now he has & you can see Richard giving his RSR all that its got & its quite a sight , which leads me to driving skill , Richard in his GT3RSR had a loose ( 180 + deg spin ) on the exit of corner 1 ( he wasn't the only one ) , but with great skill Richard missed slamming it into the wall , you should of heard his huge slick tyres scream as they let go under extreme cornering loads , it would of been heard two suburbs away 

Another GT3 ( a 997 GT3 ) had a loose on the same spot & it hit the wall ( its repairable ) 

 

This corner 1 at the south circuit ( corner 5 of the GP circuit ) is now wider because it has a concrete shallow water drain separating the entry for the "New" South Circuit & the track itself & when driving out of this corner one is tempted to just go wider under hard acceleration & to drive over this drain ( driving over it at an angle of probably 30 degrees) & its the 911 series that get very strange in handling behaviour over this part of the track where as the 944 / 951 series have little issues with this area 

This area alone shows how a heavy engine mounted way behind the rear wheels has a price to pay in handling( On The Limit ) , all the expensive trick suspension in the world can not overcome the laws of physics

 

Very hard to beat perfect weight distribution front & rear , it permits the front & rear suspension to work in combination without one end being too heavy or too light ( this is not rocket science ) 

 

This is the very same perfect weight distribution Porsche built into the 928 & only shows up on a fast windy road where the driver underestimates the corner speed & does a quick panic ( hit the brakes mid corner ) & the 928 ( which has superior suspension design to a 951 ) just does a small controllable slide ( if that ) and one just continues on with the journey ( this same situation is impossible in a 911 )

 

 

 

Sean drove his 951 to another personal best time for this circuit yesterday on his "R" spec tyres & was the 4th fastest Porsche on the track with "R" Spec tyres & the fastest Porsche that is used as an every day commuter car ( Sean drives this car to work every day )

 

And with one more Supersprint event & Motorkhana event  to go for the year , Sean is leading the point score in the Motorkhana championship & with the combined points ( Motorkhana & Supersprint ) Sean is now on top of the Drivers Championship point ladder & this could all change in the last two events ( this is what happens in motorsport ) nothing is certain until the very last event is completed , but it does give the 911 boys great competition which we all love , even the 911 boys love it ( I think ? ), well at least we do 

 

A big thank you to the 928 boys turning up to volunteer at the track again & a big thanks to all the people who put these events together ( lot of work behind the scenes )

 

Here are the top 10 times for the day }

 

Paul McKinnon    1986  951     "R" Spec tyres       56:0170

Richard Perini     GT3 RSR 4.0L  Slick tyres           56:6730

Patrick Garvan    86    951      "R" spec tyres         58:0590

David Boucher    997GT3RS   R" spec tyres          59:7090

Mark Johnston  962 race car replica Slick tyres     59:7390

Gary Hobson     996GT3             Slick Tyres        1.00:0390

Warwick Morris  996 GT3            "R' spec tyres  1.00:0910

Sean Buchanan 1986   951         "R" spec tyres  1.00:9780

Daryl Head         997 GT3            "R" spec Tyres 1.01:0590

Grant Bush         996 GT3            "R" spec tyres 1.01:1850

 

Regards

Bruce Buchanan

Buchanan Automotive

 

[Pauly]

I'm glad Patricks car is now running flawlessly. 

[Uncle]

 

Modified into a track car on a budget.

 

  'ol Bruce is being economical with his use of the term budget. Richards 4.0RSR was also built "on a budget" 

[hugh]

I would be interested to know what the 951 has cost to develop it to its current standard just to get some perspective.

[tazzieman]

I would be interested to know what the 951 has cost to develop it to its current standard just to get some perspective.

 R&D costs?

Probably up there with what Weissach spends per car! Anyway racers should,never add up the bills, anymore than yachtsmen.

The great thing is that all this development makes it easier for others to go down this route.

There's a guy in Oz redesigning aspects of the 928 engine...going for a 7.5L stroker I heard. 

But it probably won't run at full load for 3000hrs , as was done during testing the original 928 engine 

[Pauly]

Patricks is over 100k i believe. which is the WTAC car which Paul McKinnon is driving too. That has a lot more to give. It is still fresh to the track as they kept running into headgsket issues, which looks like they've got a solution now and finally up the boost. 

 

Sean Buchanan car i believe is on Kw coilovers, few small suspension mods. and a 3L 944 s2 engine "budget build" turbo. rest of it is stock. he's is street driven. 

 

When Patrick had a street 944 turbo, he was on par with sean with lap times and he had nothing more then KW club sports and a stock bottom end with a slightly worked head and cam. lightened here and there too. 

[Asyd]

  'ol Bruce is being economical with his use of the term budget. Richards 4.0RSR was also built "on a budget"

The badge, most of the block and shell may be from last century , but the budget for a 700+hp rocket surely is this century. Carbon fibre and aluminum beautifully crafted together to look like a 944.

[StevepGT3]

What`s a 951?

[tazzieman]

What`s a 951?

It's kinda the whole point of the thread! There is a 952 also.

Porsche made a 2.5L 420hp "pre-951" that scored a 7th overall at Le Mans in 1981 and.according to wiki spent the least amount of time in the pits. Legendary Porsche reliability.

[Pauly]

951 is LHD and a 952 is a RHD. People tend to mistake a 952 as a turbo 's'

Same goes with the 931 and 932

[tazzieman]

The 952 is so poorly recognised in Australia we have to call them 951s.

Same problem with the 929 

[cyberpunky]

I would have to disagree Tazz(no offence) but we don't have to call them 951's at all. I found out very early on in my ownership that my car was a 952 and not a 951, and so have always called it such. The only way to change how they are refered to is by changing how we refer to them IMO much like eskimo or Inuit. Once you know something, it is very hard to unknow it.

 

To non enthusiasts I will call my car is a 944 turbo but I always refer to it as a 952 when writing about it. As Pauly points out, 952 is the correct Porsche model number, and this is also backed up by RHD only parts(unique bits to RHD version) having a 952 part number. Some ppl have refered to the turbo S being a 952 because the motor went from being M44/51 in earlier cars to an M44/52 in the turbo S cars, but most in the Porsche community now agree that 952 does infact refer to RHD varients, due to Porsches naming conventions, and 952 usage(for RHD) predating turbo S models.

 

Personally I just can't call my car a 951 but how others refer to it is neither here nor there for me, but one thing is for sure and that is 944 turbo's can make a great track weapons what ever you call them lol

[tazzieman]

Cyberpunky I know where you're coming from , and you know how I am about correctness , lol.

But Bruce's (JET951) article above talks about the 951 (which Sean & Pat also call 'em online) so I didn't want to confuse the issue.

I guess it's partly for the benefit of our stateside audience  952 = wth? (and even in Oz , though not amongst those deeply immersed in these ultimate track toys  )

Leaving aside the confusion over the turbo S!

Rock on!

[333pg333]

I'm kinda used to seeing them as 951's in print so much I've come to accept it. Having said that, this topic has reminded me of something I wanted to do on my car for a while. If I manage to get it done I'll take a pic and post. Nothing major, just something in context with this conversation. 

 

As for the car. It's been going ok this year....and yes, into the 6 figure$ spent some time ago. 

Still waaay shy of what Richard Perini has poured into his very special RSR though. 

 

Oh, and Sean is on Moton clubsports same as my car. Seem ok. 

[9fan]

Great work guy's and you should know - I also drive a Porsch    !       (still working on my budget)

[333pg333]

There you go guys. The only 952 badged car in the world and with factory raised numbering!

 

 

 

[cyberpunky]

looks like it says 9 S 2 to me haha jk if I hadn't read your post on FB I would have beem scratching my head for a while trying to work out how you did it

[333pg333]

It's something I thought about some years ago and never got around to doing. Just saw it in my mind's eye and bought the badging ages ago. Re discovered it hiding somewhere and thought "Why not?" Bit of fun is all.

[tazzieman]

 Bit of fun is all.

Indeed. To whit , my contribution to those who take their Porsches too seriously