In a earlier SCD article we detailed the in depth improvement and testing programme of our Suspension Secrets and techniques Porsche Circuit Dealing with Pack. After being signed off, our kits have since been in service on quite a few 911 GT3s, GT3 RSs and Cayman GT4s throughout the UK and the remainder of the world.
Written by: Matthew Cowley
Inspired by this success, we once more enlisted the assistance of RMA Observe Days MD, Leyton Clarke in an try and push the package to its absolute limits and to see what it could actually actually obtain. Beforehand, Leyton’s exceptional pace and consistency as a driver, alongside his technical suggestions, was invaluable within the improvement of our Porsche Circuit Dealing with Pack, however this time our goal was pure pace.
With Leyton on the helm of his Suspension Secrets and techniques Porsche Circuit Dealing with Pack outfitted Porsche 911 GT3 RS Weissach, we visited a number of the UK’s hardest circuits and set the automobile towards the stopwatch. Over the course of the final six months, Leyton claimed what had been on the time three outright highway automobile lap data at Donington Park GP, Manufacturers Hatch Indy, and Oulton Park Worldwide.
Throughout a go to to Fortress Combe, Leyton acquired a quite sudden endorsement of the Porsche Circuit Dealing with Pack’s capabilities. In the course of a session he was black-flagged, and after enquiring with the marshals as to the character of the black-flagging, he was informed he was, “merely going too quick”.
Having tackled a number of the UK’s finest circuits with success, we regarded for the subsequent challenger to beat and the reply was apparent — the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Dubbed ‘The Inexperienced Hell’ by Jackie Stewart, the Nürburgring is broadly thought-about to be essentially the most technically difficult race observe on the planet, and is the final word take a look at for each automobiles and drivers.
After some last-minute arrangemenets, the date was set and we made the journey to the Eifel Mountains to sort out the fabled 12.9 miles of undulating and terribly bumpy tarmac that makes up the Nordschleife.
Not too long ago, the Nürburgring has grow to be a battleground, with automobile producers one- upping one another in an try to assert the general highway automobile lap document. While the aim of our journey was to not attempt to set a scorching lap time, we couldn’t assist however strap some timing gear to Leyton’s GT3 RS for our personal curiosity.
When in Rome…
The truth is, the principle goal of our go to to the Nürburgring was to assemble knowledge on our Circuit Dealing with Pack and the way it carried out on the final word take a look at observe.
One of many key upgrades of our Porsche Circuit Dealing with Pack is to put in a shorter and stiffer entrance spring. This offers the chassis some all-important rake angle which improves turn-in, reduces nose- diving on the brakes and makes path braking much more intuitive. This decrease entrance spring is mixed with a re-engineered damper cup that permits the entrance dampers to retain their commonplace vary of operation together with the decrease entrance spring.
Leyton’s automobile runs a decrease entrance spring than typical which drops the entrance axle fairly significantly, and to some extent the place some have commented that maybe it’s too low for the Nürburgring. A few of the older arms on the Nürburgring even declared working such a low entrance trip top as ‘inconceivable’. The consensus for the Nürburgring is to run a barely greater nostril as a way to stop any entrance splitters from being broken over the bumpier sections.
With a purpose to take a look at our package to the fullest, we selected to maintain the setup that was utilized to Leyton’s Porsche when he set the UK lap data. This meant working a really brief entrance spring and having religion in our redesigned spring cup.
Once we found that the entrance splitter, that was sat mere inches from the bottom, had barely even brushed the tarmac over the course of a whole day, that was a tremendous vindication of our design and our dedication to attain what was thought-about an impossibility.
We then started our testing routine and had been thrilled when Leyton reported again to us that
the steadiness of the automobile, even over the hardest bumps and jumps, was infallible. This extra stability, mixed with the flexibility — because of the Circuit Dealing with Pack — to hold much more pace into the corners, allowed Leyton to rapidly settle into a quick and constant tempo, regardless of usually heavy visitors.
Our Circuit Dealing with Pack is designed to be supple sufficient for the highway while additionally drastically enhancing observe efficiency. In setup phrases, the Nürburgring is taken into account to be extra of a ‘quick highway’ than a pure observe setup because of the elevation adjustments, various tarmac high quality and uneven surfacing. Our alternative to take care of this suppleness in comparison with a standard very stiff setup that emphasises wrought iron physique management, allowed Leyton to sort out even essentially the most treacherous sections of the Nordschleife with out experiencing any undesirable suspension deflections.
After two days of intensive testing we had been happy that we had pushed our Suspension Secrets and techniques Porsche Circuit Dealing with Pack to the restrict on the hardest observe of all of them.
Leyton managed to document a Bridge to Gantry time of 6:52 on a vacationer lap, with visitors and in 30+ levels climate, which was very encouraging and stands as a testomony to our Suspension Secrets and techniques Porsche Circuit Dealing with Pack.
We all the time attempt to push what is feasible with these automobiles and after two laborious days on the Nürburgring we thought there was no higher approach of celebrating than heading to Europe’s second most well-known race observe, Circuit de Spa- Francorchamps, the place Leyton once more put the package to the restrict. Once more, our package’s enhancements to the caster and camber settings of the GT3 RS allowed Leyton to essentially lean on the chassis throughout the greater pace corners, such because the quick left hander at Blanchimont.
The top of our go to to Spa was the scarcely plausible tempo at which Leyton was in a position to assault the Eau Rouge/Radillion complicated on the prime of fifth gear solely to elevate for a slight second, downshift, after which bury the throttle on the way in which up the hill.
Fairly spectacular for only a highway automobile!
