Patrick's 1986 944 Turbo by 333pg333

11 minute(s) of a 264 minute read

Well the good thing is that the axles and CVs stood up to today's first shakedown for the car. We turned the boost down to about 19psi for the day. Best thing was that the car ran pretty faultlessly. The only time work was carried out was when the throttle cable was a bit grabby and we discovered that the outer shielding for the cable had in fact melted around the firewall. They think this could have even happened on the dyno. So we are very happy that so little extra work was needed for the day. Bit of a slow day as there were plenty of cars/groups today. Anyway, Paul, the builder went out first. Only did 3 laps as the cable was not right. Even so he managed a 1:03.4 which was very impressive. The car looked really quick down the straight and we were right on pit wall. He's a very good driver and is quick straight out of the box. We missed the next session but he went back out in the 3rd session and managed a 1:01.9 with an eclectic of 1:00 flat! I hope Sean doesn't mind me pinching the pic of their recent trackday at the same track to illustrate the times. Similar weather and conditions for a fair comparison.

Also a couple of pics/videos. Sorry don't have any in cabin vids yet. Just a couple more Ipad snippets. Watch in HD format.

Well you might be asking about my turn...So I went out after those first 2 sessions and...(I'll make my excuses now )...there were some V8 Supercars in our Group and a few slower cars. Without any wing mirrors I was spending more time looking in the internal mirror trying to stay out of people's way. Not easy! I was soooo rusty and not a little daunted by the car at first. You could have timed me with a Sundial. So I did a 1:12 first session. Managed to bring it down to a 1:06 after that and there's plenty left as Paul ably showed!

So all in all a really great 1st time in a totally new car. We were on Medium compound R spec Yokohama rubber for the record. Going back next week. Hope we get the same weather.

Oh and here's the tq as well. Clearly not in the same scale as we're used to. After having driven the car today on lower boost, I'm not sure how much I need the new intake just yet!

Yes, guys. As I said, that was the timesheet from Sean's trackday on the previous weekend. Just wanted to show you as a comparison. I'd like to also say that Sean doing a 1:03 is extremely fast considering his car is a daily driver. Much heavier than my car without any Aero. So his time is even better than ours if put into perspective. However, I wasn't really saying that our time is the be all and end all, more that we had a very successful 1st shakedown. Usually these are spent doing a lot of work in the pits fixing things that are failing or loose or whatever. Gives me confidence in the builder. Have to also thank Sean for helping us out when we had a last minute Oil pressure issue with the motor. Only last week it had to be pulled out and torn down for some unforeseen changes to be made. Sean who works a few miles away was able to help us out and go and do the tear down/reassemble in quick time. Many thanks to Buchanan Automotive for their continued help and friendship!

Sorry guys, I didn't have the cameras in the car. Paul did and he will upload them in the coming days. Put some Go-Pros in some interesting positions so there might be a little delay due to editing. Don't worry, I'm really hanging out to see them too.

Tim and Fredrick

The car has been designed to compete in World Time Attack. While not door to door racing (I don't have the money for that) it is a very fast growing format of essentially qualifying for 2 days. In other words, fastest lap wins. There are 4 different classes and some extremely fast cars. eg a Cup car will generally do this track in 1:31-1:32, maybe a bit quicker if a Cup 'S'. The Aussie Supercar V8's fastest lap is a high 1:27 from memory. Last year's winner of W.T.A. did it in 1:25 flat and the car was not long finished before the event. This is also all on R spec rubber! So as you can see, they're very quick cars. The fastest cars in my group will do it in low 1:30's I'd say. We are hoping to get under 1:35 this time around but who knows...The front fenders and rocker panels on the car were developed by Mike at I.F.C. via many emails back and forth. The bumper is Broadfoot. Nose panel from Belgium and rear fenders from GT racing. The lights from D9 and the hood from Van Zweden!!!! In other words...it took a hell of a lot of time (money) to get this all to work.

I was actually feeling really tense prior to doing the Shakedown the other day. Both for expectations of how the car and me would react. The car won on the day! Now I’m just really keen to get back out there and try and remember how to drive. As I said elsewhere, one failed trackday in 3.5 years doesn’t make a Champion! The track that we’re testing on is quite different to the one that we need to be fast on in October but testing anywhere is better than not testing at all.

Here’s a little edited Video that Paul made. It’s him driving. I think he left the music over the motor due to Go-Pro’s poor sound. Not sure. Hope to get some more with better engine sound soon. From outside the engine makes a sound unlike any 951 I’ve heard before, especially on backoff. Just a straight through 3” with no muffling or anything.

9/26/13

Had some Pro pics taken last night at the workshop. I wasn't there but this is a sneak preview of what he did. Apparently the car will be going in a few Mags and on Internet sites. Who'd a thunk it from such humble origins as a pretty battered 1986 951 when I bought it in about 2009.

I have to say sorry for the overindulgence of the last few days. Don't mean to be flooding the forum with pics & posts. It's just that it's been a long time coming and accompanied by a lot of heartache along the way (strictly car heartache that is, nothing really serious) so to have it finally appear in this state is quite surreal. I have felt like I'm in a dreamstate all week. Right up to the last days we had some quite major issues and had to suddenly pull the motor out and down to fix some oil pressure issues. That was a real pisser and cost many thousands for the privilege. Wound up being an issue with the piston squirters leaking past their sides. So anyway, forgive the over enthusiasm and I'll try to keep the 'baby photos' to a minimum!

Here's some Hand held video atop a little stand. Bit windy so pretty shakey but you get the picture. I really like the beginning when the car is waiting to go out. Sparkling and new. I think you'll agree that this thing sounds unlike any 951 before. At first I thought it was an exhaust leak but as Sean pointed out, probably just due to the straight through no muffler setup. Paul asked if I wanted to change it but now I think I'll stick with it. Sounds menacing like a War Cry! Now that the car looks like going quicker than we projected we might as well make them look over their shoulders!!

Thanks guys. Very humbling. To be clear, I'm just a working schlep so I do very little in terms of what physically happens on the car. Of course I pay for it but if any plaudits are to be cast in my direction it would be for planning, talking, conceptualising, dealing, pestering, cajoling, pleading, remonstrating, crying, kicking/screaming, thanking....etc...all the people that I've involved in this build. There have been quite a few different people/companies that have their mark on this car but I have tried to stay true to the cause and am glad some people like the result. I do.

The builder, Paul doesn't read forums so he won't see this but he has been great to work with and has given me reason to be calm at times when things have been somewhat frantic. His fabrication and vision have been such a bonus and now I'm equally lucky that he has great skills behind the wheel to help set the car up and achieve some great times in it. I am planning on closing the gap brick by brick but can't see myself beating him just yet...or ever. Also have to thank Bruce and Sean Buchanan, my mechanics. They have remained great friends even though this car moved workshops and continue to assist when they are called upon. Even last week Sean performed an emergency tear down and reassemble in short time. Very grateful for their continued help and work during this project.

Hope we can do some damage at W.T.A. to fly the 951 Porsche flag. I can say with surety that nobody was expecting to see this car at this event and it will create a bit of a stir in an otherwise 99.9% Japanese car field.

10/1/13

We have only been running 1.3 bar for the moment. The car is pretty quick as is. There's a lot of room for improvement too. I always like that feeling as we know there is more potential to eek out in the future.

Great to see these cars still getting built in all corners of the world. How good would it be to bring them all together one day.

Here's another recent video of Richard in Holland. That car looks pretty nicely hooked up....well except for that little glitch that just cost him the win!