PCA Time Trial #1, 4/26/08, Mineral Wells

Okay, who is in for something a little different? This is a great way to experience something closer to road course driving, but on the cheap. For the most part, a PCA TT at Mineral Wells is jut a coned road course. It is NOT an autocross. They always use one of these three courses. Whereas an AX you are in second gear and sometimes third, you will be in third and fourth the full time on these courses.

You usually get three heats. In each heat, you will get one warm up lap and 3-5 timed hot laps. Then you work the course, or vice versa. They often do two three lappers in the AM and one five lapper in the PM.

You also get about 30 minutes in the AM of open track, so you can learn the course by driving it over and over at about 1/2-2/3 speed.

More info here.

In my opinion, this is easier than autocrossing, so if any of you have been hesitant to try it out, this is a good time to have some fun in your car.

It would be great to see some of the road course guys from this forum out there.

Who wants to join me?

How much does it cost?

I think PCA hacked my Outlook! They always schedule stuff when I can't go :(

Time Trials are a blast. A few years ago (before I was hacked) I ran almost every event they offered. They are good folks, know how to put on a good time, but apparently have mad hacking skillz :confused:

I would recommend this event to anyone who is interested.













PCA didn't hack my calendar. I just never seem to have a free day when they hold an event. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Davidss

How much does it cost?

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$25 for PCA members and $30 for non-members.

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Originally Posted by onething

Time Trials are a blast.

I would recommend this event to anyone who is interested.

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I agree. I am always surprised at how few MME autocrossers and track racers attend these.

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Originally Posted by onething

Time Trials are a blast. They are good folks, know how to put on a good time, ...

I would recommend this event to anyone who is interested.

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I did their Time Trial school once. It was great fun and perhaps slightly more transferable to my daily commute than autocross skillz.

I am planing on going. I has been a while since last time I went to PCA event. Can you tech the car the morning of the event?

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Originally Posted by gabkwong

I am planing on going. I has been a while since last time I went to PCA event. Can you tech the car the morning of the event?

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Yes.

I'll try to make this one... I'd love to do a little higher-speed stuff.

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Originally Posted by MadMonkey

I'll try to make this one... I'd love to do a little higher-speed stuff.

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Anything is higher speed than Pennington, except maybe Birdville

Could it be time to exercise the Boxster::ConeDOWN

I have registered. Breakfast at the Golden Arches?

I just registered.

See you at McDonalds at 7 AM.

I think you save $5 by pre-registering, so don't forget.

This is a great event for both autocrossers and track drivers. How about some of you track drivers joining us?

i used to run the miata on the 14" azenis at these TT events :) Nothing like a huge drift at 80+mph :)

I wanted to make it, but I have to be financially responsible and skip it this time... I'll try to make one sometime soon though.

I'm In! See some of you guys there.

Where is the McDonalds?

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Originally Posted by jrj512

I think you save $5 by pre-registering, so don't forget.

This is a great event for both autocrossers and track drivers. How about some of you track drivers joining us?

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I'd be there, but I have other commitments this weekend. I'll see y'all next weekend at the Tour.

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Originally Posted by bnordin

Where is the McDonalds?

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Exit 418 on I-20 in Willow Park (west of Fort Worth, after it I-30 merges with I-20).

Good times today. They ran course one, which is the fastest. I almost reach redline in fourth along the back stretch.

Bnordin has a great looking Boxter! :clap:

More of you guys need to try this. We got six hot laps in the morning and six in the afternoon. I will try to post a video when I get a chance.

Looks like the next one is May 31... I'll mark it on my calendar and try to make it.

How do they do the ones at Motorsports Ranch? Are they more expensive?

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Originally Posted by jrj512

Bnordin has a great looking Boxter! :clap:

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Believe it or not, I've been looking at Boxsters lately for a future "fun car"... you can get a used 97 or so for around $12k. I wouldn't be worried about reliability since I have another vehicle, and I've always wanted a Porsche ;)

Good times, indeed. My old RA1's did a good job. I'll try this again. On straight time I was not DFL, when the results are posted, we'll see for sure.

There are very few cones on the course, and we had to shagged only one cone all day long.

Thanks to Maniac Mitch for the impressive ride along, horsepower is nice.

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Originally Posted by MadMonkey

Looks like the next one is May 31... I'll mark it on my calendar and try to make it.

How do they do the ones at Motorsports Ranch? Are they more expensive?

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Completely different league, pricewise. A typical 2-day Porsche Club DE at MSR is about $300. Their upcoming event at Eagle's Canyon is only $250, but you must be signed off solo with PCA to participate.

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Originally Posted by MadMonkey

Believe it or not, I've been looking at Boxsters lately for a future "fun car"... you can get a used 97 or so for around $12k. I wouldn't be worried about reliability since I have another vehicle, and I've always wanted a Porsche ;)

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Old Porsche 944s are cheap too... until you need to buy parts for one. When it comes to parts prices, Porsche doesn't care if you're buying for an '08 GT3 RS or a '97 base Boxster. They're very expensive cars to repair.

Also keep in mind that due to engine location, Boxsters are very unpleasant cars to work on. You cannot access any part of the engine from above. All basic maintenance (spark plugs, timing belts, etc.) must be done from below with the car on a lift or stands. Early models also had several significant mechanical issues, mostly related to oil leaks.

There really is not such thing as a cheap water-cooled Porsche. I'm a big Boxster fan myself, but every time I think about buying an older used Boxster, an early S2000 (almost bulletproof mechanically, easier to work on, better performance, cheaper parts) just makes more sense.

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Originally Posted by altiain

Completely different league, pricewise. A typical 2-day Porsche Club DE at MSR is about $300. Their upcoming event at Eagle's Canyon is only $250, but you must be signed off solo with PCA to participate.

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Ouch... maybe I'll stick with Miata track days ;)

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Old Porsche 944s are cheap too... until you need to buy parts for one. When it comes to parts prices, Porsche doesn't care if you're buying for an '08 GT3 RS or a '97 base Boxster. They're very expensive cars to repair.

Also keep in mind that due to engine location, Boxsters are very unpleasant cars to work on. You cannot access any part of the engine from above. All basic maintenance (spark plugs, timing belts, etc.) must be done from below with the car on a lift or stands. Early models also had several significant mechanical issues, mostly related to oil leaks.

There really is not such thing as a cheap water-cooled Porsche. I'm a big Boxster fan myself, but every time I think about buying an older used Boxster, an early S2000 (almost bulletproof mechanically, easier to work on, better performance, cheaper parts) just makes more sense.

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I know what you mean... prices are a little crazy on a lot of European cars (even my 79 Mercedes was a BEYATCH to repair). Still, there's just something about a Porsche... maybe I just need to drive one and get it out of my system ;)

Video.

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Originally Posted by jrj512

Video.

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Nuh-uh.

It was great fun, touched 100mph in my RX-8.

Seriously you guys should really come out to this, 12 hot laps and very little cone picking. It's different than autocross but still ton of fun.

Shaky Video

Video link fixed

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Originally Posted by MadMonkey

Nuh-uh.

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Uh-huh.

The event was a blast and a big bang for the buck. The Boxster was a new experience and it took me all day to start to understand how to drive it at speed. My last time was my best of the day so some progress was made. The biggest difference between my NA and the Porsche is acceleration and top end speed. That back straight-away had some serious pucker factor going for me. I do not know my top-end speed but I was well into fourth and my life was flashing in front of eyes. If you like speed and seat time, this is a great event. I agree that the Boxster will cost more to maintain but Damn I look good in that car8)

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Originally Posted by bnordin

Damn I look good in that car8)

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Hold up there, Sparky. I believe we said that the car looked great. We never said anything about you. ::Banana::

Results and pics.

jrj512, why are you in class 4? My base class is 2 and the RA1's put me in 3.

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Originally Posted by cone-cerned

jrj512, why are you in class 4? My base class is 2 and the RA1's put me in 3.

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Was he driving his 944?? ;)

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Originally Posted by cone-cerned

jrj512, why are you in class 4? My base class is 2 and the RA1's put me in 3.

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I have no idea. I just go with the flow. ::Afro::

Guess I'll have to borrow the STI for one of those :) Should be faster than the Porsche anyway :)

David,

Maverick Region is holding a time trial in May at MSR, check their website schedule. I'm not sure which course they'll be using or what the entry fee will be, but I've got an email in to find out. You should make some time to come up for that one. Your first post-event beer is on me. :mrgreen:

Hey Guys!
I wish I could develop a habit to check this forum more often.

As of today, 5/20, the registration is open for the 6/21 Time Trial Event at MSR. It will be TWO events TT# 3 and TT # 4. We will run #3 in the morning and #4 in the afternoon. This is what I've been told:
The event will no doubt be full. Register NOW.
The morning TT#3 will be run counter-clockwise on the old 1.7mi course. The afternoon event TT#4 will be run clockwise (yes BACKWARDS) on the same 1.7 course.

This will be a kick-ass event!!! a real time at MSR. This is not a DE, the cost is supposed to be very close to a regular event...just two events at once. I think non-members are $35/ea...so $70...but don't quote me...check the web-site.

Now the maybe bad news. I heard (rumor) that they were going to do a preference for Porsche club members like at DE events. However...if it doesn't fill up they take non-members in order of their registration. That's why you need to register now. You register for both events at the same time.

Look for my red 95. With either a white hard-top or red hard-top if I manage to get it painted before then. BTW, I have an electric hoist rigged in my garage and I can remove the top and leave it hanging for "topless" driving!

I will be at the 5/31 event (definitely with the white hard-top) at Mineral Wells. It's course two and it is almost as much fun as course 1. Thanks for promoting all this jrj512. I enjoyed seeing you and the other guys out there...hope to see more on 5/31.

Maniac Mitch
95 Red "not exactly stock" Miata

maniac mitch - Thanks for the notice I just registered!

The Mavericks decided that since this is the first time event (time trial) at MSR, they won't try to run the course backwards. Bummer!!!

Here's an email from the Time-Trial chair when I asked about how many sessions for the event:
"The current plan is each run group will run 1 session consisting of 2 sets of 1 warm-up and 3 hot laps per event. So in the morning you will get 2 warm-up, 6 hot and in the afternoon you will get 2 warm-up, 6 hot laps. Each run group will be broken into 4 sections with 4 cars in each for a total 16 cars per run group.

It was decided since this is the first effort at having a TT at MSR the chance of getting behind schedule in great. It will be a time saver to run the course in only one direction this time. We won't need to do parade laps in the afternoon.

Travis"

Maniac Mitch