We own fast cars, and whilst we are all very responsible drivers, most of us like to explore the performance of our Porsche when in the right place, don’t we? Making them faster is always of interest.

Today’s video talks to some of the members of the Westcountry Porsche Drivers Club whilst they were attending a very wet track day at Castle Combe, which is their way of getting maximum fun from their Porsche. It’s interesting to hear their reasons for owning a Porsche, their experiences with track days, and their passion for Porsche.

Whilst track days are certainly a good way to explore your abilities and enjoy the freedom of your Porsche on a wide smooth track, with no traffic, and no speed limits, it is important that you & your car are well prepared, so this blog is about how to go faster.

We have two factors. The car and the driver. I thought that you may be interested in some tips here but apologise up front if I am ‘teaching granny to suck eggs’. My information certainly isn’t unique. We see a lot of Porsche here, and we sit with many drivers, with certain things croping up regularly which prevent us getting the optimum from our driving.

Whilst we can advise on upgrades, and fit plenty of modifications, do not overlook the merit of getting the original equipment (which Porsche spent a fortune fine tuning) working correctly.

First let’s take a look at your car. 

Tyres. 

Judging by what we see, many owners handicap the performance and handling of their Porsche simply with tyres. Beyond getting the pressures correct, and assuming no one has confused psi with bar for pressures, carefully consider the tyre quality, the construction, and the age of the tyre.

You will find a four-digit code on the sidewall, which give the age, e.g ’01 – the week, and the year 16’. As the tyre ages, they will become a little harder and grip less well. The more heat cycles the worse they become, the more UV the worse degradation and grip.

If you abused them or overheated them on track, that won’t help either. Aged 5 years and beyond, I would really take a close look, and consider fresh tyres for optimum performance.

Tyre constructions are inherently flexible and provide a degree of suspension, and a 911 is unusual with the engine in the rear. A softer carcass (construction) can really be detrimental to the handling of a 911, making them feel rather edgy. N rated rubber (Porsche approved) is a safe bet, or a more sporting tyre with a stiff carcass, for example a Yokohama R888 would offer a suitably stiff carcass. Mid-engined Porsche with a more favourable weight distribution are less sensitive to tyre construction.

Cheap brands are not going to perform the same as a quality brand…Michelin PS4 seem to work really well on many Porsche, but you have other choices. When you are choosing new tyres consider the data for wear, wet weather, noise etc. – this is easy to view online.

Suspension.

We can uprate suspension but refreshing yours with fresh original equipment the difference between tip top fresh factory suspension, and suspension with a few miles is night and day. Accurately aligned, original equipment dampers and fresh bushes are an excellent choice for most uses and guaranteed to be a major improvement over the worn (but not necessarily worn out) equipment.

Uprating suspension with Bilstein, KW, or similar, to a quality damper or polybushing is a further option. We have here a 3.2 on adjustable KW and it’s fabulous, as compliant (or better than) the original, and so smooth.

Brakes.

Your brake discs and pads may not be working at their best, irrespective of wear. Discs perform best when perfectly smooth, grooves hurt the performance, and the corrosion they often suffer on the rear face is easily overlooked. Irrespective of wear, glazed discs and old or glazed pads are poor performers. Replacing the hardware with quality new discs and pads can be transformative. Add in new flexi brake lines (or braided) and you should have a good setup. Higher performance pads for those that head to the track are valuable. As for braking performance…more on that for the driver later.

Performance.

Who has a traditional cable operated accelerator? About 50% of them (especially air cool 911) are not getting full throttle. Here your accomplice can sit in and press the loud pedal fully (with the engine off) and you could nip round the back and see if it really is opening up fully. The cure is often new linkage bushings and adjustment. For cars with Lambda sensors, these get slower to react and compromise performance, fresh sensors allow the ECU to respond, and calibrate, which will take you closer to the optimum. Before adding a remap, get those basics in good shape.

The carpet.

Yes, this can really be a factor! Please ensure you don’t have it jammed under the pedal!

The driver.

There are two key things that can make you ‘faster ‘, whether you’re a ‘Lewis’ or a ‘Lisa’ (Adrian’s wife), but these two things can be more of a challenge than you think…

I was watching the opening laps of IndyCar at Road America, one of the guys in about sixth spot found chaos going into turn one, he missed it all, and the commentator said he did well to keep his eyes up. So that’s your first tip:

1. Eye’s up – When it’s ‘busy’ in front of you, or you are following a car through Cascades or Callington, eyes up. It gives you more ‘processing’ time, you can plan better and travel faster. Even for a Lewis, it’s a challenge to avoid staring at the back of the car in front.
2. More speed – Having talked about better brakes my next tip is about slowing less. In our powerful cars it’s rarely a case of full on the brakes, and full on the throttle. The key to good progress is carrying speed into the corners, so gradually decreasing the brake effort as you approach a fast corner, or as you enter a slower corner, allows you to take that extra few mph through, and therefore needing less from the ‘go’ pedal. The amount of braking alters how weight is distributed, a little more on the nose, the car turns better, too much on the nose, it’s going to understeer. Get on the power too early (because entry speed was low, and most cars will understeer. Too much power, oversteer. It’s about balancing that weight. Get it right and in more corners, you will feel more like a Lewis than a Lisa. Imagine tapering the braking to a fine point, rather than simply releasing the brakes.

I hope this blog may improve your enjoyment of one of the finest cars that most people only dream of driving. We ARE lucky.

If you want to make your Porsche better have a chat with us.  We are here for you. We can likely do anything you ask, but typically prefer to do what’s good for you.

For driving, I am always happy to help on track. These are only my personal observations and thoughts, apply with care, in the right situation,

Eyes up, keep it safe and smooth.