Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Classic Motorsports "The Mitty" at Road Atlanta 2017

Last weekend we took a trip down to Road Atlanta for The Mitty. This year's featured marque was Porsche and since we are now proud Porsche owners it seemed fitting to participate. We stayed at the lovely Chateau Elan Winery and Resort - or more accurately, we stayed at the new Hampton Inn and Suites on the Chateau property. Much more affordable and we could still easily enjoy all the amenities of the resort. I'd write more about it but this is an automotive blog.

I shot almost 1000 photos on the weekend but since most of the track is surrounded by catch fencing, it was really hard to get unobstructed photos of cars on track. I did my best, though, and here are some halfway decent photos.

Here's part of the Porsche corral. This only shows a fraction of the cars. It was really cool parking with all the other Porsches. No other marque had anywhere near the showing the P-cars did.
Flyin' Miata brought their stuff all the way from Colorado. This is the Mazda MX-5 RF with a lovely set of bronze 6UL wheels and a lowered suspension (don't know the details). This car is quite striking in person. There were many MX-5s in attendance.
I just love the patina on this old truck. Had to snap a pic.
A great looking 944.
Back in the mid-late 90's I had a racing game on my PC called Sportscar GT. It was the greatest racing game I'd ever seen up to that time and I spent hundreds of hours playing it. This car was in it, and it was always one of my favorites. I also remember seeing this car at many races back in the day. Seeing it in person again after all these years was really neat.
Awesome Brumos-liveried 987 Cayman.
I got lucky and got a shot of this Gulf liveried 911 through an access hole in the catch fence.
A line of Porsches heading down into the Esses.
The Ford GT40 is possibly the greatest sportscar of all time. It's a 50 year old design and still makes your blood boil when you look at it. So amazing to see on track. There were several in attendance and as you'll see I love taking photos of them.
This one pulled off track with an issue. Getting the sister car in the background was a complete accident. These sorts of accidents are why I love photography.
And here we are on track during the touring laps. Photo by Double Vision Photography. These were the fastest touring laps I've ever done. We expected to slowly drive around the track for one or two laps but instead it was 4 laps driving at least five-tenths. Jen had never been on a track before and seemed to really enjoy it. Great fun.

Friday, April 07, 2017

Wheel spacers for the Cayman S

The Cayman looked a little narrow-wheeled to me. Maybe because it's lowered, but the wheels just seemed to sit a little too far inboard from the fender lips. A common mod for Caymans is wheel spacers. 7mm front and 15mm rear is a common fitment and what I chose. Some go more extreme but my car is lowered and not running a ton of camber so I played it safe. I ordered mine from GMP Performance and got them in about a week.
This shows the car after the spacers were installed. The rear wheel sits pretty flush with the fender but there doesn't appear to be any rubbing or interference.
Here's another shot from the front. You can see the new black wheel bolts a little bit. I really like the look. The original zinc plated bolts were looking a bit ratty. It's little things like that which make a car feel special. Also note I've added the Cayman R style side stripe. As side stripes are a long tradition with Porsches, I think these are perfect and appropriate.
The spacers came with longer wheel bolts, in black, and I needed new ones anyway. The spacer just slips over the hub flange and is held on by the small screws that secure the rotor to the hub. Don't do this without fitting longer bolts.
I've already put about 1200 miles on the car and there's been no rubbing or interference. The wider track makes the car feel a little more planted at speed. I think this is a good mod.