Babalouie's 911 - start on p7

[Babalouie]

In tonight's episode of OCD With Heat Shields, I decided to re-do the aluminium shield I'd made up before. I thought it looked a little goofy since it was twice as big as the actual cat itself, and in terms of function, was pushed too close to the rocker cover shroud for my liking, due to the brackets on the cat.


So I figured that it was as good a time as any to experiment with this stuff. I first noticed it being used by Ford in the XR6T, and was surprised to find that you can get sheets of the stuff from ACL


It looks like a two layers of thin ally, and initially I thought that maybe there was a sandwich of fibreglass insulation or something inside, but it seems that it's hollow, and relies on an air gap in the middle of the sandwich to do the insulating.


So...passing the point known as the One Of No Return, I start to dremel off the offending brackets off the cat.


Then make a cardboard template of what I want to make...


...not forgetting the brackets...the heatshield material isn't cheap at $70 for a 70x30cm sheet, so I figured I didn't want to have too many goes at making this


The brackets are cut from very thin 0.5mm aluminium, which is quite weak and floppy but the brackets will have a few folds in them for strength.


Now, to cut out the heatshield material, which cuts very easily with tin snips, and the waffle/grid pattern makes it very easy to cut it straight, too


Fold up on the vice...


Rivet on the brackets




And it's done!


It's much more compact than the stock cat and shield. In terms of weight, the old cat was 6kg, and the new one is 3kg.


The original version probably worked just fine, but this version is nicer


And there's now quite a big air gap between the cat shield and the rocker cover shroud


All done!

[CussCuss]

You should probably just start doing things the right way the first time instead of doing everything twice

[Babalouie]

You should probably just start doing things the right way the first time instead of doing everything twice

What would be the fun in that :D

[Babalouie]

Today started bright and early with a long drive out of town, which means only one thing...


...my very first trackday in the 964

Circuit Club days, always seems to attract some interesting cars. You'll notice some interesting company in the garages next to the 964...


Oh yes, that's right...a WRC Corolla! The real thing!


Also present was a Group A Celica rally car.


This was an interesting concoction, an Elfin Clubman. Basically like a Caterham Se7en, but with a LS1


Looked very squirrelly out there.


There was also a good collection of modern Euro performance cars, too (including an AMG Black Series).


As well as time-attack spec Hondas and the ever-popular Lancer Evolutions.


I started out quite gingerly, as the track was a little wet and greasy, and slowly felt my way into the 964's handling. To be perfectly honest, I found it quite challenging to come to grips (bad pun, ok) with it in the slippery conditions...as you can see here :D


I was finding the faster corners especially hard, if I went in off the throttle, the tail would want to rotate a LOT before the apex. But if I dived in with lots of throttle, then I'd get heaps of power oversteer and end up with the same result mid-corner. Eventually I figured out that what the car seemed to want me to do, is to enter the corner on a neutral throttle, and then squeeeeeze on the power towards the apex. That way, you'd get a nice four wheel drift on corner exit, with the foot to the floor. Working out this balance took a bit of time though...

But in the end, I managed to cut my initial lap times of 1'17 down to 1'12, and I'm pretty happy with that. Here's the least-worst lap.


My approach to the slower corners could use some work too, I think I'm not being aggressive enough with my entry speed, and I need to learn more finesse for the faster sweepers. I still have quite a bit to learn, I do still find it a little tricky to handle, but it'll be fun trying :D

The 964 is certainly holding up its end of the bargain though, usually when you take a car to the track, you sorta feel like you're "using up a life". But the Porka was solid all day (if anything it seems to run cooler at track speeds than in traffic), didn't get any brake fade and felt just as fresh on the drive home as it was on the way down. A class act :D

[TJ]

Love the porka, but Rolla WRC Car - fuck yeah!

[Boxer]

Looking good Kev, the first video makes it look like a handful though

[31GUN]

Looks like a 'rewarding when you get it right' type of car.
Looks like fun though, agree with you on the Porsche thing.
Drove my bosses 928 GTS down there and it felt the same.
I was sweating and the car was 'meh'.
God you have a weird seating position/hands on the wheel thing going.

[31GUN]

Looks like a 'rewarding when you get it right' type of car.
Looks like fun though, agree with you on the Porsche thing.
Drove my bosses 928 GTS down there and it felt the same.
I was sweating and the car was 'meh'.
God you have a weird seating position/hands on the wheel thing going.

[Babalouie]

Looking good Kev, the first video makes it look like a handful though

Yeah, maybe I need to get the alignment looked at or something, but even on my "good" laps, it always felt like the sort of tankslapper (in the beginning of the first video) was an eyeblink away.

[clutch-monkey]

looks good babs, i agree with you regarding finesse - learning with a 911 made my driving style much smoother very quick haha. had a few close calls even so
nice work catching it! looks like it put up a fight :D

[Cal]

Looks like a 'rewarding when you get it right' type of car.

Is that a nice way of saying it's a cunt of a thing? Looks exciting........ not in a good way! Good on you for having a crack, but that thing is evil.

[itsnotagsr]

Yeah, maybe I need to get the alignment looked at or something, but even on my "good" laps, it always felt like the sort of tankslapper (in the beginning of the first video) was an eyeblink away.

Have a chat to Richard at PR technology.

[BigMuz]

God damn what a cunt of a thing.. You sit too far from the wheel as well- you are stretching to reach the top of the wheel.

[31GUN]

He's done it like that for years. Pisses me off no end that he's as fast as he is sitting like a fully sick westie.

[willsy01]

East Coast Suspension and/or Racetige have a fair amount of experience with Porsches.....