Today, I took the 914 to its first PCA autocross. Gave me a number of runs to further evaluate the car......and unfortunately, the driver! Well, the car did wonderfully. Now it just needs a decent driver. LOL. This was my first foray into auto crossing in over two years, and it was not pretty. I ended up with DNF's on most runs, simply because I missed gates on the grid. Not the car's fault. The car has great power. So much torque that I actually started off for each run in 2nd and there is where I left the gearbox.
The mods to my car, including the engine and staggered tires pushed the 914 into a class against 993's and Boxster S's. In reality, I think that the car can and will eventually be competitive against that kind of machinery. I just need to run more races and push the car more.
From a handling standpoint, the car has too much understeer at speed. So, I'll be researching what I need to do to reduce understeer. And, I need better tires, particularly in the front where it was too easy for me to lock the front brakes. Which goes back to the argument that the stock 914 front brakes were probably OK. Instead, I elected to add Boxster front calipers for more bite. I just now need to select a tire that has better traction. Right now I have got Continental DWS Extremes which are all season street tires. Great riding and low noise, but the traction is not up to the demands of auto crossing.
I've attached a couple of photos taken at the PCA auto crossing school from last week.
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What was the most fun, was all the conversations that started from folks walking over to find out about the car. At today's autocross, there were 73 cars running. I had the only 914, and would have been oldest car running save for a 1969 911T and a 1972 BMW 2002. I was especially glad to hear that the color of the car was the first thing that grabbed their eye. When they got up close, they really liked the workmanship of the project. So, I'm a pretty happy camper tonight. I just need to learn how to drive the car as it should be driven.