BRracing Porsche 2010 GT3 project

Introduction of the build of the BRracing 2010 GT3. Not that the 2010 GT3 is a normal daily driver to begin with (it truly is an amazing car, and a great set of improvements over the previous generation 997 GT3), but with the new improvements that have been made to the car, we saw this as a great canvas to highlight some of the recent solutions and new products available to make this a truly amazing car. Just like the other BRracing project cars where we can’t leave a great car just as a normal car….this project will have quite a life, and we will detail the improvement here, why we choose the products we did, and the results, both on the street and the track (and just like our other projects, we’re happy to prove the results on the track with anyone…our car will be at the track at least once a month for testing and development….and it’s first appointment at the track will be in 2 weeks, after we’re back from SEMA).

Here is the base canvas that we started with –
Porsche 2010 3.8 GT3
Sport Carbon Fiber seats
Technology package
Blue tooth
Nav
Dynamic drive lights
Alcantara package
Sport Chrono
Full leather package
Porsche Carbon Fiber Ceramic Braking system
Pirelli Corsa tires

But, that’s just the beginning.
Here are some pics of the base canvas.

If you know about this new Porsche, then you can pick out the one really significant new addition to this Porsche, unlike any other Porsche from the factory.  Its the “center lock” wheels.  No more lug bolts…just one massive center lock hub nut, just like on the racing cars.   This really cleans up the look of the wheels, but you better be ready to spend a pretty dollar to get a new special, loooooooooong torque wrench, as you have to exert more than 500NM of force to get the wheels tightened.  And…do NOT attach this w your impact gun….NO, NO, NO.  You also have to have a special socket that unlocks the center lock nut while applying the torque wrench.

Such a great car already….but, like a canvas, it’s crying out to have some changes made…so, off come the brakes…even though brand new, they have proven not to be the BEST solution for track use.

Vehicle has been lowered to euro ride height.

November 3, 2009 updates to the car.

As stated above, off come the brakes.  Porsche has continued to invest in the development of the ceramics (Porsche carbon ceramics brakes, or PCCB).  The issue w the PCCB has been both that they don’t have the bite that we desire for aggressive driving or track days, and that there are NO options for pad choices.  So, we want this car to be the best project solution possible, so off come the PCCB brake system, and on go  a new system that has just been developed specifically for the new 997.2 GT3.  The new system is the STR60 system from Stoptech.  We spent a great deal of time w Stoptech at the recent American Le Mans races, and probed and questioned what the differences were in their systems vs all other leading solutions on the market (and if you don’t know Stoptech, you can take comfort in knowing that they were on the winning Porsche at the Speed GT race at Laguna, on many other cars in the field, and also on many of the leading Touring cars (like BMWs) in the races that weekend.  They have quickly developed a leading position in the braking market due to their precise design and fitment of the complete braking solution for each car…..most others adapt the same braking system for use on many different cars, but this is not the case w Stoptech, they design each caliper and rotor combination to match the specific braking requirements for that application).

The Stoptech 2 piece brake rotor weighs slightly more than the PCCB rotors they replace, but the calipers are slightly lighter than the PCCB calipers that were on the car.  However, the performance and pad selection benefits far outweigh the downside of slightly more weight in the total system.  We have also just recently completed some testing on brake pad options for Porsches, and believe that the best pad combination for track use and some dd use are the Performance Friction pads (97 and 01 pad compounds….and we are running different pad compounds on the front vs the rear to help settle the car down under aggressive or very hard braking).

Ping us if you have any questions about this new setup, as we are the FIRST 997.2 GT3 car to have this key new system.  Notice that the calipers do NOT have any paint, as the temperatures that the caliper will reach will toast any paint job on the calipers (and just look at our OEM BMW 135i brake calipers if you want proof of that…the Brembo’s look like they went thru a fire…..the white lettering on the side is now a dark yellow color….yech).   This again is the same as the true race systems you see at the track….we’re going HARD core here.
Here are some pics of the original PCCB system on the car….

Here is a quick pic of the comparison of the new Stoptech steel rotor to the original PCCB rotor –

Here are the other elements of the Stoptech system, and the mounting on the car….

Don’t those things look amazing….filling the whole wheel area w massive braking power.

So, now we have the car, we have the brakes to stop the car…..so, on to the next step in the development.  Stay tuned…..

Update – November 6, 2009

Next set of updates to the project car, in preparation for the November track day testing we have planned.

As we have said….we’re moving fast on this project, no small steps being taken, but big steps, and very deliberate steps…each piece, each element is being reviewed and selected to achieve optimum results. We’re not just trying to put together a new 997.2 GT3 for track use, we’re trying to make a killing machine that can tame any course, any time.

So, as we knew from the testing we have done w our customers 996 GT3, 997 GT3, 996 TT and 997 TT, the suspension has too much play and movement when you bring the car to the track….in fact, it can be a near frightening experience when you really get on the brakes hard, like going into braking for Turn 2 at Laguna, and you can feel the car wiggle from side to side….and you’re just holding your breadth hoping that the car will stay going in the right direction….but…

So, when we have installed replacement bushings, links, toe links….the car has settled right down, and become much more stable, but also much more refined in responding to inputs, not just under braking, but all thru the turns.

So, the 2010 GT3 needs this same level of refinement, so, off w the OEM, and on w the new, and only the best will do for sure….
(You can also see the new Ferrari 599 we were installing a Novitec suspension on this past week)

Here are the new suspension toe links…the half set for the front, the full set for the rear.  As testing in the Porsche race car has shown, the suspension travel and changes while under load can induce some significant understeer, so off the OEM ones go, and on the full monoball units w no rubber for any deflection under load

Here (below) you can see the toe links, the new rear sway bar, the rear “dog bones (set of 4)”, and the rear full toe links

This is the same shot on the left rear side

The thrust arm bushings on the front suspension arms

The front half toe links, front sway bar, and front thrust arm bushings

That completes the SUSPENSION upgrades for now…more to come later, but we still have more to do to get the car ready for the track

Next update – November  9, 2009

Yep…the weekend is approaching for the first track test…so, time to get some more mods done…we’ve got a list that we have to complete before we make it out on the track, as we want to get a base platform to evaluate the future mods against….

As was recently stated in another post in the forums….safety is REALLY important, and we know that the GMG harness bar / roll bar has the build quality and strength…so, in goes the new GMG designed roll bar / harness bar / rear shock tower brace for the 2010 GT3 (which you can get from us, and also the installation if needed). The new design has a different fastener approach, even furthering the strength and rigidity of the solution. We are also installing Willans harness 6-point sets for both seats (we have the new Porsche CF seats on both sides).
Since we’re going to the track this next week, this is a necessary step in the build process….

In the first pic you can see the exceptional quality of the existing CF seats….truly pretty, light, and awesome.

The new GMG roll bar and harness bar have the new hardware to improve the torsional rigidity of the system, and have the nicely  integrated touches of the harness bolt receivers (the hooks that you can screw into the harness bar so that you can “click in” the harnesses.

Update – November 11, 2009

And the next natural step…..we need some sweet music to listen to while driving…
You may have heard one of the guests / visitors here who stopped by the shop this past weekend to see the progress on the car and talk about the nice sound…..and as someone said today, this sound is a “Man” sound….there is nothing secret about its intentions. But, the fun is that you can sit and play w the valving and change the sound note from aggressive (loud, but not out of control), to MEAN (we wanted it to sound just like a Cup car at the track….we LOVE the sound of the Cup car…and we think we have it, but Saturday November 14, 2009 will be the true test).
Here are some pics of the 2010 997.2 GT3 OEM headers, cats and exhaust.

Notice the significant bend in the OEM exhausts as they enter the cats….more on that later…

here is a comparison view of the OEM headers on the left side, and the new GMG sport headers and high flow 200 cell cats on the right

close up view of the cats and muffler up in the rear fender well area

Here is the close up of the OEM headers and cats, where you can see the strong bend in the piping entering the OEM cats

A complete view of the new GMG sport headers and cats, and you can notice the smooth flow of the exhaust tubing into the cats

Not only did we do the headers and cats, but also the replacement of the rear center section w a new GMG unit….and we love the way the center section expands the tubing from the exit of the mufflers to grow in size and then turn and exit the car w beautiful tips…nice clean flow the whole way, and we love the look from outside the car as well

Nicely completed….major sound resides inside  :)

Still more to come…

Update, November 13, 2009…final update before the track day

The next problem that demanded an answer was intake flow, and rear downforce…..answer is a new rear decklid and rear wing.
We took the current 2010 997.2 GT3 rear deck lid, the inside portion, and mated it to a 2009 997.1 GT3 Cup Car top deck lid, Cup Car uprights, and then a Cup Car rear wing. To this, we then added new CF air scoops on top, and had them fully molded in to the top cover. The new scoops increase airflow by 30%, and these are currently available items (but not a straight bolt on piece for the 997.2……yet).
The result is the package we’ve been working towards…..we had the guests guessing at TH as to what this car was…but the current wing on the car is the giveaway…as the new 2010 Cup Car has a much bigger wing than this.

The first pic is the new decklid, fully molded scoops into the top (which are CF, and we left a portion of the scoops exposed so that you can see the CF element).

Here is the pic of the complete install of the new rear deck lid and Cup Car wing (plus BRR custom graphics for any car that we build like this)