I wanted a fun car to take to the track, so I randomly started looking for one one evening. I spotted a Porsche on Craigslist. I convinced Greg (it really wasn't that difficult to convince him) that we should go look at the car. Greg was always on board when it came to getting a track day car, and once he looked at this 1989 944 S2, he knew it would do a fine job. It ended up in our driveway the next day.
I've only driven his dad's spec 944 during an autocross, so I didn't have any "driving" experience aside from that. I was eager to take a vehicle on a big track since I've heard it's a hoot --at least, a different kind of a hoot than it is racing motorcycles.
Getting the S2 Track Ready
We got a great deal on the S2 because Greg knows 944s inside-out, upside-down , between the cracks... you name it. He's owned one since he was 16 years old (and still has that 944). The car wasn't perfect, and after he inspected the S2, Greg was able to drive the price below what the guy was asking.After getting the car into the garage, Greg was able to perform the surgery needed to get this car track ready. He started working on it as soon as he possible, and tightened up as much as he could a few days before we headed to the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) SoCal races and track day this past weekend (June 18th and 19th).
The S2 received the following upgrades:
- New windshield,
- Two new wheels and all new tires
- Rear springs
- Torsion bars were deleted
- Fire extinguisher mounted
- New CAT and muffler
- Voltage regulator
- Cam chain tensioner pads
- Fan resistors
- Oil and coolant
- Water pump heater outlet hose
- Alternator tensioner
- Instrument cluster (swapped out)
As you can see, this car needed a bit of TLC before it was deemed track ready and capable.
Saturday - HPDE 1
NASA has locations all over the country, and even has a division here in NorCal. However, we decided to do the NASA SoCal weekend at Buttonwillow because Greg's parents (mom and dad) live in San Diego, so they are part of the SoCal region. Greg is determined to get his NASA racing license this year, but for the meantime, he's hanging out with his mom, who also rips around the track, doing Time Trial (TT) sessions.
For track days, NASA has four groups you can sign up for: HPDE (High Performance Driver Education) 1, 2, 3 and 4. HPDE 1 and 2 are for beginners/intermediate, and HPDE 3 and 4 are for advanced/super advanced.
After HPDE is the TT group, which preps you for racing (if you choose to go that route). You have to have an instructor sign you off to get to the next level, which is great in my mind. It keeps people that shouldn't be in the higher groups doing TTs or racing. There were also classroom meetings after each session out (for all groups). These classroom meetings are required, and each session talked about driver's mistakes, victories, and provided more driving instruction and tips.
Bumpy Start
So off I went to the newbie group, ready to soak up all the information I needed to become a better driver. After the first meeting, I was paired up with an instructor (required for HPDE 1, but it's optional for HPDE 2) named Jerry who was super chill. I did about two laps before I realized that the lines that you take in a car are similar to the ones on a bike, so Jerry praised my lines right out the gate. However, I didn't start off smooth as butter...
First, I had issues with shifting. I don't drive a manual car, and shifting on a motorcycle is easier (in my mind) since it's sequential -- you need to go through all gears to get to the one you want. With a car, you can technically go from fifth gear to second depending on how much you need to slow down going into the corner. I'm not accustomed to where the gears live, meaning I forgot whether I need to shift up or down to get to the gear I want. I'm fine at shifting when on the road, but for some reason my mind went totally blank on where the gears lived when on the track. I guess I just had to much on my mind to begin with.
Speaking of having a lot on my mind, during that first session I had to ask Jerry what gear I was in because I forgot (oy!). I also mis-shifted, meaning I put the car in fourth gear when I really wanted second gear (oy again!). Additionally, the actual act of shifting was a bit difficult. Getting the car from one gear to another as smoothly as possible was a lot of work. I wasn't beyond terrible at it, again it just required more thought on my end.
What really tripped me up was pressing in the clutch to grab a downshift, braking and then getting back on the gas. This process was not as fluid as I hoped. I held the clutch down going into corners for some odd reason, and getting back on the gas didn't go as smoothly as I wanted.
What really tripped me up was pressing in the clutch to grab a downshift, braking and then getting back on the gas. This process was not as fluid as I hoped. I held the clutch down going into corners for some odd reason, and getting back on the gas didn't go as smoothly as I wanted.
Jerry noticed all of this and told me to just keep it in fourth gear, which was fine, but I really wished I had the drive out of the corners. But, I obeyed because I knew driving on track wasn't my forte: I needed to learn to manhandle this 3,000lbs machine before I can really get it hot and bothered.
Putting the car in one gear helped me to pick up the pace where I needed to, but picking up speed when you don't know how to pitch a car into a corner can lead to spinning out--which I totally did. I was heading into turn 1 at a good pace, but I had two-wheels on the brain. I knew how fast I could go into this corner on a motorcycle -- I figured the car would do just the same. Hell, actually I know I could faster through that turn than I do now on my moto, so I was overly confident that the car was completely fine at the speed I asked it to go through turn 1.
Any way, I went in too hot and the S2's back end kicked out too much, so I tried to bring it back in. Well that wasn't working so I ended up overcorrecting the car to prevent spinning out...but I ended up spinning out. It's a bit nerve wracking mainly because I was worried that someone was going to hit me, but luckily no one did. That would have sucked messing up someone else's car due to my error!
I was able to get back on track and did one more lap before coming in. Jerry wasn't too fazed by the spin and told me it was okay. When I went to the meeting afterwards, the classroom instructor called out everyone who made a mistake during the session. I feel that doing this is a good thing, mainly because it helps you and everyone else understand what went wrong and how to avoid it next time. After my session and classroom meeting, I decided to slow down a bit and focus on one thing at a time.
Any way, I went in too hot and the S2's back end kicked out too much, so I tried to bring it back in. Well that wasn't working so I ended up overcorrecting the car to prevent spinning out...but I ended up spinning out. It's a bit nerve wracking mainly because I was worried that someone was going to hit me, but luckily no one did. That would have sucked messing up someone else's car due to my error!
I was able to get back on track and did one more lap before coming in. Jerry wasn't too fazed by the spin and told me it was okay. When I went to the meeting afterwards, the classroom instructor called out everyone who made a mistake during the session. I feel that doing this is a good thing, mainly because it helps you and everyone else understand what went wrong and how to avoid it next time. After my session and classroom meeting, I decided to slow down a bit and focus on one thing at a time.
Smooth as Butter (Almost)
Thankfully, the rest of my track day went without another hitch. I was able to really nail my lines and smoothly get on the throttle by the end of the day. I was even able to practice down-shifting the car into third gear while going into turn 2. When I did this, I simply concentrated on being smooth into the downshift, as well as smooth while transitioning to the throttle. For the most part I was, so I was pleased with that little bit of progress.
Driving a car on the track made me realize that I need to refine a few more skills in order to be good at it. My personal goal is to get into the TT group by sometime next year. I have hope that I can do it
--it will just take a little bit more work than I was expecting.
All in all, I really enjoyed driving the car. I didn't think it was going to be as hard as it was, but again, I know I can improve. There are many similarities between driving a car and riding a motorcycles, but there are definitely differences. I will work super hard on those differences and kick butt along the way.
Photos by CaliPhotography
