Day at Gingerman incl. GT3 RS 4.0 ride along

[FormulaMMM]

I have a love for GT3's to the say the least, so I was stoked when I spotted the rare 4.0 (1 of 600) at Gingerman yesterday!













Fast forward to an afternoon session and I had talked myself into a ride with the friendly owner.

What an unbelievable car. I don't even know where to start.

Two things really struck me though -- for one, the braking is unlike anything I've ever experienced. Didn't seem to matter how deep into the brake zone we went, the thing would slow sufficiently to make the turn. I thought for sure we'd be through a corner once or twice, but there seemed to be endless braking reserves. He was consistently halving my brake zones, and I wouldn't say that I brake early.

Secondly, from the passenger seat (for what it's worth) I was sensing serious, surprising amounts of understeer. Even in moderate to slow speed corners it just didn’t seem to want to turn in and stay on line.. Just wanted to push. I found it quite curious. Tire pressures? Driver input? Suspension setup? Don't know. I have heard that there is a certain way that 911's and GT3's in particular like to work through corners. What that is I'm not sure, but it certainly felt different.

But what an amazing, amazing machine. The sound (what's better than a GT3 upshift or downshift?), seats, cockpit, acceleration, braking Stepping from that directly back into my M3 felt like going from my M3 back into my old E39 M5. The GT3 is just on a completely different level dynamically. I've never been in a car that is so performance focused. It was so cool… That said, it took me all of about ½ lap to recognize again just how special a car the M3 is.

Back on the M3 front I had probably my most successful day yet with hot laps consistently in the 1:48 range, with a few drops to 1:47.8.



Not a bad way to spend a Monday!

[flipm3]

I love Gingerman. It's such a fun and small track. I haven't been there over the past few years and I heard they modified some of the turns, mostly in the back section.

What part of Michigan are you from? I recently just moved here temporarily for school.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by flipm3

I love Gingerman. It's such a fun and small track. I haven't been there over the past few years and I heard they modified some of the turns, mostly in the back section.

What part of Michigan are you from? I recently just moved here temporarily for school.

Hey flip, yep, they extended turn 10 a couple years back. The back straight is now quite a bit longer. Made quite a difference I'd say -- doesn't feel quite as small anymore.

I'm in mid-Michigan. You in E. Lansing or Ann Arbor, or? Hope to see you around sometime.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by LM3

Back on the M3 front I had probably my most successful day yet with hot laps consistently in the 1:48 range, with a few drops to 1:47.8.

Not a bad way to spend a Monday!

I guess that ride in the GT3 gave you a kick in the butt

Thanks for sharing . I also love the GT3RS, especially the 4.0. If we could have a third a car, this would definitely be it. It's been my dream track car for a while now

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

I guess that ride in the GT3 gave you a kick in the butt

Thanks for sharing . I also love the GT3RS, especially the 4.0. If we could have a third a car, this would definitely be it. It's been my dream track car for a while now

Haha, exactly. Was feelin' pretty racy after that.

Re-calibration was certainly in order when I hopped back in the M3. I told the guy that if I let his brake points influence mine I'd be in a whole lot of trouble.

[paradocs98]

Awesome! I saw a white one a few months ago here at a local car show. Even idling and driving at 15mph it sounded amazing.

The drive-by: I'm surprised you're allowed to stand that close to the Armco on that straight.

[Richbot]

Awesome, definitely a future collector's item. Wonder how many will be left after a few years of track duty for (it seems) many of them? Might be the owner is more used to front engine/rear drive cars? 911's generally will push if you try to bring too much speed into the corner with you, have to get your turning done with the fronts loaded because with the throttle applied there's about half a shih-tzu's worth of weight on the front tires. Necessary evil to have stability in high speed stuff with the engine hanging out there behind the wing...

[rzm3]

Nice! Hope to meet you on the race track one of these days!

What was the 4.0's lap times?

[Jaypod]

Nice! Love that car, especially in black!

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by paradocs98

Awesome! I saw a white one a few months ago here at a local car show. Even idling and driving at 15mph it sounded amazing.

The drive-by: I'm surprised you're allowed to stand that close to the Armco on that straight.

Amazing machine for sure.

Pretty close to the action I suppose.. For as long as I've gone to Gingerman I've stood there to have a look at cars coming down the straight, and regularly see spectators right along the armco. There's an observation/flag tower immediately to the right of where I was standing as well. Risky I suppose, but couldn't get close enough to that sound.

Originally Posted by Richbot

Awesome, definitely a future collector's item. Wonder how many will be left after a few years of track duty for (it seems) many of them? Might be the owner is more used to front engine/rear drive cars? 911's generally will push if you try to bring too much speed into the corner with you, have to get your turning done with the fronts loaded because with the throttle applied there's about half a shih-tzu's worth of weight on the front tires. Necessary evil to have stability in high speed stuff with the engine hanging out there behind the wing...

I respect the guy immensely for using the car as intended. I presume that they will hold up well to track duty (right?), but I will say that at the conclusion of our session it was lighting up with coolant and brake warnings.

Regarding cornering I think you're probably right. He was carrying a lot of speed VERY DEEP into the brake zone as described, which probably didn't give the car enough time to get settled, restore balance and load the front tires before turn in.

Originally Posted by RLDZHAO

Nice! Hope to meet you on the race track one of these days!

What was the 4.0's lap times?

Definitely! Season's coming to a close up here man (welcome to the midwest), but hope to run into you next year.

I clocked the 4.0 once at 1:46.3 -- appeared to be a hot lap, but he may have had faster. I know that an R8 V10 on PSS set his best time ever yesterday at 1:46.3.

Originally Posted by Jaypod

Nice! Love that car, especially in black!

Definitely! Before yesterday I thought it was only available in white.

[rzm3]

Originally Posted by LM3

Definitely! Season's coming to a close up here man (welcome to the midwest), but hope to run into you next year.

I will be @ RA 10/13-14. Hopefully it will still be reasonably warm.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by RLDZHAO

I will be @ RA 10/13-14. Hopefully it will still be reasonably warm.

I've done the October RA event with MVP once and had good weather. Almost signed up for it again this year, but decided to try Mid Ohio on the 28th. The 40 and 50 degree days of October are great run temps really, but if it rains as well that can make for a pretty miserable day.

[klammer]

Looks very similar to a 4.0 I've seen a few times this year. Awesome car nice lap times and yes it's the best way to spend Mondays ever

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by klammer

Looks very similar to a 4.0 I've seen a few times this year. Awesome car nice lap times and yes it's the best way to spend Mondays ever

Thanks man! If only they could all be that way.

[Killerfish2012]

Love the 3rd picture: Gatorade, is it in you? The car is so bad a$$ that you need to drink gatorade to pilot the thing! wow, nice lap times. 1:48-1:47. Not bad. Makes me feel good about my 1:53, that I did there a few weeks ago. Gingerman is highly dependent on track conditions for times. My car had some mechanical issues, so I could have easily gone a bit faster. Saw a C6 Z06 with I/H/E in the advanced group, that couldn't break 1:50, and 2 mostly stock E90 M3 sedans that were running 1:55s that day. Clearly the cars could do much better than that, so track conditions are a big factor.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

Love the 3rd picture: Gatorade, is it in you? The car is so bad a$$ that you need to drink gatorade to pilot the thing! wow, nice lap times. 1:48-1:47. Not bad. Makes me feel good about my 1:53, that I did there a few weeks ago. Gingerman is highly dependent on track conditions for times. My car had some mechanical issues, so I could have easily gone a bit faster. Saw a C6 Z06 with I/H/E in the advanced group, that couldn't break 1:50, and 2 mostly stock E90 M3 sedans that were running 1:55s that day. Clearly the cars could do much better than that, so track conditions are a big factor.

Didn't notice the Gatorade. Got to stay hydrated driving that thing!

Thanks. Yes, pretty nice conditions -- mid 60's for most of the day. Only downside was about a 30 mph headwind coming down the back straight. I like to think that I left a couple of tenths on the table because of it.

I've found that seconds are gained and lost at Gingerman in a couple of sections in particular. Turns 5-6, as well as through 8-9 and into 10. Don't know you're way through there and how to keep speed/momentum, forget about sub 1:50. Almost doesn't matter how fast the car is down the straights. A very line dependent track. Part of the reason I enjoy it so much I think.

[dspralph]

any one wanna go to Gingerman next weekend?
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=756935

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by dspralph

any one wanna go to Gingerman next weekend?
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=756935

With good weather believe that I'll be there. What day are you going?

[dspralph]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

With good weather believe that I'll be there. What day are you going?

10/20 Saturday.
At least six M3 are going. Hope you can come.

[klammer]

I'll be there!

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by klammer

I'll be there!

Originally Posted by dspralph

10/20 Saturday.
At least six M3 are going. Hope you can come.

Sounds like a blast. I'll definitely try to make it.

Car at the dealer right now for a diagnosis on my ongoing cold start "grind" issue. So I'll be there pending that outcome.

[GTM_Challenge]

I think the owner of Gingerman, Dan, is picking up a new GT3 (not sure if its going to be an RS) here soon. Very impressive machine.