GreatWhiteNorth

Our local Porsche Club holds an autocross at CFB Namao, our local air force base (planes no longer fly there). It's a great facility due to its proximity to town and the huge runways and taxiways (it was actually one of the alternative landing spots for the Space Shuttle, as it has a loooo-ooooong main runway). Their course is 3 km long, and includes 4 hard stops from approximately 160 mph (did I mention that it involves some high speeds?). Although fast, it is quite technical, and has enough handling portions to dissuade the local Mustang contingent to shy away.

Anyway, I decided to try my 6-speed TL, just to see what it would do. I'm pleased to report that I raised quite a few eyebrows with my big, FWD four-door sedan. Out of 15 or so cars, I was in 3rd place overall when I left after 6 runs (I was feeling guilty about abusing my daily driver - usually the Miata is my autocross car). The only cars ahead of me were a race-prepped 300ZX TT with R-compound tires (99 seconds) and a late-model 911 Cabriolet (103 seconds). My best time was 107.5 seconds, while various other 911s were running 113s and higher. Someone even ran a Cayenne Turbo, which was quite hilarious as it would occasionally slide over some mini marker cones without even brushing them. He must have used up several hundred dollars worth of rubber in the time I was there. He was well over 123 seconds, BTW, which isn't bad for a 5,500 lb truck.

Some observations:

* Best times came with stability and traction control off
* The LSD is incredibly good at putting power down to the ground in high-speed sweepers and when accelerating hard out of 2nd gear corners.
* The car is very stable, even with stability control turned off. Never felt like it was going to bite unexpectedly.
* The rev limiter cuts in even though the car is still pulling strongly. Took a few runs to learn when to shift (by ear and some peripheral vision).
* The Brembo brakes are bloody awesome. Never faded (although I did make them smoke for a couple of runs - must have finally bedded them in properly). They bite even better once hot, and it's almost like braking during the last 50 feet is even more vicious.
* Top speeds on the back straight was about 150 km/h, which apparently is within 5-10 km/h of where the late model Porsches are. Speeds were also sapped somewhat by an exceptionally hot day.
* 6 runs used over a quarter tank of gas.
* The Bridgestone HPT are very good. No squealing and no surprises - just lots and lots of grip. There was a bit of excess wear on the front edges, but nothing too bad. Cold pressures were 46/42 F/R.
* No cooling issues were noted, and no oil was consumed.

All in all, great fun made better by doing well. I'll try to get some photos posted later on.

Aegir

Wow! Sounds like a blast! Always nice to hear about the TL showing of its sporty side.

JoganJani

NIce report. I'm happy I bought 6MT.

Hal

Just watch out... registering for autocross can void your warranty.

NJ Aegean 03

He's right... My friend's father recently bought an EVO VIII and took it to an Autocross event. The very next time he took the car to the dealer, they informed him that they have voided his warranty because he took part/registered in an Autocross event. Not sure if it's legal in every sense, but they are doing it.

apwalsh

Thanks you for sharing your experience with us. Now I need to find something like that in NY!

Republican TL

they have autox at the Nassau Colisseum a lot. Go to the SCCA website...should give you a listing of clubs and events.

caball88

sweet news, was your car stock 6MT or with a-spec suspension? fwd cars usually do pretty well in autocross. but besides the point its pretty cool that a big 4 door sedan was able to run with some sport coupes.

GreatWhiteNorth

Mine is a stock 6-speed with HPT (which is standard in Canada). A-Spec wasn't available when I got mine last fall, and lowering the car isn't advisable considering the state of our roads and the potential for snow drifts.

The TL never ceases to amaze me. I took it on a Miata Club run this spring (my turbo Miata was ailing) and was able to run with anyone in the club on some amazing roads. Some of our club members have pretty wazoo turbocharged Miatas and are pretty darn good drivers, so I was very pleased that I didn't hold them up any. At the end of the weekend, I was feeling a lot more refreshed than I would have if I'd taken the Miata

seamg

Great Stuff!

lakeman

Great Job in the autoX with your TL!
As an X 911 owner (5 years with an 88), I too continue to be amazed by the TL. It reminds me so much of my 911 in performance especially braking and power. And unlike the 911, the handling is much more predictable.

seamg

Lakeman- can you give some more detail on your comparision between TL and 911?

lakeman

The 1988 911 Carrera was one of the last of the original rear drive 6 cylinder Porsches. After that they started changing them to make them more modern, while keeping the style pertty much the same. I had just sold mine when I moved to the lake and decided I needed a car with real rear seats. I spent nearly a year looking for my next car, and found the TL had a lot of the fun (in 6MT form) that the 911 had.

The pre "stabilty control" 911 was a very rear heavy car and tends to come around especially when applying too much power in a takeoff with a turn. In this respect the TL and 911 are very different. The TL has never been dangerous or out of control and of course the RWD vs FWD is different. However, the 911 and TL both have a lot of power, a similar power to weight ratio and both are driven by two wheels. They feel similarly quick and powerful but with both you need to apply power moderately at times. The 911 is an incredible braking machine and I was amazed a how close the TL was in stopping ability. The HPT's as well as the Brembos deserve much of the credit. Also the gearbox and clutch in the TL are so smooth they are actually better than the vaulted 911. And amazingly in handling the TL easily matched the 911 on some of my "beachmark" turns on a local curvy road. So in a nut shell The TL and late 80's 911 while very different in form and drive wheel location, have a very similar driving feel - sporty, fast, and well connected.

A final word. The 911 was not a modern car and you could tell it. It was crude, had no features to speak of, rough ride, cramped, poor air cond, on and on. The TL is a totally different car in this respect - smooth, well appointed, incredible features - and on and on.

Sarlacc

Great write up, I was quite curious how these would perform in such an event ( I autoX my 2.3CL) And I feared they wouldnt be so hot cause they are larger cars ( the CL isnt thaaat great, good, but not great) So I glad to run across this.

Zeuser

What class was the TL in? Obviously stock but what other cars in the SCCA classification would go up against it?

Coming in 3rd overall probably means you won the class too. In which case, congrats on both.

GreatWhiteNorth

We're not quite so formal up here. There is no official classification system when we run with the Porsche guys. Actually, most of the local clubs don't use the SCCA classification system. A couple use a Canadian variation, which has its own rules and isn't comparable.

I like the informality, and it makes for better bench-racing after the fact.

neuronbob

Awesome write up. I wish we had a club around here like that. Or an abandoned airport we could use that way.

Oh yeah....

GreatWhiteNorth

Yeah, yeah, I'm working on it. One of my friends took pics with his new Canon SLR digital camera, but he can't e-mail them to me because each is over 10 MB in size. I'll have to go over there one of these evenings with a CD-R.

And no, I won't post files that big. I'll reduce them significantly first.

jeeper31

I autocross my porsche on Long Island. We usually meet at Nassau Colliseum or the Robert Plan building in Bethpage. I think the next one is august 7th.

Burgman

The TL runs in G Stock.

http://www.panamscca.org/solo_results.htm

Hugh9269

A first rate post! Love to hear that sports sedans like the TL, do so well on the track. Congrats again on the great drivin skills as well!!

Hugh9269

Nice link!!!