Is a 944 supposed to be an overdog in ITS?

[Newbie]

Hi,

I'm not selling home loans, or sex, but thank you for looking at my post....

In the ITS world, Porsche 944's are not supposed to dominate are they? The reason I ask is there are a couple of them running in the midwest that seem a bit too powerful for ITS cars. I understand that a great driver in a slower car can beat a newbie in a faster one, but this is different.

GRM had an article on the top 5 entry level race cars (or something like that) a few issues ago. They talked about cost, and advantages of the various cars, and then they listed an aproximate lap time around a certain course. In this write up, the Porsche 944 and Mazda Miata had similar lap times.

What I am seeing is 944's out pulling BMW 325's with the Miatas being a disappearing dot in the rear view mirror. Yes corner speed is important and exit speed is king, but these things just jump out of the corners. As for levels of experience, I've never seen (2 years watching) the guy in the 325 get beat in ITS, and he's been racing cars for 16 years. The guy in the 944 is a very good driver, but can he be that good??

So here's the question: Should a 944 be as fast or faster than a well driven, well prepped BMW 325? What about the other ITS cars in comparison.

[lateapex911]

Tough to say. Is it a 944S? How well prepped is the 325? Who are the players? How do they run against the big National players in the class? Sometimes a fast car can seem unreasonably fast...then you see him next to Chet Whitttle or Huffmaster or somebody, and they don't look so um....unreal.

[924Guy]

I'd love to know what track this comparison is coming from too. I'm thinking either it must be an S, or the 325 guy has fallen on hard times. Lap time comparisons? Of course, then we'd be borderline on ID'ing a cheater, but... :018:

[Newbie]

These are just plain old early model 944's. Not an S or an S2. I know one has a 2.7 L engine, and the other is using a 16 valve head.

The only comparison I can draw is that the BMW easily beat a driver in a 240Z who has run 3 cendiv races, 1 win and 2 2nds in 2006.

The BMW is well kept and runs times 3/4 of a second behind the track record at Blackhawk Farms.
One of the 944's beat the SCCA track record by 4/10ths at the same track (we don't run SCCA, and his time was recorded in an EP race since they dual stint the car, no changes are made between class races). The other one is about 0.8 seconds behind the track record. FWIW, a second gen RX-7 driven by Rich Walke holds the record.

Are legal 944's that fast, even with the second coming of Juan Manuel Fangio?

[shwah]

Is this the 4 door BMW? If yes I met him at Autobahn - real nice guy. The car is very well prepped, but are they now running restrictors on the E36? It seems I recall him talking about working hard to regain some lost time, and not feeling confident about being able to bring it down the ITR weight if he decided to ditch the restrictor.

This would account for a difference years past to this year vs. 944s.

[JLawton]

I know one has a 2.7 L engine, and the other is using a 16 valve head.

[/b]

Then these aren't early regular 944's. Early 944 had a 2.5 with 8v.

[924Guy]

Yeah, really. Or Euro pistons??? :bash_1_:

[Newbie]

<_<
Sooo, they are most probably outside the regulations for ITS???

You may have met him at Autobahn, it&#39;s black with neon yellow accents. When were you there? I was there racing with him this April.

[lateapex911]

Depends on which post you are responding to.

944S is an ITS car. It needs to meet the specs in the ITCS for weight, brake size, trans gears, etc. 2850 lbs. and so on. As the cars are on different spec lines, you can&#39;t run a 944S motor in a normal 944 body.

And certainly not a 944S motor in a 944 body at the 944 2 Valve weight.

And if he has pistons that don&#39;t meet the replacement piston specs, then it&#39;s a problem as well.

IF you really feel theres shady stuff going on, have a chat with him. Sometimes guys do things unknowingly, and are horrified to find that they&#39;ve crossed the line, and will be thankful to you for nicely pointing it out. Or if he doesn&#39;t care, and it&#39;s blatant, like the lighter weight spec being used with the 4V motor, well, then you have a dilemna on your hands, LOL>

[Racefreak24]

Man Im building a probe gt for ITS.....you would have to restrict everyone and I would still need a miricle to get a top 5. The only thing dissapearing will be the Porsch, Bm&#39;s and RX7s out my windshield. :P

[shwah]

<_<
Sooo, they are most probably outside the regulations for ITS???

You may have met him at Autobahn, it&#39;s black with neon yellow accents. When were you there? I was there racing with him this April.
[/b]

I met him in July there. I honestly don&#39;t recall the paint scheme. It was a very clean car and he was a one man show.

[924Guy]

I do know of an ITS-prepped 924S, black with yellow accents, but he runs NASA/GTS1, and don&#39;t believe he runs IT at all...