GT3 RS on track
Hi guys!
I was back yesterday from my trip to the US, and had a very hard and boring task ahead of me: racking up the last 400 kms for break in, in order to arrive at today's Monza trackday able to use all the powerband on offer from Weissach's flat 6.
I went out with fellow Rennteamer MaxT, and we opted for a journey consisting of: high speed highway, followed by very curvy and technical highway(which was wet!!), and sinuous coastal B-road.
The RS behaved superbly, attacking the curvy part of the highway with great composure and body control, even on a wet slippery surface.
We had a very funny moment when I exited a corner with full opposite lock and very sideways, only to find a policeman who was controling traffic that, not believing what he was seeing , jumped right in the middle of the street to stop us and gave us not one but two tickets...
Going back home in the evening I finally surpassed the 1000 kms magic barrier, and it was time to let all hell break loose!!!
What an engine!I felt it very torquey and full in every gear, but the joy really lays above 6000 revs.The thing just gets propelled above that threshehold, while there is a noticeable hardening of the sound to go with it.
The way it accelerates even at very high speeds is incredible for a NA engine, suffice to say that I could easily get 318 kmh on the digital speedo with 7300 rpms on the clock!
You need a firm hand at these speeds, since the chassis already comes with a fairly aggressive suspension set up, with noticeable camber both front and rear.In comparison the GT2 came with a much more foolproof type of set up from the factory, allowing it to be more planted at these speed, this is a fair tradeoff to have a type of turn in a GT2 driver would dream of...
And now to the real test: the track.
And what better track than our own playground, one of the fastest circuits in the world: Monza racetrack.
I was adamant that I wouldn't have any laps timed, I wanted this day to be an encounter and an approach to the nature and limits of the car, and thought that lap times would put too much pressure.
During the first run I tried to stay under 7000 revs, to acclimatise with the car, and also because the temperature was near 0 and surface very slippery.The first thing to impress me was the stopping power: this system coupled with the relative low weight of the RS gives it a tremendous stopping power, better than the Modena with Pagid black pads, and better than the GT2.I was enjoying it so much that I started to brake later and later and eventually cooked up the pads a bit. But that is only down to my own nature, the system was really standing up greatly to the task.
During the second run I went out with MaxT and we did some very nice and clean laps together, I'm very happy that he's handled the tricky transition from the M3 to the GT3 extremely well, and was already prooving to be very quick on his yellow beast.
During the 3rd run I had a nice encounter with a well driven Mitsubishi EVO7 RS Sprint with semi slick tyres, and at thi moment I realised what a weapon the GT3 RS is: I played with the Mitsu for a couple of laps, but as I started to up the pace the white EVO Sprint was just a distant memory...
Even though the brake pedal had lenghtened considerably due to my first laps' eagerness, the brakes were still performing well so I decided to go out for another session.
Even though traffic was horrible at this time I was able to push the envelope a bit more, and really work the RS in the bends at (sometimes over) the limit, the first thing you notice about in corner behaviour, is that the turn in is very sharp:
to let you understand the dynamic and response, it's like having a lot of camber, on the straight ahead the steering feels a bit light and aloof, but as soon as you think of cornering you find yourself diving for the apex, so much that you have to be quick to correct any approach of the back end, even on turn in.Mid bend the composure is astonishing, body control is more race car than street car.Traction is simply enormous, and even if oversteer is provoked at corner exit it is easily catchable.But this is not a car you want to fool around with, it' s just so effective!
One minor let down though are the tyres: if compared to regular street tyres, they are very nice and grippy even handle well in the rain.But don't expect a level of grip close to that of real semi slick tyres like Michelin Cup, or even the regular Corsa.All in all they are a perfect winter trackday tyre.
Ok so some of you know me: I couldn't resist and timed a couple of laps, and I'm glad to say that even if hampered by heavy traffic I already bettered my best time with the Modena by one second.
Oh, by the way, a Challenge Stradale was also present today, driven by a very cocky supposed Challenge driver.
His best was 5 secs behind...
I was back yesterday from my trip to the US, and had a very hard and boring task ahead of me: racking up the last 400 kms for break in, in order to arrive at today's Monza trackday able to use all the powerband on offer from Weissach's flat 6.
I went out with fellow Rennteamer MaxT, and we opted for a journey consisting of: high speed highway, followed by very curvy and technical highway(which was wet!!), and sinuous coastal B-road.
The RS behaved superbly, attacking the curvy part of the highway with great composure and body control, even on a wet slippery surface.
We had a very funny moment when I exited a corner with full opposite lock and very sideways, only to find a policeman who was controling traffic that, not believing what he was seeing , jumped right in the middle of the street to stop us and gave us not one but two tickets...
Going back home in the evening I finally surpassed the 1000 kms magic barrier, and it was time to let all hell break loose!!!
What an engine!I felt it very torquey and full in every gear, but the joy really lays above 6000 revs.The thing just gets propelled above that threshehold, while there is a noticeable hardening of the sound to go with it.
The way it accelerates even at very high speeds is incredible for a NA engine, suffice to say that I could easily get 318 kmh on the digital speedo with 7300 rpms on the clock!
You need a firm hand at these speeds, since the chassis already comes with a fairly aggressive suspension set up, with noticeable camber both front and rear.In comparison the GT2 came with a much more foolproof type of set up from the factory, allowing it to be more planted at these speed, this is a fair tradeoff to have a type of turn in a GT2 driver would dream of...
And now to the real test: the track.
And what better track than our own playground, one of the fastest circuits in the world: Monza racetrack.
I was adamant that I wouldn't have any laps timed, I wanted this day to be an encounter and an approach to the nature and limits of the car, and thought that lap times would put too much pressure.
During the first run I tried to stay under 7000 revs, to acclimatise with the car, and also because the temperature was near 0 and surface very slippery.The first thing to impress me was the stopping power: this system coupled with the relative low weight of the RS gives it a tremendous stopping power, better than the Modena with Pagid black pads, and better than the GT2.I was enjoying it so much that I started to brake later and later and eventually cooked up the pads a bit. But that is only down to my own nature, the system was really standing up greatly to the task.
During the second run I went out with MaxT and we did some very nice and clean laps together, I'm very happy that he's handled the tricky transition from the M3 to the GT3 extremely well, and was already prooving to be very quick on his yellow beast.
During the 3rd run I had a nice encounter with a well driven Mitsubishi EVO7 RS Sprint with semi slick tyres, and at thi moment I realised what a weapon the GT3 RS is: I played with the Mitsu for a couple of laps, but as I started to up the pace the white EVO Sprint was just a distant memory...
Even though the brake pedal had lenghtened considerably due to my first laps' eagerness, the brakes were still performing well so I decided to go out for another session.
Even though traffic was horrible at this time I was able to push the envelope a bit more, and really work the RS in the bends at (sometimes over) the limit, the first thing you notice about in corner behaviour, is that the turn in is very sharp:
to let you understand the dynamic and response, it's like having a lot of camber, on the straight ahead the steering feels a bit light and aloof, but as soon as you think of cornering you find yourself diving for the apex, so much that you have to be quick to correct any approach of the back end, even on turn in.Mid bend the composure is astonishing, body control is more race car than street car.Traction is simply enormous, and even if oversteer is provoked at corner exit it is easily catchable.But this is not a car you want to fool around with, it' s just so effective!
One minor let down though are the tyres: if compared to regular street tyres, they are very nice and grippy even handle well in the rain.But don't expect a level of grip close to that of real semi slick tyres like Michelin Cup, or even the regular Corsa.All in all they are a perfect winter trackday tyre.
Ok so some of you know me: I couldn't resist and timed a couple of laps, and I'm glad to say that even if hampered by heavy traffic I already bettered my best time with the Modena by one second.
Oh, by the way, a Challenge Stradale was also present today, driven by a very cocky supposed Challenge driver.
His best was 5 secs behind...
