The start of Brainerd International Raceway‘s 2016 track season is officially in the books.  We attended PCA’s First Fling with the 7 Porsches we prepped during the winter months here at 311RS. As luck would have it, we were greeted with cool, dry track conditions which provided us with the perfect testbed to start the season.

Before digging into our complete coverage from the event, we’re excited to discuss the first Porsche 991 GT3 we’ve built. This car was reworked from the ground up here in Minneapolis, MN. The setup features a wide range of components from our technical partners and an updated version of our proven chassis setup.

Inside, the car is running a BBI Autosport bolt-in roll bar sitting behind the first set of 311RS-spec Recaro Profi XLs. We built these in collaboration with JPM Coachworks using only factory materials (think leather, stitching, alcantara, etc.) to produce the most factory-like aftermarket seats on the market.

For those who did not, or were not unable to order the factory lightweight bucket seats, these are a great option to preserve the factory look & feel of your Porsche while reducing weight and adding stability for the occupants. We are now accepting custom orders to match any Porsche interior specification. Please contact us between 8a-8p EST to discuss your options.

The exterior of the car runs with a similar formula; factory-like appearance with much improved performance. The wider 19″ center-lock BBS E88s we developed alongside BBS Motorsport  are right at home at this weekend’s track event. The car is running a track-focused chassis setup to take advantage of the 265/35/19 & 325/30/19 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s and the grip that comes with them.

It’s worth noting that our track-focused chassis setup is entirely usable on the street. The setup is focused on reducing lap times, but not to the extent of a track-specific alignment which would eat up tires. 

BIR’s long straights and tough braking zones are powerful tools while testing a braking system’s capability & overall efficiency.  Any shortcomings are exposed early in the process. This weekend would be our first test with Girodisc’s new two-piece front & rear brake rotors.

Their newly-released design improves the rotor’s efficiency and cooling capacity over stock. And because of their thickness, the working life of the rotor is significantly increased. Being this is the first test with these rotors, we installed a fresh set of OEM brake pads to give us a performance benchmark.

On track those brakes did not disappoint. The setup performed as intended and we were left with a solid pedal at the end of each 30 session. A great start to the evaluation of this GT3.

As for the rest of the setup? The car was hooked up out of the box. In order to establish a baseline setup for the car, we leaned heavily on the information gathered last season in the early stages of our 991 GT3 program. With that in hand, we then optimized the chassis setup to achieve our goal of maximizing the wider Michelins fitted to the car.

It all came together in a well-balanced, fun to drive package that was 2.3 seconds quicker than the fastest lap we ran all of 2015. The winter months brought us 19″ wheels, wider tires, and a more aggressive chassis setup. On a track like BIR, grip is king. And the wider Michelins proved their worth on the first 311RS-built Porsche 991 GT3. Mission accomplished.

Next up we’ll have complete coverage from this year’s PCA First Fling, including individual spotlights on each 311RS Porsche unit on hand.

We’re happy to report the first PCA event of the 2016 season was a success. The weekend agenda was filled with shakedowns, tire tests, and even a new car break-in.

In total we had eight Porsches up at Brainerd International Raceway with us. The oldest being Ryan’s personal 1987 930 project, and the newest a freshly produced 991 GT3 by 311RS.

We gathered mountains of data from a multitude of Porsche platforms over three days, a perfect start to the season. Lucky for us, two talented MN-based photographers joined us for the weekend. Both Peter Lapinski and Kris Clewell  are working overtime to finish up their media from the weekend, we’ll share the rest of their work along with plenty more information here shortly.

A simple car wash to end the day. Sometimes there’s just nothing better.

We have completed the final round suspension setup changes on our 981 Cayman S development unit. Shortly after an evaluation drive, all the car needed was a nice wash and detail.

What a feeling it is. We’ll spend more time on the road with this one before (hopefully) bringing it out bright and early for MN C&C this Saturday, May 7th.

We’re headed up to BIR for PCA First Fling in a few hours now, here’s a look back at the week leading up to our first track event of the season.

This freshly completed 991 GT3 by 311RS has enjoyed only a taste of the road up until now. Even so, this meant it was time to we take a look around the car in preparation for this weekend’s festivities.

First priority was to nut & bolt the new 311RS 991 GT3 unit. We’ve touched nearly every aspect of the car during production but we’ve battled Minnesota’s spring weather for driving time. BIR will be this GT3s first real test as a 311RS.

Brakes will be a focal point this weekend. BIR’s long straights and tight braking sections punish a car’s braking components. Our goal is to combat this with a few key upgrades from Girodisc and Castrol.

Fresh oil of course.

A check of the wheels and tires. Pressures were set and we’re curious to see how these wider 265/35/19 & 325/30/19 Sport Cup 2s (front and rear respectively) fare compared to the OEM 20″ Sport Cup 2s.

And the car is all set for BIR. We’ll have more to share once we’re up at the track.

In addition the GT3 prep, we managed to squeeze in a few other projects this week. This pristine 997 GT3 RS 4.0 was delivered to it’s owner on Monday. We performed a few services to make this one “right”. These things don’t need much, but a little love can go a long way. More on this one after the weekend.

Next we finished up this gorgeous Forest Green ’89 964 C4. This one is on JRZs, Michelins, & BBS wheels. It will be up at BIR with us for a shakedown. This one is a treat! We’ll dig deeper into this one after gathering some setup data this weekend.

An M badge?? What do we have here…

Well, well. It’s a brand new BMW M2. This one is headed straight the track to be broken in properly. But first, we swapped out the OEM pads for Pagid Yellows and flushed the fluid with Castrol SRF.

This is going to be fun. This M2 is equipped with the standard manual transmission. Perfect.

There is much more to cover, but it’s time to load up! Look for an update come Saturday or Sunday morning once we’ve gotten these puppies up to temperature. Have a nice weekend, everyone.

991 GT3s are delivered with paper filters from the factory. As far as paper filters go, they are actually quite nice. However, they are not serviceable and BMC RS filters are.

Here you can see the difference between the two. Not only are the BMC RS filters serviceable, they will flow more air directly into the throttle body. If you would like a set for your 991 GT3 they’re available for $225. Call or email to order – (612) 547-9311 or info@311RS.com

As for the Akrapovic Race exhaust system, it’s trick – 49lbs of weight is removed from the rear of the car and in combination with a tune (EvoMS in this case), the car makes an additional ~40whp. We’d like to have the car on the dyno prior to BIR next weekend, so we’ll wait to confirm the power output until then.

And here is a look behind the veil of a 311RS GT3. Each upgrade is key to the final setup of the car. Plus, just look at those meats. The car is running 325/30/19 Michelin Sport Cup 2s on a set of 19×12.5 BBS E88s.

Someone has a case of the Mondays..

Founded by a former Porsche engineer, we’ve ran Girodisc braking components for the better part of 10 years.

The relationship began in 2006 with Ryan’s Evo IX track car. Together, Ryan and Girodisc pioneered a track developed, street prepared braking package comprised of Girodisc two-piece rotors front & rear, specially formulated brake pads, stainless lines, and Castrol SRF. The package proved lethal on track and totally drivable on the road.

During our time with the Evo X platform, we turned to Girodisc to create the ultimate in braking efficiency for the platform. We ran the package on our championship-winning Time Attack program as well as our 11-unit 311RS Evo X production run.

With the introduction of our 311RS Porsche program, Girodisc is once again a major component in making each 311RS perform just as it should. Our 981 Cayman S package features Girodisc’s upgraded 340mm front (OEM 330mm) & 325mm rear (OEM 298mm) rotors and all the accompaniments.

Each 991 GT3 that visits 311RS also receives our new Girodisc braking components. These new rotors feature more swept area, thicker rotor walls, and much improved cooling efficiency.

We’re two weeks away from our first track event of the year. We’ll have four (4) 311RS Porsches up with us and each equipped with Girodisc braking components. We’ll follow up with a complete report on the weekend. If you’re in need of a braking upgrade, we can help choose the system that’s right for your application. And as a partner with Girodisc, we can provide braking results at a great price.

Call us between 8a-8p EST at (612) 547-9311 or email info@311RS.com for pricing.

Yes it snowed, but it’s Minnesota after-all.. We weren’t going to miss the chance to preview our first production 311RS GT3 ahead of it’s official debut at BIR on the 29th.

The chilly 34* weather thinned the heard a bit. We still managed to get some break-in miles on 311RS GT3 #01 so all was not lost.

We haven’t covered the first production in complete detail just yet, however you can see there are a set of 311RS Recaros in the car. For more details, check out our earlier post here.

PCA First Fling can’t come soon enough! Let’s hope it brings with it some warmer weather so we can get some temp in the tires.

Thanks to Alex Bellus for taking a few shots of the car during the event. 

If at first you don’t succeed… As a follow-up to our original story on the 981 Cayman S, seen here, read on below.

Think of chassis setup as a steak. Each steak has it’s sweet spot, yet every person prefers their steak cooked differently. As for what is correct, temperature, just like lap times, typically dictates the setup. However, with a street-driven car personal “taste” plays an equal role, just as it would during a steak dinner.

Our 981 Cayman S dev unit is outfitted with 311RS-spec JRZ RS2s. The setup is inherently track-focused and as such, runs a fairly stiff spring. Contrary to our previous 311RS Evo X units, some of us found the 981 Cayman platform does not need as stiff of a spring to achieve the balance we strive for, especially during street driving.

The 981 Cayman chassis is so nice and stiff that the springs seemed to overwhelm the platform on the especially bumpy Minnesota roads. Even with rebound and compression adjustability via the 311RS-spec JRZ RS2s, we couldn’t completely rid the chassis of it’s bouncy ride quality. So the call was made to move to a 50% softer spring package. And the results were immediate.

We took the car out the next morning to get a feel for the new setup. As mentioned, the results were immediate. The car rides really nice. It’s smooth and plush, but not without any platform at all.

The car is a pleasure to drive. After a few drives with the new springs setup, the car had settled from our previous chassis setup which means it’s time to refresh the chassis setup before PCA First Fling at BIR next month.

We’ve got a few weeks until track season opens in Minnesota. The first for us is PCA’s First Fling at BIR on April 29-May 1 2016.

Snow yesterday, sun today. It’s definitely springtime here in MN.

By now, let’s hope everyone’s cars are coming together nicely. These two freshly completed 311RS Porsches will be up at BIR with us for First Fling.

Were also gathering up the essentials for the weekend. Tools, gauges, spray detailer/wash, etc. New for this season, we’ll be offering our 311RS jacks stands to folks outside the program. These lightweight, hand-built, all aluminum jack stands reach up to 22 1/8″, or nearly 6″ higher than a typical jack stand.

They’re made to order and available painted or powder coated for $495 + shipping. If you’d like a set of our 311RS jack stands, drop us a line at info@311RS.com or call (612) 547-9311 and we’d be happy to build a set(s) for you or your team.

We’ve prepared the first 311RS 991 GT3 production unit to kick things off for 2016. Here are a few of the details that help define the 311RS program on this particular GT3.

First we see a BBi bolt-in roll bar painted in factory Carrara White Metallic to match the exterior. BBi has done a great job producing a bar that fits well and installs with relative ease. It looks like it came from the factory.

Next up we worked with our braking partners at Girodisc to produce a stout two-piece rotor for the 991 GT3. We were able to fit thicker-than-OEM rotors between the calipers which will help with heat management and rotor longevity, all without adding any weight to the formula.

Speaking of calipers, we’ve coated them in our signature 311RS Blue. We use a screen printing process for the logo application for an OEM-like finish.

We use a portion of BBi’s suspension components to solidify the chassis and take advantage of the more aggressive alignment settings used with our 19″ BBS E88 package.

Here’s a look at the complete front corner setup on 311RS GT3 #01.

And a look at the rear. So how do these details, in combination with the rest of the 311RS setup, come together out on the road?

A drive on the morning of 3/11/16 confirmed we got it right. The car is sharp and packed with mechanical grip. Yet even on these winter-cracked MN roads the GT3 handles the road surface irregularities without much fuss.

It’s a lovely combination of function and form.

Until next time…

To see how we got to this point with the 991 GT3 chassis, please refer to our previous 991 GT3 case studies – 991 GT3 Six Month Review, 991 GT3 Initial setup, Further Testing at BIR, and finally The 311RS Porsche Program