Emira track impressions

[gwman]

First track day in the Emira, at Road Atlanta, previously have 20+ days in a modified 2011 Cayman S manual.
First, the cars:
Previous: 2011 Cayman S manual (320 HP/270 lb-ft) with $10k in suspension (MCS 2 way remotes, Tarett etc), racing seat, stock engine, sport mode, 3rd radiator, Pagid pads, on RE71RS or Yoko AO52s.
Now: Emira V6 automatic(!) sport/cup2, PFC 08 pads and Castrol brake fluid, antigravity battery, otherwise stock including alignment

Lap times: Cayman best - 1:42.6. Emira - 1:43.5, much closer than I expected!
top speeds: Cayman - 138. Emira - 144.
Note that I'd say I was pushing the Cayman at about 9, Emira at about 8.5 since the Emira is much more precious! Cornering speeds were all lower in the Emira but the HP made up for it. The MCS suspension is sublime on track, but the Emira wasn't far off.

Positives:
The engine and gearbox are legit. I've attached a plot of acceleration on the back straight compared to the Cayman. Y'all can poo-poo the IPS automatic but it's lightning quick in track mode (see the dips where I'm shifting the Cayman) and almost always got the right gear. It felt better on the track than it does on the street. Only issue was occasionally in turn 5 it would stay in 4th instead of dropping to 3rd. Engine stayed strong throughout the warm afternoon, whereas the Cayman would start to lose power as it got hot out, even with a 3rd radiator.

Track mode was great. I started in Sport for a few laps and I hit understeer pretty quickly. Track mode felt invisible.

Cup 2s felt pretty good, best at 30-32 PSI F, 32-34 PSI R for me. I didn't play too much with pressures but they definitely got slick above 35. I did not drive in the brief rain.

The Alcantara seat was "good enough" though I was definitely sore from bracing myself on the steering wheel. Leather would not have been good.

Even at the track, the Emira gets way more attention than any Porsche and it looks great with a number on it!

Negatives:
The brakes. A slight brush is OK (turn 5), full on mash is great (turn 10a), but anything in between is hard to get right (turns 1, 3, 6). They feel very digital which really hurt turns 1 and 6. I don't think pads will fix it, probably need a different master cylinder. I do wonder, the manual mentions that Hydraulic Brake Assist is active in all modes, so maybe that's an issue.

Oddities:
The tow hook is reverse-threaded! Weird. Also, that rubber cover for the threads was immediately lost upon removal.
The in-car G-meter lies big time. It was saying 1.5, reality was 1.1, maybe 1.2.

All in all, it was a great day out! I'm not sure how many more I'll do since it's a long haul for me to most tracks, but it was fun to see how it would compare to the Cayman on a track I know well.

 

[gwman]

Video Link (I think) to second best lap:

 

[gcmak]

Video Link (I think) to second best lap:

love to see these Emiras on track - no matter how many times I watch a lap around RA, I keep forgetting how much speed you can build on the back straight.

 

[Lotus64]

Video Link (I think) to second best lap:

Beautiful

 

[Chriscpm]

Negatives:
The brakes. A slight brush is OK (turn 5), full on mash is great (turn 10a), but anything in between is hard to get right (turns 1, 3, 6). They feel very digital which really hurt turns 1 and 6. I don't think pads will fix it, probably need a different master cylinder. I do wonder, the manual mentions that Hydraulic Brake Assist is active in all modes, so maybe that's an issue.

I thought this was interesting. My coach in Miami thought the brakes in my Emira were not enough soon enough. He said his old Caymen was setup like your Boxter. He went there the first time last month and ripped 1:37, so the next level in driving. But with a newer Cayman.

I thought my Emira had decent touch. For sure it changes with different pads. I just picked up a Cayman 981 for my summer car up north. I'll know more after this week. I took that out Saturday with bad tires. Couldn't really turn (new wheels and tires on the way), but the brakes were quite different. It seemed liek the same brake point had me over slowed.

I'll have the Ferodo 1.11s on the Emira tomorrow. Then the new tire/wheel setup on teh Cayman for Saturday. I'll know way more after those two events.

 

[OppositeLock]

Maybe the brake feel is just relative to what you are used to. I tracked my Elise for 16 years and got very used to its brakes, and compared to it, the Emira's brakes are difficult to modulate. My first track day was on EBC SR-11 pads, and those completely overpowered the tires (Supersports) and were very difficult to modulate, but the initial bite was so strong that every braking zone started with a little slide, not ideal.

So, I bought some EBC RP1 pads for the next track day, but having destroyed those Supersports in 1 day, I also bought the LTS PS2's. RP1 + PS2 was a very nice combination where the brakes and tires were balanced, and modulation was ok.

For my 3rd track day, I upgraded the tires to Dunlop Sport Race Maxx, and went with the RP1. Here, the tires had enough grip that I think more aggressive pads would improve braking.

I'm still hunting around for what feels great to me, as a learn this car. In the Elise, my favorite streetable track tire was the RE71RS + Carbotech XP12 pads. Favorite non-streetable setup was Yokohama A005 + CL RC6.

I think next up, I might try Hoosiers with those SR11's again, but this is a whole new headache since I have to tow the car to the track, and I find that annoying.

 

[jp129]

Have you ever tried PFC pads before? If you haven't and you're looking for something different, I'd recommend you try a set. They aren't cheap, but very good characteristics all around.

While I agree that the Emira brakes are overboosted, I'm able to modulate the brakes to my liking. Naturally it was not like that in the beginning, I needed some time to get acquitanted with it. But now both street (with different pad) and track, I can threshold, release, and modulate to my liking.

I've had great success with PFC pads on other platforms and tried the 15 compound in the front and 08 in the rear for this car, for track work only.

 

[OppositeLock]

I'll try them next time. I've still got a new set of RP1's to work through in my parts bin, and I'll try the PFC's. Thanks for the tip.

 

[gcmak]

The comparison of the Cayman comes up often, but the Emiras 39/61 weight distribution mimics a 911 much more than a Caymans 46/54 distribution.

 

[jp129]

I'll try them next time. I've still got a new set of RP1's to work through in my parts bin, and I'll try the PFC's. Thanks for the tip.

I source PFC pads from the folks at SpeedFreaks. Great service/support and good pricing. If you have questions about which compounds to try, give their team a shout and they'll steer you in the right direction.

 

[jp129]

The comparison of the Cayman comes up often, but the Emiras 39/61 weight distribution mimics a 911 much more than a Caymans 46/54 distribution.

This is what my V6 touring with a full tank of fuel and no driver looks like. OEM config aside from 3rd cat del and tools removed.

 

[gwman]

I thought this was interesting. My coach in Miami thought the brakes in my Emira were not enough soon enough. He said his old Caymen was setup like your Boxter. He went there the first time last month and ripped 1:37, so the next level in driving. But with a newer Cayman.

I thought my Emira had decent touch. For sure it changes with different pads. I just picked up a Cayman 981 for my summer car up north. I'll know more after this week. I took that out Saturday with bad tires. Couldn't really turn (new wheels and tires on the way), but the brakes were quite different. It seemed liek the same brake point had me over slowed.

I'll have the Ferodo 1.11s on the Emira tomorrow. Then the new tire/wheel setup on teh Cayman for Saturday. I'll know way more after those two events.

Yeah, the previous discussion of pads is what made me try the PFCs, which I got from Discoveryparts. I picked the 08's based on their lower Mu.

Thinking about it more, maybe I should describe it as non-linearity in behavior during depress. I try to apply the brakes to what I think is the right pressure/travel based on the last lap, nope it's too much, back off as needed. That's what makes me think it's something with the HBA, where a slight change in positive pressure at the pedal results in a large increase in braking, but releasing the pedal is more linear.

The Cayman (stock calipers/master cylinder with various Pagids) had a lot of pedal travel, but I could find the right pressure more consistently and it was the same pressing/releasing.

I didn't find the difference in weight balance very noticeable but I wasn't at the hairy edge. My few slides were controlled easily enough. I do like that the extra horses compared to the Cayman showed up!

 

[jp129]

I think I better understand what you mean now. Did it seem to happen at certain braking areas or was this happening every time you were on the brakes?

I'm also wondering what your tire temps were like as well.

When I start to overheat tires, I get inconsistent braking, but for me, my data suggests that it's a combination of the tire losing ultimate grip and me overdriving the car to compensate, which compounds the problem further. I need to be better at taking a chill lap to let the tires recover

 

[gwman]

I think I better understand what you mean now. Did it seem to happen at certain braking areas or was this happening every time you were on the brakes?

Braking zones which require non-maximal braking are the issue, ones where a longer/gentler brake is better for weight transfer and lap times. Not a tire issue, it's the same through the session, and since this was open pits it was easy to go in, lower pressure, and head right back out. Caymans make one very sensitive to the feel of hot tires!

 

[MiamiBlue]

I'm not a track driving expert. But I'm definitely able to control the modulation better on my 718 Cayman. Some owners don't like it and complain having to use so much pressure on the pedal and prefer the hypersensitive light touch brakes found in other cars. They would probably prefer the Emira brakes. Though as I've put miles on the Emira the grabby brakes have reduced (or I've just gotten used to them).

 

[gcmak]

This is what my V6 touring with a full tank of fuel and no driver looks like. OEM config aside from 3rd cat del and tools removed.
View attachment 64543

Thanks. This is fully 911 weight balance.