Bob's Blog

April 25  - Ground School ICAR

Perfect weather for once. There's a story there. If anyone remembers the lousy weather on April 17th - cold and rain, our Ground School was originally planned for the 17th. A date conflict with the Theory sessions had us move it to the 24th.  Maybe we fooled the weather gods for once?

We had the biggest turn-out ever.  There were 78 drivers! Bruce Gregory ran this event  with a great team of Instructors and Instructor Trainees and in spite of the sell-out crowd,managed to run everything on schedule.  Comments from the participants were very favorable and we all had a great time.

The ICAR clubhouse is outstanding, great decor and a huge bar - which was enjoyed by folks after the track closed.  The one snag was the lack of ladies bathrooms. I guess ICAR targets men mostly. The ICAR track is an ideal teaching environment - it is after all a driving academy. A good mix of fast and slow corners and the reference markers added this year made it more pleasant than ever.

Lunch was provided by Les Reataurants Benny and enjoyed by everyone - delicioous hot  chicken box lunches with a choice of leg or breast thank you. Thanks to perfect timing by Marc Antoine Benny they werre served hot to 127 people!

I'd like to thank our Instructors and ITs who worked so hard to make this event a success. Teaching in 6 consecutive sessions was hard work! Well done guys!

Best,

..bob

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April 18 Helmets for DE - Casques pour CCA

Contrary to the info in the Track Info Package, Rennsport will accept Snell 2000 helmets this season.  This is the last year for the 2000 models.

Contrairement au infos dans nos ducuments, les casques Snell 2000 seront valables cette saison. L'an prochain if faudra les casques Snell 2005 ou (mieux) 2010.

 

Update - the track info package has been corrected by our Communications Director, Michel Beaudoin.

..bob

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.April 17 2010

Outstanding Tech Session at Pneus Touchette April 15^th

 

About 2 dozen Rennsport members attended and thoroughly enjoyed a very informative session on tires and tire technology.

We got a tour of the immense facilities – over 85,000 tires in stock at the St Lawrence Blvd location alone and an update on their commercial expansion with new retail outlets and tie-ins to automobile manufacturers.  Nic Touchette was our host and proudly explained that all this began with his father – selling tires out of his basement -  if you can believe it!

It was nice meeting the Motorsport and Customer Service staff who take such good care of us on and off the track. I finally met the gals who organize our appointments and logistics of sending track wheels/tires to our events. They have always been very helpful and now we know they are very good looking as well!

Yves Day from Pirelli gave a technical presentation on Pirelli Tires. I learned a lot. He had tires cut away in sections so we could see the complex construction of the various layers, very cool.  Did you know that you cannot use a radial tire on a trailer which doesn’t have shock absorbers? I didn’t either. 

We found out where the famous P0 designation came from. Radial tires have belts which are laid 90 degrees to the direction of travel.  The P0 has additional reinforcement consisting of strands of nylon wound around the circumference in the direction of travel, i.e., Zero Degrees hence P0.  The nylon cords shrink when they get hot which helps prevent the tire from bulging (increased diameter) and resist centrifugal force. Very clever and a Pirelli patent.

I also learned more about tire designations, for example a P305/30/Z18Y. We all know about the numbers and perhaps even the Z which designates a tire capable of running at a sustained 240 KPH. The “Y” at the end is interesting though, it signals that the tire should never exceed 300 KPH.  The amount of centrifugal force a tire has to resist at that speed is immense.

 Jean Francois Veilleux (noted professional race-car driver and Pirelli consultant) gave us the low down on the new Tropheo R compound tire.  I have been a fan of the Corsa R compound track tire for many years. The Tropheo is the latest incarnation and promises even better wet and dry grip. Outstanding ..except that it won’t be available for another month or so and then, only in 19 inch sizes at first.

 Did I mention the delightful buffet dinner and wine served? Terriffic!  I can’t cover everything we learned that night and suggest that the next time we do this you make a point of attending!

 Many thanks to Nic Touchette and his staff for a great evening!

 ..bob

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March 18th 2010

Clubregistration.net is going well. Lots of action for ICAR and DEs. A few people who signed up for Ground School at ICAR have paid only $10. If you are intending to drive, the event costs $60 and includes lunch. The "additional meal option" is for people who want to bring a guest. That way they don't have to stand around and watch you eat:D

Big news, Clubreg has a new feature, at the bottom of every page you can select language. The default is English but you can choose French, German etc.  The translation is provided by Google so don't expect perfect grammar!!

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February 25th, 2010

Let's try again - technical glitches wiped out the rest of my entry last time!  Porsche Cars Canada is adjusting the prices of cars sold in Canada to reflect the stronger Canadian dollar.  The price reduction applies only to cars being purchased, i.e. no deal if you are leasing the car. Don't ask me why, I don't know.

The added discount applies even to cars ordered by customers, so if for example, you ordered a new RS you can expect to pay about $6,000 less than the price you agreed to on the contract. Nice!

In other news, bringing a car in from the US will be more expensive. As in the past, you will need a Porsche dealer to legitimize a US car imported here.  Last I heard, it cost about $1,250 plus any work needed such as day-time running lights, bilingual air bag stickers and so on.  Apparently the cost will go up this year by a lot, I've heard whispers of something like $8,000! So, before buying in the US, check with a dealer to see what the real cost will be!