Last night I was out with a bunch of friends ( Porsche 996's ) at a track day and decided to take the 05 STR for a few laps.

All I have to say is OMFG the car is a beast. The Str's chasie / suspension
( CATS ) set up from the factory is great ( A set of Lowering Springs will make it better ) The seats in the car where perfect, the brakes did have some fade after 3 laps of beating on it. The car is mostly neutral with a touch of understear when entering the corner but can be corrected with the pedal of the right.

I have a set of Bridgstone Potenza RE050A Pole Position in all 4 corners. This is the only upgrade done to the car thus far.

A track day is the most fun you can have in your car with your pants on.

 

Good to hear you had some fun with it!
So what was your preferred method for the tranny?

TCS on?

Bob S.

 

Keep it in D ( Drive ) with Traction control off.

The STR was down-gearing and keeping the rpm's high in every corner. And it was getting better with every lap.

I was thinking of using the shifter but its not needed, the Tranny was super responsive, with every corner the RPM was in the upper rev range.

 

I haven't had a chance to drive mine much in that manner. The NJ roads & traffic make that very difficult. But last weekend I did get a chance to drive it a bit on some back roads along the Delaware river and I was pleasantly surprised at how the manual selector worked except for one issue. You have to really look to see which gear you are in unless you just get used to the sound and feel of the engine and that is possible. There's no detent feel to speak of and it doesn't even display the selected gear on the dash. But it was fun to use.

No TCS ... hmmm. Lots of tail wagging or is the torque controllable? In "D" I'd be worried about an unexpected downshift and the rear breaking loose if I mashed the pedal a bit too hard. BTW, from my experience this weekend if you select 3 it still downshifts to 2nd and first but hangs in 3rd after that. Similar for 2 & 4.

Bob S.

 

Like I mentioned before the car was well balanced and the suspension was working well to keep the wheels planted and stuck to the track.

Now if you wanted to do a Top Gear type lap and overstrear the car it is quite capable of drifting through the corners.

I'm going again to a track session in 3 weeks and will video tape a few laps for you guys.

 

That should be nice! Looking forward to that.

Thanks.

Bob S.

 

You may want to consider a set of H&R Sport Springs. They lower her an inch and a 1/4 and allow her to hug the road with only a small loss of ride quality.

 

05, what track did you use? Cayuga or Mosport?

 

We went to Cayuga..

My friends and I are panning another track day Sept 8th @ Toronto Motorsports Park ( AKA Cayuga ) the fun starts at 6pm.

 

Technically a drift requires BOTH wheels to be spinning. Not with our open difs.

 

Just got home from a fun filled outing at the Track once again..

I was the only Jag representing tonight.. Everyone was amazed how fast the STR was around the track... competition was Audi Rs4 and a C63 AMG with track pack option. (Extra 40 HP)

Lowering springs are on order this week.. And going to look at some new sway-bar bushing options with a new set of brake pads as well..

Next track session will be in about 3-4 weeks at Cayuga once again..

No Vid's this time ( Bummer )

 

Can we tease any more details out of you?

Like how did the brakes hold up?

Did it hold it's own, do better or worse than others? I know that can be hard to gauge as it very dependant upon the driver's skill.

Sounds like you had fun though?

Bob S.

 

Do you run any non-stock brake items (pads, discs, fluid)?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Staatsof

Can we tease any more details out of you?

Brakes where decent only good for 5 laps..... One warm-up lap 3 hot laps and one cool down.

I don't think many people really know how well the STR's handle out of the box. My 05 STR is Bone Stock not even a K&N filter.. The only upgrade thus far is new rubber Bridgestone Potenza Re-050a-Polepositions..

The car really needs a more aggressive brake pad I'm using the Akebono Euro Ceramic Pads (Premium) not really recommended for a few track day sessions at all... Don't get me wrong 90% of you will never need more pad than this example..

I would recommend the Stock Jaguar pad at a minimum for the occasional track day..

Let me paint you a picture of the 1st few corners.

A lap starts with the 0.7 km Pit Straight, long enough to get the STR into fourth gear at around 170 kph - 185 kph ( enough said ) then a right-hand 120 degree sweeping bend that will carry the car onto the Back Straight.( 100kph - 110kph trough the apex can be taken faster next time) The Back Straight is not as long as the Front, perhaps only 0.4 km. speeds reaching around 150 - 160kph... Turn Two is a shallow right-hand bend that can be taken around 95 -100kph the turn 3 a tricky and sharp right hander 2nd gear corner......

As you can see the brakes get a good work out and the entire course is 3 kilometers long.

The STR also needs to be lowered just debating my options for now..