Just bought my first GT4

[murphsea]

Hi,

Just bought a '21 718 GT4, PDK with LWBs.
Hoping to bring it to a HPDE early October but would like to have a roll bar and harnesses in the car for that weekend.
There seem to be lots of options out there. Would love to hear if anyone has any recommendations.

Excited to get it on the track.

Thanks,

Sean.

GT4.jpg (139.21 KiB) Viewed 1033 times

[blueline]

Hi Sean - great addition to your fabulous Porsche stable - nice!! I think you'll love the GT4, especially on track!

Discussions from several of us on these two Carpokes threads and also elsewhere around the site regarding 718 4.0's and other Caymans that have undergone varying degrees of track modifications. The track-oriented posts in the two threads below are scattered about in those threads.

viewtopic.php?t=1733&start=10
viewtopic.php?t=1388&start=120

Below is a list of what I've done to my GT4, most of which is for the track where the car spends a considerable amount of time. A bit repetitive as most on the list appears elsewhere on Carpokes, but the flip side is that you won't have to search as much.

J-Dub, JP4931, and several others here have made similar changes to their cars.


2021 718 GT4 delivered new Dec 2020.
Additions at delivery:

Cantrell rollbar/half cage.
Cantrell sub-belt mounts.
Schroth GT3 2x2 FIA 6-pt harness sets (both seats).
Rear tow eye (Porsche) in addition to std front eye.
Clear side marker lenses.
Xpel Ultimate Plus (track pkg plus wing).
G-Techniq Crystal Serum Ultra ceramic coating.
Sunvisor Solutions visor label covers.
Porsche front and rear cargo liners.
Porsche all-weather floor mats.
Aim Solo-2 DL w/Ram mount.
AiM SmartyCam HD w/Ram mount.
Valentine V1 2nd Gen radar detector and Gen 2 Concealed display (direct wired).

Subsequent additions/ upgrades after break-in:

AP Racing GT4 Competition J-hook rotors.
Ferodo DS3.12 race pads.
Motul 660 RBF syn 617° dry boiling point brake fluid.
RSNV GT4 wing risers.
Tarett Engineering front monoball Race Design camber plates.
Tarett Engineering Motorsport Style rear turnbuckle toe-links.
DSC Sport (TPC Racing) stability control module.
Ed Guard bolster covers w/red deviated stitching.
Carpokes license plate mounts.
Apex 19” SM10RS forged wheels (Anthracite) for track use.
Apex 5mm spacers to use w/front OEM wheels.
Suncoast extended (by 5mm) wheel bolts to use with 5mm spacers.
Soul Performance GT4 Resonated Over Axel Pipe (OAP) Jet-Hot coated.
M-Engineering M-Tuner Suite ECU Tuning 718 GT4 - Flat 6 Motorsports.

[WillyDaP]

Pretty good list above, but I would go with a Garmin Catalyst that can let you know what your time is while you are running , no need to wait to download after , you can literally watch and hear whether you are ahead or behind as you go. Tarett seems to be the way to go, as numerous discussions with Cayman and GT4 owners running at the SCCA Solo Nationals it seeks like almost a 100% go to. I figured I would chat with someone using Elephant Racing or Rennlist Camber plates and never found a single Porsche driver using those models.

[blueline]

Pretty good list above, but I would go with a Garmin Catalyst that can let you know what your time is while you are running , no need to wait to download after , you can literally watch and hear whether you are ahead or behind as you go. Tarett seems to be the way to go, as numerous discussions with Cayman and GT4 owners running at the SCCA Solo Nationals it seeks like almost a 100% go to. I figured I would chat with someone using Elephant Racing or Rennlist Camber plates and never found a single Porsche driver using those models.

Garmin is great, no doubt. More intuitive and easier to use too, but I still love my Solo 2DL and the AiM SmartyCam. (Probably due to the fact that I had it prior to Catalyst being sold plus the fact that I more or less figured out how to use AiM products which can be a challenge at first. Of course, since I own AiM, it's my duty to justify liking it. )

AiM offers top quality video, excellent overlays, superb data. (Well, superb if you can access data via CAN Bus protocol vs OBDII which is decent but not great.)

Btw, I get times while running. Can analyze times after a session too, although not with as much detail as is available after download to a PC or laptop to AiM's Race Studio 3. The Catalyst shines for instructors and students but then that points to the next step up the chain to the excellent Vbox and Circuit Tools.

The Slippery Slope ..........

[murphsea]

Hi Sean - great addition to your fabulous Porsche stable - nice!! I think you'll love the GT4, especially on track!

Discussions from several of us on these two Carpokes threads and also elsewhere around the site regarding 718 4.0's and other Caymans that have undergone varying degrees of track modifications. The track-oriented posts in the two threads below are scattered about in those threads.

viewtopic.php?t=1733&start=10
viewtopic.php?t=1388&start=120

Below is a list of what I've done to my GT4, most of which is for the track where the car spends a considerable amount of time. A bit repetitive as most on the list appears elsewhere on Carpokes, but the flip side is that you won't have to search as much.

J-Dub, JP4931, and several others here have made similar changes to their cars.


2021 718 GT4 delivered new Dec 2020.
Additions at delivery:

Cantrell rollbar/half cage.
Cantrell sub-belt mounts.
Schroth GT3 2x2 FIA 6-pt harness sets (both seats).
Rear tow eye (Porsche) in addition to std front eye.
Clear side marker lenses.
Xpel Ultimate Plus (track pkg plus wing).
G-Techniq Crystal Serum Ultra ceramic coating.
Sunvisor Solutions visor label covers.
Porsche front and rear cargo liners.
Porsche all-weather floor mats.
Aim Solo-2 DL w/Ram mount.
AiM SmartyCam HD w/Ram mount.
Valentine V1 2nd Gen radar detector and Gen 2 Concealed display (direct wired).

Subsequent additions/ upgrades after break-in:

AP Racing GT4 Competition J-hook rotors.
Ferodo DS3.12 race pads.
Motul 660 RBF syn 617° dry boiling point brake fluid.
RSNV GT4 wing risers.
Tarett Engineering front monoball Race Design camber plates.
Tarett Engineering Motorsport Style rear turnbuckle toe-links.
DSC Sport (TPC Racing) stability control module.
Ed Guard bolster covers w/red deviated stitching.
Carpokes license plate mounts.
Apex 19” SM10RS forged wheels (Anthracite) for track use.
Apex 5mm spacers to use w/front OEM wheels.
Suncoast extended (by 5mm) wheel bolts to use with 5mm spacers.
Soul Performance GT4 Resonated Over Axel Pipe (OAP) Jet-Hot coated.
M-Engineering M-Tuner Suite ECU Tuning 718 GT4 - Flat 6 Motorsports.

Wow, that’s quite the list. Thanks for all the info. Going to do it in stages so I can feel the difference as I make changes. I think it’ll give me a better understanding of setup doing it that way.

From doing the first HPDE in my 911 I know the first thing i want to do is to get the roll bar and harnesses in the car so the steering wheel is just for turning the wheels and not for hanging on to. Will have the race brake fluid in there but that’s about it.

I’ll run the standard setup with the Cup 2s October 7th at Roebling and then hope to have the camber and wheels ready for the next HPDE in December.

Won’t have time to do much more before that weekend as I’ll be at Rennsport Reunion between getting the car and going to the track.

[murphsea]

Pretty good list above, but I would go with a Garmin Catalyst that can let you know what your time is while you are running , no need to wait to download after , you can literally watch and hear whether you are ahead or behind as you go. Tarett seems to be the way to go, as numerous discussions with Cayman and GT4 owners running at the SCCA Solo Nationals it seeks like almost a 100% go to. I figured I would chat with someone using Elephant Racing or Rennlist Camber plates and never found a single Porsche driver using those models.

Luckily enough when I was at Roebling for my first track day there was a Garmin distributor there selling the Catalyst so I got it setup in time to record my first session in Blue solo.

Dialed it back a bit as my instructor advised me that it’s not a good look to go off track on your first solo run and also the track was very hot.

[murphsea]

Pretty good list above, but I would go with a Garmin Catalyst that can let you know what your time is while you are running , no need to wait to download after , you can literally watch and hear whether you are ahead or behind as you go. Tarett seems to be the way to go, as numerous discussions with Cayman and GT4 owners running at the SCCA Solo Nationals it seeks like almost a 100% go to. I figured I would chat with someone using Elephant Racing or Rennlist Camber plates and never found a single Porsche driver using those models.

Garmin is great, no doubt. More intuitive and easier to use too, but I still love my Solo 2DL and the AiM SmartyCam. (Probably due to the fact that I had it prior to Catalyst being sold plus the fact that I more or less figured out how to use AiM products which can be a challenge at first. Of course, since I own AiM, it's my duty to justify liking it. )

AiM offers top quality video, excellent overlays, superb data. (Well, superb if you can access data via CAN Bus protocol vs OBDII which is decent but not great.)

Btw, I get times while running. Can analyze times after a session too, although not with as much detail as is available after download to a PC or laptop to AiM's Race Studio 3. The Catalyst shines for instructors and students but then that points to the next step up the chain to the excellent Vbox and Circuit Tools.

The Slippery Slope ..........

The Catalyst where I am right now is probably good enough for me.

I’ve done a lot of analyzing in PCA sim racing using VRS so totally understand how valuable having all the data can be especially when you’re able to compare your data with someone else’s.

The dream is to run a GT4 / GT4RS Clubsport someday so I’ll have to have all the data then .

[blueline]

@murphsea

All of the items under the heading "Subsequent additions/ upgrades after break-in" were done in stages of some variation, so your thoughts are spot on in that regard. Definitely the best way to go when you're feeling out a car you've never experienced as I was with the GT4. (Btw, that list is my doc of everything I've done aftermarket. Obviously a bunch of items on it have nothing to do with track days - I should have edited it a bit before posting.)

But like you, the most important for me was the roll bar and harnesses. I can't drive on track without being properly strapped in. Brakes and race brake fluid are at the top too.

[blueline]

Pretty good list above, but I would go with a Garmin Catalyst that can let you know what your time is while you are running , no need to wait to download after , you can literally watch and hear whether you are ahead or behind as you go. Tarett seems to be the way to go, as numerous discussions with Cayman and GT4 owners running at the SCCA Solo Nationals it seeks like almost a 100% go to. I figured I would chat with someone using Elephant Racing or Rennlist Camber plates and never found a single Porsche driver using those models.

Luckily enough when I was at Roebling for my first track day there was a Garmin distributor there selling the Catalyst so I got it setup in time to record my first session in Blue solo.

Dialed it back a bit as my instructor advised me that it’s not a good look to go off track on your first solo run and also the track was very hot.

Congrats on the solo! Wise advice to take it easy on that first session without the co-pilot.

Great view from the Catalyst - clear, bright and detailed. it looked like good fun too.

I started a thread for posting track videos on the Racing sub-forum ("Post Track Videos Here!") so hopefully we can get more of the 'Pokes family sharing their videos. I need to get back to work doing that too. It's an excellent way for others to see different tracks and how they play out from behind the wheel.

[WillyDaP]

I live in Garmin's backyard , since they are just down the road from me ( around 250 miles South ) in the KC Metro area. Like Murphsea I love the simplicity of the Garmin and for an old fart like me the fact that the system can chat through the radio or through a helmet with a headset hookup and you can just pop off the little laptop and see everything immediately I for one don't think it can be beat. Plus it is in a constant state of upgrades and at the last event I was at just this past weekend, one of the guys who works on the Catalyst was there and he was showing guys stuff they could check on an app for the system.

I admire blueline because having been with Aim and a Smarty Cam from 2017 to 2021 his statement about it being a bit difficult to learn says it all for a computer klutz like me. In fact I was frustrated because I could find so few folks around me who actually knew how to set them up ( including one so called Dealer ). Fortunately the last person who fine tuned it with the rest of the full system in my Boss 302S was 4 Time National Champion in the Ultimate Street Car Challenge, Jonathan Blevins ( chicane23.com ) and he had things rocking.

My consensus, though, if you are into ease of use, and like quick visuals, even data to show you exact spots where you need to work on in an easier format that the Aim, it is something to look into.