" Clubber's CSL Journal "

[khooni]

Go on. Throw a cage in.

[Clubber]

Originally Posted by khooni

Go on. Throw a cage in.

I did consider it but only a rear roll bar doesn't bring any extra rigidity and adds unnecessary weight unless I go full cage which would be pointless and dangerous without a helmet on the streets. Not to mention it brings new expenses like bucket seats, harnesses etc. There is a fine line between a nicely modded CSL and a gutted E46 M3 and I don't want to step in to the modded e46 m3 look. I believe oem seats are a major part of that.

As for looks it looks awesome, I admit. I am trying to improve my laptime with these recent mods at Istanbul Park. Will see this weekend if any of them helped. If/when I see an improvement, I will put the seats back in. They look incomplete like this.

I never appreciated the simple and purposeful design of CSL rear seats untill they were off. Not to mention the tiny gain in weight. It all adds up though.

[cslsuperfan]

Originally Posted by Clubber

I did consider it but only a rear roll bar doesn't bring any extra rigidity and adds unnecessary weight unless I go full cage which would be pointless and dangerous without a helmet on the streets. Not to mention it brings new expenses like bucket seats, harnesses etc. There is a fine line between a nicely modded CSL and a gutted E46 M3 and I don't want to step in to the modded e46 m3 look. I believe oem seats are a major part of that.

As for looks it looks awesome, I admit. I am trying to improve my laptime with these recent mods at Istanbul Park. Will see this weekend if any of them helped. If/when I see an improvement, I will put the seats back in. They look incomplete like this.

I never appreciated the simple and purposeful design of CSL rear seats untill they were off. Not to mention the tiny gain in weight. It all adds up though.

Clubber I've gone down a similar route to yourself but pushed on and installed a rear cage, recaro spa's, harnesses etc. Agreed the full cage would give maximum rigidity but the rear cage has certainly transformed the handling in the positive. It may be a touch of placebo with the mods but the car's driving characteristics are vastly improved....as I'm sure you've experienced so far in your modifications.

[Clubber]

Originally Posted by cslsuperfan

Clubber I've gone down a similar route to yourself but pushed on and installed a rear cage, recaro spa's, harnesses etc. Agreed the full cage would give maximum rigidity but the rear cage has certainly transformed the handling in the positive. It may be a touch of placebo with the mods but the car's driving characteristics are vastly improved....as I'm sure you've experienced so far in your modifications.

The rollbar I considered was a bolt-in clubsport model by weichers. When I looked at the mounting points it looked too weak to give any proper strenght. It looked more show than go unless of course you mounted a weldin part which may have helped the handling.

[Clubber]

Finally done with the car for this weekend's track day.

Today we fitted the Braille battery after a frustrating transaction,



It really is tiny and light. Let's hope it stands more than a week without a charger.

Once all the removing/diet stuff is done, I took the car for final weighting and corner balancing.

Here is the final weight comparison except Braille Battery. It should be 1400kg flat with the light battery. We lost a little more than 50kgs. Not bad considering we didn't gut or strip the car to silly levels.

Before and After,



And then we got on to corner balancing. We didn't have too much time but this is what we could do after a few attempts. We'll leave it at this for now.

This is with me in the car. %50.7 Cross.



And after all said and done, here is how she looks, needs a good wash though



Fingers crossed for tomorrow

[cslsuperfan]

Originally Posted by Clubber

The rollbar I considered was a bolt-in clubsport model by weichers. When I looked at the mounting points it looked too weak to give any proper strenght. It looked more show than go unless of course you mounted a weldin part which may have helped the handling.

I opted for a fully welded cage. Obviously much more troublesome to reverse but mine is a keeper so I went the whole hog.

[Clubber]

Originally Posted by cslsuperfan

I opted for a fully welded cage. Obviously much more troublesome to reverse but mine is a keeper so I went the whole hog.

Well that's brave ! Isn't it dangerous to drive without a helmet in a full cage ?

[Bounce]

Originally Posted by Clubber

Well that's brave ! Isn't it dangerous to drive without a helmet in a full cage ?

Not to him really

[khooni]

The thing about a full roll cage imo is that you need to have harnesses to hold you in place instead of seat belts and you need to have foam padding. Helmets add extra safety but not needed to be road legal.

And you are correct, clubsport packs in porsches have specific mounts that incorporated with the rear cage adds stiffness but nothing like the strength of a full welded cage. my csl is stiffer than my gt3 rs which is saying a lot.


love the battery install (very neat). i have a braille AGM lightweight B2317RP but not the brackets to hold it in place. do I call Braille for those?

oh and they don't last 1 week... which is why i switched back to oem. The car sits for a max of 2 weeks at a time and no electricity supply to hook up a charger.

[Clubber]

Originally Posted by khooni

The thing about a full roll cage imo is that you need to have harnesses to hold you in place instead of seat belts and you need to have foam padding. Helmets add extra safety but not needed to be road legal.

And you are correct, clubsport packs in porsches have specific mounts that incorporated with the rear cage adds stiffness but nothing like the strength of a full welded cage. my csl is stiffer than my gt3 rs which is saying a lot.


love the battery install (very neat). i have a braille AGM lightweight B2317RP but not the brackets to hold it in place. do I call Braille for those?

oh and they don't last 1 week... which is why i switched back to oem. The car sits for a max of 2 weeks at a time and no electricity supply to hook up a charger.

That is a serious car khooni ! Great job. I bought j hook adapters from braille too. I will keep car on charge when it takes longer than a weekend between starts then. Thanks for the tip.

BTW, all that hard work paid off today

First in class, third in overall behind a 458 Speciale and 991 GT3 !



Still couldn't adapt to AP's. It's harder than it sounds. I either brake too soon or too late. Gotta keep trying. Couldn't improve my best time on that track either although weather was a major factor. My best time came in a nice chilly November track day last year. May heat doesn't help.