Rik Larson, SVR President

·      I put out a short statement in the latest BLAST about looking for a volunteer to fill out the year as SVR Secretary.

·      And I got an email response within 2 hours. Thanks Tina.

·      We will discuss at the upcoming SVR Board meeting to be held on Tuesday, February 6^th.

·      The PCA Treffen Wine Country event sold out in 8 minutes.

·      The PCA Porsche Parade registration is open and should easily get to at least 800 cars (held in June in Birmingham, Alabama)

·      The SVR pre-Valentines dinner is still accepting reservations. Great Italian food; restaurant to ourselves, great folks.

·      The SVR Autocross School registration opened February 1^st. Did you get in (limited to 30 students)?

·      And the classy Anderson’s Conn Valley Tour II event (July) also opened up registration on February 1^st (limited to 60 people).

·      The Pacific Grove Tour in May is still accepting reservations. Check with Jim and Linda McMahen for hotel accommodations.

·      Porsche Penske 963 wins the race

·      And Porsche also takes 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th overall in the GTP class (all Porsche 963).

·      Seems that the checked flag came out a lap early……oh well, whenever it drops the race is official.

·      And whose watch were they timing this event with anyway?

·      Pascal Wehrlein (Tag Heuer Porsche) wins the first race of the season in Mexico City (January 13^th)

·      But Wehrlein finished 8^th and 7^th in the next two races in Diriyah this past weekend. That puts him in 2^nd place for the Driver’s Championship.

·      The Tag Heuer Porsche Team is in 3^rd place in the team championship after 3 races.

·      The other Tag Heuer Porsche driver is Antonio Felix da Costa. He has a DNF, and finishes of 16^th and 14^th in the last two races (giving ZERO points to the team competition).

·      Next race is in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 16^th.

·      Trying to find live TV coverage of the races this year is tough. How good are you at getting some foreign TV networks?

·      Seems that California State Senator Wiener has proposed speed governors to reduce traffic deaths in California.

·      Senate Bill 961 would require car models built and sold in California from 2027 onward to come equipped with speed governors that would prevent drivers from increasing their speed over a certain limit.

·      Remember to wear your SVR name badge to events. 

Vice President

As we approach Valentines Day, consider attending the Pre-Valentines Dinner! Celebrate with other members and avoid the crowds of the actual day. The Pearts have the entire restaurant reserved for us. Must register by February 7th.

Huge shout-out to Dick Macfarlane and John Lanting for helping to step up our community outreach this year! Every quarter, SVR will be supporting a local organization focused on helping others less fortunate than ourselves. On February 26th, we will be volunteering at Sharing God's Bounty at St. Philomene from 5:30 - 7:00. For more information and to sign up, please send an email to John Lanting at john@eternityrealtyhomes.com.

February is also when we start to ramp up our various driving events. Wether you are interested in Tours, Autocross, or Rallys, we have upcoming events for you to check out. On February 20th, our Tour Chair Rick Duste will be leading a Zoom call for anyone interested in learning about being a lead/sweep on our tours. Sign up at: http://msreg.com/SVRTourZoom

For interested Rallyers out there, Richard Wetzel and Darryl Huckabay are conducting a Rally School on February 24th. This is a great opportunity to learn all you need to participate in one of our Time, Speed, Distance (TSD) Rallys. Sign up at: http://msreg.com/2024RallySchool

And for aspiring Autocrossers, registration has now opened for our annual Autocross School organized by our autocross chair Collin Fat. This event consists of one day of classroom instruction and one day of driving exercises and is an excellent opportunity to learn the basics of autocross and improve your driving skills in a safe environment. Space is limited, so register soon at http://msreg.com/2024AXSchool

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the Porsches and Pints events that will be starting up in March. Kent Langendorff is helping lead the charge on some amazing and unique events this year. Take a look at the flyer below for further details. We have some really great events in store. And, yes, t-shirts will be available and are sure to become collector's items.

As the SVR Board completes the various planning and budgeting activities for the year, we are also looking to set our high level objectives for 2024. Are there things that you would like to see the club do - or not do - that would help benefit our membership? Please send your thoughts to vicepresident@svr-pca.org

For 2024 the Club will be offering free access to download tour routes and turn-by-turn directions into your phones for SVR tours in the Ride With GPS app. We have purchased a Club Level subscription allowing all tour participants to access the feature at no cost.

 When you register for a tour, you will be sent a link and instructions on how to access the routes. So why Ride With GPS you ask?  I use this app to design and create the routes. It offers route design tools that make it easier to try different variations of routes, save multiple variations, modify them, and automatically create the turn-by-turn directions.  It offers the ability to edit the instructions to change the description, delete or add instructions along the route that make more sense to what you actually see when you’re driving the car.

Most importantly, whatever the route design is, it does not change. Many of the other mapping programs want to optimize the route and when you actually drive it, it changes.   As you can imagine, the routes we select are not optimized and purposely take the more “scenic route” as I used to always tell my daughter.  Ride With GPS is designed for cycling and cycling clubs. But it works fine for cars as well and is used by other PCA Regions and car clubs too.

What limits the number of participants we can accommodate on tours?  In most cases the venue’s capacity or ability to serve groups. In today’s labor market, many venues do not have the staffing to handle large groups of people at one time.  Or want to charge additional fees to cover the costs of extra staffing for a short period of time.

The other issue is how many driving group Leads and Sweeps are available to lead the cars. PCA procedures limit the number of cars we can have in any single group. As such, the number of available Leads can dictate how many we can accommodate.

In an effort to identify additional people that are willing to be Leads and Sweeps, I am hosting a Zoom webinar TUESDAY FEBRUARY 20^TH at 7:00 PM to give an overview of what Leads and Sweeps need to do and answer any questions you may have.  Leading can be an enjoyable way to participate in the Tour.

Zoom webinar on MSR and you will be sent the Zoom link in the confirmation.  http://msreg.com/SVRTourZoom

By Rick Duste

Thank you Mother Nature! We were blessed with the only sunny day of the week for our January 1^st New Years Day tour through the foothills and flatlands south of El Dorado Hills.  39 cars and 75 smiling folks assembled at El Dorado Town Center bright and early under the warming sun but cool air.  Three groups of polished and shining Porsches headed down Latrobe Rd before turning east on Old Sacramento Rd.

One positive to the early hour and holiday was little or no traffic for most of the day.  The group traversed through old downtown Amador City and Sutter Creek, still sporting Christmas holiday decorations, before crossing Highway 49 and heading for Ione. The Castle Oaks Golf Club in Ione was kind enough to offer their club house and facilities for our halfway stop.  The cars lined the club house driveway allowing a great opportunity to visit with fellow drivers and utilize their modern, clean restrooms while the golfers checked out the cars. Leaving the course, we made our way to Rancho Murietta and then turned north to conquer the roller coaster section of Scott Rd enroute to BJ’s Brewhouse and Restaurant in Folsom.  The restaurant provided us our own reserved section with good sized tables fostering good socialization.

This tour was the first tour that our Club Level RideWithGPS subscription was available to all tour participants (at no cost). It provided the route map on their phone as well as verbal turn-by-turn instructions along the route. The nice thing is the exact instructions on the written route instructions are verbalized, including custom instructions, comments, or warnings that we are able to insert into the program’s saved routes.   Over 26 of the drivers signed-in to use the program and the response was positive.   We’ll continue to use this on the upcoming tours.

Next up is the April 7^th Poker Run Tour.  Look for info elsewhere in the Drifter.

By Collin Fat

Photos by Collin Fat

On Sunday, January 14th, Porsche Rocklin hosted a Sacramento Cars and Coffee Event at their dealership. I was initially thinking the turnout would be hampered by the rainy weather that we had in the days prior to the event. However, though there was a light drizzle for early arrivals, the rain by 9:00 am to the delight of at least several hundred car enthusiasts and the dozens of cars that were on display.

There are several Cars and Coffee type events in the Sacramento in areas such as Folsom, Roseville, and Elk Grove. I think of the events as an informal gathering of car enthusiasts to share their appreciation for the automobile. These types of events occur throughout Northern California as well as throughout cities in the United States and attract tens of thousands of motor enthusiasts every weekend. Generally occurring on a Sunday at locations such as coffee shops, shopping malls, car dealerships or stadium parking lots, the events attract a very diverse demographic representing all age groups and makes and models of automobile. There is no cost to attend.

This event was sponsored by Cars and Coffee of Sacramento and the location was hosted by Porsche Rocklin. I would estimate that there were well over one hundred cars and several hundred enthusiasts who attended, and the Porsche Rocklin front and back parking lots were full. Even the adjacent streets were lined with all sorts of automotive exotica.

SVR handled the parking on behalf of Porsche Rocklin and Kim Nelson and his crew did a masterful job of filling in almost every nook and cranny in the parking lot. If you came early, you were likely to have to stay until the end as it was more than likely cars were parked in front and behind you, but also to the left and right as well. It looked like the organizer, Cars and Coffee Sacramento, also had a team of volunteers assisting in directing traffic as well.

There were many different types of automobile exotica on display including McClaren, Porsche, BMW, and Ferrari in addition to other makes Compared to a typical Porsche Concours, the crowd definitely swayed toward members of the Gen Z and Millennial generations.

I thought that was a great marketing idea for Porsche Rocklin to introduce younger generations to the Porsche brand. We all know from attending SVR events that the club is not getting any younger.

My Sports Car Journey #6

It was midnight in Germany when I found the $50 VW Beetle my wife had purchased for me and left in the deserted parking lot, facing downhill. I started the engine, shifted into what I thought was reverse, and eased out the clutch. The car went forward down the slope. I tried all the gears I could find, but I kept going down the slope. (If you have ever driven a VW Beetle or a 356 Porsche, you are going to laugh at this next part.) When I decided to get out of the car to find help, I accidentally pushed down on the gearshift lever. It moved! You get to reverse in a VW by pressing down on the gearshift! I was delighted, but all alone with no one to tell.

A couple months later, in September of 1969, Lori and I sold the BMW 1600 ti, and the VW, returned to the United States, and reenrolled at San Jose State. I got a part-time job, and, because I had not gone to Viet Nam, I had to serve two additional years in the Army Reserve. (I ended up enjoying it, making many friends, serving a total of 22 years, and retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Not bad for a draftee!)

We would drill one weekend a month and two weeks during the summer. One summer, one of my Army Reserve buddies and I enrolled in an Artillery class at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Rather than fly, we drove there in his Mazda RX-7. We took a northern route through Reno and Salt Lake City, then returned on a southern route via Albuquerque and Flagstaff. I don’t remember anything about the class, but I will never forget that drive. It’s a shame the RX-7 and the RX-8 were not successful, although, if they were a necessary step in the learning curve to the Miata, they died for a noble cause. Rest in peace RX-7, RX-8; and long live MX-5!

But I digress. With a week before classes started, Lori and I needed a car. We were interested in the Datsun 2000, which, in 1967, had entered the U.S. just as we were departing for Germany. It had a 1982 cc, overhead cam, inline four-cylinder engine, pumping out a respectable 125 horsepower at 6000 RPM. Compare that to the same-year MGB with a 1798 cc pushrod four-banger delivering an anemic 93 horsepower. Also, a Datsun 2000 won its’ class in the 1968 Monte Carlo rally (where Porsche 911’s took first and second overall and repeated in 1969). We decided to visit the local Datsun dealer. He didn’t have any 2000’s so he quickly pivoted our interest to the soon-to-be-released Datsun 240Z. It looked awfully interesting. To make my point, here’s a comparison between the 1970 Datsun 240Z and the 1970 Porsche 911.

·        The Datsun 240Z had 151 HP at 5600 RPM, 7000 redline, 2393 cc, straight-six, normally aspirated, 4-speed manual, curb weight 2325 lbs. front disc/rear drum brakes, and a top speed 125 MPH.

·        The Porsche 911 had 130 HP at 6100 RPM, 6800 redline, 1991 cc, flat-six, normally aspirated, 5-speed manual, curb weight 2381 lbs. four-wheel disk brakes, and a top speed 131 MPH. (Less HP, more MPH? Probably the Porsche 5-speed compared to the Datsun 4-speed.)

Notice how similar the other specifications are. But in the end, the only spec that mattered was the price. The Porsche 911, at $8000, was out of the question and the Datsun 240Z, at $3600, even if it were currently available, would have been a stretch for my part-time income. We needed an affordable car right away. The salesman suggested a used TR3A he had on the lot. With a 1991 cc inline pushrod four, delivering 100 HP at 4800 RPM, it fit snugly between the MGB and the Datsun 2000, and, more importantly, it fit snugly into our budget. We drove it home that day. Lori loved the low-slung doors. She said she could polish her fingernails on the pavement as we drove.

In the early 1970’s, we joined the Triumph Travelers Sports Car Club. Years later, driving a TR3B, Lori would be the club president. We eventually replaced the TR3A with a TR4. I’ll tell you why next month.

Lori’s father, a high school shop teacher and expert welder, built a rollbar for the TR4. We eventually sold the car to another TTSCC member. He rolled it but escaped with only minor injuries due to the roll bar. Lori’s father was delighted when she informed him that his rollbar had saved a life. He bought a Spitfire and joined the Long Beach MG Club, where he helped organize the Formula One races in the late ‘70s.

I tinkered with the TR3A, but I must admit I am not a mechanic. I had five years of experience selling foreign car parts, but I never earned a dime fixing one. I did enjoy rebuilding SU carburetors (Skinner’s Union carburetors were designed by Bert Skinner and produced by his brother Carl Skinner, beginning in 1908). SU’s were easy to work on and usually just involved replacing worn parts with new parts. A gallon of Gunk and an old toothbrush could work wonders.

Larry, another of my Army Reserve friends, enjoyed our TR3A so much that he bought one for himself. One evening, I went to his house to “tune” his SU carbs. It was simple and straight forward, only requiring a few hand tools and a couple of beers. The engine idle sounded much better so we decided to go for a test drive.

Big improvement! But as Larry shifted into third, something hit my head very hard. Larry pulled to the side of the road, with a similar headache, and we immediately saw the problem. We had failed to properly latch the hood. At speed, the wind picked it up, slamming it over the windshield, which was now shattered, and smashing it onto our heads. As we crept back to his house, I commented that, other than destroying the hood and the windshield, the car did seem to run a lot better. Larry never asked for my help again.

Was I done destroying TR3s? Not by a long shot. One night, after dinner in our apartment, I went down to the carport to change the transmission oil. I had a flashlight, a few hand tools, a drain pan, and a couple quarts of 90 weight. It was dark under the car, but I managed to find a drain plug and empty the sludge into the pan. Then I crawled into the footwell and removed the transmission filler plug. I used a funnel to add the new oil. Strange, it didn’t take very much. I waited a couple minutes, then topped it off. That should do it. What could go wrong?

To be continued. …

By Collin Fat

Photos by Collin Fat

One of the biggest advances in brake technology over the last decade has been carbon ceramic brakes. With the use of carbon fiber in the composition of the rotors, heat dissipation is superior to those of steel rotors and with this come improvements in braking distance, weight savings, longer service life and everyday performance. Although some steel brakes stop just as fast as ceramics, the advantages of carbon ceramics become apparent under repeated heavy braking when heat begins to affect the stopping distance of steel brakes. In addition, carbon ceramic brakes shed little to no brake dust.

Many newer model Porsches come standard with carbon ceramic brakes (PCCB) including all the Porsche Turbos, and many of the GT models currently for sale. Though the option is available on all Porsche models other than the EV segment, I am not sure many new Porsche owners opt for this expensive indulgence.

 One of the biggest drawbacks is the initial cost of optioning carbon ceramic brakes on your new Porsche which can easily add up to $10,000 on the purchase price and the worries of replacement years down the road when a full set of carbon ceramic rotors and pads can set you back $10’s of thousands of dollars. Not an expense many of us would look favorably upon. The good news is that the life of carbon ceramic brake rotors will last the life of your ownership for the average driver. Although brake pads will generally have to be replaced prior to replacement of the ceramic rotors, Porsche usually recommends the replacement of rotors at each brake pad change with steel brakes. I guess the rational for not machining the rotors like days gone by are concerns with the remaining thickness of the steel rotor, concerns with the bedding of the new brake pads on the old rotors and brake squealing.

I recently had the brake pads replaced on my GT3RS and was extremely concerned after an oil service inspection revealed that front and rear pad thickness was less than 4 mm, just at the recommended thickness for pad replacement. I have read many articles on the cost of ceramic rotor replacement running about $9,000 per axle and was hopeful that I would only need pads. Thankfully, after my tech, Bryce McGrew, shop foreman at Porsche Rocklin, carefully measured and inspected my rotors, he gave me a clean bill of health when he reported all my rotors had worn less than 10% after a dozen track days. I was concerned that like steel brakes, he may have recommended replacing rotors when replacing pads. Not so with carbon ceramic brakes. My service advisor confirmed that carbon ceramic rotors can usually go two brake pad replacements before rotor replacement would be required. I now clearly understand why there are some GT owners who swap their carbon ceramic brakes with steel. Fortunately, I only do about four track days per year and will continue to use my GT3RS as it was intended.

For those who might wonder how much life you have on your carbon ceramic rotors before replacement, Drew showed me that there are 3 different measurements marked on your carbon ceramic rotors placed at different points on the rotor ranging from numbers 41 to 57. He told me that he measured all 3 points and said that all measurements were within specification. I did a calculation and estimated that I still have 90% rotor life remaining and that pad replacement was all that I needed on this service visit. After at least a dozen track days since I have had the car, this was great news since I was not anticipating having a $18,000 bill to replace both pads and rotors.

SVR Membership Report

 By completing the membership badge

request form (link)

Membership Director, at:

membership@svr-pca.org

Since we use e-mail for most of our communications, it is necessary to keep our e-mail address current with SVR and PCA. To update your information, go to www.pca.org and login. You can then make any updates (address, car, e-mail etc.).

Also, even though we receive the information from PCA monthly, you can send the same updates to: membership@svr-pca.org. New Member badges will now come with a removable colored sticker to encourage introductions at club events. They can be removed at any time. Welcome to the Sacramento Valley Region of the Porsche Club of America.

How do you join the Porsche Club? Go to: https://www.pca.org/user/join/membership -This is an online system that will request a credit card for payment. If you would rather fill out a paper form, contact 2023 SVR Membership Director, at membership@svr-pca.org

Not a Porsche owner but interested in the PCA? Try the PCA Test Drive program. For information, go to: www.pca.org/pca-test-drive Need to update your PCA information? Update your PCA record at www.pca.org

Do you have 2 e-mail addresses? Want Club info sent to a second email, work, home, spouse, friend...? It’s as easy as e-mailing your second e-mail address to the Membership Director, membership@svr-pca.org

PCA Members may place non-commercial classified ads for no charge. Photos will be published on the SVR web page at no charge.

Non-PCA members may place ads on our webpage, on a space available basis, as follows: Ads without photos $20.00; Ads with photos $35.00. All ads run for two months unless canceled. There will be no refunds for paid ads.

Ads must be submitted electronically with attachment to classified@svr-pca.org. PCA members must include your PCA membership number on all submissions as proof of membership.

Paid ads will not be published until payment has been received. Checks must be made payable to PCA-SVR, and mailed to: Porsche Club of America; Sacramento Valley Region; PO Box 254651; Sacramento, CA 95865-4651

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The Drifter is Produced online monthly for its members. Written contributions are welcome and should be e-mailed to editor@svr-pca.org The deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month prior to the month of publication. Submissions in WORD or TEXT are preferred.

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All material in this newsletter is protected by copyright.

However, newsletter editors of other Porsche Club of America regions may reprint any article provided that credit is given to the author and Sacramento Valley Region and also The Drifter is cited as the source.

As mentioned by Rik Larson just so you know.   

    This is something that has been in the PCA RPM (Region Procedures Manual) since at least 2019 and is now appearing at more and more PCA events (social media driven).

·      Obviously we have been exposed to being photographed and videotaped for years (the red light cameras for example), stores where you shop, when you use an ATM, etc.

·      So SMILE when attending one of our events.