Completed one lap at Infineon in under 2 minutes, now what?

So this past weekend I accomplished my first goal which was a sub 2 minute lap around Infineon Raceway. It was a perfect day on Sunday, cool with a dry track for some extra horsepower but warm enough to be sticky. I did it with very little traffic in an otherwise stock 996 with coilovers and some race seats. I was pretty stoked when I saw the results (1:59.0xx), but I can't help but want to be faster. I figure I left about 2 seconds on the track, maybe more. I was over 100mph through part of turn 9. Almost full throttle all the way to 2 and full throttle until the top of the carousel through 5. Such a fun track but it takes ***** to be on the gas in some of those high speed sections, especially with people passing. I got a feel for the "race" environment for my first time. Turn 4 was a very popular passing area as well as the usual spots. In my class I have a few mod points to spare so I am looking at a couple items while progressing my driving. First of all I popped for some Hoosiers today on the discontinued rack. Just to see if I like them that much better and for 1/2 price of the MPSCs I couldn't pass it up. I feel like I am giving up a lot of time on the Dunlops. Other than that I have quite a few options...I've come up with a short list of the things I think will help me and I want to know which ones will translate to better Lap Times... 1. Sway Bars -- Probably go with a TRG setup or possibly some GT3s, I just have a hard time believing that the best possible solution to faster lap times is stock GT3 sway bars. +2 Mod points 2. The Chip -- I think this is probably the best way to add horsepower +2 mod points 3. Downforce -- This would be an expensive mod from a money perspective and mod point perspective. +6 total, front facia, rockers, wing, so +2 points for each. 4. Exhaust -- Headers are +2 and until someone does a before and after dyno I'm just not sure about that, especially when the cats are the restriction. The cat-back would save me some weight and would only cost me +1 points. 5. Other -- There are a bunch of other items I can get if you can think of anything that would be better please let me know. Thanks for your help, Mike

doubt the chip will do a whole lot on an n/a carrera

that's great mike. people have been doing sub 2's with pure street tire so i am sure you have 2~4 more seconds on the tires you have right now. 1) you don't think sway bars can help? really? is your car pushing, neutral, oversteering?. you won't believe how much adjustable sway bars can help the car's handling. 2,4) if you do the chip then you need to do the exhaust and intake. with the whole lot (headers, intake, flash, exhaust, lightweight flywheel) i got 25.5~30 HP so if you only do the flash then you won't notice much. 3) you won't get meaningful downforce unless you use wings, big wings, cup car wings. a front splitter will help reduce air from getting underneath the car but unless you will be going with an RSR type front bumper, you won't get much more downforce. 5) first off, get a lap timer. you won't really know if you had a good lap unless you can see it in car, not at the end of your session. coaching/instruction race brake pads #1 mod to get faster, more track time... but like most on this board, i like to mod

Good job, Mike. Have you set a budget for modifications? Your car is a street/track mixed use car so there will be some limitations to what you do. That said, you need to maximise the car's mechanical grip. Adjustible sway bars make good sense. Camber plates will help you dial in enough negative camber to neutralize the inherent 996 understeer. I would not chase more hp. You already have enough hp for your skill level and car preparation. Meaniful downforce can be had but you will have to invest in a cup rear wing and front bumper. I'd concentrate on the suspension and get that to work for you. You will need to decide on which side of the track/street divide you want your suspension settings to be. Get a better seat. The Sparco Roadsters are not meant for track duty and you can improve your times with a good race seat by itself.

#1 mod to get faster, more track time... but like most on this board, i like to mod ______________ that is the best mod. when you do about 50day a year, then you can add other stuff ;-)

I know practice, but that takes time. March 11th I have 2 more days at Thunderhill. So if I get around 2:05 I'll be pretty happy. Also I don't think there is anything wrong with getting my car set up the way I want it for my class. I am really just trying to figure out what one change would give me the most improvement in lap time. In my class whether TT or racing you have only so many mods you can do before you're maxed and have to move up to the next group. So I don't want to change things that won't help my lap times. So far I guess I am leaning toward the sway bars. Thanks for your help.