I totally agree.. turn 3 is extremely hard to perfect and I think people carry too much speed into turn 4, coming down that hill, which causes them to lose control. A good friend of mine took me for quite a ride coming out of turn 9 once - we went spinning out of control. Luckily no one or the car wasn't damaged, we just felt like a rotor on a helicopter.

 

That's fast! How does the 991 compare with other cars you've driven at Summit?

 

I agree with you guys. At T3 I've never quite felt comfortable, and I've gotten loose there a few times when I came in too hot or was late getting on the throttle. T4 you can go silly fast, but it requires commitment, and having to lift or swerve when near the limit could lead to disaster. T9 seems to require a precise line to carry speed without going off. Many incidents have happened at T10, but that's a turn I like.

 

It felt better than any stock Porsche that I've ever driven hard. I was worried about how the car would feel with tires mounted on massive 20 inch wheels. I was also expecting it to understeer quite a bit, especially at slow speeds such as in turns 5 and 6. To be honest, I expect that from almost every modern car on street tires, but even more with Porsches since the chassis is a bit light up front. I was pleasantly surprised to find, however, that the car was extremely neutral, even a bit oversteery at the limits of traction. If I kept giving it lock in turn five, for example, the car would do exactly as I asked, to the point of slowly losing the rear end. I loved it. The only time the car felt unstable was when I entered a turn a bit too hot and couldn't give it the gas necessary to stabilize the chassis at the apex. This was my fault, obviously, and resulted in a snap skid as opposed to a progressive one. My only real complaint is that the car felt a tad floaty, especially going under the bridge after turn 9, but that's to be expected with a grand tourer. Additionally, the power-band seemed slightly peaky, while I was expecting a very linear feel. This didn't seem to adversely affect me on the track, unless I up-shifted a bit too early.

The 991S was a couple seconds faster than my Dad's previous car (V8 Audi R8). I had to push the 991 much harder and it felt much more "dangerous" pulling a fast lap in the Porsche as opposed to the Audi. It's almost as if my Grandmother could equal my times in the R8, while she wouldn't come anywhere close to my times in the 991. The grip was very good for street tires, but obviously nothing compared to my M3 with Hankook Ventus Z214s. I wish I could compare the lap times to my 996 turbo, but I didn't get any video when I drove that at Summit.

 

Great video - that Audi looks fast and looks like it would be a blast to drive. I have never had the pleasure of driving one yet.

And if I were a betting man, based on the video and the hand placement, I would bet that you were trained by the instructors at BSR.

 

Thanks. Yeah, the R8 was a veerrrry fun car to drive. I'm pretty disappointed that my dad got rid of it. I remember bringing it to my work one day and giving "spirited" rides to 13 separate people. Needless to say, they all loved it. I really should have gotten some video of the passenger reactions during those rides... oh well. I can only imagine what the V10 variant would feel like.

As for your bet, you are mostly right. My hand placement is a product of my own style + pointers from the BSR instructors during FATT sessions. I have been signed off to solo at FATT multiple times over the years, with stints of inactivity between sign-offs, and each time I have improved my hand placement. This culminated during my laps in the R8, when I made a very conscious effort to improve even more, because I felt as if it was the last major flaw in my skill-set. Unbeknownst to me, it turned out to be a perfect time to do this, as the R8 is such an easy car to drive. That allowed me to pay a great deal of attention to my hands without worrying about anything else. I just can't stress it enough... driving the R8 in anger was an absolutely pleasurable experience.

Edit: Oh, you Porsche guys should like this photo from the dash after my laps at Summit...