Hey you guys... i was woundering if doing the North America Porsche Driving Experience is worth doing... I was thinking of doing a 3 day event and taking a friend...is it worth the 10k or are there better schools... Thanks

 

$10k!! I hope they supply the car, right? It depends on what you want
to learn, and what you've already done. The first cheapest ways to learn
to drive fast well IMO are (do them in this order):

1 - Go to autocrosses. Lots of them (PCA, SCCA, etc). You won't be able
to hurt your car, and you'll be driving the car to it's limits and beyond at
normal street speeds, though it'll seem much faster. Some clubs have
autocross schools for beginners. Do those. This is very cheap and
effective.
2 - Read a few driving technique books.
3 - Go to a track school for performance or racing driving, eg Jim Russell
etc. Those will be much cheaper than $10k for three days, and they do
supply cars.

Joe Weinstein

 

put it this way, it's a great way to spend few days relax while doing something u love. (not at 10k when i went though) i went as a vocation & had a blast. learning driving, a little but not a whole lot. u'll probably learn more from other school but the PDE is fun just driving 911s.

 

well its 10k for me and a friend...2 people ..it be like 5 for just one..

 

i would recommend running any type of track day or HPDE with your local PCA/NASA chapter

 

I recently did the Masters PDE. I learned a lot and had great fun at Barber Motorsports. I thought it was better than the Skip Barber 3 day school.

 

I did it back in '03 and I'm going to the master's class in October, I would highly recommend it!

 

Wow really.... yeah Skip barber is nice... i went to Dodge today for a viper... and was told if you buy any SRT-8 or viper u get a session at Skip for free as an added bonus... kinda kool...

 

Where are you seeing a 3 day? I just see this Performance - (Two-Day High Performance Driving Course): $2,995

I guess if you figure airfare, hotel, and some $20 lap dances you will be close to $10K

The track is awesome, and the museum next to is must to see.

To answer your question, its worth it, and there is no other place that I know if that has well known instructors like some of these names..





The Instructors Jeff Purner, Manager of Operations Hurley Haywood, Chief Driving Instructor David Murry "Doc" Bundy Cass Whitehead Chris Hall Terry Borcheller John Lewis David Donohue Chip Robinson Daniel Eastman Joe Fox Regan Morgan Christian Coggins Pierre Savoy Andrew Davis Brian Cunningham Rich Hull Sherman Engler Owen Trinkler Eric Foss Jay Tischler Dick Makow Peter Litzenberger

 

THE PDE is worth it - You wont be allowed to really push the cars again this is a driving experiance event and not a driving school.

If you really want to learn how to go fast I would say attend a 3 day Skip Barber school- Much more involved - much more focused on driving and racing tecnique.. Chances are you will get you **** whooped by a 15 year old too
Versus the PDE experiance where you are limited to how fast you can go,. But if you want a "vacation" its not bad.
In all seriousness any sort of performance driving school or track event is worth it...........

Just be safe ..

 

well i guess i was wrong on the 3 day thing... i was figuring doing the one day and the two day..but i guess thats just being repetative.... thanks for the input...what kind of limits do they put on the cars... I mean if I take the "Masters" will i be allowed to push it as well..then i would do the 4 day event... Yeah know?

 

You can't do the Masters until you finish the basic 2 day course.

 

When I went through the course 4 years ago they divided the class by experience. Those of us with more expeience were encouraged to really push the cars to our own personal limits. Lots of fun and some great instructors. Do it!

 

Go to some local club events to get started (most do an inspection the day of the event, you need a helmet (Snell ratings vary by club) and about $250-350/day for ~4 half hour sessions) and buy a copy of "Going Faster-The Art of Race Car Driving"

 

There are numerous old threads on this topic, but briefly, my experience with PDE was almost exactly what I was looking for. Before I purchased my '04 996 tt cab, I had never driven a rear engine P car at speed. I had a lot of experience with my other cars, ranging from my orignial Mini Cooper S, Alfa Romeo, Boxster, Boxster S, etc., but never in a 911. So as part of the purchase price of my tt, I had the two day PDE thrown in.

The classroom sessions are fairly basic, but very helpful. On the track, you drive your own 996, now 997 and follow a world class instructor - who are uniformly friendly and instructive. Many sessions on the main track. As far as the opportunity to increase speed, they often rearrange drivers into groups with relatively similar skills, as when you follow the instructor in groups of three or so, the speed is generally determined by the ability of the slowest driver.

You also get to drive a Boxster S in the autocross portion of the track, and back to the 911 for heel and toeing, skid pad and other skills.

The two day basic course is a little too basic, but on balance, I found it tremendously beneficial and gave me a lot of confidence when I started to track my own 996 tt cab.