I am not a Trackaholic, I do like to see just what my car can do and to really learn what happens when you push these cars hard, you simply can’t fully experience your Porsche on the street safely, and a DE day is a good way to learn. I am not an experienced track driver (this was my 4th track event) and I drove this event in my new car so I felt more than a bit nervous driving in the intermediate/advanced group, there were 2 drive groups and about 30 cars total so we had plenty of open track, lots of track time and at no time did I feel unsafe! If you have not done 3 track events most DE events will put you in the Novice/Beginner group with an instructor and you will have to show that you are safe before they will let you on the track solo, a good thing, this keeps it safe for everyone.

The day was organized into 5 runs for both groups with 1 hour of open track time at the end – so lots of track time, with superb weather.

On my first run I was very cautious (as I said to few of the guys, I was practicing my point buys) while I got the feel of the car, coming from a Boxster I was quite nervous about the Carreras reputation for oversteer (more about that later). The car behaved beautifully and I could really feel the power of the car as I pushed the loud pedal! The car seemed quite neutral in the turns a hit of understeer here and there but no real worries. Some of the really fast guys lapped me twice, but everything was very civil on the track so I had no problems.

The next two runs went well, I pushed the car a little harder each time and found myself grabbing 4th gear on some of the shorter straights, I never had to do this in the Boxster S, the Carrera just gets going quicker and it became clear to me that I would be able to carry just as much (more if I get better) speed out of the turns as I learn to drive car. I ran the car using the normal PASM setting with no throttle remap, the car rolled a bit and of course the wheels screamed as I went around the turns so I had plenty of feedback to help me understand how to drive the car.

At lunch I happened to be sitting with one of the instructors so I wondered if I could get an instructor to ride with me (some of the beginners with a few track days under their belts would be running solo in the afternoon), a few quick talks with the Chief Driving instructor and all was okay provided I ran in the novice group for my run with an instructor. This is one of the great things about a PCA DE day, people are friendly and flexible and more than willing to help you improve.

On the track with an instructor, I set the suspension to sport mode, body roll/dive was almost completely eliminated as the car began to show its potential. I had asked the instructor to talk me through the track, making sure I took the correct line and really worked on my braking and turn in points, this really helps since if you do that right the speed comes, we also worked of getting the throttle down smoothly before the apex, quite a blast and really improved my speed out of the corners. He also worked at getting my speed up in overall and really cleaned up my turns especially turns 5 and 8 (see http://www.thunderhill.com/html/trackmap.html) note that the apex at turn 5 is on top of a small downhill. The fast guys have their foot on the floor from the apex at turn 7 to 9 with only a little touch of the brakes at turn 8, I am not there yet but I got a lot faster with the help of my instructor. The instructor was very impressed with the car he was amazed at the overall package and commented a couple of times about how good the brakes were.

During the next session I rode with another instructor while he drove his car, he talked me through the track as well – a very worthwhile experience, you can never have too much instruction.

In the final hour I ran for twice, once for about 20 minutes and another run of about 15 minutes with a 10 minute break between each run. I turned on sport mode (this increases the throttle response and raises the limits for ABS and PSM intervention) the car became quite a beast, but remained amazingly controllable, after getting of the track I felt that I had learned a lot about the car with dramatically increased respect for the superb engineering that goes into these cars. Comparing it to the Boxster is interesting the car is definitely a lot more powerful but to me it seemed very drivable and controllable I would never discount a Boxster on the track but these Carreras are truly great cars, I look forward to 3-4 more track events this year.

Afterwards I joined a few of my fellow enthusiasts for a quick bite to eat, talk and exchange stories with a great group of people before the slow 2 hour drive home. These are amazing cars, one minute you are driving fast with all wheels screaming, 1 hour later you are driving home with a big smile, the AC running, listening to your favorite tunes. Just how many cars can you do that with?

This event was Porsche cars only, most events these days are not marquee specific (I like to see a variety of cars on the track from time to time) but this was a great way to spend a day with some fellow P-Car drivers. The group was friendly and very willing to share advice, there were a few women drivers so ladies follow the lead of Danica Patrick and show us around the track. There was quite a variety of cars at the track, full race cars, the latest Turbo offerings several Boxsters a non-turbo 944 as well as a number of venerable 911s so don’t worry about your car being “non-track worthy” if you own a P-Car come to the next P-Car only Diablo PCA event on October 31 (Halloween day – should be fun). A few other pointers, tech inspection is simple (many P-Cars dealers will do a once a year inspection for free for PCA members), you can rent a helmet at the track, make sure your tires and brakes are in good shape and be prepared to smile a lot.

A pic of the car:

 

that's fabulous! i want to learn to drive my car too, but i was concerned to take the cab to a DE event. if twasn't a problem for you; i will do it then.

 

Glad that you had a good time!
Caution: it is a slippery slope!

Do consider attending PDE (PSDS) CLICK
You will learn alot more about car control and dynamics. Worth every $$ and learn the right way.

Driving is all about seat time! You can't force speed, it will come with comfort.

 

great story and thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks for the story, was there a few guys from BC there? There are a few guys from our local club down there and I am not sure if this was one of there events.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I wrote this to encourage others.

I have signed up to go to the Skip Barber School in June (HPDE) they use Carreras and Caymans and BMW seems to be similar (if not the same as PDE) but on the west coast. The slippery slope has started!

I don't know where most of the guys were from!

I will post before I go again see you there.

 

Great story indeed! I went to Thunderhill a month ago for my first track day. It's a great safe track for a novice.

 

Thank you for writing a great article. I'm glad to hear you had such a great time on such a perfect day. Addicting, isn't it? Please keep up the efforts to promote PCA's DE events. We are all very passionate about our cars and love the experience of letting them run on the track and the Diablo Region of PCA wants to keep these events happening year after year. Looking forward to seeing you in October!