Attended an event at Harris Hill Road yesterday, sponsered by PCA and the local dealership. Not really a DE, more of an "intro to track". As a guest of the dealership, there was no charge at all, only $40 for the PCA slots, including lunch.
Harris Hill Road is a 1.8 mile, 11 turn private track about 45 minutes from my house.
We started out with a few "parade laps", was surprised at the speed we did those in, started wondering what was coming next.
We were then divided into groups depending on experience level for some follow the leader laps. I was in the novice group and luckily got positioned right behind the leader, who was an experienced driver in a base Carrera.
Drove in sport+ mode with PASM in sport. Mostly in 2nd and 3rd gear, rarely got into 4th on the one fairly long straight.
I was surprised that they had no one in the passenger seat with us, considering my complete lack of experience. Did fairly well, but struggled at first being unsure of the limits of the car.
These follow the leader sessions were broken up by some solo sessions for those that had experience. After a few more sessions, the lead guy in my group had some coolant problems and sat out the last session. I was able to get him to ride with me in another group and that was very fun. It was great having him there, because at that point, the cars I was following were not driving the proper lines. Really got to push it some with him there. Got up to maybe 90 on the uphill straight. He said I was doing really well. I could have easily passed those ahead of me in a Spyder and another Cayman S, but passing was not aloud in the follow the leader groups.
The PDK worked beautifully, the instructor even commented on how well if was performing. There is a tight turn at the end of the long straight and I would brake hard until I heard it downshift into 2nd, perfect for the tight corner.
Really enjoyed exploring the upper RPM's and excellent handling of my car. Would like to do more of a real DE and learn some things. I can see how this can get to be really addicting.

 

Sounds like you had a great time. A good HPDE would be the logical next step. Even in the novice groups, you'll be able to pass (point by) at specified sections of the track. You might also put the car in manual PDK mode next time so you can execute the downshift before the turn when you want (rather than waiting for the car to do it). That will just add another level of connection between you and the car. Have fun!

 

Welcome to the dark side... Glad you enjoyed your first event!

I do lots of driver coaching and one of my clients has a Cayman R with PDK. She (yes, she) had me drive it a bit at Sebring last week and it was the first time I had really driven PDK in anger on the track - I was astounded at how well it worked.

I turned traction off, turn sport plus on and the PDK did all of the shifting and blipping for me. I never touched the paddles for a downshift or upshift. Never even felt the need to. It never missed a beat, always in the right gear and rpm at the right time. The blips were timed perfectly and for someone who is just learning to push the car on the track, PDK a great asset to be able to focus on driving technique and line.