Recently joined and will be doing a few DE events and planning to attend the Flying Circus Sunday out in VA countryside. There forum is dead, and their response for DE registrations is pretty lame. What are their events and attendance like? I get a feeling its more old school, older drivers that 'tour' instead of cruise.

 

I joined when I bought my car but found I didn't have much in common with many of those folks. I don't mean to generalize but it seems the regulars and long time members are a little prickly and don't care for water cooled cars, particularly 996's.

Even though I'm older than a lot of the guys who do ad hoc fun runs and what not, they seem more akin to what I get out of owning my car.

 

I was a member for a few years and after a while I realized I didn't have a lot in common with most of the members, so I didn't renew for '09.

 

Yes, I let my membership lapse as well several years ago. I received no benefit from them, not even the monthly Der Vorgainger ((mispelled???)) monthly newsletter would come to me 2 weeks after that month's issue release. Basically, I would receive the June circular 2 weeks in to July and would miss signing up for DE Events. So it was useless.

Reach out to Nate (SKOROST), he's an active member I believe.

 

Not to mention Scott......that's why you joined Mid-Atlantic Motor Club.....

 

You guys are telling me what I had thought all along. The only reason I really signed on was to register for the DE events but I don't see why I need to do that. Besides, I have yet to get any reply for any emails I have sent over the past month. 4-6 concerning the De events for my own registration as well as inquiring for some of you that don't have Ps and wanted to get in on the DE events. Nothing.

Still want to hit the biplane airshow tomorrow aside from their sponsoring a cruise. We'll see.

Enjoy the three days off Gents!

 

I agree, I also did join about two years ago but didn't renew my membership, I was hoping it would be similar to the BMW CCA which was great.

 

My first experience with PCA was a real turn off. I went to one of their tech inspections soon after I had bought my SC. I figured that it would be a good way to learn a bit about a car that I had no experience working on. The guy that was looking over my car was a total *** hat. He was their concours chairman at the time. He obvioustly didn't know much about SCs, as he tried to tell me in no uncertain terms that my car was not a ROW car. For God's sake, all you have to do is look at the VIN. The import tag is still in the door jam of the car! He basically told me the the car was a piece of sh*t, an whoever painted it did a lousy job. Mind you my car had had a windows out full respray when my friend owned the car. I guess the fact that he has painted cars that have gone to some of the most prestiegous show in the county means nothing. This first contact with the PCA is the reason I'll probibly never join. If I were to join, it would only be to do DEs.

I did meet some really cool guys there as well. The PCA just needs to make sure that the people it has coming in contact with potential member isn't such a tool. I have heard that the local chapter's rag has gotten a lot better in both content and delivery time.

 

Damn Clarke - what a ******bag you were dealing with.

Scott - I believe the Chesapeake Chapter of PCA (which Ken Bull30 is a member and holds a position I believe) is a fairly good chapter with some great members. PCA Potomac, being the first PCA chapter formed in the US I believe tend to have more of a stuck up attitude (not all members of course, I've met some really great guys from the PCA Potomac chapter).

Run for a damn leadership position dude and give us all a reason to renew memberships. Hahahahahaha.

 

Hey,
Still a PCA member for two years now. Being a youngest GT3 driver in the region, I do get a lot of stick. lol You just need to have a tough skin and make friends with people regardless of age and how they treat you. Like someone already mentioned above, there are several older folks who has somewhat picky views on new faces with newer cars but once you get to know them, they are cool. I still get yelled at the track occasionally but folks who do that are like my grand pa's age so I never take it personally. I always say sorry, wave and move on.

Done several DEs last year mostly with Zone 2, NNJR and Potomac. Apart from Zone 2, other region DEs chairs will put you in the Green group (unless you have 1000whp Turbo, you'll be in Blue first time lol) regardless of your experience unless you have competition license. First time out, your instructor will rate you and write remarks in the log book. In order to get to next run group, you have to drive with yet another instructor (I think they call it evaluation instructor, there are only 2 guys in PCAP) and get the approval from him. Never done their cruise. As far as I know, it's mostly for older drivers taking their wifes/grand kids to a countryside and chill type of thing.

All I can say is their DEs are great. It's cheap, you get full 2 hours of track time (if someone blew up the engine/diff and dump the fluids, they will make up time) and student-instructor pairing is also very good. I had 2 different instructors so far and they all drive GT3s/RS/Cups (one dude has 2 new cup cars, old school 911 race car and 911 driving experience that is almost my age lol). So, if you have an AWD Turbo or 2WD none turbo car, they will pair you with someone who has been driving similar car for donkey years. I think that's a huge advantage over other clubs where you may get stuck with an instructor who drives Miatas with 1000 trackdays experience. Sorry to hear that some of the guys here have different feelings about PCA. Could be my luck that my experience is different tho. Let me know if you want to get in touch with the PCAP DE chairs directly. They are on Rennlist most of the time (especially Allen) and you can use the PM for quicker response.

Another thing I like about PCA DEs is that you get to see pack and pack of little beasts.

 

PCA member here, have gone to several meets, meetings, shows. went to auto X's when I was an Audi club member but not since being a PCA member. Been real busy.

 

I'm a PCA member and will be one as long as I own a car and track it.

I prefer to play with the PCA First Settlers group (Zone2 South Eastern Va.), as they are much more laid back than the other group I was running with... PCA Potomac is extremely strict on getting moved into the appropriate run groups with and they feel their DE program is far superior to any other on the planet. They also seem to target guys with high HP modern hardware and make them sit in lower run groups for longer periods of time...

PCA has some of the cheapest track time you can buy. If you plan to track your porsche, I recommend this club to all others... Just learn about the Chapters in your region and pick wisely!

Mike

 

This has been an instructive thread, especially for anyone who is considering dipping their toe into the track world. That seems to be where the value of PCA lies. It just sounds like you need to put up with some snootiness that goes along with it all. Thanks for opening the discussion Scott.

 

Well, here's the thing, we can all join the same PCA Club and heck, they'll let us all run in our own run group then. I'd rather run w/ you guys anyway.

 

I've done NASA and the Benz Club DEs and both were very open to others running as they are enthusiasts and also need to fill the track spots. I do like their training, however I would like more of a known P car instructor. With that said, I hear you Mike on the progression up in the classes. Too slow will thwart your skill level and advancement with the other DE clubs. Too fast will put you into the tire wall like a friend of mine did last year. Only 2-4 events and he was riding solo. Later that day he hit the tire wall hard and did some serious damage.

I consider myself an aggressive driver and the wanting to move up is appealing. But if I am going to get stonewalled by my own P car group, then I will no longer do theirs.

Berk, its not as easy as you think. Your skill and experience put you in your class, not us saying we want to run together. Now, we do not have to join PCA to run with them. Save your money and put it towards a day at the track. That's only if you feel there is no benefit for you personally to be a member.