Porsche Driving Experience / School

[RiccardoG]

Following on from the recent topic earlier this week on the PDE, I am quite keen on having a go myself. Basically I'd like to understand the limits of my 997 4S (I realise that most likely 991s will be used now) to have more confidence in its capabilities, especially in loss of control situations that may arise from over egging it or unexpected events on the road. I want to do this in someone else's car, so the PDE/PDS seems ideal.

The range on the site is noteable, from the entry 90 minute "911 Carrera" at £275 to a full 2 day "Performance" course at £1650.

I'd welcome and feedback from people that own a 911 and have been on any of the course as to which would be best for my objectives as per above.

I get the impression that the PDE is more of an extended "try it" event while its the PDS events that will be more complete, although the "Precision" day is verging on £1k.

Thanks for any feedback.

[petop]

Ill let you know after next Mon. Im doing the 275 C2S PDK one.

[spyderman8]

Tanking round the Handling Circuit won't show you too much about grip limits unless you're very brave because the Armco is "danger close"! You'd be better off spending some time on the Kick Plate and then the Low Friction circuit. You can do these for far less money in your own car at very low risk - and virtually zero tyre wear.

Porsche can tailor courses for you - you don't have to stick to the "menu".

[anonymous-user]

I think the £275 level courses are a bit of a waste of time for what you're looking at, 90 minutes won't allow enough time. You'll go round their handling circuit and experience the kick plate and low friction surfaces which are useful of course and gives you a bit more confidence to do this in a PEC car. The handling course will see you mainly in 2nd with a bit of 3rd so it's never going to stretch the car. I think they're designed more as tasters for people looking to buy the cars or as part of a 'drive a 911 experience'. When I've bought new Porsches, they've given me a full afternoon which I've found to be much better as you can spend more time on each aspect. This may be an off the menu option to ask for.

I can't speak for the more advanced courses but am considering one for myself next year so let me know how you get on.

[stevod]

^half days can be booked at £550 IIRC. Includes breakfast & lunch or lunch & tea.

S

[RiccardoG]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. The half day option sounds feasible, bit unsure as to the option of using my own car though. I guess I need to call and see what they suggest.

Any more views from anyone that has actually been (there seemed to be so many of you on the other thread) would be welcome.

[Big E 118]

I did the half day freebie that came when I got the car. It was very good and really enjoyed the kick plate and ice hill to help hone the skills. The handling circuit was good for a blast and they let you drive the cars hard.

It is more of a taster though IMO and my instructor agreed. I'm going to do the one day course where they use a mixture of the Porsche Centre and the Silverstone circuit during the day. You can either opt to use your own car or one of theirs (at additional cost). Don't know the cost as I haven't booked it up yet but I think that's the one to go for if you really want to test yourself and really improve your driving skills.

[Fattrader]

I did the half day Warm-Up in my car as I wanted to understand its handling as this was my first Porsche and GT3. It was epic. We did not push the car that hard. The track is built for relative low speed difficult handling. The handling circuit is excellent and really gives you the ability to understand the car without hitting breakneck speeds and putting you and the car in danger. I is more about technic rather than beating lap times.

They only pushed you within your limits. That is what is so good about the instructors they are able to read what your own capabilities are and allow you to play within them.

[Carbon Based]

Have been twice, once for the 90min / £275 experience and once as a depositor for the half day session, including lunch

The first time was as a curious potential purchaser so more about having some fun, getting to know the cars and the amount of instruction that was fitted in was a bonus.

Second time round was much more specific. Apart from the driving stuff, we chatted about how they can work towards what you'd like to get out of the session. Pick some areas of driving and the instructors will find parts of their set up to best show it off. They are very relaxed and happy for you to spin like a top on the kick plate, ice hill and low friction area.

As for whether the shorter sessions are, "worth it", IMHO definitely, but it might depend on a couple of things, what kind of learner you are and what you want to gain.

I discovered, that my take up of new skills isn't what it once was. I found it more productive to ask questions of the instructors, invite feedback of what I could do better and then build a list of things to work on later. Fortunately, most of this was not "at the limit of handling" stuff, but some bad habits to get out of that apply equally to the road. Smoother, earlier etc.

It was suggested that the next step would be the Precision course so you get to use the main Sliverstone track. For the full day, hiring one of their cars was, IIRR, around £300.

However, if the opportunity presents itself I'd take a 90min session again in a snap. Based on my experience, the instructors seem flexible enough in their approach to allow you to target an area or two and hone it. I'm also happy to get feedback in the moment, and work on it over time - my interests are not track driving specifically, I just enjoyed the safety aspect of not being on public roads.

The full day would be a great step up, and I'd like to do that at some stage, but for now, I'm actually getting a lot out of my local IAM group.

Edited by Carbon Based on Friday 13th December 16:46

[DKC]

Carbon Based said:

It was suggested that the next step would be the Precision course so you get to use the main Sliverstone track. For the full day, hiring one of their cars was, IIRR, around £300.

Edited by Carbon Based on Friday 13th December 16:46

£300 for precision and car hire? You sure?

According to this the full day precision course is £940.
http://www.porsche.com/silverstone/en/experience/p...

And for car hire, this is the cost for 2014:

Core Models - £510 per day
Boxster
Boxster S
Cayman
Cayman S
911 Carrera
911 Carrera S
911 Carrera 4
911 Carrera 4S
Cayenne
Panamera

Turbo Models - £610 per day
911 Turbo
911 Turbo S
Cayenne Turbo
Panamera Turbo

GT Models - £910 per day
911 GT3
911 GT2

RS Models - £1,010 per day
911 GT3 RS
911 GT2 RS

[Carbon Based]

Not for the full day, but just for the car hire. It seems you have better info than me.

[Technomad]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

See Carbon Based's post - I can't think of anywhere with the equivalent of the kick plate, ice wall, handling circuit or low friction circuit - I learnt more more in half a day there about car handling in general and the 911 in particular than from any of the other training. With those two circuits , you can try everything at sensible speeds, both giving you the time to react and learn and removing the sphincter factor from the higher speeds needed on an open track.

[spyderman8]

Did Car Limits once and I'm afraid I learnt nothing other than how to completely wreck a set of tyres. I'd say do a short course at the Silverstone PDC on the Kick Plate and Low Friction then start doing track days in winter on "safe" circuits like Bedford, Silverstone or Donington - with instruction.

[Binksboy]

I did the precision course earlier this year, used my own car. Couple of hours on the skid pans etc then an hour before lunch familiarising with Silverstone and after lunch some serious high speed driving ( for me anyway ) Great day, one thing the instructor did say was that because I was using my own car I could have as long as I wanted on track, had it been there car much less time! Wear and tear I presume? Do your car a favour and let it do what it was built for you'll love it!!

[freemax]

Did the two day precision course at PDS Germany in Baden Baden this October. Very nice and well organized. Majority of the 35'ish participants seemed to have their own cars, a mix of 991s and Boxsters, with the remainder rentals. I had brought my own 997.1 RS as I wanted to learn about my car, rather than general driving dynamics, and felt that a more 'supportive' car would not give me that experience.

Focus of the program was on getting to know essential things such as hard braking (110k/h to zero k/h) while swerving 'round obstacles, cornering on wet slippery surfaces, skid pad, etc, followed on the second day by guided driving around the track, then free driving. In between there were very useful theory sessions.

I did not experience much of the second day's driving, as in the pouring rain, with with semi-slicks, a moment of overconfidence and a half-second-too-early blip on the accelerator I managed to spin out of a corner into the scenery. Nothing bad happened, other than some damaged plastic and an early end to the driving day, missing out on the more interesting bits later.

Not quite the experience I was planning to have, though probably more useful and potentially life-saving than the official part of the program - doing this on a closed circuit, with no oncoming traffic and a bit of space next to the track is the safest place to get your own impression of what happens when things let go....and how quickly it goes from you driving the car, to the car driving you - backwards in a spinning motion... Useful!

Anybody else had such an experience?

[RiccardoG]

Guys, thanks a lot for all feedback, very interesting!

I took my last 911 (a 964, ten years ago) to the Car Limits at North Wield day as well as a few track days (Goodwood & Bedford). Great experiences, but, as already has been said, not what I am looking for at this stage. The car limits day I dind't find very useful, plus it hammered my tyres and I gained a few stone chips on the doors while sliding it. The track days were great but definitely I would need to know more of the basics before enjoying them, although I do want to try a couple next year.

Fattrader said:

I did the half day Warm-Up in my car as I wanted to understand its handling as this was my first Porsche and GT3. It was epic. We did not push the car that hard. The track is built for relative low speed difficult handling. The handling circuit is excellent and really gives you the ability to understand the car without hitting breakneck speeds and putting you and the car in danger. I is more about technic rather than beating lap times.

This sounds exactly what I need, low speed, master the handling. Did you spend much time on the really basic / purely academic stuff though?

In summary, it would seem from the above feedback that for any of the experiences offered people have been satisfied with the results. This is very encouraging and makes me more positive about going ahead and booking something with the PDE/S.

Thanks again!