Track driving / driver education day this Sunday..
Discussion
Any PH-ers interested in a driver ed. day near Oxford on Sunday 12th. It's a really fun / well organised day (I've done it twice before and learnt a lot about the particular handling quirks of the Pork beast). Here's a report I wrote after the first time I did it ......
I did a day organised via Easytrack with Drive Action yesterday. It's the company run by Pat Jackson (the guy you may have seen on Dream Machines last week doing the set-up on the GT40 they were giving away).
They use Enstone airfield just North of Oxford running days with the emphasis very much on learning what you and your car are capable of, where you really can push it beyond the limit with no risk of hitting anything or anyone. They set up various activities throughout the day to focus on different aspects of your car's handling.
First up was a slalom set up to teach power-off oversteer and how to re-gain control. A pretty vital skill for any 911 owner. After about five minutes I was confidently hanging the back out and catching it back - something you can't really do on the roads or on a normal trackday. Then there was a short course of bends set up to teach the idea of putting corners together with a short straight and stop between the cones to learn how to judge your braking distance. There's a slight competitive element as you go against the clock.
This was followed by a head to head drag race. You had to accelerate as hard as possible but then judge where to start braking to come to a stop before a line across the track - very enlightening, I discovered my brakes were really awful due to a mismatch of EBC Greenstuff pads on the front and OEs on the back. I am however pleased to report that a 3.2 911 is quicker than a standard Boxster ! (much to my relief), although I couldn't stop as quickly. It was a really good opportunity to try out the cadence braking technique (manual ABS !), which really does work and helps you avoid locking up.
In the afternoon they set up a 3/4 mile handling circuit to bring together all of the techniques learnt during the morning. Only 3 cars out at a time so absolutely no danger of hitting anyone or being worried about faster cars behind you. The instructors take you round for the first few laps to point out the braking and turn in points then let you go off on your own in four lap bursts until your tyres are bald and brakes cooked ! Then you do it all over again doing the circuit in reverse (not as in backwards !).
In between activities they have an autotest circuit set up together with a knackerd Fiesta for you to thrash and handbrake turn around against the the clock - excellent fun. They also have quad bikes to zip around on, so there's none of the waiting around you sometimes get at 'sessioned' trackdays.
Obviously the emphasis is on learning, but there was still a huge range of abilities and cars there (TVR, TT, M5, Boxster, Impreza, Peugot 306 !, Ferrari 360 Spyder !) The day is very informal and there's no problem sharing cars etc as there are so few in action at any one time. All in all it was a really fantastic day, I learnt absolutely loads that I would have no chance in picking up anywhere else without seriously endangering myself or my car ! The only casualties were a few pretty tired looking sets of tyres by the end of the day !
The day costs £150 with lunch chucked in and is great fun. A friend of mine is organising the day and he's a few people light so if there is any interest then either contact me through my profile or on here.
Jamie
I did a day organised via Easytrack with Drive Action yesterday. It's the company run by Pat Jackson (the guy you may have seen on Dream Machines last week doing the set-up on the GT40 they were giving away).
They use Enstone airfield just North of Oxford running days with the emphasis very much on learning what you and your car are capable of, where you really can push it beyond the limit with no risk of hitting anything or anyone. They set up various activities throughout the day to focus on different aspects of your car's handling.
First up was a slalom set up to teach power-off oversteer and how to re-gain control. A pretty vital skill for any 911 owner. After about five minutes I was confidently hanging the back out and catching it back - something you can't really do on the roads or on a normal trackday. Then there was a short course of bends set up to teach the idea of putting corners together with a short straight and stop between the cones to learn how to judge your braking distance. There's a slight competitive element as you go against the clock.
This was followed by a head to head drag race. You had to accelerate as hard as possible but then judge where to start braking to come to a stop before a line across the track - very enlightening, I discovered my brakes were really awful due to a mismatch of EBC Greenstuff pads on the front and OEs on the back. I am however pleased to report that a 3.2 911 is quicker than a standard Boxster ! (much to my relief), although I couldn't stop as quickly. It was a really good opportunity to try out the cadence braking technique (manual ABS !), which really does work and helps you avoid locking up.
In the afternoon they set up a 3/4 mile handling circuit to bring together all of the techniques learnt during the morning. Only 3 cars out at a time so absolutely no danger of hitting anyone or being worried about faster cars behind you. The instructors take you round for the first few laps to point out the braking and turn in points then let you go off on your own in four lap bursts until your tyres are bald and brakes cooked ! Then you do it all over again doing the circuit in reverse (not as in backwards !).
In between activities they have an autotest circuit set up together with a knackerd Fiesta for you to thrash and handbrake turn around against the the clock - excellent fun. They also have quad bikes to zip around on, so there's none of the waiting around you sometimes get at 'sessioned' trackdays.
Obviously the emphasis is on learning, but there was still a huge range of abilities and cars there (TVR, TT, M5, Boxster, Impreza, Peugot 306 !, Ferrari 360 Spyder !) The day is very informal and there's no problem sharing cars etc as there are so few in action at any one time. All in all it was a really fantastic day, I learnt absolutely loads that I would have no chance in picking up anywhere else without seriously endangering myself or my car ! The only casualties were a few pretty tired looking sets of tyres by the end of the day !
The day costs £150 with lunch chucked in and is great fun. A friend of mine is organising the day and he's a few people light so if there is any interest then either contact me through my profile or on here.
Jamie
I've done this day and can recommend... just try and use old tyres (I got through a set on the M3 by mid afternoon).
Of course, you could just drive slowly... but that's not quite the point is it!
Pics from said day here >> www.stevecarter.com/enstone/enstone.htm
Of course, you could just drive slowly... but that's not quite the point is it!
Pics from said day here >> www.stevecarter.com/enstone/enstone.htm
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