Clint's 944

I was wondering if anyone could offer advice on how to get involved with racing. I obviously have NO racing experience.
Are there guided/assisted programs out there? How do the DE's work, autocrosses? Are there programs setup to be able to run on tracks?
Is there a website where I can get more information?

Last but not least, what are the different types of racing for amateurs?

AWolf

I would first look into autocross to begin your racing hobby/career. It is probably the cheapest, easiest way to get into the sport and you will have a blast doing it. If not already, become a member of the PCA. Find your local regions website or contacts and get in touch with them. You can also look into SCCA racing but from my experiences the PCA events are much nicer. If there is a Porsche performance driving school offered near your area I would highly recommend it. In San Diego ours cost $240 IIRC and is probably the best money you will ever spend on your driving. The hardest part is just getting out there and looking into everything. Even though it is not in your region take a look at www.pcasdr.org and it will explain all your questions about the different types of racing. Good luck and have fun.
-Andrew

josephsc

It also depends on how active your local chapter is -- frankly, the Los Angeles PCA chapter seems rather comatose.

Joe Anstett

I agree with AWolf completely, but I wanted to add a personal perspective to it.

I started racing 3 years ago (and realized I should have been doing it since the day I got my license; I just didn't know about these types of clubs). Here's what I did:

Start out with Autocrossing. Try all the clubs in your area, each one runs their events differently. The two big clubs are SCCA and NASA; there are smaller clubs like Porsche Club, BMWCCA, M-Club, etc. It will teach you car control at relatively slow and safe speeds (you won't get out of 2nd gear, you may hit the rev limiter though). It will make you a good driver and tech you technique. It's also a blast, and you will frequently race with drivers across the spectrum including newbies like yourself.

After a while I would suggest one of the schools like Evolution, this will help you perfect your technique.

By this point you will learn that being fast means being smooth; how to take a proper line; how to brake correctly; keeping your head cranked more than 20 feet ahead of you. You have to un-learn what you learned in street driving.

Then you can start tackling the open track racing, and your autocross skills will serve you well in this environment. This is where I am right now.

Geo

What are your goals?

If you just want to drive your car on the track as best you can, do DE (Driver Education, aka "track" events).

If you want to go racing, buy a kart. You will learn more faster in a kart than anything else. If you do it right, the cost is modest and you can get out for what you put into it or very nearly so should you decide to go car racing or should you decide racing is not for you. Until you have a large 8 figure budget you will get more seat time in a kart than anything else. Autocross is fine, but you won't learn as quickly, you won't learn as much, and you won't get as much seat time in a month of autocrossing as you will get in one single session of karting. Karting will also teach you racecraft which DE and autocross never will.

So again, what are your goals?

jc22

http://www.carolinas-pca.com/ There should be some info on DEs in your area here. I would probably try a DE first to get some proper instruction then try your hand at autocrossing. After a few track events you will be able to figure out what direction you really want to go in.

Clint's 944

Wow...thanks guys!! My goal is simply to learn the limits of the car and my abilities in a controlled enviroment. Street racing is not for me.... seen too many horrific accidents. Ideally, I'd like to take a shot at some of tracks but I know I have alot to learn before that. A friend of mine used to Kart race...that's WILD!!!
Most of you suggested trying autocross so I'll look into that and I'll look into some DEs from PCA. I want to be able to start doing some of them by spring. That gives me all winter to work on the car.

Z-man

Clint: If I may echo the posts above: Definately get into autocross. Perfect place to learn car control. Then get into DE - Driver's Ed on the race tracks. IF you want to proceed further, after a few years of autox and DE, you could easily get into club racing.

By doing autox and DE first, you will have a leg up on the competition if you take your racing further.

Note that DE's are NOT racing events - they aren't timed, and the driving is not competitive. But it is an excellent venue for learning how to drive a performance car. Cars only pass when the slower car gives a 'point by,' there's no passing in the corners, higher hp cars that are slower will usually lift to left others bye...etc. Note that if you get into club racing afterwards, there are some adjustments you'll have to make from DE, but that would coime pretty quickly.

HTH,
-Z.

Lemming

Clint, there is a DE at Roebling Road (near Savannah) the weekend of Sept. 25th. Go to www.nasa-southeast.com

M758

I agee with Z-man,
Based on you desire to drive your car bit faster then Autocross and DE are the way to go. Neither is "Racing" however. Honestly calling either racing kind of bugs me. Racing is wheel to wheel racing. Just runing vs the clock as in autocross, time trial or rally is not really "racing". Sure its competition and considered motorsport, but is not "racing".

Well now having got that off my chest...

... Autocross is really best place to start. Costs are low to get in both in entry fees and in saftey gear. Risk of damage to your car is very minimal from both off course excusions and car wear and tear. There is Alot to be learned in autocross and it can be great fun. DE costs more, but the advantage is higher speeds, real road courses and 10x 50x times the track time as in autocross. Riks are higher too, but some of that is mitigated since there are not considered competition like an autocross. Track events do however give you the best chance to feel the limits of your car. In racing the car and track come secondary as it is means to win. In autocross and DE your focus is on the car and track. In racing you tend to focus on the competitors. The on track driving is works apart, but having the basic skills to be safe and reasonably fast on a track is in my mind the first step in racing.

PS... the costs grow expoentially as you move from Autocross to DE to Racing. Don't be fooled, even racing a "cheap homebuilt" 944 NA is never "cheap".

wombat7

I would definately recommend autoX as a place to start "racing." It is adicting however so be prepared to sacrifice many things so you can go racing. I have learned more about my car by autocrossing it than i ever thought i would.

I've also heard that autocrossing is a good place to start because it gets the fundamentals down and it makes the transition from autoX to DE and club racing a lot easier than just jumping into club racing.

rpm's S2

Clint - join your local PCA region. Today. The link is in my signature. Get ahold of Fred Grossfeld our membership chair and he will set you up.

We are doing an autocross school next month at Maxton (near Fayetteville). There are numerous DE events in the area. A great site that catalogs all of the track events east of the Mississippi is at TrackSchedule.com. The site is run by the Hurricane Region VP.

Hurricane Region does not sponsor any DE's (we are a bit small and cost is an issue), however many of our members participate and several are instructors. Through PCA you can participate in any region's DE. The events at VIR are full of Hurricane region members.

I know it might seem strange that Hurricane Region is centered in Raleigh, but we do many events in the coastal region and Wilmington. Our Christmas Party this year is in New Bern. Hurricane Region is also a very 944 friendly group.

Rich Sandor

IMHO.. you never really learn how to drive until you've pushed a car well beyond it's limits. A 951 should NOT be the first car for you to push your limits on. Learn to drive a kart sideways around a tack. then learn to drive it smoothly. When you've ingrained that car control into your reflexes, you can safely push your car a little harder at DE's. Also, it helps to be able to easily take advice and adapt your driving style to it. I had a really tough time at first giving up some bad habits. Once I let them go, and opened my mind to advice.. I got a LOT faster!!!

AutoX is fun, but really you never get enough seat time to really learn much - except that ploughing or understeering through slaloms and corners is slow.