Rainier_991

Participated in a track day under Porsche driving school here at the Killarney race track. First time I took my C2S on the track.
My group had two 991 C2S (one PASM, one SPASM) and six 997 GTS models.
Wet track in the morning (with some rain), dry in the afternoon. Good mix of conditions.

Most interesting lesson: If you have a 997 GTS, do NOT follow the line of a 991 if the 991 is driven at its limit. You just can't.
Had three of them spin out behind me, one spun out in a spectacular fashion in front of me (OK, partly my fault I think - I was pushing rather hard and the guy tried to oblige).

Really a fun day. The 991 can drift quite nicely. I'm impressed. Yes, I got it wrong once. Overcooked and left the track backwards in true 911 fashion. That was fun too.

A Cayman R came off and crashed into a tyre wall. Bad damage. That will be an expensive repair bill.

Pirelli sponsored the event and offered everybody a set of tyres at 45% below retail. While mine are about half life I took a set anyway. Made those things almost affordable..

Rainier

draxa

You lucky Boykie!

Rainier_991

Jup !

PorscheSki89

Sounds like a great time. Nice to hear from a 911 driver in South Africa. I was there for the first time this past June. My wife and I ran the Comrades Marathon and went on a wonderful safari in Kruger... beautiful country!

PasPar2

been on a bunch of track days and have never seen THAT many spins..

John's 991

Good for you! I think that having a 911 and not taking it to the track is a missing some of the point to some extent. Having some rain in the morning and drying out is a great way to learn car control and how the far feels moving around. And as you get more comfortable, the track gets dryer and you can go faster.

Glad you had fun! And the last event I was at at Buttonwillow in California at least 4 guys went off in the first group in the first session of the day. Not impressive in my opinion, although I did go 4 wheels off and back on the next day in the afternoon.

chuck911

Yeah, that's a lot of spins. I have years as a PCA DE Instructor but have never done Porsche Driving School. They must have a different emphasis. Ahem. And driver skill level is everything. Still, I'm not surprised to hear all the GTS's failing to keep up with a 991. I drove a GTS back when they came out. Thought it was pretty much the ultimate expression of the road version 997. (Everything from GT3 on up I'm considering track not road cars.) The GTS looks fabulous, sounds fabulous, and delivers loads of Porsche performance. And yet... even on a short test drive, one on-ramp with pavement that undulated up and down, which at normal (aka, legal) speed cars just kinda go up and down, but at the high-g speed we were going in the GTS the rear end was hopping around. Never out of control, the suspension was handling it, but also clearly letting you know its really got its work cut out for it here. Same curve, same speed, same day, but in a (same year) C4S, no problem at all. I mean it was spooky how much more at ease the C4S was - not faster, just incredibly more comfortably controllable. Which of course for most of us mortals here in the real world does equate to faster.

Now the 991, and this is my point, goes so far- so COMFORTABLY far- beyond the 997 that I'm not at all surprised to hear a bunch of GTS's being embarrassed trying to keep up. And the crazy thing is, well I don't know about you Rainier with your painfully high markups and exchange rates, but here in the US when the 991 came out it was roughly $6k CHEAPER than a similarly equipped GTS! Now before everyone starts yelping about how the sticker went up, note I said "similarly equipped". That's based on me going on the Configurator back then and equalizing the two cars equipped options. Of course you can't equip the 991 with the GTS center locking wheels- but neither can you equip the GTS with the 991 improved body, suspension, etc.

Its clear as yesterday in my mind, me standing there at Barrier looking at the GTS and wondering how in the world Porsche was ever going to improve on this. Couple months later, they not only did so, but did it so thoroughly as to make it seem easy. Your story Rainier really, uh, drives the point home.

Rainier_991

Here is a pic of yours truly sliding around the oval. Did not mind the rain at all - in fact I think it was just great. It turned the whole thing into a giant skid pan and the Porsche instructors gamely stood in the rain cheering everybody on and giving critique and tips.
Couple that with a dry track (except for some puddles) later that day when we could go around the corners as fast as we dared (and some DARED) - great day. Will definitely do that again.
Coupled with the savings on the set of tyres (now standing in my garage) due to the sponsorship and the day was for free...

Chuck, I think the reason we had so many 997GTS around (they are all fairly new) is that they where dumped here at the end of their run. Prices where reasonable (about the same as a reasonably spec'ed C2S 991) so many went for them - also stock off the floor, no waiting (I waited for 8-9 months for mine). I was highly tempted as well - but chose to get the 991. Glad I did.

chuck911

The CGTS is a great car. The 991, immensely better. And terrific to see you getting so much out of yours!

Rainier_991

Yes, agreed.
I'd love to do more of this but there is a small issue.
The Porsches are sold here with either a 3 or 5 year warranty and maintenance plan (no maintenance costs).
You are made to sign a piece of paper stating that you will not take the car on a track or else you void warranty and the plan.
There are not many tracks here and the only one close enough is also home of the Porsche club - so no dice tacking a chance - you will get noticed.

This particlular event was an exception as it was an official Porsche Driving school thing, you had to take the car in for an inspection both before and after the event (no charge). And of course you had to hand over around $500 for the day (made up by almost $2000 discount on retail price of a set of 4 P-zeros so quite worth it).

Rainier

PelicanParts.com

What a fantastic photo - looks like good fun! Thanks for posting
Mark/Pelican Parts

John's 991

You lose your warranty by taking the car on track? That is crazy and seems borderline illegal. I would give up the maintenance plan but not the warranty to track my car. Sorry to hear that is the case as you obviously know how much fun the 991 is on the track.

Here in California, its no big deal, although I did not even try to make a warranty claim when I wore out 3 sets of pads and one set the rotors in 6k miles (I changed them myself). They did not blink when they had to replace the tires at 4,500 miles either.

bccars

Way to go Rainier

holminator

Nice! I love pushing it in the rain! Rainier, PDCC or not, my friend? Curious.

Rainier_991

SPASM, no PDCC.
I opted for that combination after having sampled both with and without. Main reason is that the SPASM has so little body roll to start with it makes that aspect of the PDCC questionable. The other aspect of the PDCC is making your ride a bit more comfortable due to less sway bar coupling - that **is** noticable but I felt it was distracting from the feel of the car. With the 991 the car feeds back through your spine rather than your hands and I kinda like that.
(best way I can put it, even though streering feedback in the SPASM/no PDCC is not bad).
Instead I invested the PDCC money in a nice gray/black interior leather combo which in my mind was infinitely more desirable than the PDCC...

If I would have chosen the PASM (not the SPASM) however, I would have favoured the PDCC as the PASM definitely rolls much more and thus it is an advantage.

Rainier