chuck911

One of the best things I ever did was join PCA and get involved with their driver development programs- Driver Skills, Autocross and Driver Ed. Quite a few times over the past year myself and others here on RL have recommended that people try them as well. Now it occurs to me that its been quite a few years since I was active in any of them. Sure I can probably still write about it as good as ever, but like any skill it goes away without practice. So to give myself a much needed kick in the butt I've decided to post this New Years Resolution to get in at least a few events this year.

Now I know there's several of you around here with me in PNWR. http://pnwr.org/ And, we don't have to wait long. The first event is Driver Skills this next Saturday, January 11th. I know everybody thinks the track is cool and loves DE but the fact is your best bet by far is to start with Driver Skills. But the best bang for the buck out here in PNWR (or anywhere for that matter) is the Autocross Practice on Feb 22nd because it is .... FREE!
http://pnwr.org/calendar07/display.a...14&Window=Same

So I will be there! Nicoli? I know you are out here too!

holminator

Another spot-on comment.

mi650

I'd really like to do this. Something I've been wondering: How much does it cost for a typical DE day? Meaning tire, brake wear... Everything else that I'm not remembering to ask?

chuck911

This depends so much on your car, skill level and event particulars its really hard to say. But considering your average novice 991 owner at a PCA event I'd say event costs plus a helmet, $500 for the first event with most of that being the helmet. If that sounds low realize that in spite of anything you might hear its very unlikely any novice is going to be driving fast enough to put much more load (i.e., wear) on any part of the car much beyond what they're probably already doing every now and then on the street. Sure, in terms of what they're familiar with they feel like Walter Rohrl (Okay, for you younger ones, Patrick Long) but in terms of the range of performance of the car you're barely scratching the surface. So don't worry about cost of consumables. The extra wear put on your brake pads and tires in 100 miles on the track will be about what you'd go through anyway in say 500 miles on the street. Greater wear sure but not all that much in the big scheme of things.

The way most PCA regions do it (and most everyone else for that matter, from Bondurant to Barber and all in between) is an hour or more of classroom instruction followed by riding with an instructor, then driving with instructor, to finally being allowed to drive solo. The solo part may come at the end of the day, or maybe next time. The point is it is all very heavy on technique and very light on speed. This is because of the often neglected truth that trying to go fast results in accidents while merely performing all the basic functions well- driving the line, threshold braking, controlling weight transfer- results in going very fast indeed.

Quite honestly in my experience an awful lot of owners are not only surprised when they get an inkling of just how fast these cars are, they're a little intimidated by it all. Sometimes more than a little. Its one thing to watch RL doing 150 around those bends on the 'ring, quite another to be doing it yourself. The car doesn't care, but believe me, you will! Which is why its such a good idea to start with Driver Skills or Autocross. Both of those are done at mostly 2nd gear speeds (i.e. under 80) that make it much easier on your nerves and of course even easier on tires and brakes as well.

But whichever you're able to do, to quote the best ad of all time, Just Do It!

chuck911

Thanks holms. And which events will you be doing in 2014?

Oh- and Happy New Year!