abe

Okay, please answere this after you finish laughing ....for those that do Tips and never learned stick....do these places have cars with Tips? Or do I have to do a crash course on a stick? ( I feel so emberassed....I could hear all the laughter from your house through the net into my computer.....okay forgive me I owned MB for a long time). And No I don't have training wheels on my P car.
abe

MJones

TIP...no problem, they have them available for you.
You'll have just as great a time!!!

Take a TIP hotlap here:

CLICK HERE

mdrums

Abe, PDE has Tiptronic cars nd if you are a good driver you will find the Tip at Barber is faster than the 6 speed!

I have a full left leg prosthetic and attended PDE back in March 2007. I had zero issues with obtaining a Tiptronic in all the cars used during PDE.

Go for it...it is the best experiance of a lifetime and you will become a better driver.

Pugnacious

I have attended the beginer two day PDE at Barber Motorsports in Birmingham and a three day Jim Russell Techniques of Racing at Infineon in Napa Valley. At the time the price was the same for each class ($3,000).

At PDE you are surrounded in luxury all the way from driving an air conditioned car to catered lunches and a 4 star dinner. At Jim Russell you bring your own lunch and sit in the sun in an open cockpit, open wheeled race car with a non-synchromesh gearbox and no reverse. PDE cars have stability control and ABS. Jim Russell cars have none of the above and they still teach threshold braking.

At PDE on the track you play follow the leader and are never allowed to pass and must always conform to the speed of the instructor (which for me was always too slow). At Jim Russell you are allowed (even encouraged) to drive as fast as you can and by the second day you are passing on the track.

At PDE with the exception of the autocross and skid pad, your lap times are not timed. At Jim Russell all your lap times are timed to the 1,000th of a second by a transponder.

At PDE on the track you have one instructor watching you thru his rear view mirror. At Jim Russell you have instructors positioned at every corner of the track taking notes and then debriefing you (both collectively and individually) after each session and offering you advice and tips on how to go faster and lower your lap times the next time out.

At PDE they seemed more concerned about preserving the condition of their cars (can’t say I blame them considering the price) then how fast you can go around the track. They have you delay downshifting at a couple of points on the track to help “save” the gearbox and have you up shift (one gear only on the second day) at certain points on the track and not by red line. At Jim Russell you use all four gears from day one, shift when you hit the rev-limiter and downshift when you need to.

At PDE spin-outs or dropping a wheel is not acceptable. At Jim Russell all they want to do is make a quick examination of the car which takes about 15 seconds if you spin or drop a wheel.

At PDE you spend a lot of time watching others drive while waiting your turn (autocross, skid pad, lane change exercises, even track time is shared) and you share cars with another drivers. At Jim Russell you are either driving on the track or being debriefed and you are the only one driving the car for all three days. You spend so much time in the car that if you aren’t wearing gloves you will develop a blister on your shifting hand.

PDE is two days, Jim Russell three. You make the call.

996toomey

I went to PDE in November 06 and it was excellent and some day time, wife and money permitting I would like to go back and do the Masters. That definitely gave me the bug and I have been attempting to improve my driving skills ever since. I am a member of PCA and have done several educational events with them. PCA is an excellent cost effective source for learning also. For example I did a 2 1/2day performance driving school with PCA food included for $275. I think they are all excellent on some level and the more you can do the better.

MJones

A couple of things:
PDE is not a Racing School....Russell is.

The entry level PDE is open to everyone regardless of experience or lack thereof, and is a well organized event where safety is paramount and your funmeter will redline.

Spin-outs or wheel dropping, true, are not acceptable and the reasoning all has to do with car control. Driving over your head or a momentary lack of concentration can get you into trouble in the blink of an eye.
I have witnessed two cars totaled at PDE, both at the Masters, both as a result of wheels off, one during a lead follow session. Stuff happens.

Barber really only requires 3rd & 4th gear to get around and in a race there are only two corners where 2nd might help you with a squirt, exit of hairpin and exit of the museum complex.

Pugnacious, sign-up for the Masters...The second day you are on the track alone with no lead follow and there is passing...go as fast as you care.

I'll be attending again 2 or 3 times this year....it's just great fun

blake

Listen to MJones - he is the 'Rennlist Guru' on PDE. I attended PDE back in Sept 06 to acqaint myself with driving on the track as I had just purchased a 996 GT3 for DE only. Now with close to 20 DE days in the "3" under my belt, I believe that PDE was the perfect stepping stone to car control and driving at track speeds. I highly recommend it.

I hope to attend the "PDE Masters" program this coming summer or fall. It has already been budgeted with the wife

-Blake

abregov

I attended the 2 day PDE last May 07. Had the time of my life and have signed up for the Masters 2 day for May 08. It is a first class event with great instructors.

I would also like to attend Russell's course, but I know it will be totally different. It just depends on what you are looking for and the type of cars you want to be driving. Its hard to beat driving the hell out of someone else's Carreras around a beautiful track like Barber. If you attend, you will not be disappointed.

malammik

Thanks everyone for your excellent feedback. I signed up for May 13-14th session and will be flying out of Philadelphia on the 12th. PM me if you you're going to be there for the same session. We will have rennlist mini-party. Cheers.

adfsouth

I had a wonderful experience when I attended early last year. You made a wise choice....enjoy

mitch236

It really boils down to what you want. If you want a relatively relaxed, pampered experience, do the PDE. It is professional and well run from the top down. I know some of the instructors and you won't be disappointed.

If you are looking for a little more excitement and want to learn to drive your own car, do a DE. Sure, the level of instructors varies widely from poor to the same guys who work for the PDE programs and it will be a "rawer" experience but if that's what you want, go for it.

Another option is to attend a DE while hiring a professional coach. In my area there are quite a few professional racers (and coaches) who could be hired for about the same as a PDE. With this, you get a superior level of instruction (as high as PDE) without the constraints of the PDE.

vizman

PDE refers to performance driving event? Which one are you guys refferring to and are there any good ones by south florida?

DE would be any driving event where you bring your own car such as chin motorsports? Ive attended Chin hpde's and although it was a lot of fun it sounds to me like a PDE might be the way to go at least for me.

blake

PDE = Porsche Driving Experience. You can book this off of the Porsche website and it is run at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, AL by Porsche with Boxsters, Caymans, 911's & 911S'...

A great introduction for the newbie...

-B

vizman

Thanx 94Speedster, I'll check it out!

mdrums

vizman, I had 1 DE at Sebring under my belt when I attended PDE. PDE really helped me a lot and when I went back to do another DE I was so much further progressed and I moved up through the DE ranks better.
Others...if you have 4-6 track day DE's and are doing well PDE will still help you but you will be very progressed compared to the other drivers. If you are solo at DE's then you will way outclass those with you.