FTS

I got the opportunity to drive the 2011 GT3 Cup car at Barber Motorsports Park during the new GT3 Cup Experience program of PSDS last Friday. OMG, what an experience it really is. The car was so much fun to drive, so much grip, and I loved the sequential shifter with auto-blip. Here is a short 3-lap vid (we spent 45 mins with the Cup), which was almost ending in tears, but I got lucky as I had a great instructor with me:

http://vimeo.com/24366789

More details of the outing is here:

http://gt2gt3cup.org/showthread.php?t=231

And the details of the program can be found here:

http://www.porschedriving.com/Porsch...--GT3-Cup.aspx

savyboy

Wow- amazing experience! Porsche Sport Driving School just keeps growing and getting better. Love the video

aero997c2s

Sounds like an incredible time! Do you have any pictures?

1198r

Thanks for the post and great video. I drove a 2007 Cup and wow I still want one. What happened for you to go off track?

Have a few questions:

1) Was the Cup car the new wide bodied one based on 2010 RS with 450bhp?

2) What do you currently drive?

3) Did the racers give any feed back on running the car? News I hear is that the 11 Cup's have doubled maintenance costs etc.

I am asking cause I am thinking about getting one.

Thanks

jenk12m

Thanks faith...glad to hear it was a great experience

Carrera GT

Sounds like a great event.
Two days and 45 minutes -- what were the logistics and schedule for the day? (I've read the PCNA site)
45 minutes sounds like two sessions of seat time for a whole day. I know the rest of the track time was in GT3 or Turbo.

As for the spin, that's always a fun turn. No doubt you've already been given professional post-mortem explanations. You perfected the sequence of power-on into the apex, more lock turned in, then straighten up, lift and turn into the slide with a closed throttle. : ) Was there an intercom? It seemed like the instructor was nicely "ahead" of you on previous turns with various instructions to regain the line or shift gears, but somehow didn't react to what you were doing and just let it all unfold.

What tires were on the Cup? I don't think slicks would build enough heat under those conditions to be useful. Hopefully they've got a better tire for the job.

Interesting to see just how sedate and forgiving the handling and the transmission can be. Marvelous advertising for us weekend warriors to dream the dream ...

deputydog95

So was it worth the 10K?

I got a Hurley Haywood autographed invitation last week to come check it out. I about fell over when I saw the price for 2 days.

I did the Masters school at Barber last year. Meh....

Laguna_Dude

1198r: 2010-2011 Cups are based on mk2 RS...wide-body vs. 09 and older based on narrow-body std. GT3. only difference btwn the 10 and 11, is that 11 has slightly higher gearing (faster acceleration) and comes standard w/fuel cell. Price difference is about $15-20k. Maintenance is the same for '05 1/2 - '11 cups (997). No difference there. 996 cups are cheaper to maintain, as tranny is H-shifter vs. sequential and doesn't require rebuilds as often.

Cup cars feels totally different vs. RS at first.. they are super stiff, loud and have an unsettling feeling about them.... keep in mind it's a feeling and not reality. As once you get used to them, it starts to become one with you and it's an incredible experience and feeling. The sounds and feedback. You can truly toss it around and it's takes is all in stride. However, it takes some ***** for those not used to it to drive at speed after a couple go arounds. And it shines at 9-10/10th vs. 1-8/10ths.

Thank you for sharing. Looks like an insane deal. $10K is cheap, IMO. If you factor in all the support, insurance, etc. etc. and the fact you simply arrive, drive and leave with no investment in equipment... it's a good deal. Sure you can run a cup for less, but you have to buy it ($$$), pay for tires, prep, etc. and you're way in the $$$ there vs. only $10k total.

Carrera GT

You'd say the $10K is not only fair, it's cheap. I don't know that insurance is in that price or a separate contract (as with other PSDS events) but that aside, you'd say that $10K for 45 minutes of seat time is a bargain?

Did the price really end up at $10K? Was insurance or other items extra? (assuming you have a hat, hans, suit, gloves, shoes, fireproofs) And there's travel and accommodation for two days.

I don't mind the headline number, but there's precious little seat time. I'd want two or three hours per day before I'd call it an "experience." 45 minutes is more like dancing the polka with a girl and then imagining that sleeping with her would be much same ... only closer ... and might not last as long ...

MJones

There were 6 invited guests (4 Journalists 2 Students) for 1 day as a trial/test run for the class. A bunch
of PCNA people as well.
The cost to those lucky souls...$0

For the rest of us we get 2 days
The cars, Turbo, Gt3, and the Cup Car
2 dedicated technicians for the cup car
Your own personal PSDS instructor for both days
All consumables
for 10k

FTS

Yes, we were part of the 1-day pilot program prior to the actual launch next month. But I believe there were only 2 journalists, 1 new PCNA employee, someone else from these forums, a person who is getting ready to purchase a Cup car that also does frequent corporate events with PSDS, and I was there representing the PCA GT2/3/Cup Register.

It really was a great event, very well organized and everyone made us feel more than welcome there. There were intercomms, so we can talk with the push button and the pit crew would also hear us in the car.
After the spin, we came back into the pits, they checked the car out and out we went again for several more laps, it was very cool.

The cars had actually Michelin Porsche Cup N1 slicks, and rain tires were in the next door storage, just in case

If you have already done the Master and Master +, you should definetly attend this one as well IMHO; it is well worth the price and it is actually cheap if you ask me. I am not sure how they can maintain that price after the first year.

These were brand new 2011 Cups.

I certainly agree, $10K is cheap IMHO too.

I am not sure about insurance and other costs, as I mentioned this 1-day pilot program was free for us, except airfare, you would need to ask them.

We only got to do the 1st day of the program, which I believe, we spent about 2.5-3 hours in the Turbo and GT3, then 45 mins in the Cup. The second day you get two additional 45-min sessions in the Cup. So, total you get over 2 hours of seat time in the Cup. Then there is the debriefings with data and video, personal coaching in and out of the car...

To me, having experienced the intensity, the amount of work they put forth, accommodations, facility and genuine coaching, $10K is a bargain.

Carrera GT

The three-day PDSDS course is $5K. Is there justification for the two-day course costing $10K? Could you really say $5K for two hours of seat time in a Cup is a bargain? It can be rationalized along the lines of being a convenient arrove-n-drove format, but if you get all the other value (venue, pro coaches) for a $5K event spread over three days, I think PSDS has set the price far too high. Somewhere around $7K for a three day course would start to fit in with their existing pricing.

Perhaps they just can't get enough people in the course for a day (six) for lack of enough Cup cars for everyone to get seat time in rotation out of the GT3 street cars. They might need to run this Cup Experience event at the same time as the conventional three-day event in order to share out the costs and deliver enough profit for their purposes. Early days. Hopefully it's a success and they can justify getting more Cup cars and providing a better price for us penny pinchers.

fleadh

When I first heard about this school I thought $10k for 2 days was too expensive as well.

However, after running my 09 Cup this year, I think it's pretty fair. On a serious weekend it can cost $10k to run my car, all in. That's 2 sets of tires, fuel, rotors/pads every other weekend, arrive & drive support, misc setup changes before the event, misc maintenance before each event. Tires are about half that cost. On a normal race weekend I probably get 2 hours of track time, maybe a little less if I'm feeling it and don't run entire qualifying/practice sessions to save my tires.

This doesn't include any depreciation of the car itself, breaking anything or spreading out the cost of motor/transmission refreshes. You could save probably 1/3rd of the money by doing a bunch of stuff yourself, but time is money.

-mike

FTS

Of course the perception is different for each of us; however, in the PDSDS you don't drive any GTs, nor the Cup car. As you know, they are really different animals. The cost of running the cup car, plus the one-on-one coaching, to me, justifies it enough. However, keep in mind I have not attended any PSDS courses previously, so I only have a limited view of the picture.

Also, I don't believe there are any other similar courses out there, especially with GT3 Cup cars, if there were, then we would be better able to compare and contrast and determine the price justification. So it is a unique course, and just like anything else, the price automatically is reasonable, but depends on the person. If it was my money, I'd pay it, but I am a penny pincher too, always operate on low-budget. Every penny I have goes into brake pads/rotors, tires and track time.

C.J. Ichiban

watched the video and the only two things that I could think of...

how the hell are you driving a cup car with no gloves?

and I really loved the "instructor downshift" at about 2 mins.

cup cars are really really expensive to run. I don't really know how anyone can think it's going to be less than 2 or 3 grand an hour on parts/rebuild factor etc so the additional "celeb instructor" fees are going to bring it all the way to that 10k price point really quick. guys that race them know firsthand how quick that tranny/engine rebuild pops up on the horizon...