Whoopsy

This past Monday and Tuesday I attended a 918 Spyder Circle track event at Portimao.

We stayed at the onsite hotel, with the 12 owners getting rooms facing the circuit. The view out the balcony is of the section between turn 8-9 or turn 9-10, depending on how one counts, but it's the section after Samsung corner.

Whoopsy

We were driven to the track in a fleet of Cayenne Turbo S and Cayenne GTS

Whoopsy

GT3RS as far as the eye can see, there are also 6 918s, 8 .1 Cup cars and 1 .2 Cup car. In total Porsche brought with them 87 cars to Portugal. Granted they were not all for us, they ran 2 sessions of the 918 owner's event and also had their Sports Driving School there, a Master-RSR course and a Sports Driving School.

Whoopsy

The 12 owners initially were divided into 4 groups, Cup car, 918, GT3RS and 4th group is car dynamics. Skip pads, slaloms, autocross in a GT3RS. All in all, we basically spent abut 6-6.5hrs in the cars everyday for 2 days.

Whoopsy

Owners were assigned one instructor each, so it's a personal training for 2 days. For myself, they assigned the same instructor from my Master-RSR course in Leipzig back in April, so he knows my ability and tendencies already. Their top instructors are also on hand, Jens Richter and Matthias Hoffsuemmer included.

An extra treat was Porsche also had Timo Bernhard flew in straight from Shanghai after his race to be our guest instructor. He drop by to say hi on Monday but he was visibly jet lagged and his session with us didn't start till Tuesday.

Porsche had custom made Stand21 race suit, helmets, gloves and shoes made for us with 918 Spyder Circle logo and our car's limitation number, in black and acid green, very nice touch. Just that set alone would be around 4000 Euro. The event is not cheap, cost is about 30k Euro, with the majority of that as rental charge for the cars.

Anyway, I started with the GT3RS on the track, proceeded to the 918 and then the Cup car, rinse and repeat for 2 days straight. What a blast! Instructors uses the GT3RS as the lead car for the GT3RS and Cup car sessions and another 918 when we do the 918 sessions. The GT3RS is just soooooooooooooooooooooooo good on the track. very forgiving and capable. Astonishing grip on the big sweepers. One time, during the initial sessions, I noticed that the instructor hit the brake briefly just before taking the last turn, being the idiot that I am, I tried taking it without braking, big mistake, there was a bump just before entering and that upset the car a little bit, not a problem when we enter it at around 150ish, but it is at 170+. So I proceed to lose the tail at 170+ but the electronics stepped in, and I caught back up to him without losing much time. Not quite scary, but more about fun. A few more turns I also briefly got the tail out a little, but my instructor kept pressing on even when he saw those as he knows me enough that I wasn't in too much trouble haha.

In the 918, hmm. What can I say, it's a blast again haha. It's just astonishing how explosive the car is on corner exits, it just about touches 290km/hr at the end of the front straight, for comparison, the GT3RS only did around 240-250km/hr with me at the wheel. We drove with Race mode on, as I am not quite a competent driver, my instructor was always pulling away from me after every corner, then I realized I can cheat! I turn on Hot Lap mode and boom, it made a hugh difference in corner exits, I can actually catch him, he was a bit surprised too until after the session I told him about the little cheat indecision

Cup car was just on another planet, they can corner soooooooo hard and brake so hard it's not even funny. I drove one before and I said I only used 60%, this time I think I got better and I think I got to 70% now, still long ways to go that's for sure.

At the end of the day, I am putting up just around the same lap times between the 3 cars, around 2:06ish or so. For comparison, they the instructors are doing 1:58s in the GT3RS, 2:00ish in the 918 and around 1:50 in the Cup car. The .2 Cup car is in the 1:47-48 range. I know what Chris Harris did in the 918 at Portimao, but when he did his laps the temperatures are much warmer than now, so the times aren't really compatible. At Leipzig I was a good 20+ seconds behind the instructors in the Cup car, now it's less than that and I am quite satisfied. As the time says, I had gotten more out of the 918 than I did in the RS, shocking to me too as I thought I was more comfortable inside the RS.

At the end of the second day, Timo did hot lap taxi rides in the .2 Cup car. Even with an extra person inside the car, I can feel the extra kick from the increased mid range torque of the new engine, fantastic to be sure.

The event was not without drama, a couple Cup cars got wrecked, but no one is injured and that's the most important thing. Cup car has no electronic safety net and it can bite if one is not careful with the throttle. Huge respect to those that drive them for a living.

I am so looking forward to next year's events, we will again have ice driving in Finland in March, Hockenheim track event in May, South of France in early June, Goodwood again in late June, track day event again at Paul Ricard in November and then another secret event in November also.

P.S. For comparison sake, during their Sports Driving School, a GT4 ran around the track at 2:02, not far behind the 918

Whoopsy

A basically empty tire truck afterwards

Whoopsy

Some last parting shots, the 6 918s on hand have had a hard life, the lowest mileage one is at almost 80,000km, the highest one will crest 100,000km by the end of the event.

unotaz

Very jealous!! Will definitely try to sign up for next year's 918 track event!

wtdoom

Is this an American thing ? I dont see these things

Whoopsy

No, it is a 918 Spyder Circle event and you should have gotten the email.

They have just released next year's schedule.

Check pm.

wtdoom

Thank you for the pm , it's my fault .
I have changed my contact details

Whoopsy

Haha. I am signed up for everything next year, hope to run into you.

laranja

Thanks for the detailed write up - fantastic stuff, and great pix!

Whoopsy

Another week, another 918 event, but this time it's organized by PCNA, their first ever.

It's a 5 day drive from LA to SF, and it coincides with the grand opening of the new Porsche Experience Centre in LA.

Some owners shipped their cars to LA for the event, while others decide to go with Porsche's rental 911 Turbo S.

Quite a number of the owners are members here, nice to see them again or meet them for the first time!

First stop, LAX to Terranea Resort.

In the evening Porsche shuttled us to the new PEC for the grand opening. Impressive facility!

Whoopsy

After an over night at the Terranea Resort, we start our drive north. But not before visiting Catalina Island in helicopters for a tour and lunch.

So we actually headed south first..............

We took 2 helicopters, one was more luxurious while the other one is faster. Think of them as a normal 918 vs a Weissach 918. Of course there was a air race between the 2 helicopters.

Anyway, it was quite a sight to see 4 918s stuck in 405 traffic, not to mention the other 7 Porsches that's in the convoy, 4 more Turbo S, a couple of blue Macans as lead cars and a red Carrera as the sweeper.

Our first overnight stop is the Beverly Hills Hotel.

As for dinner plans, there was none, we can basically ordered anything from the dining room's menu. BIG MISTAKE.