Torontoworker

You mean 75K exiting 5B right - not 175K?

01C4

Woohoooooo!!!!!! O.K. I am pumped!! Got the very professional looking invite a few days back and reallylooking forward to the experience April 17. Many thanks to Speedway Motors for considering me. I bought a 996TT from them and have had the pleasure of a day at Mission. I am really looking forward to finding out what these cars are capable of in the hands of the pros. Will let you know all about it when I get back!

Cheers
Dean
01C4 ( sold )
996TT( Fabspeed, H&R, flashed, SSK )

AM993

Was the GT2 on winter tires

Torontoworker

Funny thing is, the track had snow on the surface up until last Thursday when one of my mate's went to check his trailer. Some are pizzed off that they can't get into Mosport during this event as the security is stopping them. They want to do repairs to their trailers (someone has a roof issue) but can't get in.

fryd

pongobaz

Actually I always forget that 6 and 7 even exist as corners...so I stand corrected: we were at 175 out of 7. And yes, 5 was done drifting through the whole time...that kid was unbelievable: 26year old Belgian.

Torontoworker

Ahhhh, that sounds better. I knew it was a typo or the other possibility was that you were having an orgasm at the time of cornering.

Mind you - I think your number is too low at 7. You sure you weren't at that speed way sooner? I've had my CTS up around 180 passing station 6.

pongobaz

Nope...Michelin is one of the event sponsors and they pretty much have an unlimited supply of tires. Tire techs would check the GT2's tires after every hot lap.
Track was totally dry with no snow other than in some small patches in the off road trail for the Cayenne.

pongobaz

That car is so fast that it's hard to look across to the gauge cluster and then identify where the hell you are on the track while hanging on for dear life as a passenger...so without splitting hairs, it felt like we were at warp speed all the way around and the exact speed and place is hard to pin down. He was certainly using up every available inch of track; probably not the most efficient way to get around, but it makes for a great show. And the sound of the car shrieking like a banshee certainly adds to the effect. Another interesting thing: all the cars are eurospec with german plates (Stuttgart matriculation)...so they shipped in everything as a complete package.

Turbodan

Phil,
sounds like a great day. thanks for sharing. please share which cars you got to drive on the big track doing hot laps. and what were your impressions?

jumper5836

I've been in a 997S cab with the top down and seen 240 km at the end of the back straight. With a lady driving. He must have been taking it easy.

pongobaz

I stopped looking at 265 and we weren't at the crest yet!

Danny,
as far as laps go, it's a follow the leader thing and you don't get to use the front straight because you're pulling into the pits to switch driver/cars every lap. So don't expect it to be like a track day. The best position to be in, is directly behind one of the instructor cars. If you tail him closely, he will start to push harder and faster. That said, the fastest he ever lead was at about 200km/h on the back straight... so no, it's not going to be as flat out as you might wish, but certainly way better than the usual test drives around the dealership's neighborhood. For one of the laps, I was stuck behind a very slow driver and we barely hit 170 on the straight. You will be assigned into one of five groups of eight participants with an instructor for the day. There are four driving exercises that you will participate in throughout the day each lasting about an hour:

TRACK: You get to test 4 vehicles on the big track: Carrera S coupe 6-speed w/PCCB, Cayenne GTS tip, Cayman S SC plus/PDK, C4S Cab SC plus/PDK.

BRAKING: same exercise that many of us have done in IDS. Accerate in a straight line into the braking box and turn left or right depending on which way the flag man points. For this you get to use a Turbo cab w/tip and PCCBs. You get to do it 3-4 times depending on how fast your group moves in and out of the car.

SLALOM: more like a mini autocross. There are prizes awarded at the end for the fastest in each group (no fancy timing devices, stop watch and iphones primarily) and some fun ones for most cones killed, etc...not really a serious award ceremony but fun.
There was a Boxster S and a Cayman S both with PDK for this. Use the
Cayman if you get the choice. You get 2-3 runs through this.

OFF ROAD: I used to instruct off roading with Jeep many years ago and drove the Rubicon so this was pretty basic stuff for me. But, it's a well laid out novice off road track and many in my group were nervous about what was expected at first. One person got their Cayenne stuck in the mud so badly that they had to get the Trans Siberian rally Cayenne that Laurance Yap and Kees Nierop drove last year, to tow it out...he did get an award for that! Cayenne and Cayenne S are used for this. Horsepower won't help you in the mud, so keep that in mind.

At the end of the day there are the hot laps with the instructors. Everybody will get to go in the Cayenne Turbo (and that is an experience going through all the corners in full opposite lock!). There are four other cars to ride in: C2S, Cayman S, C4S, and....GT2. It's up to chance as to which one you get to go in as you draw a ticket out of a hat on your way to the staging area. I lucked out with the GT2 ride.
The cars might be different on each day as they have a few more that they rotate in and out for maintenance and tires. As I said, all the cars are Eurospec so they won't be showing up as CPO vehicles at the dealerships here after you maniacs are finished flogging them.
My favorite track car: the Cayman S...hard for a 911 enthusiast to admit! The PDK is very cool, but I still prefer the involvement of a 6-speed and being able to toe/heel.
The Cayenne impresses with its incredibly composed off-road behaviour and all the electronic aids make it child's play to get through the muck...way easier to instruct with one of those than with an old Jeep with comandtrac! The interiors seem to be even nicer that before. The GTS was a lot of fun to drive on the track even though you feel as high as in a bus compared to a 911 when entering turn 2 and 4.

When you arrive, they will valet park your car and anything you receive (gifts, prizes, etc) or purchase at the boutique will be placed in your car for you. You will get a group photo of your team in a cool acrylic frame, a certificate, a bag full of goodies and great food throughout the day. Those of us that are used to Mosport cuisine of the past will now be spoiled forever and even the washrooms were cleaned up and decorated for the event.
Go and have fun; it's nice to see a manufacturer doing this in the midst of "the worst economic crisis ever".

Ronan

I am looking forward to it

Turbodan

thanks again Phil,
sounds like a great time!

webbie

Coffee on me next time at the GTG