I recently bought a C5 Z06 as well.

I've owned my 993 for 13 years and autocrossed it for about five of those years. Once my daughter was born I stopped auto crossing and have been doing two or three HPDE events a year. Loved tracking my 993 but it just started to feel slow compared to some of the newer cars coming out to the track. Also as the value started to rise I became more worried about writing her off at the track.

Enter the Z06. For half the price I paid for my 993 I have a car that is much faster and much easier to replace.

 

As most discover, there are autocross and HPDE/TT & race cars and then there are luscious street drivers, a lightly modified 993. Lightly...maybe a set of Koni's, or Bilstein HDs, or PSS9/10, a set of Fister IIs (IIIS?)...replace worn suspension parts in the process, put on some fresh tires...and that's all you need.

 

That's what I did with mine (Bilstein HDs, M030 springs and bars, LPPM exhaust, good tires... My GF autocrosses it once in a while and so do I sometimes, as local PCA clubs don't allow convertibles without rollbar on race rubber (read, my CSP Miata).

993 is fun to autocross sometimes, the most antique-feeling part of it being the steering rack. So I end up controlling mine with the right foot and not worrying about being competitive. Actually, it helps me some in my constant struggle to quiet down my hands on the steering wheel. It's a periodic yellow reminder to self that autocross should be fun. Something that very much get lost when you are competitive, unfortunately.

Well, here (yeah, there's right foot steer, but the driver properly looks in the right direction, the car be damned):

 

Never sell a 3.2, it's regrettable.

 

I'm confused...are we talking about the same AutoX where one car at a time goes out and does 45second course 5 time a day not getting out of 2nd gear?

When you are going 3 cars wide mirror to mirror in turn one after a race start then I can understand the sex reference.

 

C5 vette great bang for the buck and a very capable and cheap track car. However, at a tight track like Shenandoah with lots of 2 gear turns, the power is equalized and my 993 out-corners those cars. I don't even have fancy shocks that Martin mentions. So I'm surprised about Vette being competitive at autoX. I'd imagine Miata or lotus or s2000 being the most competitive. When I get to a faster track like the Glen, the power disadvantage is huge, but the car is teaching me to slow down less and carry more speed in the corners. I'm usually able to keep decent pace with newer 911s and caymans, but the driver disparity is pretty big at HPDEs.

But that's being on a race track. I've done autoX once and cannot understand it from time and cost perspective. Maybe the event I went to wasn't representative of what it is.

 

Nile 13 knows of what I speak. Another approach that I had once upon a time, before I went off the deep end, was a complete M030 (RoW) suspension. This really worked....but I was seduced by a set of slightly used PSS9 shocks and struts, and TRG camber plates, and sway bars. I was so excited, out I went for my first Time Trial with my new (to me) suspension. Finally I could play with the Big Dogs, with my PSS9s etc., where I could set the compression and rebound with one dial per corner. How that works has never been explained to me...

Much to my surprise, I got the same exact times I had gotten in previous outings. The lack of quickness, was was me, the driver. Man did I feel like an idiot. I went to all that trouble with a suspension swap out and achieved exactly nothing....well I did get those little compression/rebound *****

 

Can you please tell me your highest autocross achievements in a 993 or any other car? Thank you in advance.

Heavy BDSM without a safe word? No, thank you.

 

zero...I did it once at Metlife stadium parking lot.
Full day there for 5 min of driving didn't do it for me. It was fun to get car bent out of shape at slow speeds tho. If there was more driving involved I could get into it a bit. Hence my question...wasn't sure if there are AutoX events that entail more driving than that or where cars go side by side. If not, than that sex reference is not really valid.

...safer than driving on turnpike.

 

I did my first event in 1992. Did half a season of SCCA in Rochester, NY, and was bored. Quit and did not re-start until 1999, and even that was more out of necessity.

However, once I got into it and became competitive, it's become quite an obsession. I do 20-30 events a year now. We are very, very lucky to have an old airfield in our disposal, so the courses are 55 to 75 seconds long for faster cars and we run 6 to 8 runs a day, depending on the club. But, in all honesty, autocross is a bit like chess. You either love it for no reason, or you compete and that what drives you. The sex reference was regarding competition. It's an incessant little group. And, oh, we've got some pretty competitive girls too

True, that.

Somewhat related, I was watching Scott Dixon's flying IRL car yesterday... it was amazing to see him walk away from it.

 

Just to get to OP's C5 choice, however. We are nuts. N-V-T-S, nuts. We chose daily drivers based on autocross classing. We modify cars strictly based on class rules, even if it's a street Miata in Florida that sees one or two uncompetitive autocrosses a winter. True story. The SCCA rulebook is the god and tech inspector is its prophet

At the end of the day, the pursuit is appreciated by a handful of people you compete with and they understand. The rest don't. It's a lonely and sad existence, powered by gasoline (now E85) fumes and occasional beer or two.

 

Better check the headlines before recommending Skippy Barber....

 

And I wonder how much skill those schools really teach. I'm sure it's great experience, but you can't teach feel or sub-conscience. You can pick a few books, learn basics, and go practice yourself or find a good instructor who understands those basics to help you. Seat time is key, but seat time when you understand what you are doing and what you are not doing. Anyways, we digressing from the original thread. It's great that OP got a completely different car to drive and learn in.

 

In the late 80's, having purchased a 80 SC Weissach Coupe, I was attempting to break into competitive amateur Porsche driving and started with AutoCross, the damn cones drove me mad, got lost in the maze, and I was about 50 at the time. Then I did a Time Trial at Jack Murphy Stadium, more cones, and I was awful. I was just about to throw in the towel, when I decided to take one more stab at it, Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving at Sears Point. Four days...3 in Roush Racing Mustangs, and the last day in Formula Fords.

About 5 1/2 hours to 6 hours of driving per day + class room time. At the conclusion, I was ranked at 3.0 out of 4.0, by the instructors....it would seem I don't have exceptional natural talent (Was it olde age?).....regardless, I went back to some Porsche Club Time Trials on tracks, no cones, and instead of being dead last, I was now mid-pack, and later better....so I did learn something at 4 days at Bondurant...but that's my experience. I actually won a Porsche Owners Club time trial against drivers that went on to bigger and better things, race wise.

 

I strongly believe that instruction is the best and most important part of any mature racing, be it autocross or track. Than again, I've been an instructor for 12+ years now, I think. And enjoy instructing more than driving, actually.

Part of my dislike for track is that my first ever track instructor on the track was, how shall I put it, an idiot. The _only_ think he's told me in 4 20-minute sessions was: "If you drive like this you are going to die". That was in the middle of the second session. Yes you moronic creature, that's why I came to HPDE and that's why I've asked you to _instruct_ me. I don't care if you are hung over, or if you had a fight with your wife, or whatever else is eating you and keeping your mouth shut. There's a concrete wall at NHIS. Instruct!