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Driving experience at Silverstone

I would describe the experience as a taster: an enjoyable hour was had but given the little time available (15 mins between 4 cars) on each event exploring the capabilities of the vehicle is very limited.

Track was wet and the instructors were perhaps understandably cautious - over-taking was not allowed![:mad:]

I didn't get out of second gear after the first lap of the track so to appreciate a new gearbox system across the performance range needs a Millbrook type event IMO.

Although I don't drive a normally aspirated comparing the 2 engines it was discernable that the newer model (S) is sweeter and appears to respond better to throttle which I was told was down to the engine mechanics, and not just tuning.

PDK is certainly an improvement over the Tip. : changes faster and liked the ability to change gear at the lever as well as on the steering wheel.

First impressions of internal changes:
PDK buttons on steering wheel felt a little cheap to me and too resistant to input - probably just needs getting used to though;
Touch-screen - intuitive but appearance struck me as a downgrade over previous.

All-in-all I will need a far more extensive test drive to be able to provide any convicted views...
 
I ended up spending over half the session in a gen 1 C2S which was very frustrating. I really don't understand why Porsche had gen 1 cars there when the driving time was so limited and most people there were either gen 1 owners or new prospective purchasers of the facelift car. I really wanted to try the PDK but ended up getting only a couple of laps in a C2S fitted with it and not managing to get out of third gear due to the traffic on the circuit and it's compact nature which gives little room for swift acceleration. My initial impression was that the steering wheel "paddles" are counter intuitive to use. Perhaps I'm just more used to the column mounted paddles of the F1 and e-gear systems and would become more comfortable with the Porsche set up with more familiarity but I'd have preferred it had the toggle on the left been for downshifts and the one on the right for upshifts instead of both being dual function. Due to this I ended up walking away much preferring the involvement and feel of the manual cars which I'm sure was not what Porsche intended. I'm going to borrow a demo PDK car for a few hours to give it a fairer assessment.

Apart from PCM3 little appears to have changed inside the car and like J I found the system a lot better to use than version 2 but thought the new black finish actually looks cheap. Somehow, even though it is painted with the black rubberised texture finish, it manages to look like bare black plastic. Perhaps I was in a minority but I never minded the original Volcano finish which lifted the interior a little on cars with black leather. The new tailights do look good when you follow a car and do freshen up the rear. I was less convinced by the new standard wheel designs. It would have been nice to see some new designs on the wheel options as well and I'm surprised Porsche missed this trick to get more of their customers cash.
 
It's disappointing to read these remarks. Maybe we expect too much. Maybe we are more discerning now that money is tight.

Either way I'll report after my experience on Monday. After taking the trouble to drive all the way to Silverstone, if I spend any time in a Gen 1, let alone more than half the little time allocated, I will not be best pleased. Luckily I have already had a decent amount of time in a Gen 2, though because it was brand new, I drove slowly. I am hoping to get some fast times at Silverstone and really see what the car is all about. A slow procession in 2nd or 3rd gear round a go cart track will not impress me, but I'll reserve judgement until Monday.

At least I will be able to see a good selection of colours... I hope.
 
Just back... a very enjoyable and interesting day:

Good points:

1. Complex very good, lots to see, quite well laid out and good viewing for main Silverstone track!
2. Food excellent.
3. Circuit is NOT Millbrook. Bit like comparing fillet steak with strawberries and cream. Both totally different. If you get a good OPC test drive on the main roads, Silverstone track for fast stuff (to come for depositors) and the superb twisty/slidy Porsche mini track, then you have everything. I really enjoyed the short track.
4. Launch control is amazing, but as my man said, you probably only try it once!

Bad points:

1. I went to view the new colours: Aqua blue and Cream white. None available.
2. For someone who has owned a 997S Gen 1, driving a 997S Gen 1 round the track is a waste of time. I suspect they had insufficient Gen 2s.
3. Porsche car configurator did not work, they have not got the right software!
4. No brochures or price lists available.

Summary:

A very enjoyable day out. If you live in Glasgow, I suspect it is rather too far to go for a couple of hours skid pan experience. But they did insist that the Centre is still not formally open, hence the buckets catching the water from the leaking roof! This was just a 997 Gen 2 taster, but a very good one at that.
 
ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk

4. Launch control is amazing, but as my man said, you probably only try it once!
Click to expand...

Didn't get a chance to try this [:(] - my contact at the OPC who has tried it out on a track reckons it can be used time and time again (subject only to a delay period for cooling) and the traction/direction is so good you could have confidence with it on a public road - as long as you don't forget to look ahead...
 
ORIGINAL: J

ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk

4. Launch control is amazing, but as my man said, you probably only try it once!
Click to expand...

Didn't get a chance to try this [:(] - my contact at the OPC who has tried it out on a track reckons it can be used time and time again (subject only to a delay period for cooling) and the traction/direction is so good you could have confidence with it on a public road - as long as you don't forget to look ahead...
Click to expand...

Of course it can be tried time and time again. What my man suggested was that it is rather a gimmic for the ordinary man and we would not want to use it more than a few times. After all, we don't drive boy racers and sit at traffic lights trying to beat an XR3i to the next set of lights.

Moreover, I would like to have written confirmation that Porsche warranty the clutches before I used the system. At present a clutch is considered a consumerable and this is not under warranty.
 
I may have suggested that the visit to the Silverstone Experience was just a glorified skid pan. Perhaps there is some truth in that as my lasting memory of the facility was of the skid control sessions.

However, this is a really super facility like no other I have ever seen.

First there is the 'Kick Plate'. This is a 'gate' one drives through on to a very slippery surface. As one passes over the 'kick plate' it throws the back end of the car violently sideways and one has then to correct the rather interesting skid!

Secondly is the 'Ice Hill'. In the past we have driven at speed towards a line of cones and then attempted to brake and steer round. This facility is a slippery steep hill covered in water. Half way down is a transverse vertical wall of water which one has to steer round having deliberately put the rear end into a skid. If you lose control you hit the 'wall', luckily without damage!

Lastly, there is the Low Friction Handling Circuit which is manuactured from polished limestone. Just great for handling oversteer.

In all, a great experience and quite educational.

Fun too!
 
My thoughts (copied from another forum so slightly out of context)...
I went along this evening and was impressed, some quick thoughts as its late:

PDK is great (I am bias as I have ordered it but) I did not find the interface confusing at all, and the speed of the gear change is stunning - it s very involving around the track but in a different way to an old fashioned manual. Changing down from say 5 to 2 for a corner is great; quick, easy and a nice sound to go with it.

The manual car is also great, I just used second and third but very smooth - pedal placement is excellent and you can easily blip the throttle on the downchange.

The car looks very nice, although only the few (probably those who spend time on these forums) will really know the difference. I say one car in the centre with the -20mm SPASM and that looked great.

The facility was OK - I enjoyed the 1km circuit and the limestone S bends - there is also a kick plate which mimics sudden oversteer very well. We spent a lot of time on the ice hill; where with no PSM I just kept spinning all over the place.

Saw a Ruby Red C2S - I have defiantly ordered the right colour.

Didn't get a chance to try launch control - will have to wait to get the car!!

I found the hospitality bit a little sterile and corporate for my liking, (I felt like I was at a work meeting a little) but I was well looked after and had some nice food and drink.

Just wish I could have driven more!!!
 
just had an hour in a gen 2 s with pdk and found it really involving-what a step(leap)from the tip box!!have had to delay silverstone for few weeks due to work commitments but sounds like a trip well worth doing.saw a very nice ruby red yesterday at the showroom darren and it looked great[:D]also macademia,which i would never had considered but which looked superb in the flesh.
decisions....
 
Great day, with lovely new facilities, although not quite finished as the signs explained... Great food and friendly staff..

Enjoyed the track and the ice hill especially. Liked the new car and certainly the PDK is much better than Tip, however, found the steering wheel paddles hard to get on with.. I think a longer session with the car is required to really get to know the system..

Loved the Ice Hill and Kick plate, avoided the water wall on the ice hill but useless on the kick plate scoring only 1 out of 3 attempts.. still the spins were fun..

Must say overall would rather another day at Millbrook if I placed an order for a new car..

Lovely speed yellow C2S with black wheels in the display area..... my favourite colour of the Gen 2 cars there...

£40,000 question.. is the new car so much better that I have to change mine straight away? I have to say no.. When I got into mine and drove home, there was nothing that made me feel disappointed to be back in it... So I will change at 3 or 4 years, and save myself a tidy sum in the meantime..
 
I went yesterday & have to say I enjoyed the couple of hours I was there. Obviously the main reason for going was to go out in the facelift model. I did luck out as i spent the best part of the sessions in a manual MK II and got a couple of laps in the PDK at the beginning of the hour. If PDK is what your looking to try, the only real chance is on the 1st session so it might be an idea when you sign in to mention it, as however gets the PDK on the last hand over on the 1st session will get 4 or 5 back to back laps before moving onto the kicker plate . I've never driven a paddle set up so had no preconceptions. Gear change was smooth, the ergonomics of the flippers seemed good although I prefered to use the shifter (seemed more hands on). For the power & handling, well your a beter man than me if you can spot the difference in the short time you get on the dry speedier circuit, although the ceramic brakes felt awesome . Interior styling has hardly changed & in fact the 1st car I climbed into, I had to double take on the Sat Nav screen to make sure it was the MK II. The Sat Nav & blue tooth add to the creature comforts and are an improvement, but don't expect a heads up to speed cameras as it's not a feature on the new system. One thing that I would spec next time though are the split, tilting carbon bucket seats (have a look in the black 997 in the car display area). Really comfy and snug, although if you are on the larger side probably not an option to be ticked. The center itself is very good, the ice hill, kicker plate & low friction circuit are great fun. Take some time to have a look around the center itself. although it's not the finished article, the human performance section is an interesting concept and there are also guys on hand to talk through the new phone & Sat Nav options in one of the side rooms. The food was good and there where some familiar, freindly faces when it came to the instructors (from the millbrook team) & the vantage point from the top of the building over the main circuit is great. Now the big question, would I chop in a MKI to get the latest model? If I was interested in a PDK style gear box then I would say yes as it works for me so much better than the tiptronic. I'm still sticking to manual though, so I'll keep saving the pennies in the hope an updated GT3 will be available some time soon. For anyone interested though I'd highly recommend getting signed up for a slot. The instructor I had, is booked in for the next month solidly to the inner strength sessions, so there may be dates still available. Lets face it you get fed, watered & do 360's in 911's, I can think of worse ways to spend an afternoon [:D]
 
I went yesterday for the 1500-1730 slot , actual driving experience was 1515-1610.
All the 6 cars in the group were 997C2S , mix of manual and auto.
Never had time to familiarise with PDK , left it in auto , have done lots (100k) of miles in previous incarnations of Tiptronic 911s so can understand that the manual mode in PDK should be good.
Never mastered the tilt plate at 20mph , 2 runs , 2 maxi spins !
Got to grips with the ice hill however , my max entry speed was 18 mph which was enough to create oversteer in any direction.Was even developing a degree of slide skill , managed to get a 3rd run as a prize [:D]
Not allowed to overtake on the larger handling circuit [:(] dont need more than 2nd gear
On smaller slippy handling circuit track very narrow so overtaking not an option , only need 1st gear !!!

Advice for those yet to go - try to get in the car+instructor package that is going out first in the 6 car line up - that way you are not held up by someone ahead going too slow to skid or conversely someone unable to keep it on the track - plus you have a chance of extra runs

 
dyllan,

Sounds serious if you are putting work ahead of Porsche Driving...... So are you convinced yet? If you order now there are still some cars available for October!!!
 
the opc guy told me that PSE wasnt available for speccing till later build dates-prob nov/dec so gives me a chance to have a go at silverstone first[;)]plus tbh speccing a new car is a lot of the fun so will give it a bit more thought yet.looking forward to seeing photos of your ruby red though-should be very special[:D]
 
I did this on Monday afternoon. Good fun, especially the low grip track - where you could kick the tail out and (hopefully) catch it, with and without PSM. Not really a chance to get a feel for the new DI engines and PDK though - you'd need Millbrook for that.

Impressions: the car looks good - the LEDs really stood out on a rather grey day, and the new tail lights make the Gen1 ones look quite old fashioned. Not sure about the larger mirrors though, or the interface for PDK - neither the paddles or lever were very intuitive, though the changes were superbly fast and smooth. Also not sure about the combined Sport Plus mode - in my car you can have Sport throttle but PASM in soft(er) mode, which is ideal for lumpy British roads.

Top marks though for the new folding carbon bucket seats - comfortable, stylish and sensible (you can get at the luggage area behind, unlike in the GT3), and with a really nicely engineered tilt mechanism.
 
Have just returned from my experience there last night and maybe I am easily pleased, but having read some pretty negative feedback, I was very happy with the time spent there. Perhaps my expectations were lower as a result of this thread before I arrived. Its not a track day experience at all, its set as a taster of the car and I think for me achieved that. Clearly we are all getting slightly different experiences there though.

From the moment I walked in (actually before, as the car park spaces are the right size for 997's ie big enough to open the door without fear of denting your neighbours door!) I was greeted by friendly staff. I was early but they put me into a earlier drive slot.

I started in an current version 2s manual around the main track, then the new model 2s and then the pdk version. I was using up to fourth gear in the pdk and sliding the car round the bends with a very encouraging coach in the passenger seat. I could really feel the difference bewteen old and new and am totally convinced on the pdk, although do agree it takes a few laps to get used to it. I had four laps in the pdk version.

The plate which kicks out the rear end to induce spin was fun, I got two out of three OK and lost it with all the aids turned off. The ice/hill was also fun, difficult to get the car to move initially and the last event, around the tight circuit got me about 4 or 5 laps around that again all in the pdk version, so all in all I was pleased to be given the chance to experience the new car.

The perfomance figures have impressed me, the fact that the new pdk 2s with sport chrono is almost as quick as my turbo 0-62, it chucks out less emissions that the current model/has better mpg and more power. How do they do that? Years of practice clearly.

IMHO views on the new equipment options concluded that the new Bose is a must have ( leap forward compared with the current set up but they didnt have a tv module demonstrated and this is a new option), the new satnav PCM is a must have with IPOD connector, (again about time it was updated really with high street versions now so cheap and good), the new carbon sports seats are really cool, not convinced about the need for ventilated seats (different option) in the UK market though, like the new LED lights, like some of the trim options such as the labelled arm rest covers including interestingly one embossed with turbo on it and they havent got the model out yet. I will enquire about that as a retrofit item for mine. Its the host of small changes that Porsche often get ridiculed for that really make all the difference.

Big question not totally answered for me was when is the new turbo/gt3 out. My OPC are taking orders on the turbo with 10% deposit and say less than 12 months now but I wasnt convinced. They have ten orders placed at the moment. Based on the Carerra and Carerra 2 pdk I am quite excited about a new turbo variant. The only worry I would have is that I wait this 12 months plus, probablly 15 or more and finally get it and not long after I am driving around feeling really great in my 59 plate car then the press will be full of the news on the 998 version just about to come out which will be different again. Great marketing I accept....keeps us buying them.

Im summary, I am glad I went and very very impressed by the new 997 model almost and I hate to say this in public being a turbo driver, that for a lot less I can now have just about all the fun I want in a 2s pdk sport chrono and have another car!!!!
 
Similar thoughts to the other postings - learnt on the kick plate that although I steered into the slide I didn't put enough opposite lock to correct the spin but had embraced the advice by the time of Ice Hill with PASM off and got to the bottom successfully!
Insufficient time in the PDK car but having read various articles I now recognise that it was creeping into economy mode unless pressing on which occasionally felt like too low a gear.
Whilst watching the low friction surface course one guy blipped the accelerator to kick the rear out but succeeded in catching the soil/grass on the outside of the track displacing the tyre from the rim and instant deflation! End of session for all of us.
All in all a great afternoon but not Millbrook.

Andy
 
What an amazing car!
Booked up in advance for the experience during the Silverstone Classic. The place was buzzing with test cars and expectant participants.
Was driven around the special circuit by a Porsche driver who carefully explained all the new toys and then proceeded to fly around the road circuit like a missile, all the while he calmly talked about what to look for and how to drive fast safely - then we were taken around all the artificial hazards and all the new electronic gizmos were demonstrated with amazing effect.
The kick plate was dramatic and handled with great skill by the driver, he didn't lose it either time.
The downhill low friction slope seemed so easy with the electronic systems on, driver used full throttle but the car was saying "get real" and controlled the power and the braking and we steered out way steadily through the water jets - what a lifesaver. The driver then switched all the gadgets off and despite some effort we sailed sideways through the jets with a 360 spin into the bargain, such was the transition to no grip to dry tarmac however that I really thought we had hit something!
The polished low grip corner was handled with no problem plus the powerslide donuts on the central circle were a lot of fun also!
To finish off the launch control was demonstrated - wonderful [:)]

Next up was the Cayenne, which was a whole new experience!
 
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