Porsche road handling course any recommendations

[Stephenjk]

Im taking my 964 on a half day road handling course at pec silverstone. I've just had car serviced and tires are new but wondered if anyone else had taken their car on one of these and had any tips or suggestions. Im off friday morning for the half day with an instructor. My aim being to learn more of how the car handles in a safe environment.

 

[mcgc0]

Done that one a few times as not far from me. Good fun. Short twisty circuit - if you get out of 3rd gear anywhere I'd be surprised. Usual stuff - correct tyre pressures (no need to be too clever with this as this is not a track day), oil level where it should be, half tank of fuel (hate having full tank - added weight). Caveat though being that you need to get on the A43 for a gas station as nothing close to the circuit.

Comfy shoes/trainers. Learn to brake hard - not ' instant sharp' jump on the pedal that unsettles the car, just a hard full on press. Instructor has all the answers!

Most important of all, have fun and learn the car and it's limits.

 

[Stephenjk]

Thanks that is really helpful, hadnt thought to check pressures but will do so before i set off. Ok on the braking, suspect ill just under brake as really not used to braking hard.

 

[Stephenjk]

I attended the course at pec silverstone friday. Was a lot of fun, really enjoyed the handling course and learning lines and braking points plus seeing how car behaved on the limit. I also practiced steering while abs was active, somewhat of a non event. Plus learning oversteer and understeer on the low friction concrete and the ice hill. Really felt like i learnt alot and bonded with the car in a way i hadnt on the road. Amazing what the car was capable of. Whole experience, instructor, food, tracks, centre and mechanic were excellent!

Car held up pretty well except for fuel line into the engine coming loose at end of the session and i had petrol running over and out of engine. I drove it off the track with very strong smell of petrol and a mechanic at pec looked at it. He tightened up the fuel line, we left the car airing while i had lunch and drove home 60 miles without a problem.

I did have a lucky escape though as the petrol was all over coils and spark plugs on passenger side of engine. My next purchaee will be a fire extinguisher mounting bracket, probably rennline one. I would have lost the car if it had sparked while that was happening.

 

[Stephenjk]

Oh and i didnt get out of third gear! Still plenty fast enough to be lot of fun though.

 

[mcgc0]

Sounds like a great day had - ignoring the fuel line leak. Was this the half or full day instruction? Also, you have a C2 or C4?

Aye, most of the fun had in these earlier 911's is usually in 3rd gear and @ 5k rpm. When motoring up the in Highlands and North Coast in convoy on those isolated roads rarely did I leave 3rd gear - except when regrouping and on A roads between legs.

 

[Stephenjk]

I had 1/2 day which is 2.5 hours on track. That was plenty for me, i felt like I'd done everything in that time. The handling circuits arent that long so you can learn them fairly quickly. It was also quite tiring driving full out for that time.

I have a c4 though still spun plenty of times in low friction ice hill. We did notice was really hard to introduce lift off overster, so you could feel the 4 wheel drive getting you out of trouble at times.

I'd be tempted to do full trackday next time.

 

[mcgc0]

Good for you, nice one. Yes, a nice little circuit. However, there are a couple of off camber open hairpins that when hard out you soon know if you have an LSD or not! The downhill water slide I'm not the biggest fan of tbh - prefer level ground and plenty run off that you can drift out nicely too.

Agreed, it's the lift-off oversteer that can be scary if you're not careful. I do notice in the C4 that I can easily get on the gas out of a turn in a lot sooner than than my buddies - by then I've made up a few extra meters on them. The M030 adjustable Konis on the 968 I now have went a long way in eliminating much of that lift-off balance shift, and with sticky tyres it's a hoot.

I found some track day circuits to be too long (for me anyway) from one direction change to another. It's all a bit of a clunky gear change and braking experience going from 4th down to 2nd (lifting off in 4th doesn't really do much for me with that gear ratio it has). That's my crap skills I guess. My only exception has been doing the full Silverstone international circuit where it's a lot easier to maintain a high speed round the back part of the circuit. Plus of course, there's stacks of run off!

Have fun..

Marcus

 

[Craiglm68]

Agreed re the above. My personal preference is for the "old" handling track over the newer one, but all of the activities will put a smile of your face. If you score Rob Colbourn as an instructor, you've done well (I do "on road" training with him from time to time, including sessions at PEC and Millbrook). Good chance to "exercise" your car in a safe environs, and learn a thing or 2 about what it will / won't do. Enjoy!

 

[mcgc0]

If you score Rob Colbourn as an instructor, you've done well (I do "on road" training with him from time to time, including sessions at PEC and Millbrook).

Rob someone you can specifically ask for at PEC Silverstone or did you do a direct private instructor booking with him? Looking for more focused 121 advanced handling instruction across a range of on-limit scenarios and situations.

Done Milbrook a few times and luckily less than 30 mins for me. Alpine circuit is definitely fun and have had a moment or two there (those damn blind crests!) The bowl I did with a few others on a photoshoot.