Register visit to Silverstone 13 Feb

[jonathanw]

Hi Rob

Big thank you for organising this event. Did see you but couldn't get to thank you personally.

My 2 sons in their respective Porches and myself had a great day and I have convinced at least one of them to have further advanced driving instruction rather than chip his Turbo.

 

[Terry]

Agreed. Thanks Rob it was a most enjoyable event. I was very impressed with the facilities and pleased that the instructors were not too restictive on the handling circuit so you could have some fun! It would have been good to have had a bit more driving and a little less theory but overall, very worthwhile.

Thanks

Terry

 

[garyw]

Great to see so many people enjoying and learning at the same time []
Well done Rob for putting the day together and the team at the centre for making it look so easy.

I'm in two minds over the amount of driving time we had, Yes I'd of liked more- three goes on the kick plate seems a small amount.. however I do appreciate that this was level 1 and for many the theory would have been an important part of the day...and you get to listen to VBH giggle [8D]
If it gets people interested in learning about better driving then its only a good thing...

Mind you I did think I was on some speed awareness course during the first 5 minutes of the theory!!! [&:] []

I was pleased to of caught the kick plates bar my last attempt where I did rather have a good start off the line shall we say!! []

garyw

 

[spyderman]

ORIGINAL: garyw
Yes I'd of liked more- three goes on the kick plate seems a small amount..

You woz dun mate. We must have done at least 6 runs at it. I did some with PSM on, then a few with PSM off. It wasn't until I did one at 23 mph that I lost it - so I must have gained something from the first time I did the course, when I was all over the place!

 

[Mark Elder]

Rob, Thanks very much for organising this - really good fun, nice bunch of people I met today (members and staff at the centre) and I will be booking an extended training course. I was on the PM slot so did not get a chance to thank you personally.

It was amazing how quick the time flew by, but overall I think the balance of activities was right (if you cut down the theory it would only have added seconds to each of the driving sections.

I was actually really pleased the ice hill was under repair - getting the low friction instead was just what I wanted. Was tough to get my C4 to let go!

Thanks[]

 

[Mark Elder]

PS - forgot to say, when I switched my phone back on after the event there was a message from my tracker company (i-mob) at 3:15pm "your car appears to have crashed" .... er no, that was just me spinning in circles on the kick plate!

It was quite a stop when I hit the tarmac at the end of the "ice" sideways on one of the runs[]

 

[paulmichele]

Hi Rob
Ditto the massive thanks. A great day out; I really enjoyed it (as did my son who, before the event, I thought might get bored).

I agree with the overall lack of driving time (slightly tempered with what follows); I think that I did pretty well with number of circuits and the low friction track was definitely a bonus. The theory was interesting but could have been a lot punchier, given the audience.

I skipped the lunch but with 2011 in mind I wonder if, as a 997 register event, we might make it a bit more of a social time??

Anyway, the day was slightly soured by the engine warning light coming on just after I'd finished the low circuit track. I don't know what the problem was/is but I pulled out of the kick plate session. The crew at the PDE were helpful but I though it a bit odd that there was no techincal support at the place - it'll have to go to my local indy for diagnostics.

As an aside and if any can throw any light on the problem.... The drive home was a bit of a heart in the mouth job as the car seemed fine at between 2-3000 rpm but above/below this or on slight inclines it was really juddery. I suspect some form of mis-firing (but I am a complete amateur!).

The good news for me (and I am sure a Club benefit) is that the Experience people have offered me the chance to take the car back for a go on the kick plate at another time.
Thanks again for a great event.

Paul

 

[tscaptain]

Hi Paul,

Sounds very much like a coil pack has given up the ghost. The only thing that bothers me about PDE is the amount of water that can be fired at the underside of the car!

 

[garyw]

Thank you for the input guys, it really does help us as a register plan events in the future []

Paul, I'd agree with Alan on a coil pack -although if you never made it to the Kick plate then the water may not been quite so much of an issue.. [&:]
However a great response from PDE to offer an alternative date to do it, something I think is really quite good of them to do []

I don't know exactly how you can make it more sociable as a group by the nature you are split into smaller groups on the sessions..
Rob arrived early to greet everyone in the morning and I arrived at 11am to try and greet the afternoon session, although I know I didn't get round to everyone []
I did have the pleasure of meeting quite a few new register and club members though and had lunch with those people..

Was it anyone young lad who went out as passenger in the GT3RS and did the donut ??[]

There is another level of driving tuition at the centre which they mentioned and is pretty much one to one at about £300 for a half day.
Having done a full day driver training, I will happily admit its very tiring

We'll take this all on board and take it forward...

garyw

 

[robert997]

Thanks for your comments guys, I'm pleased we all enjoyed it. It's only the first ever public YouDrive, so together the club and the Porsche team may not have got everything right first time. I think the atmosphere was great, but people had varying amounts of time on each of the experiences, all depending upon the different groups you were in. I know like Gary I also tried to see everyone and completely failed, so my apologies. I think next time I will just facilitate rather than trying to drive in one of the groups too as I'm conscious I couldn't always identify and introduce new members to some exisiting ones and so on. Gary and I deliberately split ourselves AM and PM so I hope nobody felt left-out.

I do want to collect some feedback from you though to share with the management at the centre, so please post messages here or pm me 997@porscheclubgb.com

Thanks again all for supporting and attending this first event there.

 

[matthewb]

Hi Robert

Many thanks for opening-up this event to other registers - my 993 and I (and the wife) had a wonderful morning.

As constructive criticism, I agree with the other posts in as much as I think there was too much time spent on the theory (although this was a useful follow-up to my recent police speed-awareness course) and too little spent behind the wheel. I also thought there was too long a long period between the official start time and the actual start time.

Whatever, the simulator, kick-plate, low-friction circuit, performance circuit and the performance centre were all very interesting. Lunch was superb although the quantities were on the nouvelle cuisine side of small - which was probably a good thing given my propensity for drowsiness after I've eaten - not good for the drive home.

On the social side of things, I met some very nice folk including the legendary Ken Coad and his godson, Ian, with whom I had a very interesting conversation on suspension - it turns out I should have had mine replaced about 100k ago! I had no idea the original suspension was only good for about 40k, perhaps even less.

Finally, I had a great time chatting to Vicky and Gordon before lunch - she's a very nice person and I wish her luck with her new 09xxx phone service.

Cheers
Matthew

 

[spyderman]

ORIGINAL: robert997

It's only the first ever public YouDrive...

Not the first - that was on 10th October last year and was organised by the 996 register. I went to that one too and did an article for Porsche Post. It was a bit manic as being the launch event, the place was crawling with celebs and media. There were more staff on duty and I think us punters were handled a bit better. Saturday I felt we were left alone a bit too much and not kept informed. The running order, at least for the blue section, was changed and there was a little confusion. There didn't seem to be any note-taking by the instructors, so we're not likely to get any feedback on performance. If Porsche do the same as before, everyone should receive an email from them in the next week or so asking for comments too.

 

[andrew symms]

Thanks to Rob for arranging this

Really enjoyed the PM session, kick plate was good and we had about 4 go's each, managed a spin but controlled the other ones.

The low friction circuit was excellent and found that you need to keep the side windows clean to see where you are going! Enjoyed getting the GT3 sideways in a controlled environment.

We had a good chat with VBH who was very down to earth and told us some good stories, suprised she does not get a Porsche as part on her deal, uses a Range Rover as her daily driver.

Loved watching the GT3RS going around the handling circuit, very skillful to overcook the corner into doughnut and then off for another lap.... lick lad sat in the passenger seat... he will be talking about that for weeks!

Overall very good more driving time would have been nice but the other sessions were interesting.

 

[matthewb]

Actually, now I think about it, I really wish the start time had been advertised as 10:00 (the actual start time -ish) rather than 9:00 - I could have had 15 minutes more in bed, second helpings at the excellent hotel buffet and time to find a tobaconist's before arriving at the circuit! Also, the timing for the start of the 'blacks' session in the Performance Centre was a little uncertain - perhaps more information as to what was happening and when would have been useful. But otherwise ....

 

[Big Fry]

Firstly a big thanks to Rob for organising what was a great event, it was great to test the limits of the cars and also drive a few different ones in the range.

I would echo some of the other comments that the late start (nearly an hour after arrival) and what felt like a lengthy theory session in the morning meant that it all felt a little rushed on the driving side. I was in the black group in the morning and only got two quick runs at the kick plate (not enough to learn anything, although i had been trying out the traction on the icy roads up there so arguably got plenty of prtactice!) and then three laps of the low friction circuit in their Boxter S (they advised us not to take our cars, for speed i fear) with the traction firmly on.

Then we were left in the centre for 20mins without knowing what was happening, before being taken on track. This part was excellent and the instructor was great, letting me push on to the limits of the car (and beyond in one place) and trying out the launch control on the PDK.

It was also a treat to be right behind the GT3 RS on track when he was donuting (what a sound) and try and chase him down (no chance really). [8D] As an aside, my instructor said that it was the Centre Principal's son that was treated to the lap!

This may sound like complaining, but its not really. Overall i had a great day, VBH was very nice and what could be more fun that larking about in cars on a saturday morning. I even had a good run up and back to Surrey with no traffic...which is unheard of!

Thanks again Rob for the friendly welcome and the organisation, all much appreciated...my only real disappointment was not to get a 997 register sticker that i saw in a couple of the cars!!!! []

Barnaby

 

[Andy Rodgett]

Dear Gary and Rob,
Many thanks for another excellent day out! Like other posts I arrived just after 12MD for lunch with the theory commencing at 1330hrs but it was 1530 before I actually got in one of their cars and the final event which in my case was the kick plate ended at 1700hrs prompt after 3 goes.
Overall for the fee I feel we got value for money but it felt like a taster session.
Worth going just to meet V B-H! Charming...

Andy

 

[garyw]

ORIGINAL: Big Fry
my only real disappointment was not to get a 997 register sticker that i saw in a couple of the cars!!!! []

[] I had them on me aswell.... I asked a couple of people who replied they either had them or weren't a register member -I know how to pick em!!
PM your address and I'll post some out to you []

VBH was charming but in the theory I felt she was just reading her script cards...
I think the afternoon session was a bit shorter than the morning but Gordon and Vicki both commented on the morning one!!


garyw

 

[Alex L]

Rob & Gary

I share many of the sentiments listed above, fantastic day out but could have been organized by the Porsche Experience Center a little better.

On the down-side

• Like others I found our manic rush journey first thing in the morning to be unnecessary given we then had an hour of sitting about from 9-10am.
• The theory sessions, although good fun sadly didn't teach me anything I didn't already know given the Highway Code and Roadcraft paperbacks by the side of my bed for light reading. And yes, far too much like one of those speeding punishment courses the Police would make you go on.
• Too much queuing for each "ride", 6 in a group are just too many compared to other days I have done there.
• Only 3 runs on the kick plate - and that was the only thing I actually did with my car all day at the Center
• The Ice hill ride was broken
• Only 2 laps in a demo Boxster around the Low Friction course
• No supervision for groups that were waiting, so we kept getting other group people join ours when they shouldn't have. I must say though that I am comparing to other events I have done at the Center before, which have been longer, involved far more driving, and had an instructor next to you all day. So I have been overly spoilt.

On the up-side

• It was great catching up with everyone.
• VBH seemed lovely, and it was just a shame she was recovering from a chest infection otherwise we would have certainly "˜mobbed' her a lot more
• The Performance Center was fun albeit frustrating at times when you are trying to hit lights and just missing. I think more practice required to beat Barry's record of 122 in 60 secs.
• The last 15 mins in a demo 911, finally with an instructor sitting next to you, was by far the best bit of the day. He got me changing my driving style pretty quickly - brake as I was turning into the corners and not all in a straight line before hand. This puts more weight onto the front axle and gives the front tyres more turn in grip and thus less understeer. Yay, so I did eventually learn something!!

Yes so on the whole I was a little disappointed that the only thing I did in my own car all day was 3 kick-plate runs (the last of which I didn't catch the spin in time as Nicky started distracting me with pregnancy heavy breathing exercises just as we approached the kick-plate!). Would still do it again though []

 

[spyderman]

ORIGINAL: Alex L
VBH seemed lovely, and it was just a shame she was recovering from a chest infection...

Oh, now he tells me - I've got a big jar of Vics at home...

The last 15 mins in a demo 911, finally with an instructor sitting next to you, was by far the best bit of the day. He got me changing my driving style pretty quickly - brake as I was turning into the corners and not all in a straight line before hand...

Directly contrary to what Gordon and Vicki were saying in the briefing session!

 

[tscaptain]

I guess Alex doesn't mean brake as you turn in!! More like start in a straight line but continue braking till part way through the corner - or trail braking, as I believe it is better known as!![] Thus.....
http://www.getfaster.com/Techtips/Physics23.html
[8D]