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If I'm looking to get in to more performance oriented driving, does it make more sense to do something like a track day/HPDE or something like a driving school with Skip Barber or Bertil Roos? The PCA is running a track day at NJMP that looks interesting, but I think Skip Barber instructs there as well.
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Apr 1, 2018 23:28
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kimbo305 posted:I think seat time / $ is pretty high with driving school. If you're just starting out and can afford that much in one chunk, you should do it. Anyone who's been doing HPDE for more than a few days and has been getting good marks from instructors would have less to gain. I only went to Bondurant, so I dunno if Skip Barber drills specific techniques like heel-toe and trail braking, which I found to be very helpful to have taught in isolation, instead of on a hot track. SlapActionJackson posted:HPDE is the traditional starting point for people interested in track driving. PCA runs a good program (though I may be biased as a PCA instructor...) Skip/Bertil is usually geared towards people looking to go racing. Really anything instructed that fits your schedule and budget will be fine. KidDynamite posted:They are not. They were bought by DeMonte racing and DeMonte is running with the well known Skip Barber name. They even do crazy poo poo like helicopter you from Manhattan to NJMP. They’re using Mustangs as the track vehicle. I did a day with DeMonte and those Mustangs are bad rear end. Thanks guys. I was thinking of the "new" Skip Barber because they put you in a race-prepped mustang and it seems like it'd be a pretty nice setup. Skip Barber uses mustangs, Bertil Roos uses open wheel racers. I'm in a similar spot to Zaphod. I've done some autocross, but unsure of whether it makes more sense to do HPDEs as a next step or try to get in to something like karting.
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Apr 4, 2018 20:39
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What's a good beginner helmet for autocross/DEs? I'm looking for something that will last and I won't want to immediately replace.
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Jul 16, 2018 18:17
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Doing my first autocross tomorrow in my Cayman. Anything I should know for tomorrow?
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Jul 28, 2018 20:47
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First autocross was awesome! Did a trial run with who I found out later was the local PCA autocross champ multiple years running. Obviously he was insanely quick, but I got a bit of coaching from some of the PCA guys early on who rode with me. Did 6 runs in all, 3 in the AM, 3 in the PM. First three runs were 87, 84, 83. Second three runs were 82, 81, and my best, 80.206. The PCA guy in his modded 911 was running 75s. They'll post the times later, but I think the quickest time of the day was someone in a Corvette at 74ish. My main goal was to not DNF and/or crash, so I think I did ok from that standpoint. I ran the last two runs with the traction control off. I was nervous to do that, but everyone told me it was cutting in and slowing me down. Any good helmets available on Amazon?
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Jul 29, 2018 20:54
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Zaphod42 posted:Sounds like we had pretty similar experiences I tried a Large Bell on that someone had which seemed to fit pretty well, so I figured I might start there (or I can always exchange it). I'm not sure where I could find a helmet shop around in the first place.
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Jul 29, 2018 21:41
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(Although I was on dirt)
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How hard is autocross on a car, out of curiosity? I'm assuming it's mainly pad/tire wear, but how much more quickly should I expect to go through stock pads/tires?
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Jul 30, 2018 14:44
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Just got back from a 2 day autocross event that was run on a real track. Pretty awesome for my second time autocrossing. Did okay-ish, although still back of the pack. I think the guy who won my class was ran a 55 or so, while my best was a 62. I was lucky in that my local PCA has essentially an older guy that's been doing it forever that was nice enough to coach me on a bunch of runs which helped incredibly. Still amazed by the ride-along I did with one of the guys running 56s though: not sure I'll ever have the balls to make the car move like that. Finally, does literally every person that does this have a second set of wheels with RE71s mounted that they bring to the track? I was one of the only guys there on street tires. Is that something I'm going to need to think about down the road? Are RE71s that much better than something like Michelin PS4s? edit: Also, is there any difference in helmets? How much do I need to spend to get a decent SA2015 rated helmet that I can use for a while? Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Aug 27, 2018 |
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Aug 26, 2018 23:52
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BloodBag posted:It's Porsche club, dude. Land of the guys that will spend $30k+ on an air cooled 993 that was last sold new 20 years ago because of *the sound*. You should see what the porsche club guys do at track days with regards to displays of wealth. I've only started going recently, but the PCA guys here (at least the ones that autocross) seem pretty chill. One of the fastest guys there was a guy driving his old 1992 964 Cup.  I just need to figure out how deep I want to go with this, and whether it just makes more sense to get something like an old spec Miata. Apparently you can now also pick up old spec RX7s for dirt cheap since they're no longer a series.
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Aug 27, 2018 14:43
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Looks like I have the chance to go karting at NJMP. I've never gone karting. How is this going to compare to autocross?
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Sep 17, 2018 17:29
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Residency Evil posted:Looks like I have the chance to go karting at NJMP. I've never gone karting. How is this going to compare to autocross? KidDynamite posted:Their karts are gas powered and fun as heck. I would definitely do it. Did it and it was fun as heck. Gotta say though: the variability between karts can be pretty big. Was running middle of the pack for the first two races, then got swapped in to a new kart for race 3 and ended up 2 seconds faster per lap than anyone else. I attribute that purely to my driver skill. On the topic of going further, what's the best way of getting further in to racing? One thing I've learned autocrossing my Cayman this year is that I've got a ways to go with regarding to maxing out my car/driving skills. I'm trying to decide if I want to stick to autocross or try to get in to this a bit deeper. What's the best way of going about this? Racing my Cayman seems expensive on the consumable side, especially when I'd probably benefit from driving something like a Miata just as much. Is trying to get in to something like Lemons/Chump a good way of moving forward? Is Spec Miata in my future? Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Oct 1, 2018 |
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Oct 1, 2018 13:54
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FatCow posted:Have you done any HPDE? That is really the place to go if you want to W2W, and be good. I haven't. I was thinking about doing something like Bertil Roos/Skip Barber, but wasn't sure if that was worth doing before or after I dip my toes in.
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Oct 1, 2018 15:56
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My rears have 1/32 and 2/32 left and are in need of replacement soon. I have one autocross left before I switch to winters. Should I: 1. Drive the old tires and replace the rears in the spring 2. Just order PS4s now and try them out for the next few weeks.
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Oct 7, 2018 01:36
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BlackMK4 posted:replace them all at once, mixing tires with a large delta in heat cycles is blindingly obvious if you drive the car hard Oh whoops, sorry, didn't mean to imply that I wouldn't be replacing all 4. Phone posted:Hold off unless if you have a place to store the tires over winter. I have a place to store them. Ordered from Tirerack. Can't wait to try them out.
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Oct 7, 2018 03:07
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Dave Inc. posted:I'm a silly idiot and spent $900 at the Porsche Experience Center Atlanta for the GT3 experience. It. Was. Awesome. I know that I'm pretty solid with car control, but with how direct and responsive that car it can be almost overwhelming--the tiniest input elicits a reaction. Going from my '82 911 with big tall sidewalls to an '18 GT3 with rubber bands...Yowzas. I've been thinking about doing the taming the manual one with a 911T the next time I'm in LA. Was there a decent amount of instruction? First autocross in my Cayman on brand new PS4Ss yesterday after my last few were on Goodyear asymmetric f1s that had 1/32 and 2/32 left. This is my first year autocrossing but holy poo poo. I went from being bottom of the pack to upper 1/3 in my usual PCA group. These tires are incredible.
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Nov 5, 2018 14:37
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BlackMK4 posted:I made 200whp on the dot today, it hurts a little. Lol that torque.
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Dec 19, 2018 23:37
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I read the OP but still have a question on what path I should take. I've autocrossed the past two years and have thought about getting in to track driving. My local PCA chapter has HPDEs at NJMP as well as Pocono raceway, but I'm wondering if that's the best way of going forward? I currently have a 987 Boxster Spyder, which seems like it's probably the wrong thing to use if I want to get in to racing long term. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty much the definition of a weekend racer. I'm not going to be winning Spec Miata anytime soon, so it seems silly to track something that has expensive consumables until I'm too good for Spec Miata (which I'm assuming will be never). That being said, I'd like to dip my toes in the water a bit more before buying a Spec Miata and having my wife threaten to divorce me. What's the best way of doing that? Would getting in to something like Chump Car be ok? Is that a decent path for someone who's just starting out? Is there a way to go out with a group that's looking for another body to fill a seat?
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Apr 28, 2019 19:19
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First auto cross of the year today. In September. 
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Sep 22, 2019 10:51
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How "bad" of an idea is it to go from autocross to trying something like Chump/Lemons? I currently have a Boxster Spyder as my "fun" car, which isn't really ideal for HPDEs. I'd like to get more time on the track, and some day may see myself getting in to Spec Miata, but I need extra car space before that. Are newbie Arrive and Drives at Lemons/Chump car a thing?
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Oct 8, 2019 16:10
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KillHour posted:Why isn't a Boxster ideal for an HPDE? It's a Boxster Spyder, ie the one with a tent for a roof. Part of it is avoiding the convertible top requirements/issues, part of it is the fact that I'm not going to be winning Spec Miata any time soon, so trying to learn to race on a car with 2-3x the power (and 2-3x the consumable cost) seems silly. SlapActionJackson posted:It's got fixed hoops. PCA will allow it as-is, though you will want to run with the top on to avoid the need for arm restraints. Yeah, I might do an HPDE next year with the local PCA chapter, but don't want to make it consistent. Phone posted:Arrive and drives are probably the best way to do cheap endurance racing. You’re going to need your own gear (suit, gloves, boots, underwear, Hans, etc) which will cost at least 1500 or so to just get into a car. Is it unreasonable to expect to pay more like 1-2k? I've seen $1k being thrown around as a reasonable number for a price to pay in a Lemons car for the weekend, but maybe that's not the case? What's the best way of finding a "good" person/team that does this?
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Oct 8, 2019 18:23
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Phone posted:For chump, 1k seems extremely, extremely low. Oh, I was thinking this was 1-2k per person, with 4-5 drivers, which should cover weekend expenses, right?
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Oct 8, 2019 18:42
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Has anyone done the Evolution Autocross school? Thinking about giving it a shot. Seems like a pretty good deal: instruction and 20+ runs in a day for like, $250 bucks or so. What I should really do is some sort of track/racing school this year.
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Jan 15, 2020 15:07
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 13:05 |
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I was the father who decided to take his wife and 4 month old to pikes peak today. A mistake.
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Jun 26, 2022 23:39
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