First Time Driver Skills
 

I'm a brand new Porsche owner ('72 911T). I've signed up for a driver skills class through the local PCA chapter. They do a great job on their web site explaining the course curriculum for the day, but I was wondering if any of you folks would have any tips for a newbie. You know, the kinds of things that halfway through the day I'll be wishing I would have brought along, done to the car, etc. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Wow, you'll get lots of info here, you may also want to try using the search button up top as sometimes something brought up in one thread won't make it into another later thread.

I haven't gotten to the track myself, so I'm probably not the best, but what I remember coming up from past threads, lots of water, some basic tools, possibly some new brake pads, some snacks in a cooler, sun block, sun glasses, a hat, a folding chair of some sort, tire air gauge, tire pump or air tank, comfy clothing.

Like I said, others will chime in with better info, and if you do a search or two you'll be reading for the next three days as this comes up regularly.

You may want to consider purchasing a helmet if this is just the start of your track experiences. A tire guage is a good idea because you'll want to monitor your tire pressure during the day. Definitely bring your sense of humor. My first POC DE event was filled with mistakes. And I've never had so much fun in my life!

don't brake in corners witha 911

do try it on a big parking lot once, so you will know why not to brake in corners...

Good job on the car choice. 72 is the best year by far! :)
Will you be on a track or a big parking lot. I have taken a type of course like this in a huge parking lot, and there is no way to wreck your car. If this is the case, have a blast. If it is on a track, your instructor will show you the way. Let him drive your car. If he is good, you wil be amazed at what your car can do.
Make sure the tire pressure is spot on, bring a small cooler with food and drink and bring some tools just in case. Although there will many that have them to lend. Take any loose things out of your car and leave them at home. Since this car is new to you, leave it the way it is. If you get the "bug", this site is here to help upgrade all sorts of things to get it to handle better.

Well you have an excellent platform to learn the dynamics of driving an 911. Make sure you know how to shift your car correctly and accurately. The long throw of the '72 shifter can not be hurried. Rebuild your shift components if needed (socket, coupler, etc.) Do not use use your gearbox as means to slow the car down, as this only provokes accelerated wear on your 915 gearbox. Learn how/where your brakes grab, the threshold point right before they lock, if they need rebuilding, do it. New brake fluid makes a difference. Dump your OEM wheel if you still have it, get a smaller one as this alone makes a hugh upgrade in steering. Save the wheel of course for purity sakes! Make sure your tires are in good shape and matched as to their brand/model. Get Hank Watts book on Solo Driving. I remember well when I started performance driving in my '72T. It is a slippery slope you are about to descend. HTH.

Anyone see that Porsche commercial where the father is telling his son to "accellerate through the apex". Course that is a Cayenne commercial. :cool:

http://www.bellmotorsports.com/

follow the school tips link

enjoy your day!

Jim

Jeff,

Don’t let the situation overwhelm you. A common phenomenon is a new participant has so much going on that they can’t take it all in and loose sight of the really important stuff.

Keep yourself mentally under control.

If you think you are overwhelmed by the amount of information, the event, noise, stress, adrenalin, testosterone, etc. then step back, slow down, and take a break somewhere quiet.

Don’t try to learn everything in one event, it’s not possible. I’m still learning after 35 years of this silliness.

Don’t focus on the car, a good 911 will take care of itself. Show up with the car ready to go.

Keep your body functioning properly. Don’t pull an all-nighter getting ready. Drink lots of liquids and eat properly as normal. If you don’t have to pee a couple of times during the day, you aren’t drinking enough.

Get all the pre-registration, pre-tech, and your organization done so you don’t have to do it at the event.

Show up early, be first at everything. If you find yourself having to rush around, you are doing something wrong.

Relax and have fun. You will meet lots of great people.

Best,
Grady

nope, Porsche doesn't have any form of commercial advertising in Europe, never has done advertising as far as i can remember...

Take out the fuse for the windshield wipers. They're just too easy to hit. Have fun!!

Bring a roll of 2" blue masking tape. If you are running on a track the school will want to make sure that you don't spill glass on the track from a rock to the headlight. Most will require you to tape up the headlights and fog lights for this reason. Can also be used for numbering your car (based on car color) if numbering is required.

Have fun,
Tom

PCA NW skills days are a blast, did 2 of them myself. Low pressure, non-track based, great instructors. Except for a lunch break, you will be in your car pretty much the whole time doing drills or waiting to do drills.

Goal is simple, learn where the limit of your car is. That is typically achieved by loosing control and bringing it back:)

Bring a helmet
Something to drink
Something to snack on
Something to empty out the stuff in your car into
A tarp to cover your stuff
An open mind and that is about it.

And if you are up to it, do the mini track thing at the end of the day :)

Wow, thanks for all the helpful (and quick) replies, guys. I realize this has the potential to be kind of a stressfull day, if I let it be, so the pointers on my own personal care and feeding are great. Windshield wiper fuse? Boy, I would have never thought of that one; thanks. I have read and heard all the "horror stories", if you can really call them that, about the throttle lift oversteer, so I'm looking forward to finding out about that in a safe environment. This will be held on an abandoned airstrip, so plenty of room to not hit anything (yes, it is a PNWR event; one of you mentioned how much fun you had with them). I'm actually no stranger to a racetrack, but the ones I used to frequent were really short. And straight. After a 20 year hiatus from performance cars, my tastes have changed, and I wanted to try something different. I fell in love with this little '72 on first sight, after looking for quite a long time. For me, at least, it had all my requirements; early body style, MFI, etc. I'm having a blast with it already, and am really looking forward to the class. Again, thanks everyone for the helpfull advice.

Great advice here so far. I, too, never thought of the windshield fuse and I have hit the stalk. So embarassing.

Look your car over really well. That hasn't been stressed enough here. Take the wheels off and poke around. Try to find the source of any leaks and double check your brake components. Check your wheel bearings by spinning the tires and check for play in the bearings and the rest of the steering system. Do this now before it gets too close to track day in case you have to replace anything.

There's a lot more, I just can't think of it right now. That brings up another good idea: A check list.

Jeff,

I can't add much more than you have already heard. However, it can't be stressed enough: It's not racing.

Go with nothing to prove and everything to learn. I always assume I know a lot less than I do and I listen to everything my instructor tells me.

Have a great time. The Porsche/track virus is about to infect another. There is no turning back. You may own the car, but you will soon feel like it owns you.

Two things you must do.

1) Follow the advice listed above read thru all of it.

2) Start budgeting now! Halfway thru the day you will be thinking about
-Why did I wait so long to buy my car and get out here!
-How many more of these events can I get to!
-Maybe if I just upgrade my (insert unnecessary but very desirable porsche add ons) I can be even faster smoother etc.


This would all be funny if it wasn't true. Best thing (hobby wise ) I ever did was take my car the the track. Be warned - it makes crack look about as addictive as baby asprin.

Enjoy

Jeff

Here...some very helpful links on this page, courtesy of the local SCCA. Read all of them...they'll help a lot.

http://rmsolo.org/help.html

The "preparing for your first Solo II" link will probably be the most helpful.

Thanks, emptyo; great information on that link. One week and counting.... This is gonna be great.

The fuse for the windshield wiper!!!!!.. that's a good one.
I'll be sure to do that if I ever get my car off the blocks.

--although, it's never personally happened.. *ahem.:p :p

Don't know if anyone else does this, but I've been running my oil on the low side since a little incident on my first track training day (bottom of the dip stick when warm, reads as empty on the dash gauge).

I got into a slight spin (3 complete revolutions) and sloshed oil though the breather hose into the air intake (at the time my oil level was toward the top of the range on the dip stick). The engine breathed oil and fouled the plugs, lots of misfiring and hesitating. A new set of plugs fixed the problem.

Also, my mechanic advises bleeding the brakes before any event and I do as I'm told 'cos he knows a lot more about this stuff than me… consequently he sells me a lot of race brake fluid ;)

My car is a '72, with the oil tank in front of the right rear wheel. It doesn't look like this could happen on this set-up; I don't know, could it? Anyway, I took the car down to the local park and ride last night to practice some braking and skid pad type driving. I found out my left front tire (you know; the side with the fat guy in it...) rubs the fender lip in hard right cornering. I'm running Yokohama 205/60ZR15's all the way around. The fronts have about one degree negative camber. As it's probably too late to lose enough weight to make any difference before Saturday, I've gone through quite a few posts on tire clearance issues with this size tire on the older cars. I'm going to try rolling the fender lip up a bit more, but I'm worried about cracking the paint. I could also trim about half of the inner lip's width with my trusty Dremel. At any rate, I'm sure glad I tried this before next Saturday. It was also fun entertaining the few folks waiting for their bus; I even got applause a couple of times.

Really!?!

Do you mean just on the track or in day to day street driving too?
I always downshift, coming to lights and up to corners. I have never heard this before.

I'm getting ready for my first DT / DE too in about 2 weeks. One thing to check (sorry if mentioned already) is your rear sway bar mounts. The factory bracket is welded to the frame and has a tendency to flex and rip away from the frame. I'm not sure how the '72 setup is; I have an '84 Carrera and I know its been a problem before on the 911 as the sway bar sizes got larger and stiffer over time. If a mount snaps in a hard corner is can throw you into a spin I hear...

Brake pads and rotors are cheaper than clutches and transmissions. Blip the throttle to match engine revs if you need to hang a lower gear to pick up speed. Using the transmission as a brake is usually frowned upon except in certain circumstances...

The obvious is make sure all the braking components are in order. Fresh fluid is a must.

Bring lots of fluids (for yourself)

If you don't already, learn how to match the revs on downshifts, ie. "heel and toe."

Be mindful and very deliberate in your shifts.

Bring a skateboard/razor scooter... in between your sessions, if you are not working on the car, resting, or eating, you'll most likely be checking out other cars or watching the action on the track. The distances in the pit (between good spectator corners, bathroom etc.) are rather large and it helps you get around a lot quicker/more efficiently.

Definitely not on the track, but in street driving I occasionally use engine braking to slow down. I still match the revs to do that instead of just releasing the clutch and making the car "lunge" to slow down.

Steve:

You are actually trying NOT to use the engine as a substitute for your brakes.

Nothing wrong with down-shifting when coming to a light as long as you are blipping and matching revs to be at least reasonably close to where the lower gear / matching engine rpm need to be for the speed you are carrying. (also makes good practice for heel-toe).

Brake pads are much cheaper to replace then clutch disks. Releasing the clutch without matching revs is essentially using the clutch to raise the engine rpm to match the spinning drive-train (attached to the wheels). Not so good.

Jason

I always downshift when i drive on the street, but i always blip the throttle too to match revs. Am i still in danger? can anyone explain the mechanical reasons that downshifting hurts the transmission?

After spending almost 2 grand on new rotors and calipers, i shudder to think what a clutch/transmission repair would cost. :rolleyes:

-Ian

EDIT: oops, I guess Jason answered my question while i was typing...

Same here (after matching revs for d-shift). :D

Jason

you guys make such a big deal over braking a car... a clutch is meant to wear out anyhow, just like brake pads are meant to wear out...
needless to say , it will wear out faster on a track, just like brake pads and tires and just about anything on your car will wear out faster if you track your car... oh yeah, your fuel will wear out a lot faster too...
:rolleyes:

brake however you wanna brake, and leave the frowning over to your mothers in law... if she comes near the track, run her over, just be carefull not to wear out your bumpers...

That's an easy fix for me. My '72 "T" model doesn't have any sway bars. I have been checking this board, and a wealth of other sources, to come up with some kind of incremental upgrade list. Sway bars and the front camber brace are currently in the top slots. I already have the aluminum "S" calipers on the front and the larger tires (205/60 ZR15's); they came with the car. I thought I would first learn the car a bit more so that I could really tell if these changes are making an improvement. That, and have some more experienced drivers drive it, and use their feedback before spending any money. I'm sure I'll go home with a more accurate list after Saturday.

I would say don't buy a helmet. Do notice the loaner helmet you borrow. It will probably be pretty gross. The important thing is to observe the fit, notice and remember the size and brand. If you like the helmet, buy one like it. If you don't, notice what other people are using. Helmets are expensive, and you'll want to get a good one - but why not be sure you're getting one you'll like wearing?

I agree with the "Brakes are cheaper then clutches" but I have had the same tranny in my car from 1972. Close to 200,000 hard miles-ie driving events, street driving and mass amounts of mountain driving. The tranny still works great. No grinding, no nothin. So I guess what I'm saying is that the 915 is a lot stronger then people think.

The point I was originally trying to make was that throttle blipping and double clutching to match the engine and transmission speed before engaging a lower gear is far less stressfull on any engine than full out engine braking; just dropping the car into a lower gear and essentially "lurching" the engine rpm's way up and slowing down the car. Not only is there so much less wear on the mechanicals when double clutching, you also decrease your chances of losing traction by way of upsetting the balance of the car or pitching it forward. Obviously that's a pretty extreme circumstance but the techniques you practice on the street will to a large degree be magnified when you transfer your skill over to the track. Why not learn to refine your style?

Gee, I hadn't noticed...

the point is, sure it works for you, but why confuse a first timer
hanging out @ the track will eventually get you to the point where you look to improve yourself...

but give the newbies some time to figure it out
and don't go raving about double clutching and blipping when the first thing to worry about is learning how to get his car in shape and on the track... especially since all these techniques are not for everybody, some people can get around a track just as fluently without... it's like the old Dyno vs Synthetic oil... lot's of opinions and each has his own...

I've spent a lot of time in my new 911T playing with the two different downshifting techniques everyone is suggesting. I don't use the engine for braking; I learned that years ago on motorcycles. A rough downshift in a corner on a bike gets pretty interesting... Anyway, I've been using double clutching and "single"? (is that a term?) clutching and trying to determine which is best for me. I expect to be somewhat nervous and overwhelmed on this upcoming first day, so I'm trying to get to the point that I can do either on demand. Not there yet, but working on it. All of you help and tips are appreciated, even if I will be too overwhelmed to remember and try them on my first day. Maybe after that fatefull first day, I'll start a thread for some of your more advanced tips. "Second Day Drivers' Skills" or something like that. Seriously, though, the set-up and what to bring, for me and the car, have been most helpfull. The driving pointers are great, too, but I'm hoping the instructors advice, given first hand, will stick and make it clear to me what all of you are talking about.

Jeff
Driver Skills days are not the same as Driver's Ed days. Skills day is running through 4 or 5 stations...slalom, skid pad, braking, late apex turn, mini auto cross in an abandoned airfield. You could take your station wagon and do the skills day. In fact, you will probably see several station wagons there :)

DE days involve driving on the track with other cars at track speeds, that is where you have to bleed the brakes and all the other good stuff. Skills day you could show up with a car that has a clean bill of health and should be fine.

OK Here it is:
Down shifting (NOT to be confused with engine braking, this is what semi trucks do) IS ok to aid in braking, but the biggest thing is down shifting to match revs to gear to accel need: If you are going into a corner that requires a second gear exit, you are going to shift to second before you get to the turn.

The theory behind downshifting being bad applies to the hordes of people who can't properly drive a manual. Clutches are supposed to slip upon engagement/disengagement. Have you ever seen a solid lock clutch? Unless your flywheel is the size of a UFO you would look like my wife the last time she tried to drive one of my manual trucks with a trailer (stalling).

I have actually heard a good argument for downshifting- application of 'negative' forces on trans engine components. I'm not a metalurgist, but I think it makes a little sense.
"Using the transmission as a brake is usually frowned upon except in certain circumstances..." Umm, have you ever been trackside at a race, or stood a stop light as large trucks are slowing?

-Jeremy

As cool as you might feel after your "on track" experience....

TAKE THE DAMN NUMBERS OFF BEFORE YOU DRIVE HOME.