Thunderhill questions. I want to learn to drive...

[Moses]

I am not a PCA member. I would like to learn how to drive my stock '83 911 SC targa. Thunderhill is 2 hours away.

Should I sign up for the high performance driving school at the track? Is there another approach?

I am kind of tall, and there is no way my big ugly helmeted head will fit under the targa top. Will they let me race with the top off?

I only have the standard seat belt with shoulder harness. Is that OK?

The Thunderhill website mentioned no hubcaps allowed. Do I really have to remove the center caps on my Fuchs?

What I would really like is to go up there and get some tips from Thom and Jack Olson, but my guess is that they get track time with some club they belong to. Plus neither me or my car are really ready to run with the big boys.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[DByers]

I was looking into doing some DE events later this year and was looking into the same thing for tracks down in SoCal. From what I gather www.tracquest.com does a great job with these types of events. You might check them out. I beleive they have something happening up at Thunderhill in July.

[pbs911]

I just completed my 1st DE at Willow Springs, so I will apply my very limited experence;

[QUOTE
[B]I am not a PCA member. I would like to learn how to drive my stock '83 911 SC targa. Thunderhill is 2 hours away.[B]

I drove 2 1/2 hours to Willow Springs. It was worth the drive.

[B]Should I sign up for the high performance driving school at the track? Is there another approach?[B]

Yes. The alternative is open track events and getting someone to instruct you. However, other cars will be on the track which may not be at the learning level. That can be pretty dangerous.

[B]I am kind of tall, and there is no way my big ugly helmeted head will fit under the targa top. Will they let me race with the top off? [B]

IU had to have the top on. I am 6'1" and fit with the helmut. There is so much going on I didn't even feel the top of my head against the top. As an alternative, try to lower the seat somehow. There are some past threads with advise. Sorry can't get to specific here since I have aftermarket seats.


[B]I only have the standard seat belt with shoulder harness. Is that OK?[B]

I used the standard seatbelt, but am now looking for a harness. I was faily well in the seat. I also feel that the lack of the harness keep me at a slower speed , which was good. You don't want to go over your head in the speed category.

[B]The Thunderhill website mentioned no hubcaps allowed. Do I really have to remove the center caps on my Fuchs?[B]

I removed the center caps on my Fikse wheels. I also spend the previous 3 weekends going over every pice of the car. The track is one place you don't want something mechanical to go wrong.

[B]What I would really like is to go up there and get some tips from Thom and Jack Olson, but my guess is that they get track time with some club they belong to. Plus neither me or my car are really ready to run with the big boys.[B]

At my DE, I was on the track with lots of cars, mostly high end new cars. It would be nice to run with another SC to get a feel of what other drivers driving the same car are doing. There was so much going on for me that it really didn't matter what cars were out there. Its kind of fun when a 996 and a Ferrari waive you by to pass anyways. Your first event will not be your last. There is plenty of time to get out to the track with Thom, Jack and many other posters. As with everything else, I have a feeling that the track is a small world and everyone will run across each other at some point and time.

Just make sure your car is in great shape and you are at anevent that provides an instructor familiar with the Porsche. I was lucky and made sure quality instructors would be available for me for every run. The track is a classroom and you the track is one place where you really don't want to learn through the school of hard knocks. Do it. I was amazed at what these cars can do. And I didn't even get close to driving a perfect lap.

Hope this helps.

[Chuck Moreland]

Moses,

You might try the Porsche Owners Club short track series.

www.porscheclub.org

POC organizes extremely well run events. They do an outstanding job of providing instruction for people starting out. The net result is one of the safest on-track experiences for the newbie. And of course the events are packed with other Porsches. Plus they are a bargain at $200 for a two day event.

The next event is May 11, 12 at The Streets of Willow. I will be attending. It's about a 4.5 hour drive for us Bay Area guys and well worth it.

You need to register now. You need to advise them when you register that you are a first time student so they can line up an instructor.

[widebody911]

For NorCal people, Thunderhill is a great track because it's close.

For Newbie people (myself included) it's a great track because it's safe - not much to hit.

I'd recommend a TracQuest (http://tracquest.com) event for your first time. It's more expensive, but you get good instruction. The next one is Julty 7th & 8th - I'll be there!

The last event I went to was with NorCal Racing club (ncracing.org) was 1/2 the price, but there were a lot of people out on the track for the first time without instructors, and it was plain scare at times! Their next event is June 26th - I'll be there, too.

For some in-car video of Thunderhill, courtesy of JackO, go here

If the big ugly targa top is hampering you, cut it off