I had a unique opportunity yesterday to support a customer event that included participating in a day at the Barber Porsche Motorsports Park near Birmingham Alabama. It was roughly an 8 hour day that included some basic skill work, autocross, off-roading, and track time on the 2.1 mile road course. I was not familiar with the track prior to the invitation to participate but I was blown away by the track layout, the fresh new resurfacing, the elevation changes, and how beautiful the grounds and facilities were. The location also has the worlds largest motorcycle museum collection and the largest collection of Lotus cars.
The track time was restrictive regarding the level of speed that was allowed, but we were able to push the corner speeds and acceleration on the early part of the straights. They were very conservative on the braking zones by design to teach the proper braking points (also leaving a large margin for error to protect drivers and cars). All of the cars were 2019 and each student had 3 laps each in a 718 Cayman S, 911 Carrera GTS, and 911 Turbo S. This was a line of 3-4 student cars paced by the instructor in a lead car adjusting pace based on how well the group was following the lines and instructions via the radio communication. Cornering speeds and exit from the corners was aggressive enough to get a pretty good feel for the cars capabilities. Despite the lower price point as compared to the 911 Turbo S, the 911 Carrera GTS is the one I would like to take home with me given the choice.
After the student track sessions, we got a hot lap with our instructor driving a GT3. My instructor was Pippa Mann and she was excellent at talking the group through each lap with good feedback despite the fact that she was in the lead car seeing us only in her mirrors. The GT3 performance with its 9000 rpm redline was quite a thrill and she hustled that thing around the track but was also very smooth.
I could never justify the cost versus the seat time that the event provided, but the opportunity to drive these plus a few other Porsche models made for a great day at "work".
STM317
UltraDork
9/26/19 1:06 p.m.
Fun day for sure! Pippa Mann seems pretty awesome.
That track is incredible! Fun track with good elevation change, non-cheesegrater pavement and a good combination of turns. Everything is so clean and in order in the facilities too.
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HalfDork
9/26/19 1:08 p.m.
This is real Berkeleyed up man. You come here, flaunting your enormous penis around. Meanwhile the rest of us have to languish at work, bored out of our minds, and our only connection to racing today is a forum that just got its search function working.
(Totally kidding everyone!)
That sounds like the best day ever man!
_ said:
your enormous penis
Some are at work wondering how you know this?
Sounds like one of "Exotic Driving Experience" type things.
A few buddies of mine have instructed for them up here at Hallett. Both have said it's not worth it unless you just want to drive one. All the times they did it, speeds are kept low, cars are marginally maintained, etc.
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HalfDork
9/26/19 2:03 p.m.
In reply to z31maniac :
I too can attest to this, I did an Exotics drive in Vegas. I drove a GTR, which I thought was a bucket list check off. I found the entire experience very underwhelming compared to an actual track day with a slow car that I already own
z31maniac said:
Sounds like one of "Exotic Driving Experience" type things.
A few buddies of mine have instructed for them up here at Hallett. Both have said it's not worth it unless you just want to drive one. All the times they did it, speeds are kept low, cars are marginally maintained, etc.
I can see how this would be the case in many operations, but found this school to be first class from an equipment standpoint as it is one of the "official" Porsche driving schools and they want the product to be well represented. All of the vehicles were 2019 models and had under 10k miles. There was one SUV with an active steering assist fault but the other 11 vehicles that I was in had no issues that I could see or feel.
I 100% agree that bang for the buck it was not a good deal to me and I would spend my money elsewhere.
fusion66 said:
z31maniac said:
Sounds like one of "Exotic Driving Experience" type things.
A few buddies of mine have instructed for them up here at Hallett. Both have said it's not worth it unless you just want to drive one. All the times they did it, speeds are kept low, cars are marginally maintained, etc.
I can see how this would be the case in many operations, but found this school to be first class from an equipment standpoint as it is one of the "official" Porsche driving schools and they want the product to be well represented. All of the vehicles were 2019 models and had under 10k miles. There was one SUV with an active steering assist fault but the other 11 vehicles that I was in had no issues that I could see or feel.
I 100% agree that bang for the buck it was not a good deal to me and I would spend my money elsewhere.
Makes sense. I have another buddy down in the Atlanta area that instructs for the Porsche Experience at Road Atlanta sometimes. He raves about it like you are!
