by Old Guy on Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:23 pm
Just re-reading the entire thread. Great stuff; kudos to all of the contributors. Dan, Tom, Jad and many others, you all are Aces High for me. You have my respect, and especially appreciation for your seat time and the hundreds (thousands?) of PCA-SDR drivers you've influenced over the years. You're a cadre of Very Specials. Thanks.
A few comments:
- I'm an Old Guy at age 72. If I was ever going to improve as a driver, working my way up through the ranks, let's face it: those years are behind me...never to be recovered. I worked overseas for most of my active working career: no track time at all. At my life-stage, the major motivation for (autocross and especially) the track is to enjoy mashing the throttle, stabbing the brakes, and pushing through the corners in a way I simply cannot on the public roads...especially with a Lava Orange car - one doesn't speed in an orange car...but of course I want to be smooth, reasonably accomplished...but most of all: HAVE FUN.
- I lost control and spun my '66 Beetle on the autobahn...in the snow...back in 1968. Crunched the center guard rail with my LR fender. I spun my '79 SC at the end of the Summit Point main straight - twice - back in 1986. (This is the SC that my BinL bought from me, kept forever, and is now with my niece - but that's another story.) Both feet in, ended up in the middle of the track on the pavement both times. Lucky me. Those experiences were visceral and I've never forgotten the, "Holy S... I've lost it," realization of the obvious. Ever since, any corner I take I'm reliving and trying to avoid that Holy S... moment. I recognize this is demotivating when it comes to cornering fast.
- With all due respect to my generation or those of you 10-20 years behind me: there is no going back. Get real. If you send your kids (or in my case grand kids) to a computer coding clinic and the teacher told them that first they had to master typing on an IBM Selectric, deal with punch cards, master DOS code to get the printer to print, and choose between a computer monitor with either green or orange text over black, what would your reaction be? Say what??!! Isn't it obvious that the "new" generation has no knowledge or interest in no nanny race or street cars, G15 trans 911s, heel & toe downshifting, or anything else that all of "our generation" grew up with???
- I was at Fontana with Fast Toys Club on the 27th. There were only 13 cars registered. Needless to say, I got as much track time in our 911 as I could deal with. Face to face conversation with almost every driver told me that not a single one cared a hoot about being good, accomplished or respected as track drivers. All they wanted to do was drive fast or as some said: "race." Well, gimme a break...we are NOT "racing." I came away with an appreciation of the discipline that PCA-SDR enforces.
- I ran in Sport+ with PSM on. 3rd and 4th gear (will get you to over 125 mph) almost exclusively, but occasionally went to 2nd at Turn 3 or Turn 9. NO WAY would I have the faintest idea if lights were flashing on the dash!! I'm looking down the track to the next section...so our colleague's suggestion that an audible would be helpful, I agree with 100%. Worse, I cannot recall ever "feeling' that PSM was helping me out. No sensations. No noises. No nothing. Hmmm.
- That said, on one lap coming off the oval into Turns 3 and 4, I was catching another old guy driving a 2016 Lambo Huracan and it was clear that I could pass him on the mini-straight between 4 and 5. Did I get excited or what??!! Too excited. With the Lambo not more than 10 meters in front of me coming out of 4 my back end came out to at least 30-40 degrees. I countered but was it me saving it, or the PSM? Guessing the latter.
- Finally, allow me to comment on the obvious for many of us. $$$$ Our base 911 (with lots of options I didn't want but it was the only manual 7 speed to be found in the western USA) - the MSRP was over $115K + tax. We traded in a pristine '85 911 Euro Carrera and a '11 Carrera GTS and still had to take on a $60G credit union loan note. What is my motivation to turn off any system that might/will/should protect our monetary investment? Am I hearing you saying anything different?
Fast Toys track day was fun, even if expensive. I'll do another. Please join me!!
Jim "
Old Guy" Dunlap
2017 Carrera 911 7 speed stick, Lava Orange
2017 Macan S, Sapphire Blue
2003 Morgan +8, Silver body with Dark Blue Wings