X CARS

[Kim Crosser]

So, if not a $100K car, how about a $100 K-car?

[lrayner]

I love it! In addition to the first rate carpentry (did Gary B have a hand in this?) note the other fine details like the cherry bomb muffler and It looks like a couple of big ol speakers zip tied to the back of the drivers seat? or are those emergency lights??? Sweet ride.

[John Straub]

Leigh,

It's got to be Gary's handiwork. He must be prepping another car to run at the Autocosses in "X" going after the Hondas'.

John

[Gary Burch]

Look, I've got a Woody !!!!

All I need now is a place to put it ...

[Kim Crosser]

Well, for someone resembling a brick something-or-other, perhaps a brick car?

Might be a bit sluggish on the cornering, it weighs 6.5 tons.

[John Straub]

Gary, your new Woody kinda' reminds me of your avatar.

John

[DonCostello]

Its good that we have had over 1100 viewings on this subject and over 80 posts. I'm sure the Board in its collective experience and wisdom can come up with some good conclusions without dozens of members crashing their meeting. However, my final thought on this is that the underlying issue is MONEY. Why are we (apparently) hesitant to raise the fees more than a token amount?

We charge (advance payment) $50 for members and $55 for non-members. Orange County PCA offers an identical event and charges $60/ $70. They also provide water, donuts (lots) and coffee, and often a free catered lunch from a sponsor. Their events are packed. Last week there were 130 cars (48 X cars, 25 of which were PCA members driving X cars). They have multiple sponsors, including "day sponsors" who can lend support for just one event.

BMW charges $60- (members only) for their Qaulcomm events and offers water, soft drinks, coffee, morning snacks and lunch. Something is missing from our events financially if we are debating whether we can afford to provide ICE!

If we charged $65 for members and $75 or $80 for non-members do we have objective reason to believe that would turn people away? I'd be interested to see the results of a survey of autocrossers at our next event as to how much they are willing to pay. Keep in mind that even the members are only paying $46 a year to be PCA national and local members.

[sean_v8_914]

this seems to be distilling into a useable set of guidelines for the future of x car participation. I enjoyed reading this. there are some very good ideas that have influenced my opinion on these subjects. I think that there are several key topics blended together, each should get due consideration as not to dilute the other.
x car participation guidelines/ member vs non member
x car instructor requirements/guidelines
beverages/ costs / post-event alcohol

[sean_v8_914]

...and we need to enforce tech as outlined by Steve G. I remember when he used to place a cone at teh end of the line at 730 sharp. anyone behind teh cone paid teh late fee. I will follow his past example at the next AX

[ZombiePorsche44]

We have waited until now so we could get a feel from the SDR membership regarding X car participation at our local Autocrosses. As CDI’s we must follow and enforce the rules in place for our region but that responsibility does not preclude us from having a personal opinions about the x car discussion, which we as a team have discussed at length and come to a consensus on a few things.

First, the CDI’s feel that as a PCA Region we need to keep true to the PCA National mission statement, which by the way has nothing about x cars and economic considerations in it’s text, but it does dictate us, as PCA members and Porsche owners, to promote Porsche cars, Porsche camaraderie & the Porsche driving experience, there is nothing about x cars participating that does that for PCA members & their Porsche’s.

What it comes down to is as a PCA SDR member you must ask yourself this question, “at what cost to the identity of Porsche Club of America San Diego Region as a club for Porsche owners only, am I willing to go by allowing X cars and X drivers into our club and events?”

When it comes to x car participation we agree that the current economic situation does warrant allowing the x cars to participate for now, but in allowing that we must not let it get out of control. And if members do not believe that x cars can become overwhelming to a PCA regions AX’s, just drive up to a PCA Orange Coast AX at El Toro sometime or stop by the PCA Orange Coast website and take a look at the ax photos.

We highly recommend that we set limits on the amount of x cars, (i.e.; 10) that are allowed to participate at any event no matter the Porsche turn out.
If the Porsche turn out is below a certain threshold, which should be a break even point for the event not how much we can make off the event in profit, we leave it to the AX chairs to allow more X cars to participate with a cap of 15 maximum.

We also feel we are spending way too much PCA SDR instructor resources on x car drivers when we actually owe the training to PCA SDR Porsche drivers. From this point on, the CDI’s will assign PCA SDR instructors to Porsche’s first and x cars second, and if there are not enough qualified PCA SDR instructors available to help the x cars that need to be instructed, tough luck for the newer x car driver who will not be allowed to run due to not being signed off for solo driving by the CDI’s or our designated Senior Instructors.
We feel that allowing the x cars to run with PCASDR is a privilege, and we as members should not feel bad if we disallow any x car & driver from running.

Now let’s address the subject of x car drivers becoming PCA SDR driving instructors. After careful consideration the CDI’s have made the decision that we are not going to allow any x car driver to become a PCA SDR instructor unless the x car driver goes out and buys a Porsche and joins PCA. This decision is set in stone and will not be reversed so for those who do not like our decision, don’t waste your time questioning or challenging it.

We know this may not be popular with some members who think the x car discussion is all about $$ and our club going insolvent, but please keep in mind that our decision was based on our Porsche experience not hate of x cars. In fact we are not your CDI’s due to popularity or vote, we were chosen to be CDI’s for our particular skills and knowledge of Porsche’s, Porsche driving and our commitment to our Club & Region.
And most of all, we as CDI’s, are determined to keep our future involvement Porsche centric for the benefit of PCA SDR Porsche owners.

Sincerely,
Joel Bowman, Larry Bevins & Sean Molloy
Your 2011 PCA SDR CDI Team

[gulf911]

"“at what cost to the identity of Porsche Club of America San Diego Region as a club for Porsche owners only, am I willing to go by allowing X cars and X drivers into our club and events?”

And I have always told people we are not an elitist club.. back to the drawing board.
First , nobody should have to be 'thankful' because its a privilege after paying their money and working the event as well. Dont confuse this with Appreciative , and appreciation for the work the volunteers put in, we all have great appreciation and respect in that regard.
What I dont understand as well, is in one statement you complain that there is an instructor burden for X cars then in the next breath you remove X car instructors.. Sorry, but this makes no sense IMHO.
Sorry, but allowing other marques in to run at ax events doesn't affect our identity, Being an Elitist club does however. As you have seen posted many times, I , as well as others , enjoy the opportunity to run against other marques.
I agree with PCA members getting instructors first , but lets manage it so you dont surprise x cars and send them home, or have the bad attitude of 'tough luck'.

[Jad]

You had better be careful as many of your instructors don't own a Porsche(I didnt for awhile). You also are really going to upset people like me who bring down x car friends to instruct and you won't let us. Fyi, if that happens, don't expect me to stay and instruct. I like helping the club, but if the cdi's get an attitude, there are other choices.

[JERRY B]

Why are the CDI' S making set in stone decisions about the club, Without getting a vote from the board members and autocross chairs?
what happened to it being a team effort.

[LUCKY DAVE]

I like helping the club, but if the cdi's get an attitude, there are other choices.

I second Jad's thoughts on this subject.
Elitist snobbery is why I resigned from the San Diego Yacht Club. Who needs it?

[gulf911]

Why are the CDI' S making set in stone decisions about the club, Without getting a vote from the board members and autocross chairs?
what happened to it being a team effort.

Excellent question Jerry. Since when do CDI's on their own accord make set in stone policy for ax's? Is this something the ax chairs didnt know about?