Wow, time does really fly when you are having fun. I can remember the day when I first joined the PCA as this coincided with me purchasing my first Porsche (a 1997 Guards Red 911 Cabrio with the Cashmere leather interior). . What a car and what a day that was! For the first couple […]
We are well into our 2015 season and plenty of events to go. In my series of driving technique articles, I have covered most of the fundamentals and touched on one or two more advanced techniques. It is now time to dig into Heel-toe downshifting which is not really done with your heel and toe […]
We are busy setting up dates, contracts, etc… for our 2015 DE season and are looking forward to another great season of NNJR track events. Here is a preview of what the season will look like: Mid-winter Introduction to High Performance Driving on January 25th; High Performance Driving Seminar for Instructors and URG drivers on February 22nd; Lime Rock: April 8-9; Lightning/T-Bolt (Instructors and URG): April 27-28.
I don’t know about you, but I am pretty psyched up about our DE 2015 season approaching and getting back on track. Our schedule is set for 2015 and by the time you read this, we would have just held our Instruction to High Performance Driving seminar (January 25, 2015). It is at this seminar we introduce new drivers (and potential drivers) to the world of DE, what is it all about and how to partake in these driving events. If you missed it, here are some of the highlights regarding preparing for a DE event.
Winter had taken a short break last weekend it seemed with temperatures in the high forties for a change. Okay, so it wasn’t the balmy 50 to 60 degree weather that we saw most of last winter, but it was warm enough to wash off the car without it immediately becoming a big blue-green popsicle. The suds washed off remnants of Watkins Glen and New Jersey Motorsports Park, squashed bugs and small black streaks of Hoosiers from days gone by. When the car was finally dry, I carefully covered the 964 and secured it for the rest of the winter.
My trip to VIR started out with a bad feeling. As we all know on Monday, October 29, an unprecedented storm hit New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy left me with no power at home, no power at my office and wondering if the family house at the Jersey Shore was still in existence. I had to leave my wife Robin home alone with only a generator, gas and some operating instructions (of which I tried to make as easy to understand as possible). She knew my son Nick and I had planned to go to Virginia for quite some time and she did not want us to miss the trip. I put our ’86 Martini-themed 911 on the trailer, packed up some tools, clothes and a couple of beers and got on the road to pick up Nick at college in Maryland. I had to maneuver countless detours to get to the highway due to fallen trees in my home town.
Anyone else a late night TV fan? I have been a fan of staying up late since college. The shows I watch have changed over time. There was a time where David Letterman was cool and Jay Leno’s schtick was just hokey. I would stay with Letterman until 12:30, when I would hit the clicker to watch Conan O’Brien. It was a peaceful place in the universe until the high stakes game of late show musical chairs began between Leno and Conan. Leno was to retire and Conan would be taking over as the show’s new host. I don’t know what it was, but Conan just didn’t do that well in the earlier Tonight Show slot. Maybe it was because almost all of what made him funny – the driving desk, Triumph The Insult Comedy Dog, the bear, Max Weinberg, Abe Vigoda…they all seemed to be left in another time zone of late, late night. Leno’s return was almost merciful, with a tinge of “I told you so, rookie.”
A few months ago I had the opportunity to take a first drive in the new 991. This particular car was a Carrera S, equipped with PDK. The venue was not the street, but (as deemed by some), the best track in the world, Watkins Glen International. I would drive several laps to show my student around the track prior to him taking the wheel. Life is sometimes tough – I would drive the car for the sole benefit of my student, but I certainly would not enjoy it.
“Hey there!” I said cheerfully as I approached black Cayman S. The white group driver was already strapped into his car and looked a little confused about why I was approaching him, helmet in hand, and asking how his day was going.
Once in a while, right smack dab in the middle of a perfectly good driver education event, we shake things up a bit and do something called a “white blitz.” For the uninitiated following along at home, white group drivers are our first “solo” run group, meaning that they are not assigned instructors at events. Once in a while, though, we like to do a check up. Instructors randomly get into white run group students’ cars, usually without warning, as they prepare to pit out for a run group. Sneaky? Maybe. But the element of surprise is sometimes fun. Sometimes.
I carefully move the shifter through the gates before I start the engine, a dress rehearsal for the opportunity I am about to have. Reverse up and to the left? Check. The 1-2 shift seems easy enough, and 3rd gear is spaced perfectly. Piece of cake.
Turning the key, the engine comes to life with a loud bark, and immediately settles into a turbine-smooth rumble. Foot on clutch, shifter eased gently into first, left pedal out slightly, right pedal in slightly, the revs build and….stall. Hmmm. Let me try that again. Vroom…snick…stall.
“Don’t feel so bad,” chides the Paul Miller rep with a smile. “You cannot start this car normally. You have to gently let out the clutch until it starts to catch, and then let it out a little further until the car starts to roll.” I start to try his approach before my brain kicks in again, pushes the right pedal, and stalls the car. One more time, and I am going to follow the directions to the letter, for better or for worse. I lift the clutch, the car starts to roll, I lift it a little more, and I am off! I squeeze the gas a bit, and finally, I am actually driving a Porsche Carrera GT. (copy editor’s note: I heard from a reliable source that some small petite lady (my daughter) after hearing that all of the male drivers stalled the Carrera GT had no problem and did not stall it. She is still giggling about it.)
