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Porsche Experience Silverstone - Advice Needed

mingmangmong

New member
Joined
26 Oct 2023
Messages
19
Hi all,

I’ve been gifted a Porsche Experience voucher for my upcoming 50th bday. I’ve not owned a modern Porsche - I’ve had a couple of 987s and more recently, a 996 Targa - all manuals.

My dilemma is around which car to choose - I can do a half day in any of the 911 models or I could split into two 90 min sessions with a Cayman and then a 911…

Any advice on what car I should go for? I have no previous track experience.

Thanks in advance
 
i guess that all depends on what you want to get out of it - do you want to experience two different cars to compare hem? Or would you rather have more in depth tuition as to how to drive better? if speed is your thing choose the fastest 911 you can....................
 
I have recent experience of this as I did it last week ;-)

I'm not sure if you've done the experience day before so will assume you have not.

Firstly in order to answer your direct questions I would definately split over x2 cars if you can. The 1.5 hour sessions (with coffee in between) is really designed to enable "splitting" the driving with someone else. Its a lot of driving and you will be able to do most of the experiences in each car eg I was not bothered about launch control / striaght line braking as I do that a lot anyway lol

Don't worry about no track experience, that is the "norm" for them as its just as much Joe Public buying an SUV than Lewis Hamilton turning up ;-)

In terms of car I would pick anything that not a SUV. I doubt they will offer you a GT car so either go for 2 wheel v 4 wheel drive of the same model or rear v mid engine, PDK v manual, etc...... whichever takes your fancy and they will allow. nb I did it in a taycan as I wanted to experience what I drive daily on a track (not using my car lol). That was great nb if you go for it in one of those you can get motion sickness if you are prone as its a lot of handling in a luxury package and the brain can struggle with that on circuit. Speed in a more raw package is easier to process. Lets just say I found myself on the ginger beer ;-)
tip: if you do feel a little nausious don't feel ashamed, tell your instructor. Again they are used to it, you'll be surprised how many professionals took motion sickness tablets when they started off racing. They have Ginger beer for a reason in the restaurent, its a natural anti sickness.

nb its a 3.5 hour drive for me to Silverstone. I did not fancy that, 3 hours driving and 3.5 hours back in one day so I went down the day before and stayed at the Hilton on circuit. That was good but its near nothing, the restaurent was OK, beer expensive. You don't need breakfast as that provided if on a morning session. It liteally is 2 min drive around the circuit orbital road to the PEC.
I also split the driving with a mate (lose term lol) I met down there for check in ie I did the first 1.5 hours and he did the second part of the split morning session. That was enough for me and its really designed around you doing that. You can watch from the restuarent and its free drinks (none alcoholic) and snacks etc.....

The whole "experience" was brilliant and I'll definately do it again. You get your own instructor in the car and after an initial "sussing" you out they tailor everything to your comfort zone. Even Frank managed to not get lost !
 
As the "mate" who split the driving with John last week, I'd split it between 2 RWD cars. More fun on the low grip surface
 
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
 
Thanks for the replies - really helpful.

After a rather hair-raising experience in the Targa where the back stepped out going over a roundabout at about 8mph, I’d quite like to get some experience of that kind of thing - but maybe at slightly higher speeds!

To the point about 2WD vs 4WD - I imagine a base C2 is probably an absolute hoot around a track so not sure I’d be bothered about the higher-end models.

Would like to try a Cayman though!
 
As the "mate" who split the driving with John last week, I'd split it between 2 RWD cars. More fun on the low grip surface
:oops: do we mention keeping a 4wd off the grass ?
 
The "Ice Road" and "kick plate" are well worth doing, all at low speed ;-)
 
You do know that clipped and missed are two different things :unsure:
 
You do know that clipped and missed are two different things :unsure:
If I'd missed it, I wouldn't have clipped the grass on the inside😉
 
every 911 is the answer you are looking for
 
I was going to open a thread on this but found this one.

I fancy doing it with my lad, neither of us are strangers to a track but we’re definitely both humble enough to gladly accept some expert tuition on rear engined cars. I’d also like to compare something like a C2 back-to-back with a mid-engined car under exactly the same circumstances.

Have any of you done any other driving tuition type stuff that you can compare it to, and if you have would you say the Porsche Experience is better?

One I’d particularly like to try is the skid pan stuff, to get better at car control in slippery conditions.
 
I did the Precision day in my car prior to COVID. Prior to that I did a couple of Experience days.

Having a blast in a newer car (991.1 and 991.2 at the time) was fun, with excellent tuition, and the options to split between cars was great. The Precision day was the most useful to me as it gave me more time in my car on both tracks in PEC, the ice road, and the Silverstone GP circuit. The tuition on that day I found invaluable, the hospitality was very good, and I would recommend the sessions beyond the Experience days for anyone serious about getting more out of your car and yourself.

The tuition must have been quite good; last week I drifted the I-Pace around a wet and leafy bend, having entered far too hot at 40mph 😂. The car coming in the opposite direction looked quite scared. Perhaps it was the manic giggle I had.

I really should go back to PEC.
 
I fancy doing it with my lad, neither of us are strangers to a track but we’re definitely both humble enough to gladly accept some expert tuition on rear engined cars. I’d also like to compare something like a C2 back-to-back with a mid-engined car under exactly the same circumstances.

Have any of you done any other driving tuition type stuff that you can compare it to, and if you have would you say the Porsche Experience is better?

One I’d particularly like to try is the skid pan stuff, to get better at car control in slippery conditions.

Just to manage expectations.

Whilst the PEC is at Silverstone they don't use the Silverstone track. The track they use is much narrower than a race track and is slower and more technical than you'd find on a traditional track day.

The tuition is very good and the skid pan and ice hill are great experiences although you don't get much time on either.

The opportunity to drive current model Porsches in a test environment is great fun but might be a bit tame if you're an experienced track driver.
 

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