I lost my virginity.

[Chris_Doane]

..no, you pervert, my Porsche "virginity."

About a month ago, I happened to be sitting in front of my computer when an email came in from the dealership I got my A5 from. They were having a "Day at the track" event for their customers and the first 75 people to reply would get a FREE track day and free instruction. Hmm…let me think….

Yes, I'll attend.

As the day neared, I thought I was going to miss out. My A5 wasn't going to be available to drive that day. I emailed them back and said they should probably give my spot to someone else. The reply was something like "Oh, no, we'll have cars there for you to drive. You should definitely still come." Disaster averted.

The cars turned out to be an Audi S4, Porsche 911 Carrera S, Porsche Cayman and a Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. Oh my.

I'd never been behind the wheel of any of those cars, let alone ANY Porsche. Most of the really fast cars I've ever driven have been AWD, so I was slightly worried about crashing someone else's $100,000+ Porsche on a racetrack. I had images in my mind of being the newbie who loses the back-end in the middle of the corner and spins the car into the dirt….or worse.

(Some of the other cars there included all sorts of 911s and Caymans, two 911 GT3 RS, an NSX and a Skyline GT-R. None of which I bothered to take photos of because I was too busy having fun. )

I figured I would play it safe to start, so my first two sessions were in the S4. The first time a Porsche Club of America instructor showed me around the track. The second time I was on my own. The S4 is about what I expected. It's certainly fast and corners quite nicely. The one problem that popped up by the end of the second session was brake fade. At the start of the day, I was reaching about 116mph by the end of the back straight. Continually pulling up from that speed for the right-hander at the end of the straight was getting a little scary. The brakes were pretty well cooked and the rotors were starting to warp.

My next session was going to be me in the Carrera S, playing follow the leader with a Porsche Racing School instructor doing the leading. Before even setting off, I couldn't get the steering wheel where I wanted, nor could I get the damn helmet strap fastened like it was supposed to be. The instructor came over and helped me with both. I felt like an idiot. Hah, I'm pretty sure he was wondering what this young punk was doing in his 911.

With everything sorted, we start lapping the track and…..uh, wow. If you think the 911 is nothing more than a fancy badge that older men use to land trophy wives, you're wrong. These ARE race cars. The first thing I notice is that the brakes are absolutely freaking incredible. I'm able to brake later, and with MUCH more confidence, than I was in the S4. Brake fade? What's that? The Porsche brakes go all day and then some.

The other two things are, not surprisingly, speed and grip. On the back straight, we're now hitting 125-127mph before braking for turn 4. In the corners, my fears about losing the back-end while driving a rear-engine, RWD car go totally unrealized. The grip seems unending. Each time I thought I'd made my corner entry too fast, the car just turned-in anyway and shot out the exit. In fact, I can only remember a time or two where I could even feel that the weight of the motor was behind me in a corner. Even then, it didn't feel the slightest bit unsafe.

This 911 was also equipped with the PDK transmission. Sure, that probably seems like a sin in this car, but the truth is, it's phenomenal. In the "Sport +" setting, the transmission will hold a gear for AGES. Downshifts were nearly flawless, occurring when I would've downshifted had I had a manual. There are bad ways to do an "automated-manual" (the R-tronic in the Audi R8) and then there are great ways. The PDK is about 2 steps past great.

Driving the Cayman was largely the same experience. Incredible brakes, heaps of grip, great speed. If anything, I almost feel like the Cayman got through the corners a bit faster than the 911s did. After that, I was back into a 911 Carrera Cabrio. You can probably guess how that went.

During the last few months, I've known a few people who got their first Porsche-driving experience, and came away with an "oh, now I get what all the fuss is about" feeling. You can add me to that list. Sure, lots of people will buy a Porsche and never use it to its full potential, but my god, when you do, it's amazing. With the exception of the Audi R8, I've never known braking or cornering like this before. It really is automotive engineering at its' finest.

My last session of the day was back in the S4. Largely because…that was the only car that had any gas left! Most of the other people had gone home for the day so I more/less had the track to myself. Since I wasn't feeling rushed to get out on the track, I also had time to mount my GoPro HD on the roof:

(HD, 720p)

(SD)

All the practice I had that day seemed to be paying off. Where my straight-away speed in the S4 was *only* 116 at the start of the day, it was now 123mph. The brakes had cooled, but were still a bit scary. The tires were a little so-so, and I was sliding a bit going on through the corners, but Quattro makes that something to smile, not scream, about. Then the worst thing of all happened as I passed the start/finish tower one more time: The fuel light came on.

$h!. My day was done.

(Now the part where I blatantly brag In the S4, I caught and passed a mildly tuned R32 (not really a fair fight) and a guy in his own Boxster Spyder. In the 911 Cab, I ran down a guy in his 911 Turbo!? On the flip side, however, during my session in the 911 Cab, someone was in one of the S4's and blew my doors off! And everyone else on the track.)

[Camino LS6]

Damn, that sounds like big fun to me!

Haven't driven a recent 911 - but the old ones were an experience.

[Z-06]

Chris, that is one fantastic time. Congrats.

I have a real high respect for Porsche and its capabilities. I personally am more of a Cayman fan than a Carrera one, granted I have not driven the current iteration of the 911.

Cayman and Boxter is what I would have wanted the Solstice to be, but alas. Pontiac would have been a good "Poor man's Porsche" with no performance sacrifice, but I digress.

[Chris_Doane]

Damn, that sounds like big fun to me!

Haven't driven a recent 911 - but the old ones were an experience.

That's sort of what I had in the back of my mind...how the older ones were a handful.

Not the case at all with the current models. Just fast, fast, fast.

Incredible engineering.

[Camino LS6]

I'd sure give it a shot!

Very cool writeup - thanks for posting it.

[bobo]

Great thread. Makes me want to drive a Porsche. Just wondering, now what do you think of the Corvette?

[ocnblu]

I've driven a mid-80's 911 about 30 feet. Barely a taste. So I consider myself a virgin yet.

Cayman is my favorite Porsche. Small, close-coupled, hardtop, "affordable".

[Drew Dowdell]

glad you finally got some.

[Chris_Doane]

Great thread. Makes me want to drive a Porsche. Just wondering, now what do you think of the Corvette?

Never driven one, only sat in a few. Obviously the interior is pretty high on GMs list of things they will address with the C7.

[Z-06]

Great thread. Makes me want to drive a Porsche. Just wondering, now what do you think of the Corvette?

Three of them are different animals.

Cayman - MR configuration to me is the most satisfying when it comes to cat-like reflexes and grip. A real surgical equipment to play with all day long without having to worry about killing the patient.

Carrera - RR configuration makes it so easy to turn in the corners with confidence. Certainly a class of its own. The last generation I drove did not deserve the high 5 figure price tag when it came to interior, but current generation is miles ahead in that respect, but have never driven one.

Corvette - FR configuration has raw brutal power. Beats pavements, corners, chicanes into submission. In Z-06 form it needs solid pair of hands otherwise it will show you who is the boss. That is the fun about it - an ultimate man vs. machine fight, yet friendly enough to spend an entire day driving long distance or being a track mongoose if not pushed to its limit.

Given the choice I will have all three of them in my garage. The 3 C's.

[Chris_Doane]

The dealer posted some low-rez photos of a few of the cars:

Black Carrera S I drove:

White Cayman I drove:

[Sixty8panther]

Sounds awesome.

I've only driven a couple Porsche 911s and the one I got to "open up" was a dumb cabriolet so I was a bit apprehensive since a rollover pretty much = instant death.

Unless I win the lottery the only German car in the top 10 "cars I must own" on my Bucket list is a Porsche 911, but it has to be a classic AIR COOLED one.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Sixty8panther

[Robert Hall]

Sweet...I've managed to drive a few friends' Porsches over the years, mostly around town brief drives, though I did get to drive a '75 911 for about 25 miles on Colorado twisty mountain roads.

I've driven a '73 914, the '75 911, and a '78 930 Turbo all owned by the same friend...the 930 was particularly impressive.

I've also driven a '00 Boxster and an '10 Boxster..really enjoyed them. I'd like to own a Porsche, maybe a mid '90s last of the air-cooled 993 or a modern Boxster or 911.