Cliché as it sounds, at the end of the day my biggest problem was myself. I wasn’t braking late enough, or getting on the gas quickly enough, or turning in sharply enough, or using enough of the curb at the apex and corner exit. Earlier in the day I definitely felt myself holding back too much, because I was perhaps too focused on getting everything right and staying on the ideal line while also not hitting the car ahead of me. You definitely don’t want to be the guy going too slow messing up the pace for the people behind you. As the day went on and I got more laps under my belt, all of that melted away. Even better than thinking that I did something well was hearing it from the instructor. There’s nothing like a professional race car driver saying, “Daniel, that corner was perfect, good job,” over the walkie-talkie.
And the 911 Carrera S really was the perfect car to do this with. It has some of the best steering on the market, paired with one of the best chassis setups on the market, but the 911’s inherent handling characteristics made it a bit daunting. We had to really pay attention to weight transfer and grip levels, especially once we started learning more trail-braking techniques later in the day. Even with all the safety systems turned on, the 911 offered just enough tail-happy playfulness to feel super engaging and exciting. The twin-turbo flat-6 and PDK transmission never skipped a beat, and I was able to really wring the powertrain out through most of the track. Having the AC on didn’t seem to sap up any power, either. There was zero fade from the brakes, the seats were super supportive, visibility was excellent, it sounded great… Need I go on?
Daniel Golson/Jalopnik
I took the equivalent of the one-day Introductory high-performance driving course, which starts at $3,500 at Laguna Seca or $2,400 at Barber; for a half-day version it’ll cost you two grand, while the two-day course is $6,500. The cars used for that program are the Carrera S, plus the 718 GTS in Boxster and Cayman form, and the electric Taycan GTS. $9,000 will get you two days of the more advanced intermediate Masters class, and beyond that you can spend $14,000 on the three-day Masters RS course, which gets deep into actual racing instruction and includes seat time in 911 GT3s.
No matter which course you pick and what skill level or amount of on-track experience you go in with, any driver will come out of a Porsche Track Experience school a better driver. You get sent home with a USB drive containing in-car and dashcam footage from your sessions, along with Vbox data, so you can pore over all the mistakes you made and everything you got right. More importantly, you’ll also come away with a huge smile on your face. I gotta do rally school next.
