I took this class in 2014, and have to say your comments are spot on! What a well run program and it was the and the “rush” of a lifetime! OMG what a day that was! 🏁🏁
Great vid Chris. Thanks for taking the time to put it together. Breaking up your lap and talking me thru it was very helpful. I have got some Porsche track instrustion booked for a few weeks from now. This viewing has been very useful in my preparation. Cheers :)
Thanks for making this video. I had all of the same concerns before I booked my spot, I’m glad that you were happy with the experience. I’m going in two weeks for my 40th birthday. 😁
Great perspective. I have done two, two day schools with BMW and have become obsessed with track driving and have now done 14 track days. I strongly recommend these schools to anyone before they take their personal car on a track, the level of instruction is far superior to most instruction you will get from a non-professional and the cost per hour of these programs is often times cheaper than what you pay to do a HPDE day with your own car when you factor in all of the costs.
That takes courage. Especially jumping in completely new! This is awesome!!!!!!! I go to barber next weekend, I have a bmw m3, and have been tracking for 4 years. And barber is overwhelming for me. Big kuddos!!!!
Fantastic video and moments. Very professional. You may have saved some people a lot of embrassement and money. I raced an MGB and a Lotus many years ago. The instructors used the same approach during our school day. BTW the school day was preceded by 2 evenings of off track instructions. A lot of people believe that you can just get on a track, rev the hell out of your engine and go fast. Not So. Thank you.
Just did the day class, one of the best days of my adult life. Great explanation of the course but nothing compares with actually driving it. I did it in the rain and even then, the cars have amazing power, grip, and brakes. As a car guy, if you can afford it, you won't be disappointed, hope to make it back again someday... and yes, driving in line is really great!
Well done video. I plan to get on the track with the Porsche track days (not the PCA HPDE track days). I was taken by a Porsche instructor around my local track about ten years ago. It was great; 5 laps could have been 50. His driving was ultra smooth. He gave me an airline sick-sack which I didn't need as I was a flight instructor for many years. LOL What came to mind was all those clowns on public roads that "think" they are fast, they really have no clue. But then when you "think" you are fast on a HPDE day, that is nothing compared to competitive racing.
I was a driving instructor there giving ride alongs I did that there for Porsche experience teaching ppl the line while driving in car. And drive as a instructor giving rides in rusty Wallace racing experience at NASCAR tracks for a while weekend 10 hours sat and Sunday in a full blown 700 hp two seat cup car doing 180 mph at Atlanta and Charlotte motor speedway are the best ones for ppl who wanna ride at 180 mph and drive their self with out instructor at 140-150 mph. Try road racing in a stick shift Miata racing series Miata at age 13 with all the heel toe shifting and driving styles it's tough for adults imagine a kid with no driver license and bee n racing since I was 8 in full size racecars on asphalt oval tracks didn't start in go karts started in a 412 horsepower superstock against my mom in another car who been racing for a few years before and we owned the asphalt oval track called northbay speedway in cannada and I'm 30 and still race high horsepower oval track race cars if you think this is scary try a 950 rear wheel horsepower Sprint car with a wing on top and it only weighs 1200 lb that's a sketchy ride and you can get a ride along and a Sprint car on dirt it's a two-seater one it has about 700 horsepower and its wings and it flies just as fast almost so if you want that experience you can get a ride along in one to get the idea of what we do in those cars and then when you do it on dirt and then 950 horsepower car so completely different ball game
Same kind of experience at Jimmy Russell racing school at Bridgehampton, NY. Formula 1 Fords. Invited by Sports Illustrated to participate. 140 MPH in the final straightaway seemed comfortable after day 2. Instructor warning: DON'T SPEED ON THE WAY HOME. 2 out of 10 drivers will get tickets. I found myself doing 105 MPH on the New York State Thruway...passing everyone. WOW what a great time. Also got a PHOTO of car/me driving by Sports Illustrated photographer. Great memories.
Great video! I have over 1,000 laps at Barber, in a variety of cars, and it's great to see it through new eyes of a novice driver. Barber is a technical track that places a premium on the driver, rather than the speed of the car, and is deceptively hard to master. I know several of the instructors and you are spot-on regarding their professionalism. BTW, when you "hot lapped" with the instructor driving, they lap at about 8/10's of the car's capability and about 7/10's of THEIR ability :-) Sounds like you and your wife should come do a track day weekend in your own car with an organization like Chin Motorsports, BMWCCA, PCA or Just Track It.. My brother did his first last Halloween and is HOOKED!!! Feel free to DM me if interested.
Fantastic explanation for novice racing enthusiasts! Looking forward to booking this experience. This one looks better than Atlanta. But as an experienced super bike rider i hope that you can push the limits of these amazing cars. Sure they can go 0-60 just as quick as a 1000cc sport bike, but clearly they cannot run 130-140 in the corners, as fun as the video looks, you were nowhere near the limits of the tires or the suspension. My question is, was there anyone disappointed with the limitations set forth from the driving coaches?
People need to do stuff like this. You only live once. I want to do a HPDE event at high plains raceway. I've never been on a track. I just bought a 2020 mustang gt pp1.
Thanks. I did. First I bought an ND Miata actually, I loved it but didn't really fit. I sold it, and bought a 2022 Boxster GTS 4.0. Manual transmission, light weight buckets, guards red, Kline exhaust. I really love it. It is an absolute riot.
Yes. The video was given to me on a thumb drive at the end of the day for free. You aren't allowed to have your own cameras (plus you switch cars, so it would be impractical). There was a button somewhere you had to push to start it recording, and the instructors would remind you to do so over the radio at the start of each session.
@@AFibFramework I always wanted a video as well as my track info such as braking, acceleration, corner Gs, etc. I do know that my threshold braking was at 1.37 Gs and ABS braking was at 1.22 Gs. Cornering would go as high as 1.34Gs. This using the G meter in the the supplied 992. I've been on the one-day Precision Course followed by the two-day Performace Course in 2021. Then in 2022 and 2023 I took the two-day Performance Course again. Definitely better than sex and I have had the best! I was amazed that some drivers pulled off the course to barf. Reminds me of some of my students when I was a flight instructor.
They have made their website a bit less clear. You have to go to porschedriving.com, then 'Porsche Track Experience Birmingham'. The course I took was the 'Precision 1 day course.' It looks like they have a half day now, which I think would leave you wanting more. They have two days also. I might go back and do that someday, but it's pretty expensive. I was exhausted at the end of the one day course.
Chris Jones the 1/2 day isn’t actually on the actual track at Barber, it’s a four part experience with a skid pad, 0-60 run, off-road and then a hot-lap session on their smaller autocross track. It’s also a fantastic experience.
The instructor paces to the slowest driver and whenever a gap opens up he slows down. Unfortunately you were “that guy” that was getting behind and so slowing it down for the others. That doesn’t matter much at the start of the day - at least not for the first session. Would be great to see how you were doing by the end of the day to see how you improved and if you moved out of the slow guy position.
Yes, this had occurred to me actually. My experience was probably somewhat impacted by being a slower member of the group. If you were the fastest member of the group, the experience would differ somewhat. That said, they do sort you by your stated experience in the morning session (I was sitting at the back of the class when we went around and did our introductions/histories, and they had someone in the back taking notes), then they sort you again after the morning session based on your morning driving. So, you are unlikely to end up in a group with someone who is vastly slower than you are. My wife was actually pretty slow (had a great time, though), and they split her off into her own group with just one other car in the afternoon, which was great for her.
lol...funny listening to a guy who has never even driven a fast car, let alone driven a fast car fast (read near the limit) and has definitely never been involved in motorsports talk about his tracking experience.
This looks miserable! For the amount you paid, even for a novice it is not worth it. You would be better off at VIR or just renting a sports car and joyriding or taking it to track as your own. This is is weak AF.
I just returned from the Porsche school. I have been to other schools and a lot of manufactures classes. Porsche school is by far the best. The Barber motor sports track is the best in the world
You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is definitely the best manufacturer driving school in the country. If you have more track experience they’ll put you with a more experienced group where the pace will be quicker. For the cars you get to drive and the amount of seat time you have, definitely worth the price. Instructors are top notch. One of my instructors won 12 hours of Sebring that year in the prototype challenge class. A lot of them are active racers. Got to learn a lot about weight transfer and car control. The weekend really improves my trail braking and I use a lot of what I learned there on my current track days. Will definitely go back for the masters course one day
Tom d - It is definitely not miserable, the camera doesn’t capture how fast this really is and how hard they are driving the cars. For a novice that has never been on a track before, there are a lot of benefits to Instructor led laps. They learn a lot about proper lines through corners, braking points, and when to accelerate that you wouldn’t get just driving around on your own. And having to push yourself to keep up with faster drivers will help you find something in yourself you might otherwise not known you had. I consider myself to be a pretty experienced driver and had an opportunity to participate in my local Porsche dealer’s demo day on a track nearby. We did instructor led laps and we’re absolutely hammering the cars around the track and I had a ton of fun. I looked at my video footage afterwards and just deleted it all because it was boring compared to the real experience. This is a whole lot more fun than it looks like.
![Back to school: Porsche Sport Driving School [English subs]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tK4SjJ2l14w/mqdefault.jpg)
I took this class in 2014, and have to say your comments are spot on! What a well run program and it was the and the “rush” of a lifetime! OMG what a day that was! 🏁🏁
thanks so much for posting this- this is really great- I like how you pause to discuss key facts. What a great video- I want to go try this now
Thanks!
Great vid Chris. Thanks for taking the time to put it together. Breaking up your lap and talking me thru it was very helpful. I have got some Porsche track instrustion booked for a few weeks from now. This viewing has been very useful in my preparation. Cheers :)
Thanks, I am envious. I suspect you will have a really fun time.
Thanks for making this video. I had all of the same concerns before I booked my spot, I’m glad that you were happy with the experience. I’m going in two weeks for my 40th birthday. 😁
Thanks for this video, super helpful
Great perspective. I have done two, two day schools with BMW and have become obsessed with track driving and have now done 14 track days. I strongly recommend these schools to anyone before they take their personal car on a track, the level of instruction is far superior to most instruction you will get from a non-professional and the cost per hour of these programs is often times cheaper than what you pay to do a HPDE day with your own car when you factor in all of the costs.
Awesome video, thanks for sharing!
That takes courage. Especially jumping in completely new! This is awesome!!!!!!! I go to barber next weekend, I have a bmw m3, and have been tracking for 4 years. And barber is overwhelming for me. Big kuddos!!!!
Great vid. I love it when I drive on the track with my local Porsche club. Makes me really appreciate Formula one!
Fantastic video and moments. Very professional. You may have saved some people a lot of embrassement and money. I raced an MGB and a Lotus many years ago. The instructors used the same approach during our school day. BTW the school day was preceded by 2 evenings of off track instructions. A lot of people believe that you can just get on a track, rev the hell out of your engine and go fast. Not So. Thank you.
Just did the day class, one of the best days of my adult life. Great explanation of the course but nothing compares with actually driving it. I did it in the rain and even then, the cars have amazing power, grip, and brakes. As a car guy, if you can afford it, you won't be disappointed, hope to make it back again someday... and yes, driving in line is really great!
Well done video. I plan to get on the track with the Porsche track days (not the PCA HPDE track days). I was taken by a Porsche instructor around my local track about ten years ago. It was great; 5 laps could have been 50. His driving was ultra smooth. He gave me an airline sick-sack which I didn't need as I was a flight instructor for many years. LOL What came to mind was all those clowns on public roads that "think" they are fast, they really have no clue. But then when you "think" you are fast on a HPDE day, that is nothing compared to competitive racing.
Wow! Great video! Nicely done. My wife has been wanting to gift a track experience for me but I’ve been shying away.
I was a driving instructor there giving ride alongs I did that there for Porsche experience teaching ppl the line while driving in car. And drive as a instructor giving rides in rusty Wallace racing experience at NASCAR tracks for a while weekend 10 hours sat and Sunday in a full blown 700 hp two seat cup car doing 180 mph at Atlanta and Charlotte motor speedway are the best ones for ppl who wanna ride at 180 mph and drive their self with out instructor at 140-150 mph. Try road racing in a stick shift Miata racing series Miata at age 13 with all the heel toe shifting and driving styles it's tough for adults imagine a kid with no driver license and bee n racing since I was 8 in full size racecars on asphalt oval tracks didn't start in go karts started in a 412 horsepower superstock against my mom in another car who been racing for a few years before and we owned the asphalt oval track called northbay speedway in cannada and I'm 30 and still race high horsepower oval track race cars if you think this is scary try a 950 rear wheel horsepower Sprint car with a wing on top and it only weighs 1200 lb that's a sketchy ride and you can get a ride along and a Sprint car on dirt it's a two-seater one it has about 700 horsepower and its wings and it flies just as fast almost so if you want that experience you can get a ride along in one to get the idea of what we do in those cars and then when you do it on dirt and then 950 horsepower car so completely different ball game
Same kind of experience at Jimmy Russell racing school at Bridgehampton, NY.
Formula 1 Fords. Invited by Sports Illustrated to participate.
140 MPH in the final straightaway seemed comfortable after day 2.
Instructor warning: DON'T SPEED ON THE WAY HOME. 2 out of 10 drivers will get tickets.
I found myself doing 105 MPH on the New York State Thruway...passing everyone. WOW what a great time.
Also got a PHOTO of car/me driving by Sports Illustrated photographer. Great memories.
Great insights. What time of year did you go? Was it hot?
going this Friday !
Great video! I have over 1,000 laps at Barber, in a variety of cars, and it's great to see it through new eyes of a novice driver. Barber is a technical track that places a premium on the driver, rather than the speed of the car, and is deceptively hard to master. I know several of the instructors and you are spot-on regarding their professionalism.
BTW, when you "hot lapped" with the instructor driving, they lap at about 8/10's of the car's capability and about 7/10's of THEIR ability :-)
Sounds like you and your wife should come do a track day weekend in your own car with an organization like Chin Motorsports, BMWCCA, PCA or Just Track It.. My brother did his first last Halloween and is HOOKED!!! Feel free to DM me if interested.
It’s one of the best tracks in North America!
Driving a car this fast makes skills mandatory in my opinion.
Fantastic explanation for novice racing enthusiasts! Looking forward to booking this experience. This one looks better than Atlanta. But as an experienced super bike rider i hope that you can push the limits of these amazing cars. Sure they can go 0-60 just as quick as a 1000cc sport bike, but clearly they cannot run 130-140 in the corners, as fun as the video looks, you were nowhere near the limits of the tires or the suspension. My question is, was there anyone disappointed with the limitations set forth from the driving coaches?
People need to do stuff like this. You only live once. I want to do a HPDE event at high plains raceway. I've never been on a track. I just bought a 2020 mustang gt pp1.
Nice video. You looked like you knew what you were doing. Now go buy a Porsche!!!!
Thanks. I did. First I bought an ND Miata actually, I loved it but didn't really fit. I sold it, and bought a 2022 Boxster GTS 4.0. Manual transmission, light weight buckets, guards red, Kline exhaust. I really love it. It is an absolute riot.
Was the Race Keeper and video camera supplier by Porsche on the course.
Yes. The video was given to me on a thumb drive at the end of the day for free. You aren't allowed to have your own cameras (plus you switch cars, so it would be impractical). There was a button somewhere you had to push to start it recording, and the instructors would remind you to do so over the radio at the start of each session.
@@AFibFramework I always wanted a video as well as my track info such as braking, acceleration, corner Gs, etc. I do know that my threshold braking was at 1.37 Gs and ABS braking was at 1.22 Gs. Cornering would go as high as 1.34Gs. This using the G meter in the the supplied 992. I've been on the one-day Precision Course followed by the two-day Performace Course in 2021. Then in 2022 and 2023 I took the two-day Performance Course again. Definitely better than sex and I have had the best! I was amazed that some drivers pulled off the course to barf. Reminds me of some of my students when I was a flight instructor.
Man I wish I can do this the most I can do is sim race
What does it cost for the course????
Because I am 16yr and want to go ?
Do you bring your own porsche or do you use theirs?
You use theirs.
what's the name of this course ???
They have made their website a bit less clear. You have to go to porschedriving.com, then 'Porsche Track Experience Birmingham'. The course I took was the 'Precision 1 day course.' It looks like they have a half day now, which I think would leave you wanting more. They have two days also. I might go back and do that someday, but it's pretty expensive. I was exhausted at the end of the one day course.
Barber Motorsports.
Chris Jones the 1/2 day isn’t actually on the actual track at Barber, it’s a four part experience with a skid pad, 0-60 run, off-road and then a hot-lap session on their smaller autocross track. It’s also a fantastic experience.
6 years later still costs too much.
How many days did you take?
I took the 1 day class.
How much does it cost because I really want to do this
$500 plus, plus
I am a car guy who is interested in driving and drifting
Auto tranny, moms Buick estate wagon had one of those. Two pedal sports cars are lame.
The instructor paces to the slowest driver and whenever a gap opens up he slows down. Unfortunately you were “that guy” that was getting behind and so slowing it down for the others. That doesn’t matter much at the start of the day - at least not for the first session. Would be great to see how you were doing by the end of the day to see how you improved and if you moved out of the slow guy position.
Yes, this had occurred to me actually. My experience was probably somewhat impacted by being a slower member of the group. If you were the fastest member of the group, the experience would differ somewhat. That said, they do sort you by your stated experience in the morning session (I was sitting at the back of the class when we went around and did our introductions/histories, and they had someone in the back taking notes), then they sort you again after the morning session based on your morning driving. So, you are unlikely to end up in a group with someone who is vastly slower than you are. My wife was actually pretty slow (had a great time, though), and they split her off into her own group with just one other car in the afternoon, which was great for her.
Too many "like" fillers
lol...funny listening to a guy who has never even driven a fast car, let alone driven a fast car fast (read near the limit) and has definitely never been involved in motorsports talk about his tracking experience.
This looks miserable! For the amount you paid, even for a novice it is not worth it. You would be better off at VIR or just renting a sports car and joyriding or taking it to track as your own. This is is weak AF.
I just returned from the Porsche school. I have been to other schools and a lot of manufactures classes. Porsche school is by far the best. The Barber motor sports track is the best in the world
You should go to the Nurburgring for the best track in the world ;)
You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is definitely the best manufacturer driving school in the country. If you have more track experience they’ll put you with a more experienced group where the pace will be quicker. For the cars you get to drive and the amount of seat time you have, definitely worth the price. Instructors are top notch. One of my instructors won 12 hours of Sebring that year in the prototype challenge class. A lot of them are active racers. Got to learn a lot about weight transfer and car control. The weekend really improves my trail braking and I use a lot of what I learned there on my current track days. Will definitely go back for the masters course one day
Hey TD or should I say Richard C.
Tom d - It is definitely not miserable, the camera doesn’t capture how fast this really is and how hard they are driving the cars. For a novice that has never been on a track before, there are a lot of benefits to Instructor led laps. They learn a lot about proper lines through corners, braking points, and when to accelerate that you wouldn’t get just driving around on your own.
And having to push yourself to keep up with faster drivers will help you find something in yourself you might otherwise not known you had.
I consider myself to be a pretty experienced driver and had an opportunity to participate in my local Porsche dealer’s demo day on a track nearby. We did instructor led laps and we’re absolutely hammering the cars around the track and I had a ton of fun. I looked at my video footage afterwards and just deleted it all because it was boring compared to the real experience.
This is a whole lot more fun than it looks like.