I used to have a 997. I never tracked it or did an HPDE, it was just a day driver that I enjoyed very much. I got married, had kids, had to sell the car. I show pictures of it to my kid and try to convince her that I used to be cool.
Recently I did the Porsche Experience Center thing in a new 992 C4S. It was my first time really pushing a car like that and holy crap I cannot stop thinking about it, it was incredible. I feel foolish for how much opportunity I wasted by not doing something like this with the car I drove for years.
So if I bite the bullet and get another 911, how can I chase that high? I’m not interested in competing, I just want to safely enjoy occasionally taking the car closer to its limits and to learn to drive comfortably like that. Is an occasional HPDE the way to go? I see my local PCA chapter charges $300-400 for an event, how much more do I need to budget for other costs? (I don’t even know what those are… insurance?) Will they be similar to the Porsche Experience Center…?
On the other hand it suddenly feels silly to get another car like that and just use it to go to the grocery store. My driving these days is all short distance, high-traffic, and hilly. I work from home and there is no joy in the driving I do right now. Frankly the car that probably makes the most sense is a small luxury suv.
Is there a good argument for getting a boring practical car and doing the occasional “arrive and drive” event instead to scratch that itch?
Get a nice 911 base or s, of the last couple gens, 992, 991, and do a small amount of track prep (brake fluid, newish uhp summer tires, check brakes). If you want a manual, you’ll need the s in a 992, not sure about the 991. Go to a few hpde per year with pca or some of the other groups, etc. You’ll have a blast. The 911 will make a nicer daily than a cayman, though the cayman is not bad for that either. I see lots of cayman and Carrera at the track. If you take suv to the track, everyone will think you’re in the way, because you’ll be slow. I tracked my 992 carrera a few times, and it performs really well. Personally, I wouldn’t want to track just any car, and porsche are largely track capable without a lot of work. There are other cars that are popular and can be quite track capable so you don’t have to close the book on them. Miata, brz, bmw, etc.
Tracks costs vary, insurance varies with covered value. Tires need to be changed more frequently, as well brakes, fluids, etc… so your looking between 500 to 1000 per day all in depending on the car (other makes still be cheaper) I insure 130k for a gt4, single event cover around 700usd. I buy annual at about 5500. I go through tires pretty quick, 8 days per set is not a bad rule of thumb. Brakes a couple times a year, but I’m doing 10 or more events. I don’t daily the gt4.
If you get the bug, you can consider a more track focused car, additional mods, especially suspension/camber.
PEC is really expensive by comparison. If you drove a cayman and a 911 there you might have a good idea which car you might like better. PCE isn’t really a venue for repeated track days.
NASA, SCCA, PCA, drivers edge, etc. Run hpde year round depending on climate.
The only real alternative to hpde is autocross or time attack, but that’s competition.