Bedford Autodrome this Saturday - Page 1 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

Nope sorry busy at PH Goes Karting 3 - Shameless plug if anyone else fancies it - see events and meetings

Shocking behaviour!

So, how many people actually do track days? It appears very few, which surprises me! What is the point in owning such fantastic machinery and not really being able to appreciate it - pootling (relative to track day) around on the roads just doesn't cut it – for me! Maybe I am wrong…?

I drove Goodwood recently, and have driven a few other circuits, but the problem is invariably cost, time (many are on weekdays), insurance and wear on tyres/brakes etc. A friend did a 180 GBP day recently, which was good value. Until he had to replace the 18 inch rear tyres for 1k a pair I would love to do trackdays more often, but they come in at about 500 quid a day once expenses are taken into account, and so that makes it a treat for me.

Yes, yellow 993 RS Clubsport. See you there?

Mark_H and davidbut, Keep an eye out for the AS One on Saturday. Felix said that they were taking the car there. I'm especially interested to hear how it does against your 993RS. Barry.

Hi Mark, There's plenty who do trackdays, just obviously can't afford to do them every weekend I did the RMA season opener at Bedford on 22 March in my 968 Clubsport. Was an excellent day - RMA are one of the best organisers, very professional and very relaxed. And their instructors are some of the very best if you want to get some guidance on the car and/or the track. Even if they are a tad more expensive than others. It's a very good circuit for chucking the car around without fear of damaging it. I'm sure you'll have a great day. If it's of interest, there seems to be quite a few Porsche Pistonheaders heading over to the Nurburgring for the second bank holiday weekend in May - why not come along? E

Like Domster says, it can add up if you're brave enough to calculate it! I'm not!!! A mate of mine who did the Bedford day in March in his 968 figures the day cost him £800 as he warped his brake discs and needed brake pads replacing and a suspension bush was knackered. So he came up with a potentially more cost effective way of doing it. You can hire a Formula Ford, delivered to the circuit of your choice, for £450 complete with mechanic, for upto three drivers. Add to that cost of a trackday say £200, all costs shared by three people, and it starts to sound very reasonable compared to the costs involved in terms of tyre and brake wear in your own car. A few of us said Yes! Let's do it! Once looked into further, the costs of fuel and insurance had to be added. Cut a long story short, it was going to cost each driver £385 each for 1/3 of a day driving a Formula Ford. Add in car checks by the mechanic, refuelling time, etc, it was more like £385 for 2 hours each driving. We decided it was a no goer. E

davidbut, I have a silver 964 rsr, see you there! Barry, I would expect the AS One, to be significantly quicker than my car or davidbut's as the power to weight is 400+bhp! A mate is taking his radical sr3, similar power to weight - that should be interesting SFV, I agree RMA definitely one of the best track day organisers, been with them several times, but first time at Bedford - like the idea of being able to chuck the car around with out fear of hitting a barrier! I had planned to go to the Nurburgring in May, but the brake (affectionate name for the wife - reason she always senses when I am enjoying myself, and puts a stop to it ) has decided that we have other commitments! But I will definitely be going to Spa and the ring later this year. Mark

What a superb day!!! I love my car, it really is the dogs B s! The only problem on the day - GT3 drivers refusing to get out of my way - look in their rear mirror and see an old Porka and refuse to let them by - No AS One – shame, would have been nice to seen it. Mark >> Edited by Mark_H on Sunday 13th April 07:48

Hi Mark........i have a dvd in my collection here and i seems to show a silver rsr(looks very much like yours)racing round Oulton park.....the problem is that the car that is following you is a GT3 and its sitting about 10mm from your rear bumper all the way round until the traffic holds us up......(not to mention its the drivers first time driving the car.....and the first time at Oulton!!!).........I also happened to notice when the camera was fitted on your car when you were following the red GT3 round Oulton it was seen to vivisbly vanish form the circuit after a few laps and was not be seen again...well.....untill you got back to the pits at the end of the session!!...not only that....the GT3 also drove very comfortably home without the need of a transporter!!!..........So lets get you up here to Scotland to Knockhill that i know well and see how it goes!!......regards GT3 Gordon P.S-Hav you any Oulton days booked up again?

I have just had to watch the dvd again, as I was starting to believe what I was reading! 10mm off my rear bumper – you clearly have a problem with gauging distances – and you didn’t get caught in traffic until almost the very end of the session, what happened up until that point? The second session, you are correct you did vanish out of sight while I was stuck in traffic, but once I got passed the other cars and into clear air you will notice that I caught you up again, and no we were not in the paddock - cheeky bugger! Having said that I agree you drove the car very well for your first time on track, and having only owned the car for a few days! My point is that in my experience some owners (not all) of later cars have a tendency not to want to let “older” cars passed, even if they are noticeably quicker. Knockhill – do you think I am mad? How far would the round trip be? Why don’t you and the boys get yourself down to Bedford Autodrome on Monday 19th May – cracking circuit, just over 4 miles long! Then we can see how quick you really are! Cheers 964 rsr Mark >> Edited by Mark_H on Wednesday 16th April 09:54 >> Edited by Mark_H on Wednesday 16th April 16:50

MarkH, Whos running the May 19th day at Bedford? Also did you have any problems with noise? My RS is right on the Bedford limit of 101db, I have been allowed on in the past but I've heard they are now less lenient on noisey cars.

Hi Paul, RMA are running the day - www.rma-limited.com/circuit_calendar.php - quite expensive, but a good day. I joined the circuit club for £150, which gives you £50 off each event thereafter, so I only need to do 3 track days to break even - no problem Noise limit is 101db static, and 87db drive by at approx 20 metres, mine runs at about 104db static! They seem to recognise that this a problem for 911's especially the rs. So they put a red sticker on the car and monitor you while you are on track, provided everything is ok they change it to a green sticker later on. There are two drive by microphones on the track - you quickly get to know where they are, and move to the other side of the track, to reduce noise further. Having said that towards the end of the day I didn't even do that and nothing was said. If all else fails I have a bolt on supertrap that will reduce the noise - you are quite welcome to use it if I am not, but considering my car appears to be noisier...! So might you be there?

MarkH, Now I'm clear on the noise police attivities, I could well be depending on work commitments. Failing that, I notice RMA are running days on 28/6 and 26/7 so I would hope to make one of these.

...with RMA - anybody going?