Porsche Silverstone driving experience review

[DaveE]

Helen bought me a 90 minute driving experience for Christmas, and we've only just got round to doing it

I elected to drive a 718 Boxster as my goal was to learn more about how they drove and handled in a way I'd not want to experiment with on the public road

Fortunately it was a dry, warm day, so we had the hood down most of the time.

First impressions of a 718 S vs my 981 GTS: they really do sound crap, and the steering wheel is much smaller (I know the wheel in the 981 is relatively big, but getting in it again to drive home, it felt enormous). Other than that, and the fact the car I drove was PDK, everything's basically the same.

The main areas we worked on were:

1) Steering. I'm right handed, and wasn't really aware of just how little my left was doing on the wheel when I drove. So we spent some time focussing on using my right hand when turning right, and my left when turning left. We did a couple of laps of the shorter test track, just using one hand for the whole lap. This made an enormous difference.

2) Use of the accelerator. This was mainly about getting on the gas quickly after ending the braking phase of a corner - not hard, but enough to settle the car again, and then applying the gas progressively, and earlier on exit than I'd been doing. It's remarkable how early and how hard you can get on the gas again, having first settled the car.

3) Braking. This was the most interesting and impressive aspect. When we drive on the road, we tend to brake gently, and then increase the braking force (it's more comfortable, especially for passengers). But it's all wrong for fast(er) driving. So here we worked on initially braking harder, then bleeding off the brakes (before applying some light throttle as above, to balance the car again).

Adding all these things together was transformative.

I'm not a very confident "fast" driver, and the goal was to learn a bit more about how the car handled when pressed a bit, and to get some insight into how I can help myself become a better driver.

The final thing we did was a kick-plate thing - you approach a very wet, low-grip section, and as you go onto it, a metal plate in the ground randomly kicks the rear of the car left or right. Your job is to catch it, and keep the car heading straight ahead. You do this several time, with diminishing amounts of electronic support. We built up to doing three final runs with no traction control at all and I caught every one.

I was rather chuffed to notice I was the only driver (from about 7 of us looping around on the kick-plate section) to not once loose control, or even spin (which I think everyone else did at some point)

All in all a brilliant experience, that met my goals about learning more about my car's handling, and helping me to improve as a fast(er) road driver.

Lots to work on, but I may well go again...

[mik]

Sounds good - I love the fact that there are always things to learn when it comes to driving

[JonMad]

That[s great that it wasn't just a sales pitch for the car and was a proper driving, learning experience. Brilliant stuff and well done for being good, taking it all in and sharing the tips. The 'brake hard initially then ease off' thing is something I need to get better at for autosolos and targa rallies. Particularly interesting when it's a low grip surface.

[Jobbo]

Yes yes, but how was the food?

I'm wondering if the 718S you drove was the same one Jimmy and I drove last month. Yellow?

I loved the kick plate thing. Great fun. I got as much from the half day as you in a different way because it allowed me to ascertain what I want to own and which options I care about.

[mik]

3) Braking. This was the most interesting and impressive aspect. When we drive on the road, we tend to brake gently, and then increase the braking force (it's more comfortable, especially for passengers). But it's all wrong for fast(er) driving. So here we worked on initially braking harder, then bleeding off the brakes (before applying some light throttle as above, to balance the car again).

Were they also encouraging trail-braking, or "just" the above during the straight-line braking phase?

[DaveE]

Yes yes, but how was the food?

I'm wondering if the 718S you drove was the same one Jimmy and I drove last month. Yellow?

I loved the kick plate thing. Great fun. I got as much from the half day as you in a different way because it allowed me to ascertain what I want to own and which options I care about.

Yes! It was the bright yellow Boxster

The afternoon tea was adequate

A very light bite and a coffee after the exertions of the day...

[DaveE]

3) Braking. This was the most interesting and impressive aspect. When we drive on the road, we tend to brake gently, and then increase the braking force (it's more comfortable, especially for passengers). But it's all wrong for fast(er) driving. So here we worked on initially braking harder, then bleeding off the brakes (before applying some light throttle as above, to balance the car again).

Were they also encouraging trail-braking, or "just" the above during the straight-line braking phase?

Yeah we did that, shifting from heavy braking to just light braking as I was turning in to the apex

When you start to get things working together, it's an amazing feeling

It's really obvious when you're getting it right, everything just flows and the car feels so good

[Jobbo]

Yes yes, but how was the food?

I'm wondering if the 718S you drove was the same one Jimmy and I drove last month. Yellow?

I loved the kick plate thing. Great fun. I got as much from the half day as you in a different way because it allowed me to ascertain what I want to own and which options I care about.

Yes! It was the bright yellow Boxster

The afternoon tea was adequate

A very light bite and a coffee after the exertions of the day...

I think the morning session food may be better - breakfast and lunch were included for us. But it’s a bit of an early one if you need to be at Silverstone for 8.30am when you’re coming from Brighton!

Wonder how many sets of tyres it has gone through since we drove it?