We have to admit, helping others learn how to drive well has some wonderful fringe benefits. As a high performance driving instructors we are allowed the fantastic opportunity to drive some really great cars; never having to actually pay for them- good work if one can get it. We are also afforded the pleasure of meeting some of the best people, not only students, but, other instructors as well. Every now and then we get to drive their cars too; enter David Mecey and his Porsche Cayman S.
David knows a thing or two. Not only about driving, as he is one of the finest instructors and racers one will ever meet and just a damned nice guy, but, David also has a keen eye for aesthetic appeal- more on that a little later…
Porsches have a certain feel to them, a feel that can be difficult to describe, but, few cars have it. Before one even starts driving a Porsche, something simply feels right; the car fits well. As a driver, the seats are welcoming and supportive; everything is right where one thinks it ought to be and there is no fluff-nothing un-needed, just a well designed and ergonomically correct office in which to work.
The Cayman S is also a GREAT looking car. The body lines take us back to an era in racing where Porsche produced fantastic looking cars; the 550 spyder, the RSK the R60-bloody great looking cars AND race winners.
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The ability to write a check for a very expensive high performance car does not mean that the talent to drive it comes with the ability to afford it. Case in point; this last Wednesday, in the early morning hours two “gentlemen” made a conscious decision to race their high performance cars on public roads. The out-come, (almost inevitable and most certainly predictable) left one driver dead, his unfortunate (and most likely unwilling passenger) injured and luckily only so-in that the Ferrari that he was driving is now in two very separate pieces.
The driver of the second car (a Porsche from what was reported) left the scene of this fatal accident. He- had also made a conscious decision to race on public roads and is therefore, in our opinion, as culpable as the driver of the Ferrari. It has also been reported that the driver of the Porsche has had numerous previous driving violations and citations- more on that later.
Rather than a Dennis Miller rant - going on and on about how racing on the street is an obvious danger to many more than just those participating, not to mention just bloody stupid-we thought it better to offer observations from years of legal racing and the teaching high performance driving skills to owners of cars just like this one and at the same time offering sound suggestion to those who are fortunate enough to acquire them.
One could argue (we will) that the largest percentage of drivers who own high performance cars have no real clue as to their cars performance potential nor do they possess the needed skills to drive the car well. Ego (not always bad) and ambition may have put them in the fortunate position to acquire the car. Ego (always bad) tells them that because they can afford the car, they have somehow and miraculously become a great driver and in many cases; just overnight.
There are but a handful of truly gifted drivers with natural God given driving talent; they are paid a great deal of money to race cars for a living; on race tracks! For them, the ability to control an automobile at speed is somehow natural. For the rest of us it is a learned skill. Let us repeat that- FOR THE REST OF US IT IS A LEARNED SKILL!!!!!
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Over the years we have been to many a Concours d’elegance; more than a few have been very prestigious events. What has always attracted us, are the fantastic automobiles that are displayed in what are normally very attractive settings. Pebble Beach is an event that we have attended more than just a couple of times and one would have to argue a great setting- a golf course we have yet to play, but, an eighteenth fairway that we are very familiar with; more on Pebble later.
What we want to try to describe to you here is the simply fantastic event held just last weekend in Palm Springs; The Desert Concours. Masterminded (brilliantly we might add) by Paul Merrigan, his wife Holly and his amazing, though very tired, band of volunteers. Paul and Holly- listen carefully and you will hear the applause of many-strike that-thousands!
This years Desert Concours was but the second of hopefully many, many more to come. As impressive as the inaugural event was, this year was simply stunning. The cars and their “custodians” were absolutely top drawer. The collection of automotive history gathered in one place, at one time and at a venue that is-well; perfect, is something that those who attended will have very fond memories of for years to come. We most certainly will!
The list of significant cars is long, so long that we just don’t have room here to talk about them all. Some of the most memorable cars to us were (and not in any particular order) a fantastic Ghia bodied Chrysler, If Chrysler were to build anything like it today, they would not need financial assistance from the government; again. An amazing and perhaps the most important post war race car ever built; a 1947 Cisitalia D46. A Maserati “monoposto”….WOW! Another instant favorite was a very, very rare Delahaye….oh my goodness. To imagine driving this perfectly curvaceous roadster somewhere in the south of France- our mind wonder’s back to the real days of motoring; and is perhaps one of the reasons that a Concours event is second only to driving a race track; to us.
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It is no secret that American cars have never really done much for us. We have admitted in the past however, that certain Corvettes and most certainly the Ford GT are indeed worthy cars- if not great cars; proving that American car manufacturers can (when they want to) build really competent automobiles. Now, we have found a third- The Dodge Challenger 6.1 liter SRT8. Why? Keep reading….
Staying true to our “driving impressions” theme and writing only about cars that we have the good fortune to drive on real race tracks (having to turn both left and right) we had the opportunity to experience what the new Dodge has to offer and we have to admit- it is pretty damned impressive.
The exterior design of the car is right out of the 70’s and if muscle cars were your thing (or, are your thing) the cars aesthetic design is truly from that era and works really well on the new car. It is a great looking car.
Better yet, the car has monster power and enough torque to pull a mile long freight train- or so it seems. Wanna tear up some asphalt- let’s rephrase- a few hundred yards of asphalt? Holy Moses…it goes!
The cars owner, our good friend…let’s call him “Jeff”, brought his 2009 Challenger SRT8 equipped with a real gear box….you know, the one that requires three pedals on the floor, to Spring Mountain Raceway a couple of weeks ago and we had the opportunity to experience how well it would do on a road course.
Keep in mind that Spring Mountain Raceway is a very technical track. There are a number of very slow, late apex- off camber corners that come up VERY quickly, with this car- off of very fast straight sections of tarmac. Add to that the 4,200 pounds that this car weighs and…it is a ride, but, surprisingly; not a handful.
Acceleration in this new Dodge is mind boggling. The car just pulls and pulls AND pulls. Given enough room, one can easily see how 160mph plus is not hard work for this car. We ran out of race track well before that number, but, the car is (as our good friend Caaarl- an Aussie- would put it)….”waaarp speed fast”.
The car is also equipped with huge brakes and thankfully so! The brake pedal feel, modulation and pedal pressure are good, but, typically American. That is not to say that the brakes don’t work well, they could just use a bit more feel. Brake fade however, was never an issue. The car stops very well indeed!
Steering feel is another area that could be improved on. Perhaps a reduction in the amount of power steering assist would help. The steering feel is very, very good and a boat load better than what we would have expected from anything coming out of Detroit.
The handling of the car is pretty darn good given its heft. It is not a car that can be easily thrown around and was never designed to do be. If the driver takes this into consideration and slows the car sufficiently, the car turns in well and stays nicely balanced. Try to throw it into a hard corner too quickly and the car will object with a fair amount of under- steer. Get on the throttle too soon or too quickly and all of that power will force the rear end out. Drive the car smoothly, brake early-keeping the car balanced; squeeze the throttle and the car does everything remarkably well. You just can’t over-drive the car; it is not a 2,000 lb. sports car.
All in all, we really like the car a lot! It would be better suited to a high horse power track like Willow Springs rather than a tight, technical track like Spring Mountain, but, given that the car was not really designed for tight road course action it still did everything very, very well. And, did we mention that this thing hauls ass?? !!!
What the car is; is a very fast, very competent and great looking piece of machinery. It again proves that American car manufacturers can indeed build world class cars when they set their minds to it. The new Challenger may prove to American car companies that the light at the end of the tunnel is not the 5:00 train; though this car pulls like one!
We would like to thank “Jeff” for the opportunity. If you are in the market for a car that reflects that great muscle car era with even better performance, remarkably good handling characteristics and brakes that work…not requiring the State of Main to stop the car…put this car on your list.
O.C.C.E
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When we started writing this blog, we suggested that when we wrote stories about cars that we have the good fortune to drive, we would write only about cars that we have driven on the track. We will stay true to that, but, rather than writing about BMW’s Porsches, or Lamborghinis, we are going to describe what we experienced with a car that many can afford, but, one that impressed the absolute hell out of us.
Last weekend, as an instructor, we attended a Driving Concepts High Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain Raceway in Nevada. The raceway/country club is a story all on its own. It is bloody fantastic and one of the most technically challenging race tracks anywhere; loved it!
We were fortunate to have been paired up with a great student and his car; the car that impressed. By the way…so did the student, the best we have had the pleasure to pass this addiction onto in some time. Welcome to mainlining Sam!
Enter the Subaru STI. Sam’s (yup- he’s the student) Subaru is not stock, but, not much that we drive is. Modifications to the car consist of some great Recaro ASM Limited RS-G Seats (a little tough for this writer to get his fat arse in to) they are wonderfully supportive and remarkably comfortable, and host of other modifications…oh hell, here is Sam’s list:
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