subj. i finally made myself to do it. event was great but it left me with a ton of mixed feelings.
some of you have seen may be a show i created on rennlist (of which i am not very proud of, but, what`s done is done) in an attempt to sort it all out...

so, all in all, as i expected it to happen, it was difficult, whole 1st day was no good, first 2 sessions were awful with me not doing anything right at all, second day was better, 3rd session on second day was a bit more better, 4th session (last) i drove line without single mistake on all laps, tried to adjust speed and other things as we discussed it with instructor.

now, i found out that i do not like to be close to any other cars on a track to the level of a deep emotional discomfort. may be because in green group people do odd things sometimes or i think they do them, or else. plus level of concentration i had to put to do this 4th sessions clean pretty much drained me out. i never had anything close to such physical and moral exhaustion at auto-x. it was rewarding to some degree, but, well... not sure how to put it.

all in all i am not sure i will ever do it again any time soon. i can`t say if i liked it. rennlist thread did not help much either. i can see their point but do not see how it helps me. and most importantly i do not sense if i liked it to the level where it makes me love it. i actually feel that i achieved more than i expected in the beginning, but something is just lacking, excitement, may be? whole thing was not like fun but more like a hard work and i work during a week hard enough, that may be the closest emotion i have right now. may be it will change. not sure. i am still trying to sort all ths mess out.

 

Like you said, it was your first DE event. It will take many, many times on the track for everything to click.

 

oh no, it is not that. not at all, it is not about 'click', it is about where it all will get to.
when i did my first auto-x and instructor drove my car it was, like, waw!
i would never think it is able to do this.
at DE i did not get this 'waw' at all. it was way more difficult (which was good), i was partially able to get some of it done right in the end to some degree (also felt very good), i can partially see now what was doing wrong too, still, i keep asking myself - should i sign on for next event or not, sort of. i never thought it will feel like it, so, i am kinda surprised of it, actually. not sure, i am just quite confused now to be honest.

 

I don't do the Rennlist thing (probably one of the few), so I don't know the thread that you are talking about.

I will say that when I did my first DE, I realized that I don't know how to drive...but I was OK with that. After time I have learned a few things about my car and myself, and I still have lots to learn. I did however enjoy all of my time on the track, as it fills the need to go fast, and drive the way these cars were designed to drive.

I would try it a few more times, after all you did spend a mint on your suspension, that isn't that great for the street!

 

nope, suspension is not actually half bad for the street at all. it is all fine. it is even smoother than stock one was, i do not care about that.

my feeling is similar to what i got after i was going to boston boxing club for almost whole year and finally started doing some amateur fights and started getting my head hit plenty good - "what the f#ck am i doing and why do i need it for"? i dropped boxing shortly after that for good.

i get surprisingly close feelings from this DE thing now. not sure why, it was not half as bad as i expected. still something is, well, off.

 

All I can say is that I only have a few track days under my belt and I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of things i needed to keep in mind when navigating the course. The idea of driving around in circles all day does not appeal to me, the idea of learning the limits of my car does.

 

I can understand what you are saying, but like the boxing, if you started out with someone that only did body blows, perhaps you will still be doing it. As for track days, I find that the beginners you can get a bunch of people that don't know what they are doing, and some that think they know it all (when really they don't), and it can be uncomfortable being near them. Perhaps you should try a different group, they may have different rules for novice drivers. The ideal situation is to find a lot of room on the track and focus on what you are doing, if some one won't give you the point, pit in and go back out, some people think it is a race, and will stay in front no matter what.

 

well, may be, i made myself plenty of room - after i got stuck in the middle of a train couple of times i just let them all to pass me around and then worked on the line with my instructor without any traffic in sight. then i got the line she wanted me to do. then it took several sessions to stick to it like a glue. so i did. then i increased my entrance speeds to limit where i did not feel safe then i went down. and continued to work on the line and correct mistakes.
not sure, what is next there? new line with better chance to meet the wall? like i said - very, very mixed feelings. at auto-x it was all new, now i know my personal limits, an, well, i probably need to try it again to sort it all out but not sure when and how. not any time soon.

plus amount of **** i took on my head over those r-comps tires from rennlist crowd is just overwhelming. if they do represent most of people who are there, i am not even sure i want to have anything in common with it.

 

I would give it another chance, you will find that different instructors have different idea's, perhaps the next time you will see another approach to the braking, cornering, etc.

As for RL, the kind of stuff you are talking about is why I don't post there. I found a few people who knew nothing, were critical of pretty much everything until you were in the "in crowd". I find this forum to be more relaxed. I guess the $10 member fee gives people the entitlement to being a *****!

 

perhaps, perhaps. will see. there is some driving school i can atend most likely, but not sure if i want to be on any PCA event any time soon again.
will see.

need to unscrub all the **** from my auto-x tires now as they got ruined...

 

typically PCA events are better for beginners/novices. I guess every region is different.

 

I had a couple of unrewarding track days until I found an instructor who was a good match. Then everything was a lot more fun. Perhaps you should try driving with a different club. The NHMS website shows a track day on the 28th run by this company, they might be worth a shot: http://www.comscc.org/

I started with a similar club. I've never driven at a PCA DE event.

 

Despite your misgivings it's clear that you learned and improved. If you were to go again, you would continue to learn and improve. So, ask yourself if that new knowledge and the new skills are worth it.

My first few times at HPDE's were almost painful, but I stuck with it and now I enjoy the heck out of track days and racing.
Mr. B

 

It is a learning process. The first is always the worst and can be a let down. For that point you need to do another one as soon as you can!

 

I did my first PCA DE a few months ago. I have always been a sports car guy, but had never driven on a track. The speeds and aggression on the straights, in the turns, with the brake, with the throttle, it was all a SHOCK. Everybody talks about "fast", but to really do it on a track is something else.
I left physically, mentally, emotionally drained. It takes 100% concentration.
It was like the first time I skied--I guess this is fun, but it sure is hard, uncomfortable, and scary--but tracking is moreso--going at speeds I've never done before and trying to enter the turn at the highest possible safe speed is scary and exhausting. Geez, this is harder than it looks!
I think it is all a matter of getting used to it, to be able to calm down and relax while you're doing it--that will take time--don't know how much time cuz I'm definitely not there yet. Somebody wrote "pushing out of your comfort zone in baby steps"-- IMO, that's pretty accurate.

For a week after I felt unsure how often I wanted to do this. My experience sounds a lot like yours. But that faded quickly, and I soon was ready to go again, this time knowing a little better what to expect. The first time is the hardest. Cut yourself some slack--new things take some getting used to, especially when you're pushing your personal limits in a high powered car on a racetrack.

I've now been on several track lapping days, and it gets a little more comfortable every time. Be patient. Baby steps.