No one seems to have answered the insurance question. My information is that if you wish "collision" then you'll need a special policy that you essentially buy "by the track day". Ordinary road use insurance generally excludes "track days".

 

Welcome to the party...I've got a Turbo up in West Orange so not too far from you.

As far as groups to run with, check out: Hooked on Driving

Awesome group to run with, instructors are great and the environment is awesome..

NJMP
Pocono
Limerock
Watkins Glen

Get out and enjoy the car, you'll never imagine how much fun the experience is

 

Thanks for all these great responses. I've read through the DE manual from PCA (NYC) and have a much better sense now for what I need to prep in advance and also studied the DE calendar carefully. Will make sure to participate when the season starts. Meanwhile, I'll make sure to get the car all wrapped up and get a helmet and install the fire extinguisher. And for sure additional track day insurance. Seems money well spent all things considered.

I don't mind the paint chips that result from tracking - at least they're for the right reason. I had a gravel truck pepper my old car on the freeway and I was mad for two days, no even longer.. so that can happen really anywhere.

Really looking forward to my first tracking experience in a long time.

 

Congrats on the purchase. You'll want to convert the CLs to 5-lugs and pick up some 18s for the track. Then look into getting your LSD upgraded because that is the biggest weak link on the car. Lastly, if you have the PCCB brakes get the steel rotors with some endless pads. Enjoy in good health.

 

Does anyone have experience making a claim with the trackday insurers?

 

Hey

Welcome to GT3 ownership. I'm Manhattan based as well and managed to get in 25 track days in 2013 so you can totally do it.

As others have mentioned, PCA Metro is a good place to start. As a PCA member you can also attend DE events with Connecticut Valley Region (CVR), Northern New Jersey (NNJR), Schattenbaum, Empire Champlain and other chapters. Additionally there are other clubs who have events in the area, specifically SCDA (scda1.com), Hooked on Driving, BMWCCA and Audi Club NEQ Chapter.

I've instructed for most and personally I am a big fan of Audi Club NEQ Chapter for novice type drivers as well as SCDA and Metro, Hudson Champlain and Empire Region PCA.

The most relevant tracks are Lime Rock (100 miles north), New Jersey Motor Sports Park (125 miles south), Watkins Glen (225 miles west). The GT3 will appreciate time at Watkins the most. It is by far the best track in the NE. Further to that there is Monticello which is 90 miles NW but is private and opening in June 2014 is Thompson which will be 150 miles NE but no one is going to have a view on the quality or fun factor of that for a while.

You do not need to swap out our CL hubs for 5-lug. That is bad advice. You do need to follow the maintenance schedule religiously however and learn to change wheels as per the Porsche instructions. Apart from your dealer you should also consider having one of the the local Porsche-only race shops work on the car. I use DeMan Motorsports in Blauvelt (25 miles NW of Manhattan). The alternative is SpeedSport Tuning in Danbury (60 miles N). There are others who are also excellent as well but those are the two major DE/race oriented shops (Dan Jacobs and Chris Musante being the two others but both farther away). My RS lives at DeMan as Rick DeMan is also in the storage biz.

Safety wise you will want pads and fluids as a novice. Don't worry about all the rest for a while. You can add a half cage, harnesses, HANS, etc down the line. Lots of choices there. Stick to non-R compound street tires. Michelin Super Sports are the best compromise and a much better solution than Pilot Sport Cups.

Feel free to PM me or send an email on RS38 at me dot com if you want to talk more.

Cheers - Anthony

 

Nice! That sounds promising. Really appreciate all the feedback. I'll try to get as many track days in as possible. Usually a big wintersport guy but this year I can't wait for spring..

Regarding parts, sounds like I should leave the car mostly stock until I have a better sense for my skill level and what's really needed over time.

One thing I'm still curious about is track insurance and to longhua's point how effective it really is. I've been watching a bunch of ****pit videos of the bespoken tracks that are being mentioned here and while everything looks relatively safe and civilized, still seems like a good idea to look into that assuming they actually cover anything.

 

There are some fun get togethers on Long Island if your willing to drive the LIE, porsche pca events,etc.

hope to see this beast soon!

 

Tinted windows (rear and sides) okay for DE events?

 

That's fine. You'll need the fire extinguisher at the minimum to run with Metro PCA. I'd say don't do anything else to the car until you get comfortable with it on the track. Once you learn it and get fast you'll naturally start improving it and get the things that work for you. You'll get a sense of what the weak points are and what you'd like to improve and go from there.

Good luck with it. Great cars

 

Hi Gang,

NNJR-PCA DE schedule is now set. See attached for info. You can register for our events on www.motorsportreg.com. Hope to see you out there.

Tom Iervolino
NNJR-PCA DE Chair


Attached Files 2014 Final track schedule Rev 3.doc (45.0 KB, 54 views)

 

Back ot the fire extinguisher: SW doesn't seem to make on anymore so it seems like BK is the other good option. But in order to install the fire extinguisher mount, looks like you also have to install sub strap mounts (in my case for sport bucket seats).

I don't want to install a harness yet but rather just want to make sure these sub strap mounts (would do both sides then) are actually good building blocks for future use. Any thoughts on this? I really just want the FE now but no drilling if possible. BK a good solution?