Hey, great to meet you too Cayman Ken! Too bad we couldn't chat more, that damn class got in the way. I'd be happy just talking all day with other Cayman owners.
Next up, the clockwise skidpad.
Humm, kinda redundant, but guess they wanted you to wear down your drivers side tires too so that you won't drive home leaning to one side.
I did get a front row seat to a 997 Carrera AeroKit GT3 wanna be do two complete 360 degree spins in front of me. By this time our cloudless day had turned into a heavy steady rain. Remember I had to work in the AM session, now those poor guys are standing in the rain picking up cones and dressed in only t-shirts. Time to rollup the windows on turn on the AC, damn humidity...
Final exercise, the slalom course! This combined the skills learned on the skidpad and the braking course. Once you get up to speed, you need a nice steady rhythm, left, right, left, skid!, correct, overcorrect!!, skid, right, etc.
At end of the course with another tight U-turn that caused a lot of grief for many, but my AutoX instructor had be veer so far out I was almost off course and into the curb before cutting my turn. It worked, I definitely carried a ton of speed back up the slalom, almost too much sometime and I would have to lay off the throttle.
So what did I learn today?
-The Cayman S has great brakes and the brake pedal won't snap off no matter how hard I pressed.
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PSM works and can lull you into a false sense of security when doing doughnuts in a parking lot.
-As you begin to lose control, ease off the throttle. All movements must be smooth and gentle. No sawing of the steering wheel, you're not Walter Rohle.
-Look ahead, look ahead.
-The Cayman is capable of telling you exactly what is happening to it dynamically, it's up to your hands and butt to feel and figure it out.
-Mud is a good fire retardant.
And for Nick_USA, yes this was the first time I've had to drive the Cayman in the rain, there was a massive thunderstorm on the way home. Oh well, probably the most important thing I learned today was that my windshield wipers do work. You'd think after 7 months they would be glued to the windshield...
Red Bull is wearing off, good night!
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PSM - Porsche Stability Management
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While it can’t overcome the laws of physics, the revolutionary Porsche Stability Management (PSM) system does lend an added degree of balance and control to the Cayman’s mid-engine driving dynamics, inspiring surefooted confidence in corners and extreme situations.
A standard feature on the Cayman and Cayman S, PSM continuously monitors steering input, road speed, yaw velocity and lateral acceleration to calculate the actual direction of travel. If the car begins to steer off line, PSM instantly intervenes with precision brake inputs on individual wheels to help bring the car back onto the driver’s intended path.
If braking alone isn’t enough to correct the vehicle’s cornering line, PSM then calls on the Cayman’s engine management system, adjusting engine output as needed to help stabilize handling. PSM can also compensate in an instant for mid-corner changes in load resulting from deceleration or braking. When Sport mode is selected with the optional Sport Chrono Package, PSM’s threshold for intervention is raised, allowing for greater driver involvement. If you prefer driving without automatic PSM assistance, the system can be set to standby at any time. In this case, it will only intervene under heavy braking, where both front wheels exceed the ABS threshold.
For all of its technical ability, PSM goes virtually unnoticed in everyday driving situations, preserving the Cayman’s natural agility. |
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