Has anyone gone? Worth the 2, 3 and 4 K per class?

Is there a cheaper driving school?

Just curious, first sports car, I would love to learn how to drive it too it's limits as safe as possible.

Go! Definitely worth the time and money. There are previous threads, do a search and you should find them!

For that money i would consider other driving schools such as Jim Russel, Bondurant and others. Just my opinion...

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'06 Cayman S -JIC Cross, Quaife, CCW C14 wheels,MPSC's, Milltek cat back, GT3 seats Schroth harnesses, TC design bar, Pagid yellows, GT3 cup brake ducts,de-snorked, vanilla air freshener

If you have not been to a high speed Driver Education event I would highly recommend it. PCA makes high speed driver education available through the regional chapters. The DE teach the skills need to really appreciate what the car can do.

Check out your local affliate to see where they hold their instruction. The events in our region are very reasonable, are held out local tracks, and allow for 2-1/2 hrs track time over the weekend as well as classroom instruction.

Question, and yes I am a noob!

If I do not know how to drive a stick... well, would it behoove me to drive the car for a few months and THEN look at going to school?

b8- Yes, that would be an excellent idea. Most schools, including the Porsche driving experience, will probably assume you know how to drive a stick shift. The starting point for most of them will be to teach you how to heel & toe downshift (do a search to find out more about heel & toe if you have no idea what I'm talking about) and to do that, you really have to be pretty darn good (and maybe that's an understatement) at working a stick shift.

brad

I think it would behoove you to get your hands to a beater car with stick before you go learning on the Cayman S to protect the clutch... but I would also definitley practice it a good amount with the Cayman before you go a racing school and get used to doing a good amount of downshifting smoothly. You should feel natural with shifting before the driving school so you can focus mostly on the getting the right line instead of focusing that much on shifting properly, and also you do not want jerky, unsmooth power delivery at high speeds, it could be dangerous.

I would love to learn on a beat up car, but it is just not an options. I am buying in the next 3 months, and I want to learn a 6 speed.

I would concentrate on learning to drive stick well for several months before taking it to a driving school, where you will likely have to downshift (and rev-match, etc., if not heel-toe) and do other more advanced driving techniques at high speeds. (Of course, if necessary, you could just do the entire track in 3rd gear). BMW CCA offers cheaper and well-organized high performance driving events.

http://redlinerennsport.homestead.com/DriversEdEd.html will provide some useful information for you on driving.

Once you can drive a 3 speed manual, you can drive a 6 speed. The most difficult start (for most people) is get going in first gear. After that all other gears are a piece of cake.

However, to drive a manual proficiently, it is a lot more than not stalling in first. It means knowing the best engine versus wheel speed (gear selection), smoothless: rev matching in downshifts, the art of slowing down, turning, and shifting (brake, downshift, here's where the infamous heel/toe comes in) and the correct throttle application after the turn.

I go further with best protection of the mechanicals: clutch preservation, engine preservations (Italian tune ups, low rev cruising etc.) and other considerations that make driving a manual truely an art.

I recommend not doing driving events until at least 3 months with your new car. You should be able to shift (up and down) as second nature, you need to properly break in the new car, and you should learn how the car behaves, before you take the plunge

Have fun with your new car.

CP