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Slipstream - May 2011

The monthly newsletter of the Maverick Region of the Porsche Club of America

The monthly newsletter of the Maverick Region of the Porsche Club of America

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A HINT from Him...<br />

By Wendy Shoffit<br />

Attention ladies out there! If you’re<br />

reading this article it’s because<br />

your significant other has cleverly<br />

left it in a place where you can conveniently<br />

find it and read it; it’s a hint. :)<br />

Are you tired of being a “track widow” on<br />

weekends? Do you grow weary watching<br />

your husband or significant other walk out<br />

the door to have fun at a Drivers’ Education, Time Trial, or<br />

Autocross event, leaving you behind? <strong>May</strong>be you haven’t<br />

learned how to drive a standard transmission or are terrified<br />

of going too fast. You might also be thinking that these<br />

people in the Porsche Club are either snobs or nuts who only<br />

think or talk about their cars. Perhaps you’re embarrassed<br />

because you don’t know the difference between a 914, 944,<br />

911, and a Boxster and fear you’ll fail the quiz at the end of<br />

the event. Even worse, are you afraid you’ll BREAK the car<br />

and your s.o. will be ticked off and blame you? Whatever<br />

the reason, I’d like to dispel some of these myths and start<br />

getting you out there to enjoy the car that brought you to the<br />

club.<br />

Let’s start with the myth that the club is filled with a bunch<br />

of snobs. Yes, “Porsche” may seem like a word for only the<br />

rich folks out there. You see the $100K + price tags out there<br />

and think that only the uber riche are participating. Well,<br />

that’s simply not true. Not all club members have or plan to<br />

purchase a brand new car. There are tons of older models<br />

that go for much less money, opening up a whole new<br />

world to those of us with more modest budgets. This is not<br />

to say, however, that there aren’t brand new ones out there,<br />

because there are. Drooling over cars is encouraged, just<br />

not close enough to damage the paint. Snobbery is strictly<br />

discouraged and you will be hard pressed to find it. Most of<br />

the club members are friendly and down to earth, regardless<br />

of the car they drive. They will be happy to answer any<br />

question they know the answer to. The motto (if you don’t<br />

already know it) is, “It’s Not Just the Cars, It’s the People.”<br />

It may be the cars that give us the common ground to start<br />

with, but it’s the people who keep bringing you back. Some<br />

of my best friends I’ve met in the club and have a richer life<br />

because of it.<br />

Okay, so how about all those different models? Believe it or<br />

not, there will NOT be a quiz at the end! When I first started<br />

in the club, I was clueless about what the differences were<br />

between a 944 and a 924. I was pretty sure I could pick out<br />

a 911 from a distance, but what in the world was a 914 and<br />

why should I care? The easy answer is... It doesn’t matter.<br />

No one is grading you or judging you on your knowledge<br />

of Porsche models. The only thing we would love is for you<br />

to be able to spell Boxster right if you’re driving one. The<br />

rest will come with time. If you want to know what model a<br />

car is, ask someone about it and I’m sure you’ll get a good<br />

answer. Show up to enough events and it’ll just become<br />

part of your general set of knowledge. Yeah, you still may<br />

struggle with telling the difference between a 944 and 924,<br />

but that’s okay... except if you have one in your driveway. ;)<br />

What if you don’t know how to drive a standard (“stick”)<br />

transmission? If your mom and dad only taught you how<br />

to drive an automatic, ask for help! Most men that I know<br />

would love to have the opportunity to teach you how! They<br />

just might want to start you out on a little rental Honda, rather<br />

than their beloved Porsche. Don’t be offended. Grinding a<br />

transmission is equivalent to nails on a chalkboard, worse<br />

when it’s your OWN chalkboard. If your teacher gets<br />

frustrated, find another teacher. It’s important that you at<br />

least know HOW... even if you’re never good at it. Practice<br />

makes perfect. Over the years, more than one woman has<br />

come to an event not knowing how to drive a stick. None<br />

have left the event still not knowing.<br />

Cars break. That’s a simple fact of life. I’m sure all of us<br />

have been in a car when it’s broken down during normal<br />

use. With all those moving parts inside, eventually things<br />

give out. Driving a car at performance speeds sometimes<br />

accelerates that process (pun intended). Again, it’s a fact of<br />

life. Just because you are in the drivers’ seat does NOT make<br />

you responsible for the breakage... in most cases. Other<br />

than driving it off the road or running it into something,<br />

there are only a few things a driver can do that would cause<br />

him or her to be responsible for breaking something. For<br />

instance, having a huge mis-shift (putting it into first when<br />

you meant third) and letting the clutch out will cause a big<br />

problem. The answer? Be careful and deliberate with your<br />

shifting. If you have a fear it’s in the wrong gear, take it<br />

out and try again... BEFORE letting out the clutch. Without<br />

jinxing myself, I’ve been driving for awhile now and haven’t<br />

had that issue. I’ve been careful and you can be, too. There<br />

are many other things that could go wrong, but with a well<br />

maintained car it most likely won’t go wrong and worrying<br />

about it won’t make that any different. It’s just a car. Don’t<br />

fear it. It won’t bite.<br />

What if you don’t like to go fast? Is it because you REALLY<br />

don’t like going fast on anything? Roller coasters, skiing,<br />

or airplanes? Or does it terrify you because you think you<br />

won’t be able to stop the car in time and be in control?<br />

There’s only one way to find out the true answer. Try. Not<br />

on the public roads, mind you. That’s just crazy. Come to a<br />

driving event and give it a shot. Just once. At every kind of<br />

high speed event we have, you start off slow and build speed<br />

as you go. Trust us... no one wants someone afraid to go<br />

100 miles an hour around Big Bend (a corner at MotorSport<br />

Ranch) in the beginning. They start you off nice and<br />

slow, teaching you everything you need to know, and then<br />

26

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