Aaron's 1999 Porsche 996 Carrera.

I recently had the pleasure of attending my first autocross event put on by the Porsche Club of America (PCA) Golden Gate Region (GGR) and Porboys German Automotive Service. This event was an annual “beginners” autocross school  targeted at first-time and novice to autocross participants with an exceptional amount of one-on-one, in-car instruction. In short, I had an absolute blast.

Now, this was a Porsche Club event but, as my title suggests, I could have been driving a Pinto all day and still had about as much fun. The fact that I got to push my Porsche 996 to its limits of grip made the event even more exciting.

There was an amazing diversity of classic and late-model Porsches on track, with varying levels of customization and performance. 911′s, 914′s, Boxsters, Caymans…..all of which, owned and driven by a group of non-discriminating enthusiasts excited to push their cars, exotic or “ordinary,” to their limits. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of ego and snobbery.

What surprised me most, was the fact that the fastest cars around the circuit, weren’t necessarily the most powerful. Autocrossing is not about pure horsepower. The speeds reached on course wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow from a highway patrol officer on your local freeway. I never even got out of second gear. However, if you were to drive like this in your neighborhood, you might find yourself behind bars pretty quickly.

Getting a great time around an autocross circuit is mostly about driving skill. Of course, a fast car with a stiff suspension and big brakes doesn’t hurt. A well set up Porsche Boxter with a good driver could easily lap times similar to a $200k GT2.

What I’m getting at here is, no matter what you drive, give autocross racing a try. It’s cheap, fun, and safe. The worst that could happen is you knock over a few cones.