Porsche Will Now Teach You How to Drift a 911 GT3

Thanks to the new Mission S concept, the days of the 911 sitting at the top of the Porsche lineup appear to be numbered. However, the 911 GT3 remains one of the most exciting and capable sports cars you can buy today. In fact, the GT3 is so capable, the limits of the car are often far above the limits of the average driver.

Fortunately, Porsche has a solution. For 2027, the Porsche Track Experience (PTX) is being expanded with two new programs dedicated solely to the 911 GT3, both of which will be offered exclusively at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. One of those programs is designed to teach drivers how to drift the GT3 around corners. You read that right: for $1500 you can enroll in an official Porsche class and learn how to control a 9000-rpm 911 when the front and rear tires are going in different directions.

Instead of focusing on improving lap times by trying to master racing lines, the GT Drift program focuses on car control—and plenty of tail-out hooliganism. The half-day experience starts with a brief classroom session covering the basics of vehicle dynamics; participants are then placed behind the wheel of a 911 GT3 and head to the skid pad to put that knowledge into practice. From there, they'll work through trail braking, vehicle rotation, and drifting exercises designed to teach them how to control a 911 GT3 when the rear tires start losing grip.

As fun as that all sounds, there’s still a lot more to learn. Hence, the new Masters GT course, an invitation-only program that will be offered to those who have already graduated from the Masters RS program. The new Masters GT course is the most advanced driver training experience in the entire PTX portfolio.

The course will set you back $23,000, but you get three full days behind the wheel of a 911 GT3. The first day takes place at the Barber Proving Grounds, where drivers refine their car control skills before heading to the racetrack for the remaining two days. There, they'll alternate between open lapping sessions, detailed performance analysis, and personalized coaching designed to help them squeeze every last bit of performance out of themselves and the car.

Sure, driving a new 911 GT3 to your local Cars & Coffee event to show off the paint-to-sample exterior is fun, but these cars are capable of so much more. Porsche's newest programs offer owners the opportunity to develop the skills needed to explore those capabilities ... and perhaps bring their own driving talents a little closer to the limits of the car.

Publication : Road & Track
 
Author : Joe Kucinski