[tetsuo111]

What a weekend! The arrival of clear skies and sunshine in PNW is reason to celebrate. I was beginning to feel like a mushroom after months of cool and damp Wx.

The weather is perfect for driving: sunshine and crisp, cool temperatures. The conditions were superb for the drive to Bremerton on Saturday, where I instructed at the Porsche Club of America car control clinic. There was a great group of PCA staff and students present for the event, and a bunch of interesting cars. 911 Turbos are fast. Really fast. So are GT3's. The event is held at a former airport, a perfect venue for going sideways safely and with minimal consequences (although in the past we have had cars leave the asphalt to be stopped by the concrete barrier - ouch). There are five stations: skid pad, slalom, accident avoidance / braking, figure 8, and auto-X. Some drivers are interested in honing driving skills in preparation for the track, while others are simply interested in gaining a familiarity of vehicle dynamics in a manner that isn't wise on public roads. For anyone who hasn't experienced a car control clinic (they're offered by your local BMW CCA chapter, too), you can learn a tremendous amount about your car, and yourself, in a safe environment. Where else can you get a pat on the back for executing a perfect drift on a wet skid pad???! You might also glean that high performance driving adheres to the Pareto principal, or 80/20 rule: 80% is driver, the car is only around 20%. For the drive home I avoided the I-5 urban combat and took the ferry.

I'm still on snow tires. Argh. Summer tires are here, just waiting on new rims. The rims can't arrive soon enough....