[MikenOH]

and did our first DE @ Mid-Ohio in May where it rained for 2 days. A couple slips an slides but no off track excursions and I did gain a lot of respect for both the PS2's and the 987 suspension. I have to say, both my wife and I couldn't wait to get it on the track.

I tried covering the front in plastic but it came off in the rain,. the car was not any worse for wear. Since then we've done two more DE's and a EVO auto-x School--still trying to get the black marks off from that one.

Mabe it's that this our second Boxster but we got his car to drive, evidence the options on it, so short of bending up a fender or worse I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

. We did auto-x for years and that is a good learning session to get a feel for the car's handling, but the DE is where you really get an appreciation for the car. What I enjoy most about DE's is the amount of seat time you get at speed vs. the auto-X. On a good day at a DE I can get over an hour on the track; at an auto-x it's less than 10 minutes.

Regarding damage to the car, both events will chew up rubber and if you get too close to the guy ahead of you at the DE, you can pick up paint dings from the gravel. I try to cover the headlight and lower trunk lip and tops of fenders. With those precautions, you'll protect the finish pretty well. With my '99', after 6 years of doing 6 auto-x's a year and 1 or 2 DE/year, we had the same brake pads, clutch and had not touched anything on the car save for tires and normal maintenance.

Bmussatti--with the seat in the lowest position you shouldn't have a problem with the broomstick on a 987. The 986 was a different animal with lower hoops. You may have to recline the seat back a bit but not much.BTW, a G-Force helmet runs $149--open face.

Keep one thing in mind with a DE, you can go as fast as you're comfortable and they do keep drivers of similar experience in the same run groups. In other words, if you're running with the novices, you shouldn't have to worry about a Jeff Gordon wannabe on your tail as you go around the track. You may want to go to an event and ride with an instructor to get a feel for what it's like or some clubs will have events just for novices. Either way, I don't think you'll regret the experience.