First time on a track with a car = lots of fun

So the Mid-Ohio guys hooked up some of the STT instructors that reguarly work at Mid-Ohio track days with a free "Acura High Performance Driving School" yesterday. All I can say is that if you ever get the chance and the cash to do it then you should. It was a total blast.

We did the autocross course for about an hour, practiced the cone weave and a braking/cornering drill, and got to play around in the skid car (it has hydraulics mounted to it to lighten the rear end when the car pitches from turning). I think everyone's time dropped by at least 2 seconds between the first run (prior to any training) and the last run of the day. Most of the time we were in an Acura TSX Spec-A, but we also got to take out Honda S2000's. The rear-wheel drive was definitely a lot more fun than the front-wheel drive TSX. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us turn traction control off on the S2000's (probably a smart move on their part).

We ended the day by lapping the big course for about an hour. I am amazed at how well the cars stick the turns. At the very end we did a ride-along with the instructors (us in the passenger seats). Holy freaking crap can they drive!! I rode with Brian Till (Speed announcer) who was calmly explaining everything he was doing as we were sideways through the keyhole and T6. I tend to be pretty good on the brakes on the bike and was trying to do the same in the car, but the instructors went *way* past my braking markers and didn't scrub off nearly as much speed, using the slide instead to take off any remaining speed needed before pointing the car in the right direction and nailing the gas pedal.

Unfortunately, speed addiction is fairly universal so I think several of us left wondering how we might be able to afford a track car to go play around on when we aren't on the bikes.

I am not giving up my race bike, but it was a lot of fun being out there!!

 

Mid-O is a fun place in a car, especially if you have some HP.

 

best 10 minutes of my life were taking my Z4 out onto the Watkins Glen full course...my first comment pulling off the track was "wow was that an expensive mistake"

 

My first time with a car on the track I took my MINI to TGPR for a trackday that a Porsche group was putting on. We figured that these were all friends with expensive cars so it would be a bit low key. I went with my brother-in-law and neither of us had been in a car on the track before, so for the first session, I went out with a friend in his 911 and my brother-in-law went with another guy who was driving a boxster. We were doing the course counter-clockwise, and about three laps in were following the boxster and saw him brush the edge of the grass on the outside of turn one. The next lap he went a bit further off, my friend commented that it looked like he was pushing it a little too much, and the next lap, the car went off, spun around, and started sliding backwards towards the trees and disappear. This was a low budget trackday, four cars on the track at one time, only one flagman and no corner workers, so we stopped the car on the side of the track, ran over and saw this:



Luckily, everyone was OK. I was amazed that it appeared that the car had squeezed perfectly between two trees on its way down the embankment, until I noticed that it had taken down a few saplings in the process. They finally managed to extract it, and the day went on.



I had only convinced my BIL to do the trackday because I explained how safe it was, plenty of room for runoff, all the usual reasons, and he winds up in a river in a convertible, wondering what would have happened if it had gone in upside down.

As for the experience, it is pretty amazing to go out with a good driver and be able to experience the upper limits while they calmly explain things to you. It's also nice being able to have them sit in the passenger seat and help you out in real time, instead of having to critique you afterwards as with motorcycle instruction.
It's another one of those things though, if you thought m/c racing was expensive...the natural progression happens. You do a few fun days, get hooked, start really pushing the car, realize that you don't want to wreck your nice sports car, so you start looking for a dedicated track car. Realize that trackdays are fun, but you really need to race. Sound familiar?

 

Yeah, luckily I have already been through that once with bikes so hopefully I would be able to contain myself a bit better with a car. Besides, I know the bike is cheaper and it will always win out against a car for pure, unadulterated fun on a track.

 

Cool cool.

I work for a Lexus dealership and we went out to a Ride and Drive at Summit Point. I did a lot of autox back in highschool and a few years afterwards, but the Lexus ride and drive was my first time on a real road course. We got to drive an IS-F on track, then ride with a pro driver for a hot lap. I was amazed by the traction and how much deeper he braked than I could on my bike. It was definitely an expeirence.