luvchevs

A friend of mine wants to take his S5 Audi on the track.
What do you guys that track your car recommend as the best experience for someone with very little track experience?

Dave

ride686

Assuming you are in Ontario TMP Cayuga is very easy to drive. No blind corners or changes in incline and aside from the corner going into the straight there is a lot of runoff if you happen to go off.

Cornutodeuce

Enroll in a DE day at a smaller track like Mosport DDT, with good instruction.
TMP is very hard on tires and brakes especially for heavier cars, I have an S4...

http://www.hansoninternationaldriving.com

04silverZ06

I contacted Mosport about this as i'm interested as well. It's $550/day and $500 for the first day for an instructor (mandatory).

I'm hoping for a more cost effective means to getting on a track.

starsandstripes

TMP usually has cheap nights for lapping every wednesday and friday. Also Cayuga is pretty easy to drive. Take the first lap at your own pace and go faster and faster from there.

Some groups like touge.ca have weekend group track days

Cornutodeuce

I'm pretty certain you want to learn to drive on track properly, so that means enrolling in a DE day with classroom sessions and incar instruction.
Venturing to a track regardless of price with no experience is irresponsible....
Try the smaller track at Mosport with instruction and go from there.

-=ICE=-

For those that feel they are really skilled on the road, wait till you try track it's like driving for the first time ! Don't focus on the cost if you are getting an instructor as well, the experience is well worth it !

Shannonville also does track days with Brack (spelling?) classes with a great bunch of instructors, it's also less than Mosport. Shorter track and just like Cayuga you'll be harder on your tires/brakes, but nothing fun comes cheap

e-sarge

LOL, like the way you hid that!

There are lots of companies that do track days at Mosport. The good ones have instructors, and the really good ones require all newbs to do pylons and skidpad with an instructor before heading to the track proper. Don't look on it as a slight on your driving skill, take it as an opportunity to learn some stuff like rotating the car through a turn or braking at the limit.

From the Mosport web site there are links to APEX, EA, and 6th Gear. Trillium BMW club is also a good organization.

-=ICE=-

Ya put it in there for "fun" no harm meant

and starting from scratch with training is a really good thing

Cornutodeuce

Exactly!

The Big track can be quite daunting for a first time driver, hence the recommendation to drive at a smaller track first and work up to the big track. Video from BMW day.

https://vimeo.com/97373708

When you're planning a track day send me a PM, would love to see the Z06 on track.

gaspeddle

Hey - the 2 day Ontario Time Attack school at CMTP Driver Development Track is a top choice! 2 days for $560 with instructors, classroom and lots of track time! http://www.casc.on.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=31386

Soloontario

It is very unlikely you will find a better deal than the ASN sanctioned Time-Attack school at the CTMP Driver Development Centre (DDC). 2 days with classroom, skidpad, slalom, track sessions and a chance to ride the track with very experienced competitors. The DDC is not wickedly fast but for someone with minimal track experience that is a GOOD thing. I am always surprised that someone would think of risking their car (and bodily injury) at the Grand Prix track (Mosport) at CTMP without a lot of experience behind them. Some schools will just have you putt-putt around the track learning the line but this isn't really teaching you anything about car control.

Experienced "lappers" who have never attended a certified school are often surprised at how much they learn at the Ontario Time-Attack (OTA) school. Although it is labelled as a Time-Attack school only about half of our students go on to compete in the series but all of them find the school worthwhile.

Btw, going to a loosey goosey lapping day without an instructor will make your friend a moving road block and will really risk car to car contact.

C6SUMMER

BMW Trillium, is great bang for the buck. Instructors, and a tax receipt to boot. The course is held on the Big Track and it is not as intimidating as you would think.

Excellent people well organized and probably the best price you will find to get on the Big Track.

LINK

All makes welcome!

Soloontario

I don't agree that the big track at Mosport is a good place to start to learn car control. Spinning your car there will likely be very expensive but if you aren't pushing hard enough you won't learn the limits anyway.

When you are learning to ski, you don't start on the black diamond runs, even if all you are doing is snowplowing. It is safer to learn what not to do at slower tracks or even autoslalom.

TorontoC6

The skiing analogy is a good one. Many of us forget that we got our start on easier tracks than CTMP/Mosport but we are now so used to it that we think it's easy to learn.

You can learn at CTMP but it's not as good as driver development tracks as places like Shannonville where you can push and only risk getting grass stuffed into the front grille and wheels. If you loose it at CTMP, odds are that you are going to be getting significant repairs or buying a new car. For the record, I have had two spins at Mosport and one blown differential but never touched concrete (touch wood).

I have had a lot of fun on development tracks (last one I ran was at Pocono). With the shorter tracks, you can really pitch the car around and get a better feel for where the limits of control are.

As for organizations, I started with Time Attack (then Solo Ontario) in 1993, When I started tracking my Corvette in 2008 I went to many different schools including Apex, and NASA (Watkins Glen). About three years ago, a bunch of us started running with BMW Trillium and Mark W signed on as an instructor. BMW and Time Attack are both top notch organizations with reasonable costs, good instructors and you will meet some nice people. Can't go wrong with either.

OP, whatever your friend does, encourage him to listen to his instructors, ask questions of others, and enjoy the experience.

Track day costs have increased as the costs charged by the tracks (especially CTMP) have gone up. Apex, 6th gear, and others typically charge >$500 day. With bulk purchases and tax discounts, the BMW days cost <$200 a day. Time attack is reasonable as well.

Ed

AlloyGT

As already posted above, Peter Hanson runs top notch DE schools at the CTMP (Mosport) Driver Development Track (DDT). Great track to learn on without having to worry about concrete walls of the Grand Prix track. Note the whole facility has been revamped including longer track layout, new pavement, buildings, etc. Well priced events including extra discounts for early and bulk bookings.
Www.hansoninternationaldriving.com for details.
PS I would not recommend TMP (Cayuga) as their events are open format (any one can just "show up and drive" and some curbs are outright dangerous if you drop a wheel. Shannonville would be my second choice after DDT, but one needs to hotel it which increases thee costs.

CDN_Wolf_eh

BMW Trillium events also include skid pad and small autocross course to hone skills ... not just Grand Prix Track Time and Classroom time.

Mark

AlloyGT

That's very true. Trillium offers excellent school curriculum overall.
Id say the best choice of school at the GP track, bar none.
Hanson is the best at the DDT track imo. Note the instructors are mostly from Trillium, so top notch

Soloontario

The 2 day Time-Attack school runs on a weekend (May2-3) and has a new incentive program for those wanting to continue on with Time-Attack competition. $50 off every competition event that a student signs up for. Please see pic.

As you can see there is some sponsorship support and if you plan on running in the Ontario 1500,(Canada's version of " 1 Lap of America") this school is the perfect way to show you abilities to the organizers.