rithsleeper

They are coming to CMP at end of Feb and it's only 139 through SCCA and seems pretty worth it since I will never have a Ferrari or AMG of my own. Called the company and the woman said there were no governors and you just have instruction the first half of the day then get 3 laps. Have any of you done it? All the videos I see on youtube look like inexperienced pussies are driving. They are braking way early and waiting way late to get on the acceleration and some even seem to not be accelerating 100% on the main straights....

1. Do they encourage you to drive like a *****? I'm not saying anything dangerous but possibly bouncing the abs every once in a while....

2. Are the 3 laps you get, 1 easy lap, a hot lap, and a cooldown? or is it a warmup and you get 3 hot laps with a cooldown?

3. Those of us who have experience with our cars on the tracks, have you been impressed enough to where it is worth it?

rithsleeper

Bump... anyone?

PCMusicGuy

I bought tickets but due to travel for work I gave it to my brother and his wife. They had a blast. From the way my brother talked, they did not stop him from driving it as fast as he could but there was no warm up laps. The day of the event you could purchase an extra three laps for $99 as well.

MR Turco

try Exotics Racing in Vegas. Amazingly awesome experience. I've been there 3 times and driven a bunch of the cars. Hoping to jump in the LP-700 if i end up out there in May.

rithsleeper

Im in SC and won't be there anytime soon. Does sound interesting. I just learned that this event will be on the East course only.... yea not even close to worth it. I do lap times in about 1 min in my crappy RX7, so $139 for 3 min of driving is a pretty steep cost.
I'd still like to hear anyone who has actually driven and had first hand experience. People who have no track experience might have a very skewed idea of what fun is compared to us who are over the initial high of just not having speed limits...

ooldguy

drove their event at BHF, near Chicago.

The " instructor " makes ALL the difference regarding what he'll
" allow "

Beware of spacing, you'll go out in a 3 - 4 car pack. If the 1st car is timid it'll turn into a parking lot real quick

Bottom line - can be a serious GAS, I'll certainly do their next event

Ludedude

We have two of them now, so at least one should be running when you get here

moespeeds

I work as an instructor for a local company here in NJ that does the same thing at NJMP. If you are a good driver, they will let you go as fast as you want, until you run into the car in front of you, which is usually driven by an 80 year old woman or a 21 year old kid who watched The fast and furious before he came out. For that reason, take whatever car is in the front of the line, no matter what it is. The pace car should go as fast as you push him. When you get in the car, be humble and listen to what the instructor tells you. Last time I did this I worked the Ferrari 430 and ran nearly 200 people through the car. 9 out of 10 brag that they are Mario Andretti and they suck. It was the quiet ones that tore it up best.

moespeeds

Also find out if there is an additional charge for insurance. Sometimes they will add $60 for insurance on the spot.

cruzin2

+1 for racing exotics. Drove a Lamborghini and an Italia there last year. Had a great time but noticed that the allowable speed was definitely dependant on building a quick repor with the instructor. Mine allowed decent speed but not full on abs deep braking.

JerryTX

Sorry but my experience in Las Vegas with Exotics Racing was NOT good.

Short version: its like going to a strip club with your pastor.

Long version:
- 1.2 miles, 7 turns. Rented a Lambo 550 for $299 for 5 laps. 1 warm up/sighting lap, 4 hot laps and pit in. If you are a very good driver, save your money. It is the same cost as a NASA weekend and its far more fun doing NASA HPDE/TT or racing.

I got in the car and shook the instructors hand and introduced myself. In my palm was a $20 and I told him there was more if we had a good time. I had already asked in the classroom and found out they kept all the nannies on. All. Instructor didn't want me to drive over the low curbs that created an artificial apex before a heavy braking zone, creating two braking zones. The other "curbs" were in the esses accelerating onto the front straight. I ignored both sets of curbs without unbalancing the car, carried the extra speed, and it was the only thing the instructor allowed. He didn't want me Left Foot Braking (the car is a paddle shift). I ignored that too. There were 3 cones at every braking zone. He started saying "Brake" at the first cone. I adhered on the first lap and then realized the last cone was the best braking marker, by which point he was saying "brake, brake, brake BRAKE". That yelling "BRAKE" was the actual braking marker. Again, I knew going in they were keeping active handling on (which kicked in during every turn and killed power on acceleration out). What really pissed me off was him telling me to shift early. Yup, shift EARLY. He started repeating "Shift" at 6000rpm. The car revs to 8000 or 8500. It makes a delicious sound above 6 and he was telling me "shift shift shift" the entire time I was over 6K. I ignored that completely too. I paid to drive the car and they never mentioned early shifting. Nope, sorry, not gonna listen to that one either. I was the only guy hitting 4th gear (just for an instant) on both straights. I passed every car on track but 1. Mine was the only car they drove around the pits to cool the brakes (I'm sure active handling cooked them) after I came in. There were brief thrills yes, but not $299 worth. The instructor got no extra tip at pit in if you couldn't already guess.

I went with 3 other co-workers, one of which had done 2 DE days, the other two zero. They all loved every second of it.

yow

Thanks for the write-up. 3-5 laps is a joke for the money

rithsleeper

Thanks for replies guys. It seems like it might be good to try but not on my budget its prob not worth it. If they full coursed me maybe. Ill save my money for now