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My son and I went out to Palm beach international speedway last night for some track time through thehpde, so thoughts on the experience...
First of all the track situation seemed well controlled, the organization of the event could have been better. I paid for an instructor for both Me and my son, they never gave my son one, I ended up spitting my instructor with him, a very good driver with lots of good information to offer.
Driving on a track is probably more intense then most realize, the straights are awesome to run out your car, the turns are violent to you and your car and brakes. Awesome over all but very intense.
Having your son on the track with you at the same time can be distracting, there is zero time to be distracted. I'm glad we did this together but in the future you can not check out to see how the boy is doing!
For those who really love there car and have never tracked it, be prepared, it abusive beyond your expectations, or mine at least.
C7's where well represented at the event, several Z06's as well which are just amazing on the track. Had to chance to meet some other C7 owners which was nice.
I'd probably go through the effort of cooling rings, dot4 brake fluid and an oil change if I do this again, even at a newbie level these things matter for the sake of your car.
I now love the PDR. Previous to this event I thought what a waste of money. If you track your car this is a must with the Cosworth toolbox. Just awesome to see what your doing right and wrong over and over.
The HUD is another major plus on the track, never been as useful as it was last night.
I also love mag ride for the track mode, almost needed extra track mode The surface was excellent and the car never felt to firm, certainly would not want it any softer on the track.
I went to this event to find my faults before going to Spring mountain, glad I did I have plenty to work on.
A Scion FR-S is massively out gunned even in the newbie level. My son had an awesome time but I know he's thinking ummmm turbo charger.
It's friggen hot as hell in 85 degree sunny weather doing one of these events, the car just radiates heat from everywhere, the sun still blaring at you. Hydrate!
The car held up great through it all, no sign of smoking brakes, the engine temp never got more then 210 or 220 that I saw, it might have happened but I didn't see it, the little FR-S front brakes where smoking up a storm.
2 hours of track time is more then enough (4 30 min runs). Next time I'd only go for shorter times in the beginning and save more energy for the end when the track is nearly empty.
I let the instructor drive my car with me co-piloting, he seemed to enjoy it greatly. I probably should have turned off some of the nannies for him. He didn't know anything about the drive modes so I'm guessing he's never driven a C7. I hit 125 in the back straight, he hit 137. Fastest this car has been.
The nannies come on frequently, it's cool how the PDR shows when they come one.
As fun as it was this is not something I could see doing to my car on a regular basis, maybe 2 or 3 times a year, it really is abusive. I would really like to try again after Spring Mountain.
Spring Mountain is a STEAL for $1000 for 2 days after you sum of the costs and abuse to your own car. I did not get the track insurance for myself only for my son. The event was well priced at $250 each with an instructor but if you did have track insurance, $400 more, then wear and tear, easily several hundred dollars and if you do the oil and brake fluid changes and pay for it done that's probably another 200.
Some short clips from the PDR, one is me driving, the other is the instructor.
If you where there last night say hello, while I met al least one member here I don't know your user name.
Not to be a "Debbie Downer" but please verify your insurance company will cover you during these HPDE events. Anything can happen and many insurance companies don't cover you when on a track. Better to find out now vs when you need them.
Not to be a "Debbie Downer" but please verify your insurance company will cover you during these HPDE events. Anything can happen and many insurance companies don't cover you when on a track. Better to find out now vs when you need them.
No Debbie, I went bare naked and knew it. I can afford to replace the car without any major problems in my life and that's all the insurance covers you for, less 10 or 20%, nothing else, not taking out the other car or any hospital stuff so for the money I decided I'd be my own insurance. I'm going to guess 90% or more of the other drivers where naked too.
I'm glad you tried it and also took your son... speaking as a former street hooligan, teaching your son proper driving techniques and safety practices will allow him to both enjoy high-performance cars and stay alive to teach your grand-kids.
Warning... it gets expensive, and no, most street insurance will not cover track damage.... companies are getting smart... the days of "gees, my car hit a blue deer in Watkins Glen"... just won't cut it... however there are companies that offer 'declared value" track insurance... if you plan to do it more than once or twice a year, it may be worth it.
Finally, if you want to pursue DE, look into the local car clubs... I'm a Porsche Club of America (PCA) instructor and racer and we have Drivers Ed (DE) events almost every weekend at tracks around the country... some PCA Regions are Porsche only, but our Region has a lot of Corvette guys running with us.
Also, BMW and Corvette clubs do DE. Private clubs generally offer great instructors at lower price, but are sometimes hard to get into, but I'd look into it.
Finally, if you want more info, Rennlist.com is a go-to site for Porsche DE/Racing. Go to the DE/Comp forum... cutting through all the usual forum BS stuff, alot of A-list Racers and Instructors contribute to the site, so a great source of knowledgeable advice.
No Debbie, I went bare naked and knew it. I can afford to replace the car without any major problems in my life and that's all the insurance covers you for, less 10 or 20%, nothing else, not taking out the other car or any hospital stuff so for the money I decided I'd be my own insurance. I'm going to guess 90% or more of the other drivers where naked too.
Most of us self-insure.... the general rule is "if you can't buy it, don't fly it"... but if you get hurt, your Med Insurance should cover it... (but check your policy).
Nice report; good insights. All my track experience is motorcycles. Best advice I got was don't take anything to the track you can't afford to leave in the dumpster.
Most of us self-insure.... the general rule is "if you can't buy it, don't fly it"... but if you get hurt, your Med Insurance should cover it... (but check your policy).
Yeah I figure my medical would cover me on that part.
Nice report; good insights. All my track experience is motorcycles. Best advice I got was don't take anything to the track you can't afford to leave in the dumpster.
My son and I went out to Palm beach international speedway last night for some track time through thehpde, so thoughts on the experience...
First of all the track situation seemed well controlled, the organization of the event could have been better. I paid for an instructor for both Me and my son, they never gave my son one, I ended up spitting my instructor with him, a very good driver with lots of good information to offer.
Driving on a track is probably more intense then most realize, the straights are awesome to run out your car, the turns are violent to you and your car and brakes. Awesome over all but very intense.
Having your son on the track with you at the same time can be distracting, there is zero time to be distracted. I'm glad we did this together but in the future you can not check out to see how the boy is doing!
For those who really love there car and have never tracked it, be prepared, it abusive beyond your expectations, or mine at least.
C7's where well represented at the event, several Z06's as well which are just amazing on the track. Had to chance to meet some other C7 owners which was nice.
I'd probably go through the effort of cooling rings, dot4 brake fluid and an oil change if I do this again, even at a newbie level these things matter for the sake of your car.
I now love the PDR. Previous to this event I thought what a waste of money. If you track your car this is a must with the Cosworth toolbox. Just awesome to see what your doing right and wrong over and over.
The HUD is another major plus on the track, never been as useful as it was last night.
I also love mag ride for the track mode, almost needed extra track mode The surface was excellent and the car never felt to firm, certainly would not want it any softer on the track.
I went to this event to find my faults before going to Spring mountain, glad I did I have plenty to work on.
A Scion FR-S is massively out gunned even in the newbie level. My son had an awesome time but I know he's thinking ummmm turbo charger.
It's friggen hot as hell in 85 degree sunny weather doing one of these events, the car just radiates heat from everywhere, the sun still blaring at you. Hydrate!
The car held up great through it all, no sign of smoking brakes, the engine temp never got more then 210 or 220 that I saw, it might have happened but I didn't see it, the little FR-S front brakes where smoking up a storm.
2 hours of track time is more then enough (4 30 min runs). Next time I'd only go for shorter times in the beginning and save more energy for the end when the track is nearly empty.
I let the instructor drive my car with me co-piloting, he seemed to enjoy it greatly. I probably should have turned off some of the nannies for him. He didn't know anything about the drive modes so I'm guessing he's never driven a C7. I hit 125 in the back straight, he hit 137. Fastest this car has been.
The nannies come on frequently, it's cool how the PDR shows when they come one.
As fun as it was this is not something I could see doing to my car on a regular basis, maybe 2 or 3 times a year, it really is abusive. I would really like to try again after Spring Mountain.
Spring Mountain is a STEAL for $1000 for 2 days after you sum of the costs and abuse to your own car. I did not get the track insurance for myself only for my son. The event was well priced at $250 each with an instructor but if you did have track insurance, $400 more, then wear and tear, easily several hundred dollars and if you do the oil and brake fluid changes and pay for it done that's probably another 200.
Some short clips from the PDR, one is me driving, the other is the instructor.
If you where there last night say hello, while I met al least one member here I don't know your user name.
Hey Doug, it was great meeting you last night. I had the Shark Grey Z51 with the automatic
Gary
Hey Gary, nice to meet you last night. Hope that tranny behaved for you later. I have 2 other friends with C7's (one a Z06) might have to get a C7 gathering together some night.
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Reflections on my first track experience
The surface was excellent and the car never felt to firm, certainly would not want it any softer on the track.
