So as I'm sure a few of you already know (I was excited about it alright? Sheesh...), Christmas came early this year... It came on November 3rd. And it came in the form of getting to pilot a handful of the fastest street cars in production on the famous Laguna Seca Racetrack. As part of a Skip Barber High Performance Driving School, myself and a few others who had enrolled were given a crash course in high performance driving, both on the roads and the racetrack, as well as handed the keys to a lineup of sports cars to practice our skills in. Activities included a variety of skidpad exercises in Mazda RX-8's (CPR, load transfer mechanics, etc), lane change maneuvers in a handful of Porsche's (I did this in a Boxster), threshold braking and handling exercises (which I chose to fit my giraffe butt into a supercharged Lotus Elise for... The instructors got a kick out of that one.), AutoX in a Lexus ISF and Porsche 911 Carrera, and then some hot laps around the racetrack in a car of our choice (assuming you got to it first, haha), which I hopped into a 2010 BMW M3 for...
For those of you who aren't into cars, you'll probably be happier scrolling to the pictures from here, haha... For the "car" people out there, here are the details that ARE the awesomeness of each car and my thoughts about it all.
Mazda RX-8, 6 speed manual: Very solid cars. Took some heavy abuse on the skidpad from all of us, but were very consistent. Surprisingly balanced in how they moved through skids and were very predictable once I got the hang of the exercises. But anybody who says that skidpad is easy is either smirking slightly hinting at their years of seat time and experience or just grossly ignorant. "Much harder than we thought" is the sentiment that was roundly expressed by fellow students, including myself. Though many of us managed to get quite a bit better as the day wore on. The instructors roundly praised our group as being one of the best groups they've ever had, going on to explain some of the hilarity they've seen in the past from students. Of course, this made us all feel good, haha.
Porsche Boxster, 6 speed manual: Took this one through the lane change exercises. In this exercise we were allowed to accelerate all out up to our target speed of about 40-45 mph entering the lane cones where we had to throw the car into the designated lane (based on lights). At first this was one lane over. Then later on, it was either one or two (to preserve the "surprise" aspect of the exercise) but was basically always two, haha. The Boxster was one hell of a car. Surprisingly quick for only about 255 horse (thanks to weighing only ~2900 lbs. and being a 6 speed. Quite nimble for being a vert. and being designed for road use. After my second run (which felt quite easy already), the instructor told me I could turn off the traction control if I wanted (which I later learned I was the only one he told this to... Haha.), but to "behave" as he smiled. So I proceeded to see first hand just HOW massive an impact those systems have... Threw the car into a skid the first time, trying to clear two lanes (to my defense, they DID tell us to be VERY aggressive, haha), and drove up to the instructor smiling. He smiled back and said, "A little different?" Being a bit of a throwback though, I decided to keep it off for my last couple runs, and did finally manage to control it the last run, even if I did knock a few cones over.
Lotus Elise SC, 6 speed manual: This thing was fun. Hitting your knees any time you try to turn more than about a half turn of the wheel either way is less than ideal, I admit, but that aside... It accelerated like a bat out of hell for only 218 horse (courtesy of a scant 1900 lb. curb weight) and MAN was it fun to do it in! The engine boasted a very unbridled, raw sound and was loud enough to convince you that it was sitting in the seat next to you when under WOT, but I loved every brief second of it. The clutch was crisp and responsive, dumping every last ounce of power back to the ground instantaneously after the 1-2 upshift (we weren't allowed to drop the clutches on launches, though some of the students seemed to have trouble NOT doing this... Umm, learn to drive a stick? I digress...), but gliding like butter on an 800 rpm launch if that's what you asked of it. The Elise also braked like it was on a cable and maintained complete composure through an insane deceleration curve they setup and told us to follow (like "oh, no problem!" o.O). I actually kind of tried to get it to kick the rear out on my last run by severely overloading the front slightly after initiating turn in (instead of overloading early and tapering into turn in), but it maintained composure and followed the curve quite well. I was speechless and had to quell a sudden urge to empty the bladder in an act of puppy joy. Verdict? If you ever get a chance to drive one of these beasts, don't pass it up.
Lexus ISF, 8 speed automatic w/ manual shift ability: So this one is a simple story. I expected it to feel like a paperweight (tipping the scales at almost 3800 lbs.) as we autocrossed (autox) it, but basically put, it's a monster. Like woah. Seriously. The thing pulls a 12.7 quarter mile and goes 0-100 in under 10 seconds. And it handles itself in curves very well, pulling an average of .95 g's on the skidpad in a MotorTrend test. Autox is perhaps the most abusive environment you can drop 4 wheels and an engine into. Saying we beat the snot out of these cars would be like saying Tyson nibbled Holyfield's ear and then invited him to tea and crumpets to say sorry. In autox, cars rarely make gear changes. On the course we drove, they stayed in 2nd gear, which proved a great gear for the Lexus, as we all routinely ran the course quicker in it than in the 911 (probably just due to gearing specifics on this course, as well as perhaps driver skill level). Overall, very fun to drive with a fat torque curve. Not to mention it's wicked exhaust sound at WOT...
Porsche 911 Carrera, 6 speed manual: This one would have been more fun if I'd gotten to drive it outside of an autox setting. It didn't seem quite as fun to drive as the Lexus, though it was still quite fast. It would also probably become a lot more fun if I had a chance to accumulate seat time as it did seem that you had to be a bit more precise about things. If you overstepped your brake zone even just a little bit, it wasn't very forgiving. I don't think the specific autox course we were on was all that flattering for the Carrera torque curve either (in 2nd gear), because it felt slower to recover from a botched brake point or a missed apex and seemed to inspire less confidence than the Lexus overall. Perhaps this car has been through a bit more abuse as well. Who knows. Though it was still quite fun to drive.
BMW M3, 6 speed SMG transmission: I had the pleasure of lapping this incredible machine on the track itself, and it was nothing short of awe-inspiring. With a perfect 50/50 weight distribution and 414 horse available at the 8,500 rpm redline, it has managed to garner widespread accolades and recognition as being the best M3 ever built. Now obviously I have virtually no way of comparing it to any other car in a track setting, but it was beyond fun. We tracked behind instructors and had a system where we would cycle behind the instructors as being the "lead" so we could all drive close to the instructors and see how they were driving the track. I ended up tracking behind an instructor with only one other guy in my group and we were by far the fastest group, lapping the course at essentially 'race pace' when we weren't impeded by safety concerns (*cough* the other group *cough*). At the end of our track session (which lasted 25 minutes), we had gotten in about 11 laps or so and that's including a total of at least 2 or 3 laps where we were slowed WAY down by the other group (that were going MUCH slower). The instructor I was following got out, came over to myself and the other student, and exclaimed how that was "actually fun since we were able to go fast!" His exact words. Lol.
Overall, it was an incredible experience. When else do you get a chance to take cars (that aren't yours) to the limit to learn and feel what they can really do?
I wish I would have been able to get more photos as well as some action photos, but it was a busy day, so I got what I could when I had a chance... Enjoy!
The RX-8's we drove with the skid pad in the background.
This M3 was sitting out near the skid pad in the morning, though
we never drove this one. Below is its interior.
The Boxster that I drove.
Lotus Elise SC sitting out at the skidpad. We didn't drive this one
but the one we drove was EXACTLY like it, except it was an even
brighter yellow, haha.
The Lexus ISF that we autox'ed in the afternoon.
Two black M3's. The closest one was the M that I took on the track.
Looking at turns 1 and 4 of the Laguna Seca Racetrack.
The hill towards turn 5.
(Above and Below)
And a couple photos on the road leading right into the track area...
