Last time I saw my cousin, her husband told me that he had a built a new track in central MA, and was good friends with the owner. Turns out to be Whiskey Hill at Palmer Motorsports Park.

So today, they had an 'informal' track day. They said wear helmets if you want, or you're going to thrash it, have fun, no body contact (!) Some people there had never been on a track, and were just tooling around. (My cousin's husband rented an Impala to thrash - talk about squealing tires.)

But, there were fewer than 10 cars there all afternoon. It was only upper 40s. This track has major elevation change (180' from bottom to top), and some very interesting corners.

I've done one track day, on a much safer track, but I really got a good feeling for the car in the corners, and maybe went faster than I should have. But the car felt great, and at no time did I feel unsafe. (Except for the main straight, which isn't straight. Stay outside while keeping it floored, so you can line up straight for full braking, before the uphill corner at the end. Whew!)

There were seldom more than 3 cars on the track at a time. One was my buddy in a Boxster, who does autocross, but hasn't been on a track. I let an M5 pass me, as he was hammering it, and I had a passenger who wanted a sedate ride. (She didn't get it. )

Fricken awesome day. Car felt terrific, even though it didn't hit 50 degrees. Once the PSS tires warmed up, they were fine.

 

That looks like blast. Nice indeed.

 

That S-turn in the foreground climbs pretty steeply. And at the top of the picture, there's a steeply downhill right-hand turn that transitions into a fairly sharp left hander. I was very careful on that.


The 180 in the middle of the picture starts with a lot of banking, but then levels out, so it really throws you to the outside.


And the start of the main straight, lower left, isn't straight at all, it has a pretty continuous bend.

 

Looks like a very good track to teach/learn how to drive the fastest line. The one car in the foreground approaching that S-turn is doing an excellent job of demonstrating the wrong way to properly apex. :-)

 

You are assuming, of course, the driver isn't looking for the optimal hypermiling line. lol

 

One of the track guys said most of the corners have late apexes - honestly, I was having fun and concentrating on staying on the track, rather than finding the fastest line. I do like late braking - this car has awesome brakes. I took that same line into the first corner - not fast, but fun. It's a tight, uphill corner, and the climb to the next corner is pretty steep. The guys in the Boxsters had their hands full, trying to figure out what gear to be in. The paddles were great in that regard.

I was a bit nervous, as there really aren't any run-out areas. Lots of concrete walls and barriers.


A lot of the time, I was the only one on the track. At most, there were 3 cars on the track at a time. What a luxury!

 

Yes, fun is the most important thing, which means finding your comfort level.

If you blow up that picture, you can see the fast line in that S-turn as indicated by the darker pavement representing where most of the rubber has been deposited. And yes, that first turn is a very late apex.

 

I'm super jealous - that track looks positively amazing. I'm taking mine to Thunderhill here in NorCal on May 23rd, and it's going to be a blast, but your course looks so beautiful. I'm so happy you enjoyed it, the car felt great, and that you had so little traffic out there!

 

I really enjoyed running with the top down, and no helmet. The helmet would have been smart, though keeping the car on the track was the primary focus. I was wearing my tweed baseball cap.

 

The group I'll be running with will require me to run with the top down, as you did, but I'll be wearing my helmet, so I won't get the full open-air experience you did.

I'm really happy to hear that it handles well on the track - other posts here have said that it's too heavy for real track duty, but like you (I believe), I'm not out to set any track records, just get a feel for what the car is capable of, which I'm sure is much more than I'm capable of wringing from it. I've done a few track days in my M3 convertible, when I had it, back in 2012 or so, and it was just fun. I expect the same here, though with much more noise and a whole new respect for the car at the end of the day.

 

I gave the Boxster guys a ride, and they thought it was well planted. Felt great to me, though I don't have much track experience. When I tracked it two years ago with an instructor, he liked the car, other than the P-Zeros. Now it has Michelin PSS. I was concerned about the summer tires and upper 40s weather, but it was a non-issue, once they warmed up.