I recently took a private drivers course at Spring Mountain Racetrack in Nevada. The instructor was in the Corvette in front of me (in my XKRS) giving instructions over a radio. The video really changes the perception of distance and speed. It felt a lot closer and faster at the time. Anyways I hope you find it interesting.

 

Great video- thanks for sharing. You did a good job keeping up with the instructor, although you were a little early on some of those apexes! ( I find myself doing the same, especially when I'm not familiar with the track).
How are you finding the tire wear on your car? I have not tracked my car, but the p0's are wearing quickly for me.

 

Yes I certainly have a lot to learn. The P Zeros have held up well. I've got about 12k miles with a couple of track days. I'd say the track ate up most of the rubber. I think I'm going to try the Pilot Sport 2's. The guys at spring Mountain said they shaved 3s off their track times switching from Goodyears - I think. They're all about Corvettes at Spring Mountain. You should see the looks I get - it's pretty funny.

 

The Michelin pilot super sports have replaced the ps2's and they are even better. They come in sizes that fit our car and are less expenive than the pirellis (check out tirerack.com).
Yes, many of the vettes came with Goodyear run flats and swapping them for ps2's makes a huge difference.
It's making me want to get back on the track after watching your video!

 

I said aaaaa - YEEEEEEEHAW!!!!!!

 

nice video- what company did you do this through, and how much does it cost?

 

The school is called Ron Fellows and is at Spring Mountain Racetrack in Paharump Nevada. You can take group 3 day courses or private courses designed to work toward your needs and goals. I don't know what the typical price is because I get quite a discount for being a repeat customer and using my own car $1400+-. If you use your own car it drops the price by 50% if I remember correctly. They also have condos around the track for members and guests, club house, gym, lounge and an inside firing range for the gun enthusiasts. Membership is $35k with a monthly fee of $400? I'm not a member but am seriously considering it depending on how much better I get. It's basically a private country club for car enthusiasts. I like it because you don't have to worry about some kid in a supra taking out your Jaguar. The members and staff are serious drivers. Me - not so much. I just make a vacation out of it a couple time a year but am thinking about trying some track days at Laguna Seca or Sears Point. I am (as mentioned above) nervous about my XKRS on a public track day event.

 

The steering wheel is on the wrong side

 

Just use your mirrors, hold your line, give the point-by and you won't get hurt

 

The SuperSports are very good! I have heard many reviews about how good they are. When i replace my performance tires im putting supersports on.

 

Here is another one that you might find more interesting. I was having trouble hitting the apex on a couple of turns so the instructor jumped in the car and gave me some instructions from the passenger seat. You can see him pointing at the apex and calling out breaking points etc. It's surprising how much there is to learn. A pro driver can stay within a couple of tenths of a second from lap to lap. That is incredibly consistent! I am of course open to constructive criticism if you have any suggestions or comments. I hope you enjoy it!

PS. Be prepared for an obnoxious beep and an abrupt end to the video due to battery drain.

 

oops!

Do you have any footage of track days that you have done with cars passing each other? I would love to watch!

Thanks,

drc

 

Spring Mountain is a beautiful venue but pretty technical track, lots of sharp curves and turns. When I took my Pantera there the first time with the SoCal Audi Club, I felt like I'd been beaten up at the end of the day. Second day I drove my partner's Audi S5, forty years newer and a lot easier to squirt around. We're going again in April with the same group, can't wait.

 

I have a favorite in-car Supra video from Road Atlanta doing a Panoz school. Unfortunately I transferred it from a friend's DV camera to VHS and can't post it. I should really see if the original can be uploaded to Youtube because it was awesome. Lots of Vipers, Vettes and Porsche getting passed, an epic wear-down of a 911 TT owner that risked stuffing it into a wall for a few laps before giving me the pass-by signal, Vette flipped on its roof, and some great footage of me getting passed.

Here's one lap around Calabogie, which is a pretty technical country club style track that had just opened near Ottawa, Canada. Not much passing, but an exciting track to experience. A friend was taking some video of my MR2 for me from his E30. I had to keep lifting off the gas to keep within camera range...but now I'm just bragging hahaha.


Bruce

 

[quote=bruce h.;684948]
that was awsome! There is nothing stock about that supra is there? It sounds sick!

 

Same here! I was soaked within 20 minutes my first time at Spring Mountain. The instructor explained that the track is a training track for pro drivers and hobbyists. It is a very demanding track for that reason. I hope you have a great time when you go back out there. I love the high desert!

 

drc,
I, literally felt like I was beaten up. The Pantera, while very light by today's car standards has no power steering, and can be a handful on tight turns, of which, as you know there are an abundance of at Spring Mountain. And with the extremely wide tires, I felt like I had worked out with weights for the first time in 30 years, and I was sore at the end of the first day. Where I can really have some fun on the track with the Pantera is on carousel curves, big sweepers. The car is so low to the ground that there is no body roll whatsoever, so that it feels just like you're driving in a straight line (much like a go-cart). But driving the S5 or an XKR is just so easy to drive quickly, it felt like the difference was a 100 years of automotive development (well it was 40 years anyway). Below is a pic at Infineon Raceway, a track at which I spun out twice on one lap in the Pantera on a wet track (Infineon is wet a lot of the time up in Sonoma) and at which I rented a car the last time. The Pantera is not going up there again. The last time we were there, a guy totaled his new R-8, and a female instructor totaled her new Porsche Panamera Turbo. I went home a day early so I didn't see it, but I heard from my friends when they got back. These were the first two incidents in about a dozen trips to various tracks for the So Cal Audi Club. I wonder how you explain to your insurance company that you totaled your car while on a race track?

 

cool vids drc, thanks for sharing. looks like a fun time. Laguna Seca is one track I'd love to drive some day.

 

Thanks, ya I'm thinking about joining trackmasters they do Laguna Seca. If you have any videos of your own I would love to watch. Check out Bruce H's video that guy hauls ***!