MazdaFace
MazdaFace Reader
1/8/18 3:14 p.m.

Forgot to mention this (still not sure what date). One of my xmas gifts this year was a gift certificate to drivexotic in Cresson, TX to drive either a Nissan GTR or a Porsche 911 Turbo. Not sure how many laps or when I'm doing it but definitely excited about it. Anyone have any experience with this?

MazdaFace
MazdaFace Reader
1/11/18 8:17 a.m.

Apparently for a fee I can "upgrade" to a Ferrari. Pretty sure I'll just stick with the Porsche 

Blaise
Blaise Reader
1/11/18 8:42 a.m.

Glad you're excited. Be aware- this is typically a 3 lap paced session with a V6 mustang in front of you. Make the best of it, but don't expect a typical HPDE day.

 

How much HPDE/track experience do you have?

MazdaFace
MazdaFace Reader
1/11/18 8:58 a.m.

Basically none. So either way it'll be an exciting time for me. 

Blaise
Blaise Reader
1/11/18 10:03 a.m.

Good, that will make it fun. My GF wanted to get me this and luckily she asked first, if you're a novice it will be fun. If you have experience, you'll basically be stuck driving at 4/10 and bored. 

PS upgrade to the ferrari for noise :)

pinchvalve
pinchvalve MegaDork
1/11/18 10:06 a.m.

I did an "experience" once in a Ferrari.  It was setup in a parking lot like a large, national-style autocross.  We got three laps, and apparently the ride-along instructor did not know who I was.  (LOL) After a warm-up lap, I got on it for lap 2 and scared the beechnuts off him.  After lap three, he was hoarse from screaming and was muttering words like "insane" and "lap record" and "never again".   They "accidentally" deleted the in-car video (sure they did) and gave me a discount.  

This picture might show the instructor deleting the GoPro file and me with a sh*t eating grin on my face.  

mazdeuce - Seth
mazdeuce - Seth Mod Squad
1/11/18 10:07 a.m.

Cresson is a fun track. Trust your instructor. You'll have fun. 

Trackmouse
Trackmouse UltraDork
1/11/18 10:13 a.m.

When did exotics racing in Vegas it wasn’t a paced lap with a lead car. It was me, an instructor, and a GTR. And we were unleashed. The only hold backs were allowing faster cars around, and shifting 500rpm before redline. I could hit 99mph before the end of the stretch. I had fun. I even told my instructor I’d tip him 20$ if he got me under 2:00. (I didn’t, but had to point by two f430’s on my fastest lap.)

MazdaFace
MazdaFace Reader
1/11/18 10:36 a.m.

Glad for the positive reviews, I'm pretty excited about it. Definitely one of the more affordable ways to get to drive on cresson from what I've been told. My dad did it last year in an f-type jag & had a blast. I'll be sure to take 1 million pictures whenever the day comes. Going to wait for the weather to warm up a bit first. 

Blaise
Blaise Reader
1/11/18 11:07 a.m.
pinchvalve said:

I did an "experience" once in a Ferrari.  It was setup in a parking lot like a large, national-style autocross.  We got three laps, and apparently the ride-along instructor did not know who I was.  (LOL) After a warm-up lap, I got on it for lap 2 and scared the beechnuts off him.  After lap three, he was hoarse from screaming and was muttering words like "insane" and "lap record" and "never again".   They "accidentally" deleted the in-car video (sure they did) and gave me a discount.  

This picture might show the instructor deleting the GoPro file and me with a sh*t eating grin on my face.  

LOL

This is a fantastic story. Reminds me of when I worked a MazdaRevItUp event back in 2006 and they were giving away a Mazda3 based on autocross times.

Was hysterical when in between two adults who hadn't ever turned a lap you'd get a national-level autocross champion. I take it you're on that level? :)

Trackmouse
Trackmouse UltraDork
1/11/18 11:19 a.m.

In reply to MazdaFace :

Hey, they usually offer a few more laps the day of for a low price. I had a 600$ budget and wanted to drive the lambo or Ferrari, but then decided “a fast car is a fast car, I want lap time!”. I increased from 3 laps to 5 laps and it still wasn’t enough. 

snailmont5oh
snailmont5oh HalfDork
1/11/18 11:37 a.m.
Blaise said:
pinchvalve said:

I did an "experience" once in a Ferrari.  It was setup in a parking lot like a large, national-style autocross.  We got three laps, and apparently the ride-along instructor did not know who I was.  (LOL) After a warm-up lap, I got on it for lap 2 and scared the beechnuts off him.  After lap three, he was hoarse from screaming and was muttering words like "insane" and "lap record" and "never again".   They "accidentally" deleted the in-car video (sure they did) and gave me a discount.  

This picture might show the instructor deleting the GoPro file and me with a sh*t eating grin on my face.  

LOL

This is a fantastic story. Reminds me of when I worked a MazdaRevItUp event back in 2006 and they were giving away a Mazda3 based on autocross times.

Was hysterical when in between two adults who hadn't ever turned a lap you'd get a national-level autocross champion. I take it you're on that level? :)

Both of these remind me of when my buddy took me to an event where Dodge was introducing the new 2001-ish Ram trucks. They had a "handling course" which consisted of a lane change, small skidpad, and small, "B" shaped course, all made out of tiny cones. I had not yet autocrossed, and thought I was a good driver. The "instructors" were supposedly from Skip Barber. As my buddy and I waited in line, people took sedate Sunday drives around the course.  From the time I entered the "B" section of the course, the instructor only stopped repeating "Push the brakes!" As rapidly as humanly possible long enough to inhale, at which time he would begin repeating "Push the brakes," again. My buddy drove the same way. When each of us got out of the trucks, people in line clapped. My buddy told me that his instructor was mad at him because "now everyone is gonna beat up the trucks for the rest of the day."  He was right. 

Furious_E
Furious_E GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
1/11/18 12:05 p.m.
snailmont5oh said:
Blaise said:
pinchvalve said:

I did an "experience" once in a Ferrari.  It was setup in a parking lot like a large, national-style autocross.  We got three laps, and apparently the ride-along instructor did not know who I was.  (LOL) After a warm-up lap, I got on it for lap 2 and scared the beechnuts off him.  After lap three, he was hoarse from screaming and was muttering words like "insane" and "lap record" and "never again".   They "accidentally" deleted the in-car video (sure they did) and gave me a discount.  

This picture might show the instructor deleting the GoPro file and me with a sh*t eating grin on my face.  

LOL

This is a fantastic story. Reminds me of when I worked a MazdaRevItUp event back in 2006 and they were giving away a Mazda3 based on autocross times.

Was hysterical when in between two adults who hadn't ever turned a lap you'd get a national-level autocross champion. I take it you're on that level? :)

Both of these remind me of when my buddy took me to an event where Dodge was introducing the new 2001-ish Ram trucks. They had a "handling course" which consisted of a lane change, small skidpad, and small, "B" shaped course, all made out of tiny cones. I had not yet autocrossed, and thought I was a good driver. The "instructors" were supposedly from Skip Barber. As my buddy and I waited in line, people took sedate Sunday drives around the course.  From the time I entered the "B" section of the course, the instructor only stopped repeating "Push the brakes!" As rapidly as humanly possible long enough to inhale, at which time he would begin repeating "Push the brakes," again. My buddy drove the same way. When each of us got out of the trucks, people in line clapped. My buddy told me that his instructor was mad at him because "now everyone is gonna beat up the trucks for the rest of the day."  He was right. 

I dragged SWMBO to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix one year and Suzuki was there doing a similar thing with their Kizashi, or whatever the hell that thing was called, at a parking lot down the street. They had a crappy little auto x set up and would let you drive the Zook back to back with with some 'competitors.' IIRC they had an Accord, some Hyundai, and, curiously, an Audi A4. As above, they had an "instructor" to ride around with you, who appeared to be nothing more than sales and marketing dweeb, and everyone else seemed content to do parade laps. 

My turn comes and I ask the "instructor" if I can beat on it a bit, to which he responds "sure, push it as hard as you like." Aye aye captain! This was before I had actually auto xed at all and had a rather inflated opinion of my abilities as a driver, so I'm immediately pushing it to 11/10 right through the first corner, after which the "instructor" was yelling "Sir, you need to SLOW DOWN! SLOW DOWN!"  the remainder of the way around the course. Completely ignored him. We get to the end and he says something like "That really wasn't cool." I'm like "Dude, you told me to beat on it! Shouldn't have said so if you didn't mean it" I didn't get to drive the Audi after that.  

kb58
kb58 SuperDork
1/11/18 12:49 p.m.
snailmont5oh said:

Both of these remind me of when my buddy took me to an event where Dodge was introducing the new 2001-ish Ram trucks. They had a "handling course" which consisted of a lane change, small skidpad, and small, "B" shaped course, all made out of tiny cones. I had not yet autocrossed, and thought I was a good driver. The "instructors" were supposedly from Skip Barber. As my buddy and I waited in line, people took sedate Sunday drives around the course.  From the time I entered the "B" section of the course, the instructor only stopped repeating "Push the brakes!" As rapidly as humanly possible long enough to inhale, at which time he would begin repeating "Push the brakes," again. My buddy drove the same way. When each of us got out of the trucks, people in line clapped. My buddy told me that his instructor was mad at him because "now everyone is gonna beat up the trucks for the rest of the day."  He was right. 

When I was in college, some mfg was on a promo tour of some sport compact model - don't remember what it was. They set up a "handling course" in a small parking lot where - if you were hard on the gas - *might* get you up to 25 mph. It was comically tight, no doubt due to legal concerns and while I was really into auto-x at the time, I passed, as it really looked like no fun at all. Yeah, this does come across as a bit condescending and/or egotistical...

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