Exotics Racing Review
 

Wow! :faint:

We just got back and both G and I will give you a full review. We each did 4 cars. The Aventador was a no-go for me as I couldn't fit. Instead, they gave me the Ferarri 488 Pista.

It takes about 24 hours to get the videos available for download and we'll both be sharing them and giving our reviews of each car we drove.

In the order driven, we each drove:

Craig

• Corvette C8 Z51
• Audi R8 V10 Plus
• Ferrari 488 Pista
• Mercedes AMG GTR

GWiz

• Mercedes AMG GTR
• McLaren 570S
• Lamborghini Aventador
• Ferrari 488 Pista

My ranking:
Pista >>>>>Audi R8 V10>C8>AMG GTR

Honestly, both the Audi and the Vette are both awesome, and I REALLY liked the Vette, and fit just fine with a helmet. At this track, it's 495 HP is just WAY too low. It's way outclassed by the other cars there.

I will give many more details, and do have a rooftop full course video of GWiz in the Aventador, so I'll get that uploaded and share later. She spooked herself in the last turn coming onto the front stretch on one of her laps, so she had to reign it in and regain her composure.

Lastly, she beat me by 6/10ths in the Pista. We'll know the official times once we get the videos.(53.01 vs. 53.60) She's just way smoother and that's all attributed to her co-driver Mike back in Florida. He's the Iceman. In fact, unofficially, I think G had the fastest lap of any guest at the venue today. 50-60 drivers at a minimum. :yesnod: Fastest other guest time I saw was 55 seconds. So both of us at 53 in the Pista and me at 54 in the AMG vs. 60 people is pretty cool.

Granted, her run in the Pista was her 4th session, and my AMG was my 4th session and I was 4 seconds faster than she was, so there is definitely the benefit of laps and seat times at that track to build comfort, but she drove the wheels off of it. She ran a 53.01 and I ran a 53.60. I ran a 54 and change in the AMG, which surprised me a ton. I did a 59 in the C8 and a 57 in the R8.

:seasix:

We just looked at the all-time leaderboard and GWiz would have been the 510th ALL TIME at that track, and she was only 7/10th's slower than MARIO ANDRETTI.


Put this in perspective.....GWiz has NEVER road raced ever!!! She's been autocrossing for 8 years, but to be 7/10ths off of Mario Andretti on her first day ever at that track, or any track, it speaks volumes. She may be a natural. Might need to dig into this sport a bit more.

:cool:

Sounds like a damn good time, man! :drivingskid:

I'm assuming they limit your speed, or do you get free reign?

Scott

Unlimited speed!!! However, if you drive out of control, they will shut you down.

Official time (we're getting the videos now) in the Pista. GWiz 53.01, Dad 53.60

It’s the extra ballast.

Yes, my 170#'s more than GWiz certainly hurts lap times.

Sounds like a good time. If you what to stir things up go to the C8 section at the other place and post what you said about the C8.:cert:

I will. :lol:

But, in all fairness, this track was designed for extremely high horsepower cars. Very easy course and only 7 turns. 495 hp is screwed out of the gate.

Badass. :cert:

Some pics:

:datawiz:

:cert:

As soon as I install my lift I am converting my Z06 from TT setup to a N/A road race setup. There are so many tracks within 5 hours of me I think I would prefer road racing to drag racing.

Some other cars

Pista

:seasix:

Road racing is so much more fulfilling than drag racing to me. Autocross is the same for me.

Thay made you wear face diapers? ICNRT.

Nice day of car du jour. I’ve driven the R8 v10 on Autobahn. Nice rig

What mode was the F-car in? Sport?

Like to hear about McLaren on track

Yes, sport. They didn't give us a ton of leash. GWiz wishes she could do another set in the McLaren. She said the "lightness" was wonderful. It was an earlier car for her, so track time was less, thus times were worse. She knows she can do better now. :yesnod:

https://www.thevettebarn.com/forums/...1&d=1603063712

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/FearlessPl...restricted.gif :leaving:

My first laps in Corvette C8. Neither of us have ever driven this track.



Evaluation of myself. I'm an autocrosser and haven't road raced in about 4 years. I break way too hard and am still not as smooth as I should be. I look forward to taking ownership of my own C8, but am convinced that my 3 year plan to dump it and replace with a C8 Z06 is absolutely the correct decision.

Observations:

I fit just fine...way better than the C7.
Still love the LCD rearview mirror.
Handling was great, but this being my first laps doesn't do this car justice.
Power is weak.
Fit and finish is awesome.
I scored this one 3rd behind the R8, but if the course was different where power wasn't rewarded, the order would have changed.

:slap:

:rofl::rofl:

I deserve that.

Second car, Audi R8 V10 Plus. Basically a Huracan in a tuxedo. I really really like this car and the power is awesome, and I fit just fine. I have a special place in my heart for the R8 as I've raced one on the national level (and won day 2 outright) in the past.

This car did nothing wrong. The times I achieved were really just reflective of my inexperience on this track. I will do future sessions in this car. The extra 2" of headroom vs. the Huracan is perfect for me. In true Audi fashion, the interior is awesome.

3rd car of 4.

The Ferrari 488 Pista is by far the best car at this track at the moment. The GT2 RS is currently out for service.

This car did EVERYTHING right, I fit very comfortably, and would love to have one. At $390k, I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon. It's in a different zip code than the other 3 cars I drove, and was also GWiz's favorite car.

My 4th of 4 cars.

Mercedes AMG GTR. Fit and finish of the interior is awesome. My fit as a big guys was awesome, and the bolsters held me in just fine. Amazing that the Pista was nearly as nice.

Lows: long brake pedal travel in the pit. On the track, it was never an issue, but the rotors were warped. I had the least amount of confidence in this car, but my lap times were actually really good. You can see a few times in the video that it gets tail happy. It was a handful to control. GWiz and my 53's were the fastest of the day, and my 54 in this car would be the 3rd fastest. Next fastest of 60 drivers was 55. I love the look of this car, and I think a non-abused example might score better, but at the end of the day this one finished 4th of 4 on my scorecard.

*brake :rolleyes:

If the instructor grabbed the wheel while I was driving, he would have received a forearm across the face. :yesnod:

That's part of the instruction. When a faster car approaches, they take control of the wheel, and also turn on the hazards to communicate to the car behind to pass safely. That was GWiz in the AMG GTR passing me. :lol: She just smoked me on the backstretch.

From watching those videos, Craig, I think that if you had 5 more laps in each car, you would have got better lap times. IMHO, 5 laps is not enough to learn the car on that track. A couple of extra laps would give you more time to get familiar with how each car handles and responds to input.

That, and the instructors need to STFU for a couple of laps.

:cheers:

I just need seat time. Another 20-40 laps, and I will have that place mastered.

They gave us VIP status (yellow wristbands) that gave us a nice lounge with refreshments. The manager gave me her personal email and said to email her prior to us coming back and she would give us friends and family discount. I suppose spending $3,200 in a single day might get their attention. I see G and I doing this possibly twice a year, and then I think it would be 3-4 sessions in a single car, same car for both, just to perfect the line. I'd definitely go back for the Pista.

I still can't comprehend how a day-1 track n00b did what she did. Yes she's 8 years deep in autocross, but WTF?!?! Very proud of G. :yesnod:

Just watched both instructor runs with my niece, in a 488 and a GT3. GWiz beat the instructor on both laps. :willy:

Subsequently watched the other 2 instructor laps for my mom, and ONE lap in the GT3, the instructor beats GWiz by 0.03 seconds. I will be posting all of those videos as well.

GWiz first run. AMG GTR

very cool, indeed

GWiz McLaren 570S (2nd car)

GWiz Aventador

GWiz Ferrari 488 Pista. Fastest lap of the day, and faster than 3 of 4 instructor laps...forthcoming. She only lost by 0.03 seconds to the best instructor lap.

Here is the only instructor lap that beat GWiz by 0.03 seconds. Mom is the passenger.

Mom in the F 488. Instructor slower than GWiz.



Driver commentary is hilarious. Claims 130 on backstretch, hits 126. Claims 100+ in another turn and is actually doing 55. GWiz vaporized this guy. :lol:

I'm a yuge Merc fan but that color is awful.

:thomas:
:ack:

Which one just sounds the best?

I like the burble of the Merc, but the Pista owns EVERY category possible. C8 sounded better than the Merc to me. In the Pista, sound, handling, power, comfort, speed vaporized the field, ..... but again, for $390,000 I would hope that would be the case.

Love the sounds made by the Mercedes. :cool:

My niece in the Ferrari and GT3. G faster than both laps.

GWiz Aventador

So, some updates since yesterday. They have to fix G's gender in the standings, but she now holds the FEMALE TRACK RECORD BY 1 FULL SECOND in the Ferrari Pista, she's 7th of 1,091 women in 2020. She is 17th all time (4,565 women), and she and I are 5th and 7th of 992 drivers for all of October.

Holey Moley !!! Get that girl into a ride !!!:wow:

That Porsche has a cracked windscreen. :willy:

She's 4th all time female in the Aventador. :yesnod:

They updated her gender.

All cars, all time, female. She made the 1st page.

Woah, look at that! I'm #1 for men for the entire month of October. That's great until you add females to that metric. :leaving:

Wow!!:seasix:

:clap::clap::clap::clap:

Woot! All cars, male drivers, for month of October, I'm 6th of 799.

And then she effs it up. :leaving:

You know how old Mario was when he did his lap? 78 in 2018. That said, she would beat me by a couple minutes.:leaving:

I'd have to look it up, but yes, I know he's up there, but then again, he has a 50+ year racing career. Having said that, there are a boat load of professional drivers in the ranks at this track.

GWiz is in the top 1.1% of all drivers ever. 541 out of 47,595 drivers, having never set foot on a racetrack before in her life. :faint: I'm 1,048 :(

Way cool! Added to my bucket list. :seasix:

Yes, they don't give you more than Sport mode on any of the cars. Having said that, the track is designed that even in that lesser mode, it doesn't really intervene.

@GWiz, you need to chime in and give your opinion of each car, starting with the McLaren.