Lost my virginity

Airplay355

Racetrack virginity that is. I took a Skip Barber intro to racing class yesterday and it was friggen awesome. I had never been on a track before and never drove any type of fast car in my life so it was a big treat. I got to drive a mazda mx5 cup car. On paper it doesn't seem very fast, there's certainly much faster cars to be had but out on the track it was nuts. I felt like I was driving a roller coaster. No crashes or spin outs for me I was driving at limerock park in CT and only got to about 110 on the straight away but there was still a 6th gear that went unused. Not bad for my first time in a fast car. Anyone who likes racing and doesn't have a fast car should definitely try one of these courses out. Best 3 hours of my life.

bobman1235

How much did it cost ya? Sounds like a blast.

concealer404

Those cup cars can haul some serious balls around a race track with the right driver.

Sounds awesome man! Glad you had fun.

kawizx9r

Airplay355 wrote: »

Racetrack virginity that is. I took a Skip Barber intro to racing class yesterday and it was friggen awesome. I had never been on a track before and never drove any type of fast car in my life so it was a big treat. I got to drive a mazda mx5 cup car. On paper it doesn't seem very fast, there's certainly much faster cars to be had but out on the track it was nuts. I felt like I was driving a roller coaster. No crashes or spin outs for me I was driving at limerock park in CT and only got to about 110 on the straight away but there was still a 6th gear that went unused. Not bad for my first time in a fast car. Anyone who likes racing and doesn't have a fast car should definitely try one of these courses out. Best 3 hours of my life.

+1
My second car was just that, a Miata MX-5 and I loved it. Got it cheap from my bestfriends dad and it had a turbonetics turbo charger already in it. That thing hugged corners like you can't imagine, yes I know there are plenty of better cars out there but when you're 17-18 driving something like this it's awesome! Congrats on your racetrack session btw, can't wait to get some track time in on a bike once I get one.

thuffman03

Cool. I would love to do something like that. Sounded really fun!

concealer404

I've always wanted to compare my race car against one of those cup cars, just for kicks. I think i could get my butt kicked....

But i think i could run ok with the Spec Miata cars if i had their same rubber.

Airplay355

It was $450. I think the price has increased now to $600 but I'd imagine that's just for the summer. If you buy a gift certificate you're price locked for a year so it's probably best to buy one in the winter. You can get track time at tracks all over the country with it. If I was in Cali I definitely would have gone to Laguna Seca. Here's where you can find out class info http://www.skipbarber.com/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

AudioGenics

great ride... i feel the need for speed !

audiobliss

Oh man...

*drooool*

nguyendot

Was it hard to push through?

goingganzo

i usto drive like i was on a race corse every day when i turned 17 and got my 95 neon. how much did you have to lay down to do that? 110 is not bad but you must try 155+mph also awd is awsome. did you have a auto or a standard car? did you heal toe shift? were you able to get sideways?

Airplay355

The course cost $450 and you got mazda there was no car choosing. It was a manual, no autos on the racetrack and I did not heal toe shift. I understand the concept but for my first time on a track I took it slow. I didn't get it sideways and didn't want to lol. I'm used to an AWD subaru and before that had a FF protege. This is actually the first FR car I drove. The mazdas were governed to 130 and even without the govern it would be hard to get that car to 155. Sounds like fun though, I would have gone faster if I could. That's a scary thought right there.

goingganzo

thanks for the fedback it seems like you had alot of fun. actuley i olny took the neon to 118 but it took forever to get there. i have axes to a super car it is called twinturbo stealth or a 3000gt vr4 in discuise.. it olny has a few mods

Danny Tse

goingganzo wrote: »

i have axes to a super car it is called twinturbo stealth or a 3000gt vr4 in discuise.

There was a recent article I read that says this car can easily be modded to achieve over 500hp :eek:

Don't see many of these on the road anymore. And if I do, they are always in that "arrest me red" color....at least the Mitsubishi version.

Airplay355

I've only seen red 3000gt's and an occasional forest green stealth. I've never driven either so I have no idea how fast they are/can get.

concealer404

Airplay355 wrote: »

I've only seen red 3000gt's and an occasional forest green stealth. I've never driven either so I have no idea how fast they are/can get.

They can get brutally fast. In the same class as the last Supra, RX7, NX7, etc as a Japanese "supercar."

They're also insanely heavy, and a huge pain in the **** to work on.

Airplay355

Brutally fast + insanely heavy might be the reason we don't see too many around...

concealer404

Airplay355 wrote: »

Brutally fast + insanely heavy might be the reason we don't see too many around...

Yep, combine both of those with the fact that they're really not fun to work on, they either crash or blow up.

They're very neat cars when in proper running order, they seem smaller and lighter than they really are, but mannn.... i would never own one, that's for sure.

BlueFox

Zero wrote: »

I really need to re-learn manuals one of these days. Sounds like a blast.

A lot of people are in that posistion. I will be 60 next month and have never owned a car with an automatic. The problem is each year the variety of cars worth buying gets smaller since I do not want an automatic, or paddle shifters.

Airplay355

I was thinking paddle shifters might be fun once you get used to it. I learned to drive on a stick but I've only owned automatics. Driving stick is just more fun, anything less and you're just steering

BlueFox

Airplay355 wrote: »

I was thinking paddle shifters might be fun once you get used to it.

Well, that is what the high-tech race cars use. If they give the same ability to control engine RPMs as a stick then maybe they are okay. They certainly provide a wider variety of cars to consider. The problem I have is my left leg is so used to pushing a clutch it might wither away if I went with paddles. :rolleyes: