Well, I don't know if many of you heard about Mazda's Rev It Up Driving School, but basically you pay $40 and you get to go beat the snot out of a Mazda 6.
So I woke up early this morning and my friend and I went down to see what kind of damage we could do. We got there early and checked in, waited for about half an hour checking out the RX-8s they had on display and looking over the course they had set up. Initially I was kinda pissed after looking over the course - it was VERY short taking less than a minute to complete at the longest. They also had several booths set up for driving in struction including "Brake and Steer", "Slalom", and the "Test Course".
After "Chalk Talk" where they lay out the basics for you, you are free to go to any of the booths and talk to the instructors about driving techniques and proper cornering lines and whatnot. We hit up "Brake and Steer" first. It was a simple, short track, where you basically floor the car and then mash the brakes as hard as you possibly can while flicking the steering wheel to setup a corner you're going into.
So I pull up to the line, talk to the instructor and he tells me to go. So I mash the gas and wait... this would be a good time to mention that ALL cars used at the even were 5speed "manumatic" automatic transmissions. The car limped off the line finally got into its powerband right when I had to brake. Blah.. very disappointed.
My friend and I both thought the same thing. So we went over to the Slalom tent. The course was a little bit bigger for it and they had a offset and strait line slalom setup. The course gave a good feeling for what the car was capable of cornering. I walked away liking the way the car handeled, but still miffed about the severe lack of power.
We did the slalom course twice and then went to the performance even tent. You get 2 timed runs on the competition course seperated by an hour. Like I mentioned earlier, the course was very short. Your runs are compared to a "Pro Driver Index" which is the time of one of their Pro drivers on the same course. Depending on your time and if you hit any cones, your score varies. So get up for my frist run. Run a 36.8 vs. the index of 30.11. The median score for the day was around a 39, so I didn't feel horrible. But I still wanted to do better.
After our first run, we hit up the practice course. Its was a timed run and you were only allowed to go through twice. With the lines they had, I didn't mind the limit. Got up, did my first run, but the timer died half way in, so I didn't get a time. Got back in line. Talked to the instructors at the front of the line as I waited for a free car and they told me anything in the 30s and below on the course was great for anyone who wasn't a regular road racer/SCCA member. Did my second run and run a 30.8. Not great but not bad either.
This killed just about our entire free time between competition runs, so we headed to the competition tent. By this time it was getting much warmer outside, so they reset the index. The new index was 31.1. I got my run in and shaved 2 seconds off my time with lots of room for improvement. Ran a 34.8 flat. Out of the group I was with, I placed 2nd.
Overall it was a fun event, but I walked away hating the automatic trannys they had in the cars. Even in the manual shift mode, it wouldn't respond quickly to downshifts or upshifts. I can only imagine how much more I could have gotten out of the car had it been a 5speed manual.
Definately worth checking out if it comes through your area 🙂
So I woke up early this morning and my friend and I went down to see what kind of damage we could do. We got there early and checked in, waited for about half an hour checking out the RX-8s they had on display and looking over the course they had set up. Initially I was kinda pissed after looking over the course - it was VERY short taking less than a minute to complete at the longest. They also had several booths set up for driving in struction including "Brake and Steer", "Slalom", and the "Test Course".
After "Chalk Talk" where they lay out the basics for you, you are free to go to any of the booths and talk to the instructors about driving techniques and proper cornering lines and whatnot. We hit up "Brake and Steer" first. It was a simple, short track, where you basically floor the car and then mash the brakes as hard as you possibly can while flicking the steering wheel to setup a corner you're going into.
So I pull up to the line, talk to the instructor and he tells me to go. So I mash the gas and wait... this would be a good time to mention that ALL cars used at the even were 5speed "manumatic" automatic transmissions. The car limped off the line finally got into its powerband right when I had to brake. Blah.. very disappointed.
My friend and I both thought the same thing. So we went over to the Slalom tent. The course was a little bit bigger for it and they had a offset and strait line slalom setup. The course gave a good feeling for what the car was capable of cornering. I walked away liking the way the car handeled, but still miffed about the severe lack of power.
We did the slalom course twice and then went to the performance even tent. You get 2 timed runs on the competition course seperated by an hour. Like I mentioned earlier, the course was very short. Your runs are compared to a "Pro Driver Index" which is the time of one of their Pro drivers on the same course. Depending on your time and if you hit any cones, your score varies. So get up for my frist run. Run a 36.8 vs. the index of 30.11. The median score for the day was around a 39, so I didn't feel horrible. But I still wanted to do better.
After our first run, we hit up the practice course. Its was a timed run and you were only allowed to go through twice. With the lines they had, I didn't mind the limit. Got up, did my first run, but the timer died half way in, so I didn't get a time. Got back in line. Talked to the instructors at the front of the line as I waited for a free car and they told me anything in the 30s and below on the course was great for anyone who wasn't a regular road racer/SCCA member. Did my second run and run a 30.8. Not great but not bad either.
This killed just about our entire free time between competition runs, so we headed to the competition tent. By this time it was getting much warmer outside, so they reset the index. The new index was 31.1. I got my run in and shaved 2 seconds off my time with lots of room for improvement. Ran a 34.8 flat. Out of the group I was with, I placed 2nd.
Overall it was a fun event, but I walked away hating the automatic trannys they had in the cars. Even in the manual shift mode, it wouldn't respond quickly to downshifts or upshifts. I can only imagine how much more I could have gotten out of the car had it been a 5speed manual.
Definately worth checking out if it comes through your area 🙂
