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Originally Posted by TexasChuck
I looked at the COTA web site, and all I could find for driving your own car, is $2500 a day. And one of the Houston Z guys did this recently. So, if anyone has any info on this for $375 to $400 , I would like to know more.
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Basically, every once in a while a DE-type group runs an event there. Usually it's in-demand and pricey even then, and you have to keep an eye out on all the groups and message boards out there to catch them. The one I went with earlier this year was MVP TrackTime, and the recent one that DR_ and guru hit was run by the BMWCCA. Driver's Edge did it early last year, but not this year.
DE groups that normally charge ~$300 for a weekend at cheaper tracks will end up charging more like ~$1000 for a weekend at COTA. It's not their fault, or COTA's really, it's just a much more expensive facility to run. It's gargantuan in scale and involves a lot more staffing, etc.
Also, I'd hold off on hitting a COTA event at all until you've done several at other tracks, for a number of reasons. It's a far more intense and abusive track than most of the other local ones, so you really want to have yourself and your car ready for it in a way that only other track weekends can prepare you for. That and you want to make the most out of your relatively expensive and rare trips there.
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I drove the MSR track south of Houston recently, with the guidance of an instructor, and enjoyed it. I do feel there were areas of the track that were not maintained as well as should have been. Coming out of turn 5, there was a strip of fresh asphalt with good size spots, about an inch deep, that had come out. I was concerned about it tearing up my tires.
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MSR-Houston is a great track to learn on. It was my first, and I'm headed back there in about 10 days! It's got a nice blend of turns (slow technical stuff, fast sweepers, hairpin, big constant circle, etc), and most importantly it has huge safe runoff areas everywhere but the front straight. It is a little bumpy, but pretty much *every* track around here that runs DE events it a little bumpy (except for COTA). The bumps are good for you in the long run, they teach you how to drive smooth and control traction
