My Performance Driving Course

SeattleLion

I spent my first day at a track with my 2010 370 touring/sport with automatic. It was an amazing experience. Proformance driving school runs a great program at Pacific Raceways in Kent Washington. My car is unmodified except for stainless brake lines and AP Racing DOT 5.1 brake fluid. I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires.

This program divides the day between driving exercises in the morning and track time in the afternoon. The morning session included tight steering and braking. Most interesting to me was the understeer exercise. We were supposed to drive up to about 50mph, then at cones hit full brakes and turn right. The idea was to force understeer and let us learn how to recover. My Z refused to go into understeer until I got over 65 mph then it slipped for less than a second and I recovered. The VDC was on and remained on all day.

The time on the track was amazing. This is the first time I have ever been someplace I could drive as fast as I want. In the beginning I didn't want to go very fast at all. It took my full attention to learn the lines and when to brake. By the end of the day I was over 110mph on the straight and doing decently in the turns. I have to admit that I braked a bit early on some turns and coasted at times with my foot off the gas.

I have the automatic (no flames please) and my instructor was amazed how well it worked. He drove it for the first two laps to let me see the lines. He was very happy with the autoshifting. He didn't want to go to the paddles.

There is no question that I have a lot to learn. My oil temp behaved and I didn't get any brake fade, though they were really smelling hot when I drove back to the paddock after my last run. The next step is a track day in May when I spend my first hour with an instructor, then if I am confident enough, I am on my own.

AK you are right. This is a very addictive sport. Today my right thigh still hurts and my hands are sore where I had the wheel in a death grip. I have to learn to relax and breathe, at least in the straights.