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If you had a BMW 1 Series M and your buddy had an E46 M3 CSL and you both lived in Germany, you'd take them on the 'Ring, wouldn't you? Sure, you would.
The 1M driver reports that this was an 8:15 lap and that he's looking to break 8 minutes with further practice. There aren't any official numbers to look at, but it's obvious this guy has nice, quick hands, and he doesn't seem a bit flustered by the difficulty of the Nordschleife.
Remember the Porsche Passion Contest? The one where you had to write 500 words on less on what "exemplifies [your] unique passion for a specific Porsche car, an experience, or the brand as a whole"?
Well, Porsche has picked 20 finalists and posted the unedited text on its contest microsite; now the public gets to vote. Three of these writers will win a 2-day driving course at Porsche's driving school at Barber Motorsports Park. We skimmed all 20 and here's our favorite.
We don't know "Michael," but of all the finalists, he comes the closest to putting us behind the wheel of his 911. He gives us a little window into the sensory and emotional experience of driving his car... that's the mark of a good writer.
The UK seems to have no shortage of track days for average joes, and here's another: Top Gear currently has a contest going where you can enter to win a day at TG's test track in Surrey. Under the guidance of The Stig, you will learn the fastest way around the 2.0-mile course in a Nissan 370Z.
If you don't get one of the 20 slots at the June 15 trackday, there's an additional opportunity. Top Gear will set you up with a 370Z for 2 weeks, at the end of which time you'll be asked to write an article on the car for the TG magazine. Will you write with the brutality of Clarkson or the care of Paul Horrell?
Well, neither really unless you're a resident of the UK -- a requirement for both contests.
We take it for granted that blind people can't drive cars, but hey, what if they could? A Colorado driving school puts a group of blind teenagers through a car control class in this Associated Press report.
It's kind of interesting if you listen to what the kids (and instructors) are saying. They talk about how the car feels in a skid, well, because that's the kind of sensory information they have to rely on since they can't use their eyes. (And the school has made it all the more challenging for them here by making them drive Saturn Ions.) We've met plenty of sighted drivers who can't really describe or understand what their car will do in any given situation.
Of course, there's the very big question of how would blind drivers ever look down a road to spot changing traffic situations. Perhaps someday cameras and radar will be good enough to overcome even that? Unlikely, but almost with the the realm of imagination given current technology.
Do you have some interest in beating on someone else's high-performance car?
Really? Then you might be just the kind of person to join the hyper-lucrative fraternity of automotive journalists. Or, barring that, you could sign up for Lexus' F-Sport event taking place on April 29th at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville NJ.
Anyone who is 18 or older with a valid driver's license is welcome to register for the one-day event, but spots for the roughly 10 half-hour sessions are on a first-come, first-served basis. Lexus promises that they'll have the IS F sedan and well as the F-Sport versions of the IS and GS models available for autocross driving.
No, you cannot drive the LFA. However, the company will have an LFA on hand, along with pro driver Scott Pruett to give one attendee per session a hot lap in the supercar. If you want some idea of what that will look and sound like, make the jump for our own hot lap with Pruett at Homestead.
To register for the event go to the Lexus F-Sport Event web site.
Here it is, friends, the Straightline Friday Caption Contest.
Today's photo comes from BMW's storehouse of photos from the BMW Driving Experience, the instruction program the company has offered to its customers for over three decades. If we had to take a wild guess, we'd say this one is from the 1980s.
At the time, driving instructors were legally required to mousse their faux-hawks and don their cowboy boots before cheering you on in the autocross.
Write us a caption; then take a stab at the Long-Term Road Test blog caption contest.
Jaguar isn't the first high-end manufacturer to offer driving school to owners of its highest-performance cars, but we're glad to see the company step up to the plate now that it sells a couple of 510-horsepower cars.
If you buy a 2010 Jaguar XFR or XKR coupe or convertible, you can sign up for a free, one-day performance driving course. Jaguar has hand-picked the team of instructors, and it includes the accomplished driver Davy Jones, 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans winner. The automaker has already set up camp for a week each at Homestead Speedway in Florida and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Nevada.
Upcoming track dates include May 24-28 at Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, New York; August 3-7 at California Speedway in Fontana, California; and another round at Homestead December 6-10. If you own one of the cars, all you have to do is register and show up.
Jaguar says it has sold 825 model-year 2010 R cars, and so far 10 percent of owners have signed up for school.
"We're hoping for 25 percent of our customers to participate," says BJ Colaric, general manager of Jaguar sales operations in the U.S. "The R Performance Academy turns our customers who are already passionate about our cars into advocates for them."
You don't get to drive your own car at the school, but then, why would you want to beat up on your own Jag anyway? There are plenty of well-prepped XFRs and XKRs (coupes only) waiting to endure your ham-fisted inputs.
Or in this case, ours. Inside Line attended one of the day sessions in Vegas. We offer a few impressions about the school and the cars after the jump.
There's been a change of plans for the Cadillac CTS-V challenge scheduled for Thursday. Jaguar originally said it would provide a XFR for journalists to drive, but has now backed out over safety concerns according to company spokesman Stuart Schorr. That leaves a field of just two challengers for now -- an Audi RS4 and a BMW M5.
In response to the sudden departure of the XFR, Bob Lutz told a GM fan site the following:
"I think it means that the European high-performance sedans are excellent, even superb cars, but quite possibly not ready for racing laps right out of the show-room. The CTS-V is not only quicker, but will, in totally untweaked, stock form, run hot laps at any race track until it runs out of fuel. Transmission oil and diff oil temps are stable, engine oil temp doesn't go up, brakes get a bit more pedal travel, but don't fade. The street tires get a tad greasy, but handling and control remain excellent. "May the best car win"! (It wins automatically if the competitors won't show up!)"
The Bob Lutz/Cadillac CTS-V smackdown/stunt planned for this Thursday at the Monticello Motor Club in upstate New York, will follow a simple five-lap format.
Each competitor, chosen by General Motors to take on Bob Lutz and the Cadillac CTS-V, will receive five consecutive laps of the course. So subtracting an out-lap and a cool-down lap, each competitor, of which there will be about 10 total, will receive three flying laps. The quickest single lap at the end of the day will decide the winner. There will apparently be no second-chance round.
The schedule of events looks like this (all times are Eastern):
8:30 am-11:30 am -- Track opens for practice
11:30 am-11:45 am -- Introductions, driver meeting, etc.
11:45 am-1:00 pm -- lunch
1:00 pm-2:30 pm -- timed laps
May the best Cadillac CTS-V, er, car win.
Late last Friday, Cadillac unveiled its short list of participants in the CTS-V challenge. After receiving over 100 entries, the Cadillac brain trust narrowed the field down to three journalists and four consumers.
Cadillac provided brief descriptions of the four consumers and their cars while the journalists were also given token summaries. Cadillac says it may add additional entrants later, but the contest is Thursday, so assume this is the list for now.
Who would you put your money on to beat Bob Lutz?
Consumers:
Tom - Audi RS4
Michael C. - BMW M3
Michael M. - BMW M5
Chris - Cadillac CTS-V
Journalists:
Wes Siler - Jaguar XFR
Jack Baruth - Jaguar XFR
Lawrence Ulrich - TBD
Maybe you've already heard about the Cadillac CTS-V Challenge? If not, allow us to explain. Anyone can apply provided they agree to bring an unmodified production sedan that's "in the same competitive set as the CTS-V." Once all the applications are in, GM will pick five people to participate and they will be chosen, "according to overall business reasons."
Oh, and it's at the Monticello Motor Club 90 miles from Manhattan. You're responsible for all costs incurred getting you and your vehicle there. And the deadline for submissions is this Thursday at midnight. Good luck Comparison Test: BMW M5 vs. Cadillac CTS-V vs. Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG
You know that new GM tagline "May the Best Car Win"? Well, new marketing honcho Bob Lutz was having so much fun talking to journalists about it, he took it a step further and publicly challenged anyone to a race in the CTS-V.
It was a quaint idea that might have been fun had GM's public relations machine not grabbed hold and choked the life out of it. They promptly gave it a name, a website and an entry form complete with an 8-page legal waiver.
Fifty Porsches old and new gather for a drive on the wonderful roads in the Santa Monica Mountains. You aren't going to see the cars taking attitude through the corners, but you will see 911s from every era. Organized by World Class Motoring and TRE Motorsports, this owners event was an effort to build anticipation for The Ventura Show, a Southern California Porsche festival, on October 3-4.
This long list of events is your chance to throw away your inhibitions and lay down some rubber. Some of the track days make you bring your own vehicle, while others provide you with a machine to pilot. Either way, find the right event and brush up on your driving skills by booking some track time at the links below.
If you have never driven on a race track, you should. If your skills are weak, track time will make them better. And if you think you're an undiscovered Tony Stewart, well then, get out there and prove it. The list that follows after the jump gives some ideas where you might try your luck both on the road and in the dirt.
If you have never driven on a race track, you should. If your skills are weak, track time will make them better. And if you think you're an undiscovered Tony Stewart, well then, get out there and prove it. The list that follows after the jump gives some ideas where you might try your luck.
Why bother discussing GT-R vs. ZR1 lap times with your buddies when you can brag about your own personal best lap time?
Because it's expensive you say?
Well, yes it is, but for those who can afford a trip to the AMG Driving Academy, it will be well worth the expense.
At least that's what our Director of Vehicle Testing Dan Edmunds says. He spent the better part of three days mastering Schwedenkreuz, Aremberg, Adenauer-Forst in an SL63 AMG. In the end, he was able to pull off a lap of 8:48.9, fast enough to secure bragging rights at track-side bench racing sessions for some time to come.
AMG Driving Academy: Driving the Nurburgring in a 2009 SL63 AMG
The Mercedes-Benz test track in Unterturkheim is home to the famous vertical curve and now you can experience it firsthand thanks to the Setra S 411 HD "compact" motor coach. Yes, tours of the facility will now include a ride on the 33-foot long, 408-horsepower bus as it careens around the track subjecting its riders to centrifugal forces amounting to twice their normal body weight.
It's no secret that we have a thing for the Nissan GT-R. We flew to Japan to conduct the world's first test, shelled out our own money to buy one for our long-term fleet, and have stood by patiently when it was in the shop.
Needless to say, we've had our good days and bad days, but one of them have been quite as extreme as these two examples of GT-R yin and yang.
The following is a list of vehicle makers with consumer track events. Some are free, while others cost some money. Please visit the link provided for details.
Audi
Bentley
Experiencing Bentley Activities
Bentley Motors Events (Continental Series Test Drive Invitation)
BMW
Performance Driving School Delivery Program
BMW Ultimate Drive (Susan G... Komen for the Cure)
Bugatti
Chevrolet
Bondurant School of High Performance Driving
Chrysler
Dodge
Ferrari
Ford
HUMMER
Jaguar
Jeep
Audi
Aston Martin
Bentley
Experiencing Bentley Activities
Bentley Motors Events (Continental Series Test Drive Invitation)
BMW
Performance Driving School Delivery Program
BMW Ultimate Drive (Susan G... Komen for the Cure)
Bugatti
Chevrolet
Bondurant School of High Performance Driving
Chrysler
Dodge
Ferrari
Ford
HUMMER
Jaguar
Jaguar XF Technical Train the Trainer
Jeep
Continued on following blog.
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