My Morning at Exotics Racing

"TheOnelectronic" (theoneelectronic) 07/02/2015 at 19:28 • Filed to: None

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So, as a (late) father’s day present for my dad, we headed up to Vegas to drive some ludicrous cars around a track at Exotics Racing. Some may remember my post about this some time ago.

It’s a smallish track, though you still get a few good places to nail the throttle. (Best I saw is about 110... could have done better with better lines.)

My dad got to drive this bright yellow 458,

This white R8 (though my mom is hogging the spotlight)

And this silver 911 Turbo.

And because he wanted me to go along with him, I got to drive the R8, 458 (in red) and the raging, frothing-mouth bull itself:

And, as you saw above, we managed to talk my mom into going 5 laps with the R8.

After the “driver’s meeting” and a demonstrative lap in a Cayenne, I hopped into the R8 first. My first couple of laps were really slow. Like, neighborhood with children slow. Once I burned off my hesitation, though, I was able to get closer to a reasonable pace. I’m even going to post the whole, unedited video here, so that next time I’m trying to argue something about some car, you all can point to this and say “You don’t even know how to drive!”

And this leads to one of the frustrations I had. They put cones out to mark braking points, turn-in points, apexes, and exit points. That’s fine. But then the instructors would give conflicting information; turning in before the turn-in cone, braking before or after the braking cones, etc... This would also be fine on its own, but between my own judgment, the cones, and the instructors’ advice, I had three competing lines in my head at any one moment. It led to a good deal of confusion. The instructor I had in the R8 more or less stuck to the cones, and while it’s not the line I would have picked, it was at least consistent. I’ll let some of you pr0 r4c3rz decide what was best.

The R8, however, performed fantastically. It’s an incredibly fun car for someone with minimal track time like myself; it has incredible grip, neutral and responsive handling, and it just feels very comfortable with whatever you’re doing.

Next, I hopped into the 458, and my god, THE SOUND.

This was easily the loudest car there (though the C7 Z07 and 991 Gt3 did admirably) and by far the loudest inside. The instructor ended up needing to shout to be heard.

It was quite a difference compared to the R8; it definitely felt lighter, the engine was much more eager to rev, and the steering was very direct and had a very quick ratio. I think it’s two turns lock-to-lock. Surprisingly, though, the 458 had a more pronounced tendency to understeer. This may the result of tuning-by-lawyers or my own ineptitude, but it was always the fronts that seemed to run out of traction first. On the other hand, you could really roll on the throttle and the rear would stay well planted.

The Aventador was a bit like a sunset; beautiful, orange-ish, signifying something ending, but also because its beauty hides a mass of fire and chaos.

First and foremost, the transmission in the Big Lambo is awful. Simply terrible. Shifts are both slow and harsh. “But,” you say, “It’s still probably faster than a manual, so what’s the issue?” The issue, person I just invented for this argument, is that when I’m shifting my own gears, I know when the power is going to come back on. In the A Vent, A Door, you don’t. You hit the up paddle, the power cuts out, and in interminable time later, it comes back at a different pitch. It didn’t hamper my car control or anything, since we weren’t shifting in turns, but it unnerved me in a way.

The Savvy Avvy also suffers from being huge and feeling very heavy. Where the 458 slinked through corners like a cat, and the R8 used its powers of grip and poise to change direction, the big bull charged through the turns like a drunken elephant. Fast and stable, sure, but you fought it for every inch of that.

In fairness, though, it’s not really a track beast. It would probably do more than fine on twisty back roads (as long as they’re not too narrow... it is an Xbox-controller sized car.) or in any other kind of normal driving. On the patent-pending Fiat 500/Bugatti Veyron car performance spectrum, the Toro Loco is very close to the Big Bug, and very far from the Cinquecento.

And even with the transmission that harkens back to the days of using bells to tell the engine room to throw more coal in the boiler, the power of this car is unreal. The power just builds and builds and builds as that glorious 700hp V-12 revs. And for all it felt like it hated to do it, the brakes and suspension did a very good job of slowing down what felt like 3 tons of angry Italian and keeping it only moderately pissed off through corners.

The other, inexorable truth of the Aventador (I ran out of clever names), is that it feels INCREDIBLE to sit in.

Not comfort (though that was pretty damn good), but just the feel of the interior. The big, scissor doors are an awesome way to enter a car, but even once you’re inside, it feels like you’ve strapped into a space fighter. The dash is high and angular; the center console swoops up to meet it. Hell, to start it you have to flip up a protective cover.

Sitting in the Aventador lets you know that it’s time to hold on, because shit is going to get real.

Overall, While the 458 was exciting to drive and made the most pleasing noises, I honestly had the most fun in the R8. It didn’t feel like it was teetering on the edge of control like the 458. (which felt like that whether or not you were anywhere near said edge)

Not bad for a car I wasn’t even planning to drive until they offered a special.

And what did my dad think?

He liked the R8, LOVED the 458, and was sadly disappointed in the 911 Turbo. I think it felt too sedate for him after the first two.

As for the place itself, the facility is incredibly crisp and clean, and the whole thing runs like a well-oiled machine. I didn’t have the best luck with two later instructors, due in part to the whole not-knowing-the-line-to-take-until-I-get-there issue, but the first guy I went out with was great. (inb4 “That guy sucked, those other two guys were just unable to fix your terrible driving problems”)

Frank Grimes > TheOnelectronic 07/02/2015 at 20:17

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Pretty sure it’s a lambo bro.

TheOnelectronic > Frank Grimes 07/02/2015 at 20:27

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You know I was joking but I see a resemblance.

Frank Grimes > TheOnelectronic 07/02/2015 at 20:29

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I got the joke. Also I liked that huge xbox controller.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > TheOnelectronic 07/02/2015 at 21:21

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1. Awesome

2. I would just punch those guys for talking.

3. Awesome.

wafflesnfalafel > TheOnelectronic 07/02/2015 at 22:45

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that looks awesome - I gotta do that..

Agrajag > TheOnelectronic 07/02/2015 at 23:02

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I did this a few years ago and drove the 430 Scuderia. It was a blast. My session was for sometime in the afternoon, but I showed up at opening and pretty much hung around all day. The staff was fantastic.