I attended the TrackDaze two day HPDE at VIR (Full Course) over the weekend. It was my first track day at VIR, my first track day in a Lotus and my first track day overall in about five years.
Wow.
I drove my 2008 Elise SC 60th Anniversary Edition two hours to VIR Friday night, met up with my dad (in my mother's F10 M5) and got inspected and checked into the hotel. Saturday was "Game On" right from the get-go. Frankly, I was intimidated at the start by the speeds on the Climbing Esses section of the track. On my third lap, I spun @ about 120mph after putting in too much steering angle while cresting the second to last bump. I ended up off the track after scrubbing off a lot of speed on the pavement and the car was fine. After that, I was damn sure to have a negligible steering angle on the crests!
I was stunned by the power and handling combination available from the car. On the Grand Course, there are three straights, and I was amazed at the pulling power of the car through 125+mph. In the corners, by the second day I was hitting the right lines carrying some incredible speed. I have the bruises on my legs to show for it.
For the last two runs, I swapped cars with my dad. You would have been hard pressed to find two more polar opposite vehicles at the track than my Elise and a 4400lb 550hp F10 M5. My times were almost certainly better in the M5, but that's because the track configuration favored big HP over lightness. I might add that my dad, a BMW CCA instructor and SCCA racer from the 1990s, had a massive sh!t-eating grin on his face after his first session in the Elise. After the second (and last for our run group) session, he didn't come back in. I started imaging him planting the Elise into a guard rail, but about three minutes later he showed up. It turns out he "accidentally" stayed on for an extra lap, and when he got out of the car, he was muttering about maybe getting an Elise and spending time at the track again.
I then drove the car two hours home and it is back to its daily driver role today.
Amazing.
Wow.
I drove my 2008 Elise SC 60th Anniversary Edition two hours to VIR Friday night, met up with my dad (in my mother's F10 M5) and got inspected and checked into the hotel. Saturday was "Game On" right from the get-go. Frankly, I was intimidated at the start by the speeds on the Climbing Esses section of the track. On my third lap, I spun @ about 120mph after putting in too much steering angle while cresting the second to last bump. I ended up off the track after scrubbing off a lot of speed on the pavement and the car was fine. After that, I was damn sure to have a negligible steering angle on the crests!
I was stunned by the power and handling combination available from the car. On the Grand Course, there are three straights, and I was amazed at the pulling power of the car through 125+mph. In the corners, by the second day I was hitting the right lines carrying some incredible speed. I have the bruises on my legs to show for it.
For the last two runs, I swapped cars with my dad. You would have been hard pressed to find two more polar opposite vehicles at the track than my Elise and a 4400lb 550hp F10 M5. My times were almost certainly better in the M5, but that's because the track configuration favored big HP over lightness. I might add that my dad, a BMW CCA instructor and SCCA racer from the 1990s, had a massive sh!t-eating grin on his face after his first session in the Elise. After the second (and last for our run group) session, he didn't come back in. I started imaging him planting the Elise into a guard rail, but about three minutes later he showed up. It turns out he "accidentally" stayed on for an extra lap, and when he got out of the car, he was muttering about maybe getting an Elise and spending time at the track again.
I then drove the car two hours home and it is back to its daily driver role today.
Amazing.