I got my car about 9 months ago. After much searching for a turbo with an automatic transmission, i finally settled on a 2011 VW GTI with 18k miles on it. I liked it immediately and for good reason - great handling, powerful yet not intimidating engine, nice interior, dual-clutch gearbox. The car was almost new too. The only downside i could find was the just-a-bit too stiff suspension. Nice for higher speeds and on good roads, but not as comfortable for city driving where you usually find a plethora of pot-holes and uneven surfaces.
One of the reasons i chose the GTI was because of how easily tunable it was. Three months later, i did just that. I went to an official VW/APR dealer and got the ECU upgrade (which adds about 50 horses to the stock 200) with program switching (this is important later in the story) for $750. While there i was also seduced by the APR rep to install a bigger air intake system - the Carbonio for $300 which adds another 5 to 10 hp as well as makes sexier hissing and blowing sounds when things start going. All in all, i spent about $1200 and drove home the same day, a car with 260 horses and an increased weight to power ratio from ~15 to ~12. Not too shabby.
Six months have passed. Living in NorCal now, i had access to (at least) 3 race tracks within 150 mile radius. Being somewhat of a car enthusiast by now and having watched years of Top Gear and a couple of seasons of Formula 1, i decided to experience a track day for myself. I joined NASA (National Auto Sport Association) and signed up for HPDE (High Performance Driving Event) at Thunderhill Raceway. HPDE has four groups, the first being for people that never drove on a race track before and has an instructor riding with you at all times. There is supposed to be little overtaking and only on straights. Group 2 is the same except you drive without an instructor. I naturally chose group 1. Cost is $250 per day.
By now my car had 29k miles on it. Breaks started getting soft and tires needed changing. I did not wanna change my breaks before the track, that was for sure, but with the tires i was not certain. So i emailed my assigned instructor asking if i should change them before or after the track day, explaining that i did not want to "waste" a new set right away. I was assured that new tires would not matter much for the beginners group i was in but since one of my tires had a couple of medium sized bubbles on the sidewall (thanks San Francisco potholes) it would not be safe. I decided to get a new pair of ultra high performance summer tires to replace the stock and noisy all-season Pirelli Pzero Neros. Pseudo-randomly i went for the NITTO NT555 and boy they were quiet (or maybe the Pirellis were just that loud). They're rated 3.5/5 for quietness but at highway speeds i don't hear them at all. All i hear now is the wind and carrying a conversation at 70mph now does not require me raising my voice. Can't imagine what a 5/5 would be like.
Track day came. Sunday morning 9am - mandatory driver's meeting. There's 20 some people in HPDE group 1 and 2. Both groups go on the track at the same time. We have four 20 minute sessions throughout the day the first being at 11am, the last at 5:40pm. Turns out only me and one another guy were first timers that day, everybody else had been there at least the day before, on Saturday. A big chunk of the meeting was dedicated to discussing the things people learnt yesterday and what they're gonna improve on today. I hear the terms "death grip" and "tunnel vision" mentioned amusingly. In general, i felt a bit left out as not much of what was being discussed was relevant to my situation. Hint number one - if you're gonna do one track day only (and why would you do more if it's your fist time and you just wanna get your feet wet) go on a Saturday. Race weekends usually consist of 2 days - Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the meeting the officials talked about various rules and regulation, of which there are a lot, including flags and their meanings. Given that i was gonna have an instructor in the car with me, i did not make too much of an effort to remember everything. Finally, they ask everybody to be extra vigilant and remember we're all beginners here. The day before there'd been 5 incidents, meaning somebody either spun, had body contact with another car, or both. Yikes. The meeting ends with me meeting my instructor and going outside to have a chat, one on one. He asked me about my experience, my motivation and my goals for the day. After that he explained in 15 minutes or less everything i needed to know about racing on a track as well as a few simple notions. Some of it i already knew - racing line, corners, apex, some i didn't - turn-in, track-out, hand gestures, passing etiquette and how the sessions are gonna go. Apparently it takes a lot of focus and concentration to drive here. Also "you have to forget everything you know about driving (on public roads) and learn things anew on the track" he tells me. Some of those things are maximum acceleration on straights, hard breaking before corners, doing all the breaking before entering a corner and counter intuitively accelerating at least constantly through it. The ultimate goal being always driving at the limits of your skill and gradually moving closer to the limits of your car's acceleration, breaking and of course the tires' grip. That was my big AHA moment for the day.
The issue of my car being tunned was sitting in the back of my mind so i decided to discuss it with my teacher. I explained to him what I've done to the car and how i can switch back and forth between the ECU programs. He wisely suggested i reset it to stock mode and mentioned that his track car was a supercharged Mazda Miata with 140hp. That's what i thought.
10:50am. I'm in my car sitting on pre-grid. There's about 25 cars waiting to get on the track. I'm nervous. The instructor joins me. 5 minutes remaining. 3 minutes. 1. Helmets on, windows down. We go in behind the pace car flashing its roof mounted blue lights for the first two laps. These laps are for you to familiarize yourself with the track, the corners, the racing line and to make eye contact with and wave at the flag stations. The instructor has to tell me 3 times to wave to the first flag station before i actually do it. He has his left hand in front of him mimicking what he's saying. Left, right, hard brake, hard throttle. He keeps talking for the duration of the entire two laps telling me a lot of things including what's coming up, corner number, correct speed and track position for it, if i need to break, which direction to turn and how hard, the next correct gear, passing rules, and just general tips and tricks. I pay attention to none of this as I'm overwhelmed by the number of things happening around me. It's the same overwhelming feeling you get when you first start learning to drive except now you're going really fast. I'm also surprised and a bit scared by the sheer strain this track
driving business is putting on my car. It's trying to rip it
apart, my poor little car. My two new friends - "tunnel vision" and "death grip" were going to accompany me for the entire duration of this session. When the pace car goes in (or is it out?) the teacher starts speaking less, probably so i can focus more, only telling me what's coming ahead, just like a co-pilot in those rally cars. "Ahead you will break hard, turn left, keep it wide". When it's time to actually do it, he mimics it with his hand as well as speaking it out loud. "Ahead, corner 2, hard break, switch to 3rd, turn in, keep wide,
constant throttle, slowly bring it in, reach the apex, accelerate, track
out". I do exactly as he tells me but found myself struggling with being in the correct gear. Stupidly i had put my car in S, which is still automatic mode, so after selecting a gear with the paddle shifters, if the next corner was far enough, it would go back into automatic and hide the gear number so i did not know which way to shift next - up or down. I felt very out of place thinking "i don't belong on a track with this automatic gearbox". I also remember thinking to myself that this track is way too crowded because a few times some 4 or 5 cars kept passing me all at once. How could that be if i was going a million miles an hour?! As it turns out later from watching a video of myself - i wasn't. I was in fact going embarrassingly slow, even on the straits. In all this frustration, the checkered flag could not come soon enough. After i see it, i do one more lap - the cool off lap when, my instructor tells me, you let your engine and breaks do just that - cool off. Again waving to all the flag stations as we go around then out to the pit lane and into the paddock. First session is over, no incidents! Both me and my car are in one piece.
I'm glad i had my helmet on to mask the look of terror on my face.
I parked my car and was sent off to the "download". This is what they call the debriefing that all drivers must attend after each session. It took only 10 minutes and again people talked mostly about their experience compared to the day before. The things they were discussing were too advanced for me to understand and the only thing i got out of it was a sticker that granted me entrance into the second session. The rest of the downloads were exactly the same that day. After joining back with my friends and describing to them for about 20 minutes all the wonders I've just experienced, all of a sudden i felt very tired. The adrenaline wore off and i did not feel well rested. I wished I had a better night sleep the day before, but then again you can't sleep well when you know you need it. I complained about my automatic gearbox and how it was the source of great frustration for the entire session until my friend metaphorically smacks me over the head and tells me "you should put it in D and push it to the side". DUH! That's the manual mode that does not go back into automatic after a few seconds. I had totally forgotten about it in all this excitement.
My other big realization was that for the entire time i had no idea where i was on the track. I knew the general layout but did
not know any of the corners. Hint number two - learn the map of track before
getting on it. Close your eyes and visualize yourself going through all
the corners remembering their sequence and shape. That's exactly what i
did before the second session. Only after you know
that, you'll be able to start remembering what the instructor is telling
you and not just mindlessly following his commands.
1:30pm. Going to pre-grid. Instructor joins me a few minutes later and asks me among other things: "So, what do you wanna work on this time?". "Umm, NOT crashing" I'm thinking to myself, "this is only my second time on a track ever, what kind of question is that?". Second session starts. No more pace car. Green flag is on the first time you cross the start/finish line. This time around, the gearbox was listening to me, i knew the layout of the track and i was remembering about a third of the corners and their setup. I felt more confident and a bit more relaxed. "Death grip" turned to "comatose grip". I was starting to enjoy it. Did my first overtaking, not out of my own initiative but because the instructor commanded me. It turns out passing is very scary on a track. The car in front usually drives only a couple of miles faster and even tho their supposed to ease off the gas, as it was asked of us the this morning's driver's meeting, it doesn't look like they're doing it. So you have to make a judgement call about your ability to complete the pass, get in front of them, come back onto the racing line and still have time to break enough for the next corner. Some cars just don't want to be overtaken, causing clusters of traffic to form. I start to notice that a lot of cars, both from group 1 and group 2 are all over the place. They don't seem to be doing what I'm doing or rather what my instructor is telling me to do. They keep breaking multiple times and don't follow the same racing line i am. That's curious. For the last few laps i was stuck behind a Porsche that was all over the place. I could not match his speed on the straits so i could not overtake him. And with the encouragement of my teacher i did try a few times. Seems egos were being defended here. My instructor did not seem pleased with all that and later when i enquired as to why so many cars seemed to be doing things differently than us, told me that they, including the Porsche, were just not good. He also told me not to try and be nice to the guys behind me, and that there's a saying in racing for that - "fuck 'em". If they wanna overtake me, let them worry about it, the only thing i need to do is be predictable. There still were too many cars on the track for me to be comfortable with, but this time 20 minutes passed much quicker.
After "download 2" i went to reflect on these new developments. I noticed i started remembering things like where the racing line was, how hard to break and where to turn. Always accelerating through corners became natural all of a sudden. It's what's referred to as "planting the car". As soon as you release the gas pedal the car starts feeling wobbly and eventually will send you into a spin. I also noticed the instructor wanted me to drive just a little too close to other cars for my own comfort. I didn't, but still noticed this about both the first and the second sessions. In these situation it's best to bag your pride and not worry about what people might think of you.
For the third session, we agreed to do a lead/follow, mainly because i wanted to take my friend for a ride and only one passenger per car is allowed at all times (only in the front seat). The instructor would drive in his car and i would follow him "within a car's length" but "don't crash into me" he said. I was to do what he does, where he does it, not when he does it! I asked about ESP (Electronic Stabilization Program) and he's thoughts on it. His preference seemed to be "ESP off", since he was "old school" and didn't like computers driving his car for him; but i should do whatever i felt comfortable with. As i was about to again do something new, i left it on. One less variable to worry about plus more confidence for me.
4:10pm. Pre-grid for third session. Waiting behind the instructor's car i felt nervous again. There would be no one telling me all the exact instructions at all the exact times, it would effectively be my first time on the track "alone". The instructor did warn my friend not to talk to me once we're out there but we both sort of dismissed it. We spent then next 20 minutes in silence. It does take a lot of concentration and focus to be able to drive on a track. The difference between driving a car on the road and on the track is the same as when you're riding a bike vs driving a car. Requires most of your attention for most of the time. You have to always look ahead and scan your surroundings. I followed my instructor closely, tho not a car's length close, for the first half of this session, we even easily passed 4 or 5 cars at one point. I found that now i remembered more than half of the corners, tho the easy ones i still winged. It was simple to see from my teacher's car if i had to break or not for a corner and what my speed should have be. In the second half, i fell a bit behind even letting a few cars overtake us. No big deal, i was glad it all went smoothly and the only small thing that happened was a bit of a slide after corner 3 where as soon as you straighten the car from a somewhat long turn you have to enter an opposite corner. I did not enjoy session 3 as much as i did 2, mainly because i was a gain put out of my comfort zone.
My friend's observation was only that i was entering corners too violently, throwing myself at them, and that i should work on doing it smoother.
For the last session, my instructor was not going to tell me anything and only correct me if i was messing something up bad. He would not say anything right away either, only bring it up the next time we got to. This way i would not get distracted by my mistakes and could always focus on what's ahead.
5:30pm. Pre-grid. There's significantly less cars this time around, i guess everybody went home after their long 2 or even 3 days here. There's maybe a dozen of us. We go out for one final time. After the first few laps i lost them all both in front and behind. It was almost as if my complaints from the first sessions have been addressed. The sun was much milder now, the wind - breezier and the track i had almost all to myself. I was driving relatively confident, doing almost all the things i was supposed to be doing. The first big mistake i did was when i forgot to break for corner 3. This messed up my line for corner 4 and needlessly increased the lateral forces on me, the car and the tires while as i was struggling to keep it all together. Right away the teacher told me in a firm voice "you break before corner 3". I guess that was a bad enough screw up that he felt he needed to mention it right away. After that I really enjoyed a few clean laps before an even bigger mistake came. I went carrying way too much speed through the last right hand corners 14 and 15 (both of them forming a hairpin turn) and almost flew off the track because of it, struggling with under-steer than over-steer that resulted in a pretty cool (in retrospect) drift in the end. My left wheels reached the outer edge of the rumble strip with the barrier only a few meters away. When i finally hit the finish strait, the teacher, given that we didn't crash, exclaimed "oh i liked that!" with a big grin on his face that you could see even through his helmet. I was i no mood to celebrate however as "death grip" payed me a visit throughout the duration of this whole shenanigans plus a few more corners after that. The only thing that saved me from going into the barriers, i reckon, was constant acceleration throughout that corner. Well that and a little thing called ESP. The car stayed stable and manageable for this entire ordeal. Next time i entered the same corner i was way too slow. Still, i was racing on the track by myself now, making my own decisions, choosing the racing line, doing my breaking and everything in between. What a long way i had come since that morning. It was amazing! On the final racing lap, i passed a new Mustang GT (the one with a 5 litre V8), the driver of which politely waved me by. And even tho I'd overtaken a few other cars toward the end, this one was the cherry on my cake. And as the sun was hanging a few feet above the horizon, i entered the pit-lane and after a right turn into the paddocks, i was done.
As soon as the helmets came off, the instructor asked me if i had the ESP on. I nodded. "Yeah, i thought so" he said smiling.
Hint number three. Take the time for at least a few laps
and drive slower than you normally would. De-construct the corners, learn a few
things and don't worry about beating everybody to the finish line. Your
skill is the most important part of your car's setup.
At the end of the day, i felt humbled of my skills and my car. I was glad i put my car in stock mode as that most certainly prevented my leaving of the track unintentionally on more that a few occasions. On the other hand i did see where the extra boost could have come in handy, mainly after tricky corners before straight lines and when trying to overtake. My brakes were probably not good enough to handle the extra horses anyway so i still stand by my decision. I also understood that a road car does not even compare to a track car and that horsepower is by far not the most important thing here. Your suspension, breaks and tires are. The cars we drive on the road are jacks of all trades. In the case of my GTI, it's too hard for the road and too soft for the track. You simply cannot have the best of both worlds. Period.
My day ended with no incidents, a lot less width on my break pads and a few less millimetres of thread on my tires. But the most important thing i left with was the understanding of what racing is all about. A road car does not belong on the track but I'm still very proud of how mine did. I still enjoy tremendously my tuned GTI on the road. And
it's still a
car you can take occasionally to the track w/o basically doing anything
to it. That's something in my book. All in all, this track day felt like i was just dropped in the middle of it all with not much intro or hand-holding. That only added to the satisfaction i felt at the end of the day. I was basically able to drive the whole track correctly at speeds of 65mph in some corners and 100mph on straights.
