rominl

iTrader: (4)

i never said the price for ferrari track day isn't insane either. i guess everything could be put into perspective and with that, for lfa owners 3500 definitely is close to nothing, and i honestly respect that. however, for most general public, even for driving enthusiasts, 3500 is quite a lot of money for a day at the track. now of course, granted, you will be driving the lfa, great car, and i am sure great experience. but to me it's tough to call it bargain

with that said, i would love to go, but still thinking about how to justify it

rominl

iTrader: (4)

agreed. just the idea of flying the lfa through corners, and having an instructor by your side guiding you and teaching you, improving your techniques here and there. man, i can forget about time

S2000toIS350

I signed up for the 14th.

Here are some details

6 folks per day confirmed.

3 Pre-prod LFAs, the orginal black, a white and the yellow.

One on one driver education with an instructor from Jim Russell Racing School.

After breakfast you get an orientation, put on a track supplied helmet and go do the 0-60 thing.

Move to ISFs for cornering training (unknown if 2011s will be there).

Lapping in LFAs

Lunch

2 More sessions in the LFAs.

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

^^ That's some great details!!!


So sounds like the re-painted now Orange one, the Pearl Yellow one and more than likely that white one that showed up in Canada last week..

Just stating in advance, this is my opinion..

Joe Z

rominl

iTrader: (4)

awesome, great info. i have a question though, if there are 3 lfa but 6 people, that means 50% of the time in non-lfa vehicles (isf)? or are they saying 3 pre-prod lfa and 3 prod lfa?

S2000toIS350

3 LFAs period
As you will not be on the track non stop I am sure folks will be taking turns in the cars

rominl

iTrader: (4)

can't say i agree with that. that's just like saying 50% of the day you will be either resting or in classroom or driving another car. personally i would think it makes sense to have 1 to 1 ratio on driver vs lfa. you learn in lfa, you practice in lfa. when i went to m school, it's nothing but m. over the whole day, about 2 hrs classroom, 1 hr lunch, and the rest about 5 hrs in the cars, all m's. there shouldn't be so much classroom time that takes up 50% of the time. and i assume people eat together.

if suddenly now it moves to 3500 bucks for half day with the lfa, that gets even more expensive

gengar

Of course in an absolute sense many experience-oriented products or services don't seem like a good value (the LFA itself would go into this category), but value for these has to be determined in a relative sense especially given (as in this case) that someone will be choosing at least one of the compared experiences.


I was told by Lexus US reps that they were hoping to get one more LFA "proto" in addition to the existing yellow and orange. Of course it seems Lexus has extended invitations for Infineon to North American participants so they may just "borrow" the LFA currently in Canada (who knows who really "owns" it - after all, the orange one is technically on lease from Japan and is currently expected to head home at some point).


I can't speak for the M program but every track program I've ever done, including Skip Barber at Laguna and introductory courses at motorsports complexes like Spring Valley and Autobahn CC all had far less than half the program time behind the wheel - in fact I doubt it was even 1/3. I certainly am not going into this full day program expecting to spend the entire day behind the wheel.

S2000toIS350

My guess is I/we will get about two hours of seat time in the cars. If I get that Monday and a day of farting around Sonoma on Sunday I will come home more than happy.

I did ask if launch control will be available and have not heard back on that one.

Gengar, are you flying into Oakland or SF or are you the guy that asked if he could fly his helicoptor into the site?

05RollaXRS

Thanks. Please keep us posted. I believe if they are going to teach how to achieve or exceed the official 0-60 mph, it will be using the launch control system.

S2000toIS350

That is why I asked Rolla.

I have no way of knowing if the prototypes have LC included.

My guess is the yellow car does as it was one of the last prototypes.

Too bad we don't get the blue one with the alcantara Recaros.

gengar

Flying into SFO and renting a car (a boring one). Helicopter is above my pay grade... not only do I fly commercial, but I only pay for coach.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

when i said behind the wheels, it's not like you are pushing 120mph all the time. sometimes it's about you cruising the track, driving slow, instructors talking to you, going through the gears and apexes, etc... but i don't see how any of those should be done in other cars, part of these courses is about getting familiar with your car(s). there is only so much you can learn by sitting in a classroom. last time i went to m school, just in the m5 track alone, we spent 45 mins of course a good 30 mins were full speed runs. multiple that by 6. yes, very sore and exhausted by the end of the day, but if i am paying that kind of money, i better get every bit out of it

and if step back a little and look at it, you go to classroom first and learn about theories, before you go to the track and practice. so it's not like you can swap the two and have half the class practice first while the other half in class, unless i am missing something. so in the end, that sounds like of all the DRIVING time (i am not even talking about whole day), only half would be with the lfa?

oh well, just my 2 cents. i think it's great lexus is having this class (and needed), but to me, i just expect almost all my driving time to be on the lfa

S2000toIS350

Thanks Gengar,

When I speaking with Shawn about the program I asked what guestions am I missing and he offered the one about the copter.

He was kind enough to mention the Lexus rate at the hotel you are going with. Once I get a confirmation, I will set that up.

As of this morning, there were 4 total slots left, one on the 10th and 3 on the 14th and I took one of those.

It sounded like a lot of the slots were picked up last week, once they opened it up to the public. It will be interesting to hear how many of the slots were taken by owners.

S2000toIS350

A few more details.

They do expect the cars to have LC, but not sure about its use.

Most of the particpants will be owners, spouses and sons and some friends of owners.

New fun fact, some of the owners are women and they are bringing their husbands.