I just registered for Saturday at Road Atlanta.

 

Nice! Me too, will see you there!!!

 

I'm doing COTA in June, as that's the only one I could get signed up for, as the agency that runs this program for Lexus has constant issues.... I did two (2) classes last year and it was a ton of work to get it all lined out, as Apex has great people, but horrible technology (Read: website) that doesn't function very well or always has issues.

This will be my last year to do LPDS (this is year four (4) for me / us)), and the 5th class, I'll probably do the MB schools next time around.

 

I had Roberto for Masterclass @ Sonoma last year, he's the nicest guy and an excellent instructor. Loved driving, being coached, and hanging out with him for the day. A real pro that's super cool and down to earth.

 

Just about 10 days to go til the first event of the year!!! Anyone else attending? So far I know it's:

@np20412 w/LC +1 IS500 owner
@TGIF
@bcole96024 did you end up signing up?

Anyone else decide to sign up for next weekend at Road Atlanta?

 

Weather is looking GREAT for Saturday! Just load up on your allergy meds and sunscreen. @np20412 are you driving up? Hope so, as I would really love to see your car.

 

YES! I am planning to wash it tonight and we are driving up tomorrow afternoon. Wash will probably be a moot point since 500 miles of highway bugs will collect, but I'll do it anyway lol. I am so glad the rain is holding off until Sunday!

 

A great day on the track and I can echo all the other experiences in terms of the instructors and hosts, top notch hospitality and professionalism all around. I thought it was really interesting that of the 16-20 LCs they had, the vast majority of them were bespoke editions. They mentioned they give these cars anywhere from 1-3 years in the program and then they go to auction.

A really great experience for anyone wanting to experience track driving and learn some new things.

​​​We did:

- 2 sessions drift pad

- 2 sessions autocross, second session was timed officially with penalties for bragging rights (winning lap was 26.6 and Scott pruett broke 25.7 on his fastest, but most of his hovered around 26.2...with 2-3 riders)

- 2 instruction laps around the main track at slow/medium speed

- 8 high speed laps around the track. We hit 115 on the back straight at our highest but you could tell the instructor was pacing everyone, higher speeds are possibly but not in the framework of the program (you experience it for real in the ride along hot lap and it is striking how much they actually push the cars compared to what we drove). In the masterclass I assume you get to really push the cars even more.
​​​​​
Overall a great day and great experience and really makes me want to do the masterclass to really push it









on the track.

@TGIF really nice meeting you as well!

 

@np20412 I was really glad we got to connect before heading out! Your car looks and sounds awesome - looking forward to the pictures when you get the rest of the kit installed.

My god, what an awesome event! I just can't overstate how well they run this. If anyone was on the fence about it, I highly recommend just doing it. The hosts were fantastic, everything is on time, the food was good, the instruction was great, and the cars were just amazing. Honestly the biggest takeaway for me was how incredibly competent these cars are. It was a ton of fun running the LC on Road Atlanta, and then the IS500 on the autocross, but when we got hot laps with the instructors (including Scott Pruett on the autocross), you realize what these cars are actually capable of. I've done a dozen or so HPDEs on Road Atlanta, and what these guys were doing with a bone-stock RC-F on street tires was was unbelievable. As NP was saying above, the cars were fantastic, and I never got in one that had more than 1,500 miles on it - the IS500 I had for the Autocross had all of 40 miles! The host for my group said he has been doing this with Lexus for 6 years now, and through all of that time, has never seen a mechanical failure, which speaks so highly of these vehicles (also makes you snicker at the break in period we all go through with our new cars to start with). All of the driving instructors are certified racing drivers, and in fact one of them was none other than Roberto Guerrero, 5-time top 5 finisher at the Indy 500. Just an awesome day.

 

Thanks for the photos and feedback @np20412 @TGIF

I'm sold, I'll be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2026 for the driving school!

We will also be at the 2026 Indy 500!

Born and raised right next to the track, but haven't been back to the state in almost 10 years. This should be a really fun trip back.... really looking forward to this. Thanks again for sharing your experiences at this event.

 

Thanks!! The kit arrived at US Customs over the weekend so I am hoping for delivery this week! Then I need to do some surface level PPF and ceramic coating, then slap it on! Hopefully by this weekend

You're gonna have a great time for sure!! I have already started talking to my wife about going to Sonoma next year so I can do the masterclass. I told her she can have an equivalent expense level spa day while I drive and then we can do a few days in wine country together and that seems to have sold her on it for now

 

How fun guys! Great Pics, glad u njoyed!! Thanks for the post up.

 

Somehow I missed this post but I was able to attend LPDS at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta this past March 2025. The event was very fun and well organized. All the Lexus staff were extremely friendly, funny and accommodating. I'll detail some points below to help folks that are planning on going to the next events this season:

My reasoning for selecting this experience:

• It was the cheapest full-day track driving experience where I didn't have to use my own car (there may be cheaper ones out there, I just didn't find them)
• Road Atlanta was the closest one to me being in Northern VA. It was easy to justify to my family
• Abusing (or using to full potential at least) the Lexus V8 car lineup seemed fun, specially since we'll not see many V8s out there in the future

Some additional points on the event itself:

• You can bring your own helmet if you already have one. I have one but decided to leave it at home to not add more bulk to my flight luggage. I flew over from Northern Virginia as tickets were cheap and logistics were easier. A lot of folks drove in and there was a full display of cool cars in the parking lot.
• Helmets were only used for the road course. No helmets for autocross and drifting events.
• I brought my own GoPro with suction cup mount and was able to use it every time I was in the car. I did have to set it up quickly each time as I also had to listen to instructions, set up my seating position and start driving quickly.
• LC500s on the road course all had Michelin Pilot Sport S5 tires
• On the road coarse, I had my LC500 on Sport+ mode all the time and experienced 0 issues (no transmission overheating). We were doing ~3 laps at a time and the cars had about 5-10 minute breaks in between groups. The instructors also encourage leaving the car in auto mode for the first session but then you could switch to manual mode for shifting in later sessions. You're in the car by yourself so you can also do whatever and probably get away with it if you know the car.
• I had prior experience with road courses before so i knew what to expect but it would be my first autocross experience. I surprisingly found it very fun. Very easy to do it initially going at a fast-ish speed and then a bit challenging to improve your time. Overall, I'd say this was my favorite event.
• Road course driving was good but depending on your assigned group and how well everyone is progressing, you may or may not have a chance to go full speed.
• Drifting event was overall good but found it challenging (and a bit frustrating to be honest). Not a lot of direction here from trainers on how to attack it, you just have to try, feel the car out and hope for the best.

Overall, I would consider doing it again at a different location and maybe I would consider the masterclass for 1:1 instruction but at that price point, I would look to compare cost/benefit with other driving schools or my local HPDE events.

 

Which day did you attend? We were there on Saturday and were in the afternoon group on the road course. I drove the LCs in Sport+ in M mode and the oil temp was at 3/4 or higher on every single lap, and I got the orange transmission temp warning once out of the 8 total laps we did.

Interestingly I heard one of the staff say "oh the orange warning you're still good, as long as it wasn't red" LOL

 

How is this managed during the event? Can one or two slow or fast drivers impact everyone else on the track?