logic
20+ Year Contributor
- 921
- 35
- Jun 11, 2002
-
Berkeley,
California
A few folks here have given me a hard time in the past about never getting to a track event, so when the opportunity to beat on a someone else's new car at a nearby track for $40/day came up, I couldn't turn it down. Sorry, no DSMs here: this was strictly a Mazda gig (and besides, both of ours are in no condition to hit a track right now).
A little background for those who don't live around here: Autobahn Country Club is a private, members-only track in the Chicago southwest suburbs, a stone's throw away from Chicagoland Speedway and Route 66 Raceway. Normally, you can't just come out and drive here; you're either a member (with a $30,000 up-front investment, and $3000/year membership dues), or you're driving with a local club that has rented part or all of the tracks. There is a north and south circuit that can be combined into a single 3.5 mile course, or operated individually at 1.4 miles for the north course and 2.1 miles for the south. Mazda rented the south course for this event, with members running on the north course, and throughout the day there couldn't have been more than 100 participants, which meant a very casual atmosphere with a lot of time to do whatever struck your fancy.
The day started off at 7:00 AM, but of course I didn't arrive until 11:00, missing the two morning sessions. They had a small autocross course set up with an MX-5, CX-7, RX-8, and whatever the minivan is called, and the course was obviously set up for a Miata; tight little chicanes and boxes with a nice increasing radius sweeper in the middle followed by more tight corners. Plenty of pebbles on the course, which actually worked out well for the RX-8; a little understeer was easily corrected by liberal throttle application through the dirt on the course.
Because of the low turnout, a few folks (myself included) used a lot of their downtime between heats alternating between the RX-8 and the Miata hot-lapping constantly. One fellow managed a low 16-second circuit in the RX-8 (did I mention that the course was short?) and was promptly asked to dial it back a bit for the safety of those around him, after being congratulated for managing the fastest time of the day.
But the real highlight was the south course. You had three choices for vehicles: an MX-5, a Mazdaspeed 6, or your own vehicle if you were a Mazda owner. Most of the drivers with their own vehicles were Windy City Miata Club members, and there were definitely some interesting (and track-only) cars around the pit area. Anyone driving a Mazda-provided car had driving instruction along for the ride, and that was probably the best $40 in driving instruction I've ever spent; someone who knows the line and the car sitting next to you keeping you focused for a 20-30 minute session on every little maneuver you're making.
My first time out, I drove the Mazdaspeed 6, which handled very much like a DSM; AWD, turbo 2.0L, and a pretty good amount of weight lent a pretty predictable feel to the car, although it did understeer about as much as you'd expect a street car to. The first couple of laps were with the instructor at the wheel, giving a good overview of braking points and apexes, and then we switched places quickly and I spent the rest of the session figuring out exactly what he'd talked about for those two laps.
The second time out, I was in the MX-5. What a difference: go-kart weight coupled with rear-wheel-drive and brakes that were probably way more than the car needed meant an incredibly different driving experience. You could take the car far deeper into the corners, and mid-corner handling was about as good as it could be on street tires, but then you were left a little disappointed on the straightaways; a little more horsepower on tap and some slicks would have made that car an absolute dream.
The track itself was great; incredible amounts of run-out, no obvious "oh god I'm going to die if I miss this apex" spots, and quite a few very nice high-speed sweepers. Facilities were still being built; the track is only two years old, and while all the essentials are there, you can see they're still trying to ramp up to what the members expect of a top-notch track.
Other sights to see included quite a few member cars; a Noble M400, quite a few high-powered Corvettes, a track-prepped Viper with fiberglass fairing and plenty of horsepower on tap, and even a few VWs and Subarus. Lots of eye-candy.
Oh, and of course, the Mazda LMP2 car had to do a quick coupl e of passes around the track, just in case anyone there thought they were fast. 
Needless to say, I'll be there bright and early at 7:00 AM tomorrow morning. Here's a few pictures that my wife took while we were out there. Sorry, no DSMs: get yourself out to a track day if you want to see DSMs and Evos doing some real driving.
A little background for those who don't live around here: Autobahn Country Club is a private, members-only track in the Chicago southwest suburbs, a stone's throw away from Chicagoland Speedway and Route 66 Raceway. Normally, you can't just come out and drive here; you're either a member (with a $30,000 up-front investment, and $3000/year membership dues), or you're driving with a local club that has rented part or all of the tracks. There is a north and south circuit that can be combined into a single 3.5 mile course, or operated individually at 1.4 miles for the north course and 2.1 miles for the south. Mazda rented the south course for this event, with members running on the north course, and throughout the day there couldn't have been more than 100 participants, which meant a very casual atmosphere with a lot of time to do whatever struck your fancy.
The day started off at 7:00 AM, but of course I didn't arrive until 11:00, missing the two morning sessions. They had a small autocross course set up with an MX-5, CX-7, RX-8, and whatever the minivan is called, and the course was obviously set up for a Miata; tight little chicanes and boxes with a nice increasing radius sweeper in the middle followed by more tight corners. Plenty of pebbles on the course, which actually worked out well for the RX-8; a little understeer was easily corrected by liberal throttle application through the dirt on the course.
Because of the low turnout, a few folks (myself included) used a lot of their downtime between heats alternating between the RX-8 and the Miata hot-lapping constantly. One fellow managed a low 16-second circuit in the RX-8 (did I mention that the course was short?) and was promptly asked to dial it back a bit for the safety of those around him, after being congratulated for managing the fastest time of the day. But the real highlight was the south course. You had three choices for vehicles: an MX-5, a Mazdaspeed 6, or your own vehicle if you were a Mazda owner. Most of the drivers with their own vehicles were Windy City Miata Club members, and there were definitely some interesting (and track-only) cars around the pit area. Anyone driving a Mazda-provided car had driving instruction along for the ride, and that was probably the best $40 in driving instruction I've ever spent; someone who knows the line and the car sitting next to you keeping you focused for a 20-30 minute session on every little maneuver you're making.
My first time out, I drove the Mazdaspeed 6, which handled very much like a DSM; AWD, turbo 2.0L, and a pretty good amount of weight lent a pretty predictable feel to the car, although it did understeer about as much as you'd expect a street car to. The first couple of laps were with the instructor at the wheel, giving a good overview of braking points and apexes, and then we switched places quickly and I spent the rest of the session figuring out exactly what he'd talked about for those two laps.
The second time out, I was in the MX-5. What a difference: go-kart weight coupled with rear-wheel-drive and brakes that were probably way more than the car needed meant an incredibly different driving experience. You could take the car far deeper into the corners, and mid-corner handling was about as good as it could be on street tires, but then you were left a little disappointed on the straightaways; a little more horsepower on tap and some slicks would have made that car an absolute dream.
The track itself was great; incredible amounts of run-out, no obvious "oh god I'm going to die if I miss this apex" spots, and quite a few very nice high-speed sweepers. Facilities were still being built; the track is only two years old, and while all the essentials are there, you can see they're still trying to ramp up to what the members expect of a top-notch track.
Other sights to see included quite a few member cars; a Noble M400, quite a few high-powered Corvettes, a track-prepped Viper with fiberglass fairing and plenty of horsepower on tap, and even a few VWs and Subarus. Lots of eye-candy.
Oh, and of course, the Mazda LMP2 car had to do a quick coupl e of passes around the track, just in case anyone there thought they were fast. Needless to say, I'll be there bright and early at 7:00 AM tomorrow morning. Here's a few pictures that my wife took while we were out there. Sorry, no DSMs: get yourself out to a track day if you want to see DSMs and Evos doing some real driving.
