ExoticsRacing while in Las Vegas next week? Drive a Scud? 458? Aventador?

hey I did this last week, choose to drive the Scud and Aventador. Overall it was a pretty fun experience, I also have some previous racing experience but in karting. The instructors def. hold you back while you race, they also have a break pedal on their side and can grab the steering wheel, you see this in my aventador video when I understeer a little. I think its worth it just wish they would let me drive it without their 2cents. Here is the videos:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS-yuRsy9DA[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyN6vdSOh0E[/ame]

 

I've done it, drove F430, Scuderia, and Vantage. I certainly recommend it, and highly recommend you drive the Scuderia if you've never driven or been in one before. I know you have a F430, but in comparison to the F430, the Scuderia is such a fun, raw, and loud experience on the track. You may change your mind about wanting one .

Tell the instructors you used to race motorcycles and own a F430 so they leave you be a little more. They can talk too much and it is frustrating when they overload your senses on a unfamiliar track with instructions that are not always needed is the only bad part.

I'll be back in Vegas in 6 weeks. I hear they are on a new track now and definately plan to check it out, but not sure I'll pay to race again. It really is fun just to hang out for an hour or so and see and listen to the cars.

 

Again, just to emphasize, I highly recommend the Scud. It would be cool if you drove the Scud back to back with the 458 and could share your thoughts on how they compare, but IMO, if you have to choose one, the Scud is what you want for this track experience.

 

I did that twice at er.com for several laps and posted my thoughts in a couple of different threads on this topic...the first time the 458 was in "sport" IIRC and the second time I asked and they agreed to let me run in "race". The scud is much more balanced at less than 10/10ths and easier to get to dance on the edge of adhesion. The 458 nannies are way too present in "sport" but the car is *much* better/more fun in race. The 458 is very impressive, but to have a lot of "fun" you have to be going very fast. The scud is balanced and alive at slightly lower speeds.

To the OP - do a search in this forum, the 458 forum and the general ferrari forum and you will find lots of advice on what to do at er.com.

Finally, the key to er.com is to get the instructors to see that you know what you are doing (assuming you do) and then they will let you drive to your limit. In fact, by the end of my second very long day there they let me run the 458 in race and the instructor pushed me to drive *much* faster than I thought I could...it was amazing. The instructors for me were the opposite of nannies...they were the little devil on my shoulder telling to get after it! [by way of background, I have half a dozen track days under my belt and have taken the porsche driving school and the full four-day bondurant course...I have a (very) small clue what I'm doing out there...more than a rookie, but I'm sure in the overall scheme of things I suck...but I'm off to bondurant for a two day advanced course in 45 minutes to continue to get better!]

 

I've done the Exotic racing and I've met the guys running it. It's fun. It's not a great way to really evaluate the cars if you're thinking of doing a "test drive" to buy one. But, if you want to get your bucket list over with a bunch of cars, it's the easiest and cheapest way to do it.

Some pluses:

They are well organized and friendly. But, even if you have an appointment time, it will take you still an hour minimum before you get in the car. Even for a few minutes in the car, you'll spend close to half a day going back and forth, waiting, and driving. So, it's not an "in and out" experience".

The cars are well prepared and as they describe.

It's a lot of fun but it's over before you even know it if you only do 5 laps. One is to go around the track slowly, three are fast, and the last is a cool down. So, think about that when you buy what you want.

Some minuses

You have to wear a helmet which kind of gets in the way of the experience.

The co-drivers can be a bit overbearing (you can't blame them actually).

They make you keep the nannies on. And, the cars don't have CCB's.

There's other people on the track at the same time so you have to slow down at times to let faster cars pass.

The video recording is very pricey and you'll have to wait around for another 30 minutes to get it.

It can be crowded. So, make a reservation and don't be late. It's a very popular attraction.

It's about 30 minutes north of the strip. It's better to drive if you have a rental car. There is a limo service also but it's pricey.


So, am I down on it? Not at all. It's a great tourist attraction and I don't know anyone that's been to it that didn't have a great time. It's a heck of a lot better than renting one car for a day and driving around on city streets. There's more cars to choose from, they are in good condition, there's no insurance to worry about, and there's no cops to worry about. Those are are a lot of "pluses"!

Overall, it's very much worth it and I would recommend it as a fun day in some cool cars.

ENJOY!