Spring Mountain Impressions

[BigShark]

Nice write-up man, those launch control times are pretty solid especially the 3.9!

 

[Chipless]

It was nice meeting you! I enjoyed hanging out with you and the other guys. Your lap times were super impressive with no track experience. The instructor only did a 1:21 in my car.

I had a bit of a different experience with the track instruction and left somewhat frustrated. I definitely picked up some stuff and improved my skills but not quite like I hoped. I have a little bit of track experience but it's been about 5yrs. I wish I had pushed harder the first day and second morning in particular. It was cold and I was the first one out behind the instructor and they were harping on the tires being cold so to take it easy. My fastest lap was 2secs slower than the other guys in my group and they shuffled people around for the last session based on fastest lap times. I got stuck in a group with slower cars (legit 10secs slower) and it really killed my last session. I just didn't care for how they handled the situation as well.

You really don't get that much actual track time. Four 15min sessions and a lot of that is in/out laps and whatnot. If you're in a group with two other cars as I was you really only get a couple laps behind the instructor each session. Makes it all the more frustrating if you're stuck with much slower cars. Autocross, skid pad, etc help make up for it some.

There was one instructor (I didn't catch his name and most weren't wearing name tags) that I didn't really care for and I was stuck with him the last two track sessions. He was just calling out corners and not actually giving any tips for improvement.

It's still a fun experience and I would do it again if I bought another Corvette/Blackwing but I definitely wouldn't pay for it. There's other options that will give you more time on better tracks with an instructor riding with you for less money. That said, some of the other activities like autocross were fun. The classroom stuff was hit or miss.

It was really nice meeting you as well! I am still on a high from the whole experience, and a big part of that was meeting other enthusiasts like you and driving with them. I am sorry to hear about your experience, especially on track. I can totally see how that would ruin the experience. I think you are 100% correct: If track time/track-instruction is the priority, then there are much better and cheaper alternatives to Spring Mountain. However, if you want to focus on all things Blackwing-related (and do so in someone else's car), then there isn't really another option, so by default Spring Mountain is the best one! haha.

When I went, the instructors said that if you were coming near their rear bumper, they would just keep going faster and for you to try and keep up. It is their home field advantage and they did make it interesting. I was impressed with how they could drive the course and do it watching from their rear view mirror !

I clarified exactly this with the instructors prior to Day 2! The first day, I was giving them too much room and they were slowing their pace as a a result to let me catch up. In turn, I would then slow down even further, and then they would as well. Once I stopped looking where they were and started using my visuals for my own lap only while still listening to them, I got a lot more out of each lap. I wish they would have been clear about that up-front though given that every lap is valuable.

Props to you! I had no experience at Spring Mtn prior to November's V Academy, but to me, your going from 0 track experience and 1:36 to 1:19.2 is one heck of an improvement! I only got to 1:25 in the middle-speed class (I only got about 1 open lap behind the instructor before we had to slow down to pick up the rest of the class) and did not want to push too hard since I had not purchased the recommended insurance...

You might have an undiscovered career as a professional race car driver waiting for you if your day job does not pan out... And yes, credit to the instructors for sure.

Thank you so much for the kind words!!! Beginner's luck is likely the case for me, but even if not, I'm afraid I likely have 15+ years of living too many, and a few million dollars too few in order to make the switch to becoming a racing driver

 

[FLYARMY]

My biggest mistake at SM was not understanding what gear to be in. Alot of my early laps were slower because I was using 5th and 6th gear at the start of the straightaway. It wasn't until later that I figured out 4th gear was optimal to get a good launch and get up to the 130's.

 

[Chipless]

My biggest mistake at SM was not understanding what gear to be in. Alot of my early laps were slower because I was using 5th and 6th gear at the start of the straightaway. It wasn't until later that I figured out 4th gear was optimal to get a good launch and get up to the 130's.

I am assuming you were in the automatic? If so, what did you think of it on track? I drove the manual (and have only ever driven the manual version).