A review of Exotics Racing in Las Vegas, where I tried out a Cayman GTS, a Mercedes AMG GT S, and an R8 V10
I drive an Audi RS5 that I regularly take it to the track at Canadian Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario (a fast and intimidating track that hosted F1 in the 70's and early 80's).
Naturally, on my next trip to Vegas I had to try out Exotics Racing. This would give me a chance to test out two cars I've been eyeing as potential purchases in the future: the Porsche Cayman GTS and the Mercedes AMG GT S. What better way to try them out than on the track in Vegas. I signed up for 5 laps on each car for somewhere around $500 USD. Prices depend on the cars you want to try, the more exotic the car the higher the price. Ferraris and Lambos would likely run you into the $700 USD mark.
The events are held at the Las Vegas Speedway, about a 20 minute drive from the strip (their shuttle can also pick you up for free if you don't have a car). Once there, we checked in, signed a waver, and got upsold to 5 more laps on an Audi R8, which I took.
After a 20 minute wait, we were ushered to a briefing center for some basic driving and safety instructions. Having been to the track before, I found this briefing very light, consisting mostly of a 5 minute marketing video and very little in the way of much else. I thought this was one of the least well done aspects of the experience.
After the briefing, we were then given a ride in a Porsche Cayenne driven by one of the instructors to familiarize ourselves with the track; this was ok, but I'm not sure I would recommend it as it is an additional charge and you get to see the track on your first lap with an instructor anyways.
Finally, we were provided with a disposable hairnet and an open helmet, and paired with instructors according to whatever car we had chosen. My first car was the Porsche Cayman GTS, a wonderfully agile and balanced car with a terrific exhaust note, but a little underpowered as compared to the RS5. Acceleration out of turns was not the brutally quick affair I'm used to. Steering feel and weight seemed great. The track was unfortunately wet as it was lightly raining, and instructors don't run cars in their Sport or Sport+ or Race modes (basically so that traction control stays on at all times), which means they can run even on a wet track, albeit at lower speeds.
5 laps go by quickly, as the track is fairly short (you'll do a lap in around 1' 5"). It's a 1.2 mile track purpose built for the Exotics Racing company, and it's definitively what I'd call a beginners track: no blind corners, no elevation changes, plenty of open spaces if you wipe out (which is unlikely as the instructors have a dual break and can take over before you get in serious trouble), and few corners. That said, it's still a blast and not at all intimidating. This is NOT the NASCAR speedway track, which is in the same complex right beside it.
The next 5 laps were in the Mercedes AMG GT S, which I did not like one bit due to a very torquey engine that meant the back broke loose too often in the wet, and weirdly weighted steering that didn't tell me much about what the front wheels were doing. I'm glad I tried it, because I will definitively no longer consider it. I'm sure it's a matter of getting used to it, and it is a stunning car to look at, but between the low seating position, what seemed reduced visibility out of a narrow windshield, and the brutal nature of the engine, I just could not warm up to it, especially in the wet where the back kept kicking out like a mule. I felt the car was not that telegraphic either, as if it could really toss you around without warning and without mercy. I was the least comfortable in this car, it required lots of skill and effort to keep it in the "safe zone".
The last 5 laps were on the Audi R8, what a superb sports car! Tons of power, great balance through the corners, wonderful steering and great grip thanks to its all wheel drive system. My best lap was gained in this car at 1':1.18", a decent time in the wet considering that the lap record on dry pavement is 50" flat (so I was told). It felt very sharp but very controlled, told everything the wheels were doing, oversteer is there (rear bias I assume), but it's gentle and predictable, and I never felt like the car was taking over, I always felt safe and in complete control. Only once, bleeding speed off a straight from 120 mph into a turn, hard break application upset the car more than I had anticipated and I felt a little concerned for a moment, but I'm sure spending time with the car would cure any of that as its limits get progressively understood (and that's not to say that I even came close to the cars limits, btw).
I had to pay extra to get a recording of the laps, with video that recorded the track ahead and me, the driver, plus a speedometer and lap timer superimposed. I was disappointed in the low quality of the video, likely to save storage space: it looks like like 320x240 res, which produces small AVI files of very poor quality - for the extra charge to keep the videos, it should be at least 720p quality.
In all I really enjoyed the 2 1/2 hours spent there, and found all the instructors to be very friendly and helpful. There are a few things I didn't like so much though:
- the constant up selling was annoying; I appreciate it's a business, but you already pay good money as it is
- the initial briefing is basically a sales pitch in the form of a marketing video, I feel more time should be spent on how to drive the "line" of the track, breaking and accelerating techniques, safety, etc.
- the video quality is very poor for the price you are charged, this would be a simple thing to fix for no extra cost to them
- it would be nice to get lap times published on their web site to compare your performance with other drivers (minor thing, and apparently they are looking at a website upgrade).
If you'd like trying your hand at driving a number of sport cars, I would highly recommend the experience despite a few gripes. Make sure you try the R8, it's a really wonderful machine.
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