Spring Mountain Impressions

[NorCal Blackwing]

Yeah I was there last August just to check it out and Rick Malone the Chief Instructor gave me a tour of the place. Great guy! Spent almost and hour with me. Sent him a nice gift basket.

I know this has been discussed before but just to confirm...do you tip the instructors at the end of each day?

A lot of people left cash on the counter at the end of the day that they divide up amongst the instructors - totally optional of course

 

[Slick Blackwings]

End of second day/ class

 

[Tall Steve]

So nervous about it! Nervous about screwing up or being totally a slowpoke lol . Will be there next week

It's all about learning to drive the BW and having fun, so don't worry about being "slow"...

 

[565565]

So nervous about it! Nervous about screwing up or being totally a slowpoke lol . Will be there next week

You are going to have a great time.

I remember driving out of the place and feeling kind of sad that it was over, having looked forward to it for so long. But then I got home and remembered that I got one of those motherfuckers in my garage, and instantly felt a million times better.

It really helps you appreciate what you have. Just when I thought I was getting used to the power and performance, this class shows you that you've barely scratched the surface of what this car can do.

 

[FLYARMY]

My instructors in Army flight school said that we needed to become "one with the machine". After some time, the machine becomes an extension of your arms, legs, eyes, ears and brain. "You fly the machine, don't let the machine fly you". Same applies to driving fast cars. Spring Mountain is very laid back and only gets better with each lap around the track. Just keep your spacing between cars and enjoy the ride !

 

[T.O.Blackwing]

A lot of people left cash on the counter at the end of the day that they divide up amongst the instructors - totally optional of course

What number car were you, NorCal?
I was in 24.

 

[NorCal Blackwing]

What number car were you, NorCal?
I was in 24.

#18 - slowpoke on the track and slaying in the autocross

 

[Tall Steve]

#18 - slowpoke on the track and slaying in the autocross

^^^Me^^^

 

[marfan]

#18 - slowpoke on the track and slaying in the autocross

LOL this was me as well.

Although we had 4 or 5 off track excursions in our sessions - I knew I was jet lagged and determined not to be one of them. Figured no shame if I hit a cone here or there so let it all hang out on the AutoX!

 

[Mike Martz]

I'll be at SM for the V Academy May 19-20. So far I know that from this site, @Mike Martz @Matt27 and @jonnywaffles11 will be going. Anyone else?

I was there March 20-21 and had a blast. Rained most of the time and my group really got nailed in the autocross. Rained really hard. We then went out for a session on the track and had to slow to cross a river in turn two every lap. But we learned a lot about the various modes as we were constantly switching between wet and dry.

 

[Mike Martz]

Yeah I was there last August just to check it out and Rick Malone the Chief Instructor gave me a tour of the place. Great guy! Spent almost an hour with me. Sent him a nice gift basket.

I know this has been discussed before but just to confirm...do you tip the instructors at the end of each day?

They mention it a couple of times and they have a place to leave some cash at the end of the last day.

 

[Ergoc5]

Will be at SM April 12th and 13th....rented this to get around....it feels so different from the 5 V BW...big and plush..

 

[F1Scamp]

Was there the 7th and 8th, to reiterate what everyone else says, what a great experience. Sat down at breakfast not knowing anyone the first day and at the end of second day we were all in the blue group. The track and instructors are all top notch, condo was great, cars were well taken care of. Met a great group of guys from all over. Honestly my only gripe was the serious lacking of Cadillac V merchandise in the gift shop, but they did say they were getting more at the end of the month.

Brian.

 

[rubberduck]

Was there the 7th and 8th, to reiterate what everyone else says, what a great experience. Sat down at breakfast not knowing anyone the first day and at the end of second day we were all in the blue group. The track and instructors are all top notch, condo was great, cars were well taken care of. Met a great group of guys from all over. Honestly my only gripe was the serious lacking of Cadillac V merchandise in the gift shop, but they did say they were getting more at the end of the month.

Brian.

There were at least three people there those dates that are on v-net, cars 44, 23, 20. On the last day graduation I gave a shameless plug for the forum.

This was my first time on a track and glad it was at Spring Mountain with instructors because it was far easier to correct bad driving habits in this environment before they became too hard to undo. I was slow and using bad lines the first day (4 1/2 hours sleep due to flight delays didn’t help), but by the end of the second day my times and lines improved dramatically. Don’t have an definite plans to track my car, but thinking of taking the Level 1 Corvette class next year.

This class in a must for any Blackwing owner at any skill level. I was a little apprehensive about it before I got there, but the instructors are fantastic. Going in I only had two goals; 1) Have fun and meet people, and 2) learn more about the car’s abilities and improve my driving skills. Mission accomplished.

Seems like I spent most of my free time talking with Corvette owners and getting their impressions and gathering more info about those cars.

 

[Ergoc5]

Had a blast at Spring Mountain...April 12th and 13th. Unfortunately got hit with a stomach virus on April 11th so was not in the best shape in terms of tracking the car...but really learned a lot about the car. Conditions were good weather wise but they had a lot of wind so the track ended up being dusty in areas...cars were kicking up a lot of dirt. I know I left a few seconds out there since I was not getting Turn 10 right before the long straightaway so did not carry good speed into the straight away. Best time was 1.21 on the east track and autocross was 33.2 secs. This was in a 5 BW manual.

 

[Ergoc5]

On another note (not sure if the chief instructor let this one slip out by mistake) but he said the Blackwing driving schools are phasing out soon and the cars will be returned to GM/Cadillac. He did not specify timeframe though. Not sure how this impacts MY 23 and 24 owners.

 

[ChiBW]

On another note (not sure if the chief instructor let this one slip out by mistake) but he said the Blackwing driving schools are phasing out soon and the cars will be returned to GM/Cadillac. He did not specify timeframe though. Not sure how this impacts MY 23 and 24 owners.

That would be sad. I did the school in March and had a great experience. First time on a track ever. I noticed all CT5 cars are preproduction ones, likely the CT4s as well. The CT5 manual VINs have #66. Maybe its time to retire them. My car didn't have the option to switch the mirror to a camera. It had glitches with the PDR as well. Otherwise it #22 was nearly the same spec I have besides carbon ceramic brakes.

 

[rubberduck]

 

[Ergoc5]

That would be sad. I did the school in March and had a great experience. First time on a track ever. I noticed all CT5 cars are preproduction ones, likely the CT4s as well. The CT5 manual VINs have #66. Maybe its time to retire them. My car didn't have the option to switch the mirror to a camera. It had glitches with the PDR as well. Otherwise it #22 was nearly the same spec I have besides carbon ceramic brakes.

I had #030

 

[Ergoc5]

View attachment 18344

Well that's what the chief instructor said in the classroom...what can I say