Spring Mountain Impressions

[Tall Steve]

Personally I am pleased they are using the East Loop for the V Academy. I have done the West loop in 2019 for the V Academy but did the East Loop in 2017 for the Corvette School.

My thoughts on East Loop. The three keys to the East Loop are 1) once you turn in and get through Turn 1 you can go flat out up to Turn 3 or at least you could in the C7Z06 as Turn 2 will hold more speed than you think. 2) you need to give up Turn 3. No reason to push it as you will just slow yourself down as you push out to the left side. 3) on the right turn before the straight, definitely be looking right as you turn in and get it shut down and do an early 'late apex' so you can get on the throttle early to get going up the straight. Half of the fun is actually learning the track you are on as you really can't get up to speed until you have run it several times.

Very well said! I agree 100% I could never master the last turn ( 9? ) before getting on the straightaway... Turns 1 2 3 were a freaking blast..

 

[bloominguez]

I’m heading there this weekend…

I'll see you there, for the January 20-21 class, right?

 

[LastGas]

I've attached my video from the same lap posted by @TK42ONE, I'm the car in front in his video and in front of me is the instructor Josh. We ran about the same time on that lap (Ok, I was .6 seconds slower grr) but with me in a CT4 and @TK42ONE in a CT5. It gives some sense of the differences between the two cars and I also wish we had a couple laps in the other car as part of this program. Right on @pkincy and @Tall Steve about turns 1-2-3 being a blast, you can hear the PTM start firing for a moment when I go back to the gas in two. How fast you go through there is a question of both talent and huevos...

Also, this is my first ever youtube posting so after watching please like and subscribe so I can be an influencer. Thank you.

Spring Mountain east loop CT4 lap

 

[TalsBW]

I'll see you there, for the January 20-21 class, right?

Yup!

 

[cookfr]

I spoke with Ashley at Spring Mountain this morning. Unfortunately ALL CT5V Blackwing manual trans classes are booked. I'm waiting for a cancellation or for them to create additional classes. I went to Spring Mountain in 2019 when I bought my Z06 and it was a fantastic experience. I'm expecting the same if I can get in a class before July when my 1 year of ownership is up....

 

[MatthewAMEL]

Surely they will allow you to extend your sign up beyond one year if everything is full?

 

[Ergoc5]

@TK42ONE
.thanks for the awesome write up! Looking forward to doing this on April 12-13. Is the track time always lead follow with the instructor leading? Are you alone in the car or is the instructor with you?
Thanks!

 

[DaytonOH CT 5 BW]

I spoke with Ashley at Spring Mountain this morning. Unfortunately ALL CT5V Blackwing manual trans classes are booked. I'm waiting for a cancellation or for them to create additional classes. I went to Spring Mountain in 2019 when I bought my Z06 and it was a fantastic experience. I'm expecting the same if I can get in a class before July when my 1 year of ownership is up....

I'm right there with you. I got the car last Thursday, called them that day. Maybe we can have Rob start tracking when we can get into Spring Mountain.

 

[GTANotch88]

My class will be after my 1 year mark and it wasn't an issue. They just had to get additional approval from GM and they said its usually no big deal. I would just try to call to set it up or get your name on a waiting list prior to that 1 year mark so they have a record of it.

 

[TK42ONE]

Always lead follow with instructor leading. Alone in car except for hot laps

 

[Berserker]

Alone in car except for hot laps

Who is in the car with you?

And what constitutes a "hot lap"? I've seen plenty of videos of people spanking cars at Spring Mountain solo.

Sorry, not trying to be argumentative or a dick. I'm just genuinely confused.

 

[Matt27]

Who is in the car with you?

And what constitutes a "hot lap"? I've seen plenty of videos of people spanking cars at Spring Mountain solo.

Sorry, not trying to be argumentative or a dick. I'm just genuinely confused.

I believe the hot laps are with instructors at the wheel and likely to be a little "hotter" than what the average BW owner is capable of.

I've taken a couple of these at the BMW M Trackdays and yeah, it's a different level of spanking.

 

[TalsBW]

Who is in the car with you?

And what constitutes a "hot lap"? I've seen plenty of videos of people spanking cars at Spring Mountain solo.

Sorry, not trying to be argumentative or a dick. I'm just genuinely confused.

You have hot laps you do yourself. The instructor will lead the pack and control the speed to some extent, but you run the hot lap three times each time out. They do a ride-along on day 1 where they really push it. Otherwise, youre in the car alone.

 

[668LT4]

I was at Spring Mountain last weekend and in fact met Talia there. No denying my ride-along laps (with the instructor driving) were the fastest I have ever moved around a track. The instructors are very open about saying they have thousands of laps on the track and could drive them blind folded, but still, they are amazing pilots. And it was freaking cold in the mornings. Low 20s when we woke with all cars frosted over. My first laps last Saturday started at 29 degrees F. The tire pressures were in the mid 20s, and we were told "don't push too hard right now, it is gonna be like driving on hockey pucks". But damn, we were still attacking fairly hard.

You really gain appreciation for how magnificent the cars are. I was in a 4 which was interesting. I had not driven one since last July or so (I owned mine only 2 months). For as much as the cars have in common with interiors, tech, settings, etc., they are very different to drive. I could never go back to owning a 4. But it was fun to track. I did notice some quirks with the 6MT. The car had just over 2000 miles as I recall, but almost every time I started it for a new session, it would not go into 1st gear. I would quickly cycle to 2nd and then it went back to 1st easily. I recalled that happening on my 4, but not often. I have not yet encountered it on my 5, but only have 800+ miles.

Here is a Vette photo my wife snapped from the villa.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Sorry for slightly off topic, but im going in April.
I like smoking cigars (wife says I have a "problem"...whatever).

Can I smoke a cigar(s) outside the villa?

 

[TK42ONE]

There was a smoking area on the second floor I saw. I don't think you can smoke cigars on your condo patio though. Not sure about the outdoor area at the club house but I thought I remember people smoking out there.

 

[OldGoat]

Can I smoke a cigar(s) outside the villa?

When you find out please let me know. I'm going in May

 

[pkincy]

You have hot laps you do yourself. The instructor will lead the pack and control the speed to some extent, but you run the hot lap three times each time out. They do a ride-along on day 1 where they really push it. Otherwise, youre in the car alone.

The instructors will stay ahead of you no matter what lap times you turn and they will do it likely with a passenger and while watching you in the rear view mirror and talking to you on the radio. And they will do it while in a Camaro if you are at the Corvette School in a Z06 or while in a 4BW if you are in a 5BW. So you will be able to move as quickly as your talent will allow. In fact the instructors love having a good driver attend as that allows them to run the course more quickly and hence have more fun. When I last did the V Academy (2019) Rick Malone allowed 2 of us to go out together and the instructors loved it as we could turn fast enough laps to keep the instructors interested and motoring along. This was on the West end for the V Academy and the East end for my Corvette School. The middle is a bit faster so if you are running that quickly you may force the instructor into a similar model car, but they will stay ahead of you no matter how fast you pedal. And do it while critiqueing your lines and talking to you on the radio at the same time. It is a very well run school.

 

[FrankRizzo]

^ that reminds me of Bondurant.
When I got my Challenger SRT, you got a "free" 6 hour course at Bondurant in AZ. I upgraded to the two day....and upgraded to the Viper as well. I had a great instructor. There were several Engineers from the SRT team at the course and Bob himself made frequent visits in the classroom and on the track as well.

The last two hours on the last day they just cut you loose and there was only one other guy that wanted to go for runs with myself...but a few minutes later Bob himself was on the track and I can honestly say I did track runs with Bob Bondurant for almost a half hour. Talk about a learning experience, watching that guy drive from the seat of the car behind him was amazing. He had a pig of a Challenger HellCat and I could not run him down in the corners.

RIP Bob. The guy was 84 years old at the time!

 

[wschomburg]

How long did it take before you were sent information to sign up for Spring Mountain after purchase?