Spring Mountain Impressions

[Tall Steve]

SM was a lot of fun. The instructors were awesome and very helpful with the car and with track driving.

Just beware if you are in a 4 automatic. Overheated very easy when temp was over 106 outside. The transmission starts to shift like an old pickup without the clutch just slamming into gear throwing the whole car off.
If you get the unlucky 34A RUN. It was overheating after 3 or 4 sub 1:23 laps. Doing like 1:25 or higher staying in 5th really did seem to cool it off. The other car they put me in I think 30 lasted almost all of the 20 minute session running like 120-122 laps, besides the AC turning off.

30a overheated on me too... I just had to back off one lap and she would cool back down...
View attachment _SM_8519.jpg

 

[savethemanual]

How early can you leave spring mountain on day 2?
Looking for flights back home later in the evening on the same day.

 

[TheShark]

How early can you leave spring mountain on day 2?
Looking for flights back home later in the evening on the same day.

it wraps up at 4 pm. drive is 45 min to an hour back to LAS

 

[savethemanual]

it wraps up at 4 pm

Sounds ok to book a 6:50 PM flight out of LAS?
It's going to be just me so I am guessing I should be back 1.5 hours before my flight. Just carry on baggage too.

 

[Head Hunter]

Sounds ok to book a 6:50 PM flight out of LAS?
It's going to be just me so I am guessing I should be back 1.5 hours before my flight. Just carry on baggage too.

I would think so, barring any unforeseen issues, but that's always the case, haha

 

[Matt27]

Sounds ok to book a 6:50 PM flight out of LAS?
It's going to be just me so I am guessing I should be back 1.5 hours before my flight. Just carry on baggage too.

If you're not already aware, the rental car center if off-site so you need to account for drop off there, grabbing the shuttle to the airport, etc. Could easily add a half hour before you're even at security.

 

[savethemanual]

If you're not already aware, the rental car center if off-site so you need to account for drop off there, grabbing the shuttle to the airport, etc. Could easily add a half hour before you're even at security.

Yeah I noticed that- Might be a bit of a rush but should be ok I guess.

 

[FLYARMY]

I made arrangements to stay for the rest of the week and enjoyed Las Vegas. You may be cutting it close if any traffic pops up or unforeseen delays.

 

[MatthewAMEL]

@MatthewAMEL and @KatyTxCT5V - you're bringing your wives ? We're all attending the Oct 1 - 2 class I believe..........which is now only 2 months away.

My wife is worried about being bored to death while I have fun on the track.

What did everybody else's better half do while they were learning how to be faster ?

My wife won't be there for this one. She has already gone to two other schools with me, Dirtfish and Bertil Roos.

 

[JTugwell]

SM was a lot of fun. The instructors were awesome and very helpful with the car and with track driving.

Just beware if you are in a 4 automatic. Overheated very easy when temp was over 106 outside. The transmission starts to shift like an old pickup without the clutch just slamming into gear throwing the whole car off.
If you get the unlucky 34A RUN. It was overheating after 3 or 4 sub 1:23 laps. Doing like 1:25 or higher staying in 5th really did seem to cool it off. The other car they put me in I think 30 lasted almost all of the 20 minute session running like 120-122 laps, besides the AC turning off.
Shifting once the yellow came on the HUD so like 6000 ish

Edit for temps:
282 oil the heat turns on AC off
285 ish the transmission starts to shift hard AF
301 oil the car cuts power
255 Coolant the car goes to limp

Nice to meet you @scoobs00 ! I couldn't quite hang with you guys. My best lap was a 123.8, but the 4BW manual never overheated. Coolant temps were in the 260-degree range so I think it was getting close.

 

[BlueBird]

I'll be there next week with the wife. Will my wife have access to the lake, pool, etc. while we are there if she would rather use the facilities at Spring Mountain? Are there rentals at the lake and how is the pool? Any Spa facilities?

As much as she likes autox with me, I think it'll be too hot and she'd probably rather do something else.

 

[JTugwell]

I'll be there next week with the wife. Will my wife have access to the lake, pool, etc. while we are there if she would rather use the facilities at Spring Mountain? Are there rentals at the lake and how is the pool? Any Spa facilities?

As much as she likes autox with me, I think it'll be too hot and she'd probably rather do something else.

She will have access to the pool and other facilities, but to be honest there wasn’t much to do. The lake is permanently closed. My wife tried to book a massage, but the lady never got back with her. She did the ride alongs both days, but other than that just went to the gym and hung out in the room.

 

[BlueBird]

She will have access to the pool and other facilities, but to be honest there wasn’t much to do. The lake is permanently closed. My wife tried to book a massage, but the lady never got back with her. She did the ride alongs both days, but other than that just went to the gym and hung out in the room.

Well...I guess she had better plan on riding along or staying at the hotel in town.

 

[OldGoat]

@MatthewAMEL and @KatyTxCT5V - you're bringing your wives ? We're all attending the Oct 1 - 2 class I believe..........which is now only 2 months away.

My wife is worried about being bored to death while I have fun on the track.

What did everybody else's better half do while they were learning how to be faster ?

My wife lounged first day and was with me in class second day and up in tower during autocross and my track time. She passed on ride-a-long She still had a great time

 

[FLYARMY]

We stayed on site in the condo (which was very nice). Ate breakfast and lunch at the dining room. The pool and gym area are very nice. We were there in December and nobody used the pool. Wife did use the gym. They have a putting green and nice outdoor lounging area at the clubhouse. My wife took the rental minivan and went into town with one of the other wives to shop at Walmart. We would drive into Vegas at night and have dinner.
** Also they have an indoor firing range if you are packing heat. I didn't see it , but was told it exists.

 

[Dirkbg]

For those who have attended Spring Mountain, do you recall the setting for the 4 BW manual trans for the 0-60? They seem to have programmed the V mode, and if I recall it was to sport but I don't remember what the PTM was they used. For every event they seem to have had a different program that was applied by pressing the V button twice. Wheel spin was minimal and I assume it was putting maximum power to the tires that traction would allow.

 

[JTugwell]

For those who have attended Spring Mountain, do you recall the setting for the 4 BW manual trans for the 0-60? They seem to have programmed the V mode, and if I recall it was to sport but I don't remember what the PTM was they used. For every event they seem to have had a different program that was applied by pressing the V button twice. Wheel spin was minimal and I assume it was putting maximum power to the tires that traction would allow.

We were told that V mode was all settings maxed out (suspension, steering, brakes) and PTM set to sport. This was the same for every driving event I did.

 

[Ivy1Le]

Anyone else doing spring mountain this weekend? Dates are Aug 10 - Aug 12, class will be Aug 11/12

 

[Grainofsand]

I could never go back to owning a 4.

Why do you say that? Is it the power difference or is it because it doesn't have the V8 sound?

 

[TwinSkrullDesign]

Went to Spring Mountain back when I had my ATS-V and my wife & I had an absolute blast. Very much looking forward to getting back down there for the Blackwing stuff. We’ll probably do an additional day or two in Vegas afterwards.