OK, just got back from the WCD and figured I'd post right away while it was all fresh.
Weather wasn't great with heavy cloud, low visibility and periodic rain showers but at least it wasn't too cold or windy. The way it works is they have 5 cars and 10 drivers plus a pace car and a chase car. 1 person drives while another one rides as a passenger and then every 25-30 minutes we switch until everyone has driven all 5 cars and alternating between driving and riding. The driving was done entirely on remote public roads starting out at Mystic Lake Casino and working our way nearly down to Mankato and back.
To get the disappointing bit out of the way, the Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren was there but as a backup car in case one of the others broke down. We didn't get to drive it, just admire it up close. Bummer.
Now for the fun bit.
The first car I drove was the Nissan GT-R - a last minute replacement for the Calloway Corvette we had been told would be there. That was just fine by me. Way too many electronic doodads in the car which I mostly ignored, just keeping my eye on the tach and gear position indicator. It poured during my stint in this car which was a good chance to check it out. In spite of the 480hp I'm told this car has I couldn't get er' to break loose. The Bridgestone RE070R's stuck like glue even in the heavy rain, much to the chagrin of title sponsor Pirelli (they didn't have time to swap hoops on it). This is a very drivable car and very tame at low speeds. Power is available immediately (no real lag) and the exhaust note was surprisingly pleasing. There is no body roll, steering response is super-instant and grip is amazing. One thing that wasn't was the paddle shifter which was agonizingly slow. The car actually works much better if you leave it in automatic, which I did after a while. Nissan needs to go back to the drawing board on this one.
Next up was the Maserati Granturismo - a car I really knew absolutely nothing about. This is the wine and cheese car of the group and I think an entire ranches worth of cattle died to make the interior. Never again will I ever see so much leather in one place. This car was all about smooth, a true touring car. Engine response, suspension, steering were all super smooth. While no slouch I had to drop it down a couple of gears to keep up with the Ferrari. The paddle shifters on this car worked superbly and I drove it entirely in manual mode. Still, it was clearly the slowest and cushiest car of the group - fun but not really my cup of tea.
The Ferrari 430 Scuderia however is off the chain!!!!!! It is I think the perfect car. The interior is baren - no carpet, exposed weld seams - the polar opposite of the plush Maserati, which is just the way I like it. This was by far the lightest car of the group and felt it. Everything happens fast in this car yet it is surprisingly easy to drive. Power delivery is smooth with things starting to get interesting at about 3,000 rpm where all of a sudden the engine just roars, then it gets really exciting above 4,000 rpm. For the sake of keeping the motor alive they insisted we shift at 6,500 rpm, which I obligingly did. On public roads it is hard to get it revved up that high in any gear you are going so fast. This car had the best shifter of the bunch. The instructor tells me it shifts in 0.4 seconds (vs. I think 4.0 seconds for the Nissan. As one would expect the car was perfectly balanced, had more grip than I could possibly have used, even in the rain and stopped on a dime with those massive carbon fiber brakes. The sound of course was also pure Ferrari. By far my favorite car of the group. It seemed the most popular with everyone else as well.
Next up was the Audi R8, another surprise entry filling in for a Ferrari and instead of the SLR. Of all the uber-sportscars of this group this is the one that would be most livable in day-to-day driving. Its almost like driving an Accord around town but with more blind spots. The interior is well appointed and very comfy and the engine is smooth with a very broad powerband. At speed though this car is amazingly stable and poised. At 122mph it felt as if I could have been cruising down an open highway at 60mph. At 80mph I could impress my passenger with my tire warming skills weaving back and forth with no drama at all. Except for some wind noise from what I suspect was a bad drivers door window seal above 100mph this was the quietest car of the group next to the Maserati. Silly fun but civilized, maybe a bit too civilized even.
The last car I drove was the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera (say that ten times fast). This was the most difficult car of the group to drive. The engine really likes to be above 3,000 rpm and the suspension is super stiff - you feel EVERYTHING. The carbon fibre brakes, which looked like the same brakes as on the Ferrari, were also very difficult to get a handle on. On initial application they felt spongy, then would stop the car on a dime without warning. Very difficult to modulate unlike the Ferrari whose brakes seemed not too much different than a conventional braking system. With some practice though I did mostly get the hang of it. Steering effort was the highest on the Lambo which I didn't mind. The car feels much lighter than it actually is, sticks like glue and accelerates like mad. I did a 40 to 130mph run from 3rd gear in what seemed like no more than a football field length. Scared the snot out of my passenger I think. The exhaust note was the loudest of the group by far with a nice tone but I preferred the more subdued Ferrari. Unfortunately by the time I drove the Lambo traffic had started to pick up and it started pouring again. At one point we were stuck behind a tractor doing 20mph in a 530hp supercar - agonizing!!! So that cut short a little bit of the fun but I can't complain.
It was great to drive through these little farm towns and see the local teenagers jaws drop to the floor as we rolled by, and some of the older folks too. Nobody got in trouble with the law and only one participant got scolded by the instructors for bad behaviour (passing on the right in the GT-R).
Pictures to follow.
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Originally Posted by SalahK
