yelli

Hey There,

I've been curious to try the new Driveway race track over in East Austin. I have no formal racing training or ever been on a track, so I'm looking for a place where I could get started. This place seems pretty interesting, and costs roughly $350 for the starter course which then gets you access to the short course.

Anyone with any experience know if it's worth it, or whether there are better alternatives?

GateCrasher

Waiting on ludwigvan968 to chime in...

I have no track experience either. I will be going to the Harris Hill HPD Nov 14th. "Only" $170 & most people so far (S2000' owners and other clubs) have recommended it.

Driveway is also a great place based on other recommendations

yelli

Hmmm, I wasn't aware of that event, seems like it might be worth it to go.

I see regular membership for the track is $2500, plus $90/month on top of the session cost? That seems pretty high!

RavynX

I haven't been to Driveway Austin yet but after ludwigvan968 introduced me to their website I've been wanting to try it out since my first track day this past April at Harris Hill Road.

Like Hisham said, S2KCA is hosting a driving event out at Harris Hill Road on Nov. 14th. Check out the thread I started for it. It's a lot of fun out there. Unfortunately, yes, the membership is quite costly; the price jumped up to $2500 a couple of months ago I believe. Fortunately, Sonda has been kind enough to get the S2000 community several track days out there at a decent price.

When I went for my first track day at H2R I was put in the Green (Novice) group and was assigned an instructor (Richard Sol) and he taught me the proper line to the course and by the end of my 3rd session they moved me up to the Blue group without an instructor since I was lapping people left and right. If you get a chance to ride w/ him in his Lotus Exige or have him as an instructor, I highly suggest it.

At Driveway Austin you have to earn Licenses in order to progress to the longer and more difficult track-configurations they have there. Sounds like a ton of fun to me but definitely a money-sink since they require a certain amount of sessions per level and having to pass a test to advance.

Chris S

A friend of mine built Driveway Austin as his personal playground, and I used to go there w/ cars and shifter karts (original layout). IMO, it was a much better kart track than a car track.

It's been expanded w/ more track configs, but getting access to them is progressively more expensive, plus many of them have walls in close prox. to the track.

HHR is a real track, w/ plenty of land, nothing to hit, and a friendly, helpful staff.

I greatly prefer HHR, even though it's a longer drive.

ludwigvan968

This is the great debate, HHR Vs. Drive Way Austin

I will dare to drop my 2 cents!

Being that I love both tracks and think both serve great purposes, I highly recommend them.

That said I believe they are for two different types of individuals, or if you are like me, they both work.

DriveWay Austin is a driving Academy, i.e. you have instructors, courses and access to the track is through the Academies curriculum/process.

HHR is more of a Country Club style road course. This means you come and go as you please and pay for sessions.

DriveWay Austin offers a more "Grand Prix" style track, however as others stated you must work your way through the Academy to drive on it. The course does have wall barriers, which to many can be intimidating, however, I should note I have never seen anyone hit one (though I have heard it happens from time to time). A very realistic setup in many ways.

HHR has a very open track like Chris notates, i.e. there is "run off" for errors, no barriers and the track has few obstructions in terms of view. Though it should be noted you will still tear up your car a bit when you run off track, though most of the time things turn out fine.

As for the personal, both are very friendly.

DriveWay Austin has a very professional staff and Bill is known to have a strong personality (Then again Bill is a race car driver and if you have ever hung out with race car drivers, well ), I tend to like it. Their instructors are very friendly as well, I have had many great conversations with Joe one of their instructors and Scott Bill's son is very friendly as well.

HHR also has a very friendly and professional staff, I have mainly talked and visited with Eric and he has been top notch.

I think a lot of this has to do with personal preference and background. Before I learned to drive on the streets I spent 2 summers at Malibu Grand Prix where I drove single/two seater race cars (yeah remember back in the day when Malibu was cool?)

I literally logged hundreds if not a thousand laps on the San Antonio track, by the time I was ready to drive I already knew what an apex was, tire patch and weight transfer.

I also picked up Bob Boundrants book about racing and learned about double clutching and how to jump a rally car (no mom I swear I never jumped your car!)

My point here is that some people will want to be self taught and learn through "experience", such as DE's, Autocross days, TWS meets and other events. They may just want to read books and do a lot of studying on their own to develop their technique. (Oh and don't forget to watch all of Initial D to round out the training, I know I have! )

Others may prefer an Academy where there is a certain structure and progression.

I personally fall under both Camps, while my Ego tends to think it can do everything itself, I often know when to seek professional help. Once I have built up a certain level of confidence I tend to ready to "take it to another level" and have professional people give me criticism and feedback. However, the relationship between a student and instructor is key and something to think about when looking at the various driving academies, feeling comfortable is important.

So yes, I recommend them both and I hope to have memberships at both of them sooner then later. As for the pricing, you have to pay to play and that is the bottom line, this is not a cheap sport, however if you have ever been out on a track you know why it is worth it.

Also I should note that at either tracks whenever I talk to their customers they all say they love the facilities and staff.

And for those trying to get an idea of the tracks, here are some youtube videos:

Harris Hill Video I shot:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-o2sZMGtlw [/media]

Driveway Austin, here is a ride along with Josh in his road racing prepped Mustang doing the L2 course:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsS1S8aTrrQ [/media]

yelli

Thanks Guys,

Great information and awesome videos. Since I have no formal training it would probably be better for me to go the instructor route since the last thing I want to do is mess up my s2k because of novice mistakes...

I think I'd have to visit both tracks to really decide, although honestly the Driveway F1-style track appeals to me a bit more. I love the mixture or harsh turns and straight tracks. The only track I've ever visited (never driven on) was the Catalunya Grand Prix track in Barcelona to see F1 warmups and Lemans, and it looked awesome. Considering the S2k is a F1-style car....which is better suited?

So the HHR track seems to be larger than the L2 course it seems? I'm curious if the L1 track at the driveway is any fun...

Is there a way to visit the tracks and get a 'test drive' of the track before putting down money? Do they give you a 'tour' of the place?

I think I'll plan on going to the s2k event at HHR for sure, is it an all-day event?

ludwigvan968

Yes both will give you a tour of the track, just give them a call.

RavynX

Yes, it's an all day event and there are only 50 entries so you better sign up now before they fill up. There is talk about HHR (H2R) implementing stricter rules on convertibles. In the future they may require convertibles to have a roll cage in addition to the stock roll-hoops.

You may also want to ask Driveway Austin about the S2000's presence on the full track and if they require an aftermarket roll-cage on their higher level tech inspections.

mr 280z again

i want to take a tour of the Driveway track. we should have a day where we all go to take a tour!