Every time I sit down to let you guys know what it was like, I don't know where to start. Remember as you read this that I am a beginner (as in never done anything like this before) with 145 members of the local Audi club- A6, A4, TT, S4, Mitsu EVO, M3, etc.... Some heavily modded, some bone stock.
First, the car:
These cars are absolutely wonderful right out-of-the-box. You hear a lot about the power and looks, but its out-of-the-box handling capabilities are truly amazing. The braking ability shocked my instructor. So did the grip of the F1's and the suspension. There was one test the Beginner group had to do to teach us why you don't brake while turning in. They had cones set up in a severe curve and we were told to approach at a high speed, slam the brakes and simultaneously attempt to make the turn. I asked my instructor what speed he wanted to try. Since it was our first time in the car together, he said 60MPH. I approached the cones and on his signal slammed the brakes and turned in. NOTHING, the car just turned in and stopped. He laughed outloud. We tried it at 80. The same thing happened. He said OK and the test was over. The other cars were plowing cones at all speeds. They had slaloms set up all over the South course. The Z went through them effortlessly.
Those of you who know the track will appreciate this next part of my story. At one point on the south course they removed all the cones from the back straight, which begins with a lengthy downhill stretch, so we could learn to drive the Oak Tree double-apex turn at slow speeds. I was on course with about 4 other cars. The rest of the Biginners were in a classroom which is located about a third of the way down the straight. I came screaming out of Oak Tree in 2nd, hit the inside rumble strip, opened up a little toward the outside rumble strip, and floored it. As I approached the classroom building, several beginners and the instructor stuck their heads out of doors and windows to see what all the noise was about. It was me going by near the top of third gear! That was about it for Monday morning. The rest of the two-day class would be on the full course with the instructor, or so I was told. To be continued. Just writing about this experience makes me tired.
BTW, VIR is unbelieveable: strikingly beautiful, perfectly maintained, well staffed, and very fast. It is probably a mistake to make VIR your first Ed class. It's like learning to ski at Vail or Aspen and then returning to Virginia and ski the POS slopes we have here.
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