Has anyone done anything with the Xtreme Xperience Super Car drive at Nelsons Ledges? Is this any fun or is it a ripoff? I have rad that they don't even allow you to go over 40 mph.
Has anyone done anything with the Xtreme Xperience Super Car drive at Nelsons Ledges? Is this any fun or is it a ripoff? I have rad that they don't even allow you to go over 40 mph.
As a matter of principle I am leery of anything "Extreme." Doubly so when it is spelled with a capital X.
I have no useful comment.
I've also read that they're all on Walmart black bagel tires so there's no way to go fast enough to have fun.
The internet is never wrong, LOL...
I am a lead instructor for them and travel the country, just got back from Sonoma yesterday. Obviously, safety is priority one. We don't want anyone getting hurt. If you show the instructor that you are competent behind the wheel, we will absolutely work with you to go fast. We're not going to bang off curbs or do 4 wheel slides, but you'll absolutely get a thrill of seeing what these cars are capable of. Many of our guests are nervous to begin with and only push a little bit... mostly slower in the corner and then floor it on the straights. As for tires, they aren't Walmart specials. That would be very dangerous. I don't recall the specific brand, as we use a couple different ones. I want to say Michelin Pilot Sports, 220tw. They are very sticky. I never have a guest leave the car disappointed, usually they are laughing hysterically and shaking with excitement.
Let me know if you have specific questions. Nelson Ledges is a pretty narrow track. Don't quote me, but I want to say about 120mph on the backstretch sounds about right, after the kink. I go to so many tracks, hard to recall top speed of each. At Portland, NOLA and COTA a fast guest can hit 160mph.
SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:...I am a lead instructor for them and travel the country, just got back from Sonoma yesterday.
I love this forum. Somebody asks a very specific question about a very specific motorsports organization, and four posts in... SKJSS works there--here are the answers, first-hand.
And not only that, but Philip Seymour Hoffman has a cameo.
Yeah, I also instruct with them.
The cars are real cars, no decreased power tuning, crap tires or anything else that would detract from the fun. There's no speed limiters or other kinds of restrictors.
The only kinds of changes you'll see from that completely stock 488 GTB that you'd pick up at your local Ferrari dealer is that these will have more aggressive brake pads and steel rotors instead of the carbon ceramic brake rotors, as those don't like being run cold, which, as Steve says, a lot of guests do.
If you do it, make sure you let your instructor know that you have track experience (if you do). We're still going to do our thing, but we can adjust the instruction to your experience level. We can also get you to the front of the pack so there's a much reduced chance of getting stuck behind a slower driver.
As I like to tell my customers, as long as you're being smooth, safe, and listening to instruction, you can have whatever kind of fun your experience is to you.
Yes, I've also been north of 145 mph in the passenger seat, but top speed is track dependant, and I haven't done Nelson with them so I'm not sure what the max speed is there. Sorry!
Also, if you're an instructor, make some time to introduce yourself to the team and hang out. It's a top-notch group of professionals, and it's amazing to see the "machinery" work.
Edit: one other thought... If you haven't logged a lot of time at Nelson (or, especially, on track in general), I'd highly recommend getting the hellcat ride along first. It's eye-opening to see what those kitties can do, especially if you've never been on a track. That ride along is worth two full sessions of your own driving as far as comfort and understanding of how to drive and position yourself on track.
I've never been to Nelson but I have participated at Xtreme Xperience events local to me at Atlanta Motorsports Park. To add to what the instructors said above, customer time in each car was brief (3 laps of the track) and traction control was kept on, but I was able to push it in the corners and floor it down the straights. It's probably the least expensive way to get behind the wheel of a supercar.
Not sure this was exactly the question but since others have touched on it, Nelson ledges top speed isn't going to be super high but the average speed is. And the track is narrow, bumpy in places, and lined with tire stacks not super far away from the track edge in most places. Not bad enough to stay away, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to be turning traction control off or pushing limits super hard in an unfamiliar to me, very expensive car.
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
I am happy to be corrected with authority.
Guys thanks for all the info!
Trying to decide between the C8 Z06 and 911 GT3 for my Hanukkah present to myself .
dps214 said:Not sure this was exactly the question but since others have touched on it, Nelson ledges top speed isn't going to be super high but the average speed is. And the track is narrow, bumpy in places, and lined with tire stacks not super far away from the track edge in most places. Not bad enough to stay away, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to be turning traction control off or pushing limits super hard in an unfamiliar to me, very expensive car.
To that end, I see that PittRace also has the Xtreme Xperience, and it isn't too far from Nelson's Ledges. Might be worth taking a look there, too, since that track is much more wide open.
I was recently lucky enough to get invited by a friend to do this at the FIRM. We each had a 2 car experience and I chose a Huracan and GT3. Overall, the experience was great. I was shocked by how many people were there and how efficiently they made it through the lines. As others have noted, each session is only 3 laps so there isn't much time to get acquainted with the car.
I explained my background to both instructors equally (multiple HPDEs over many years, experience with at least 5 different race tracks, PCA and BMWCCA member, multiple fast cars in my fleet right now, etc).
That said, the 2 sessions were polar opposites. I went out in the Huracan first and the instructor spent most of the session admonishing me to stay away from the apexes, going so far as to yank the wheel at one point. It was super frustrating, given that I wasn't that close to the apexes. Not to mention that the car pushes in the turns pretty badly.
Then I went out in the GT3. The instructor was fantastic and the car was absolutely magical - like me trying to figure out how to buy one magical. I instantly felt comfortable in it and wished for another dozen laps. At the end of the session, my instructor said it was his best ride of the day. The only negative was that we went out behind one of the Hellcat taxis and he held me up the whole time!
Overall, I would recommend it if you've never driven a particular car you've always wanted to. The GT3 session was enough to convince me!
In reply to dyintorace :
I'm glad you enjoyed the experience overall. The Firm is a tight little track, it's hard to stay away from the edges of the track. We always leave a 3 foot margin of safety on either side, so The Firm presented a challenge for us. Do you recall the names of your instructors? Feedback is vitally important for us. There's a fine line between keeping a fast driver safe and being overbearing. As long as the guest is within our guidelines we don't want to interfere. The nature of the Huracan is to push, not surprised you felt it. It can, however, go from push to snap oversteer so we have to be on our toes with it. It's a wild child. The GT3 is our favorite car, you saw why. It's absolutely divine...as long as you are smooth with your hands and right foot. It's insanely responsive and does everything you tell it to. It truly is magic. The Charger Hellcats are our "lead" cars. We use them as an educational tool for guests and a high speed thrill ride. It's also the one car you are not allowed to pass. For its size and weight it's remarkably capable. Only our lead instructors are allowed to drive it. As fast as it is, it's not a GT3. You can still go quite fast in the supercars and get a true feeling of what they're like. At times, if I have a really experienced and safe driver I will have them back off the Charger a little and then reel it back in.
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
I sent you an email with details. As for following the Hellcat, we did just that - backed off on the straight and then reeled him back in!
dyintorace said:In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
I sent you an email with details. As for following the Hellcat, we did just that - backed off on the straight and then reeled him back in!
Glad to hear we have some instructors here and that the program is pretty cool. I've met more thana few people who have gotten into track stuff after events like these so it's cool to hear that Xtreme Xp is doing qulity work at the top of the funnel.
Sorry I missed you guys at the FIRM. I was going to go over just to hang out and make a diplomatic appearance, but some real life stuff got in the way. If I knew we had board folk instructing I'd have tried harder :)
Puddy46 said:dps214 said:Not sure this was exactly the question but since others have touched on it, Nelson ledges top speed isn't going to be super high but the average speed is. And the track is narrow, bumpy in places, and lined with tire stacks not super far away from the track edge in most places. Not bad enough to stay away, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to be turning traction control off or pushing limits super hard in an unfamiliar to me, very expensive car.
To that end, I see that PittRace also has the Xtreme Xperience, and it isn't too far from Nelson's Ledges. Might be worth taking a look there, too, since that track is much more wide open.
Honestly if you're going in with no track knowledge Nelson might be the better choice for this sort of thing. It's a bit sketchier if you're pushing hard but it's a much simpler and shorter track so if you only get 3-5 laps total it's much easier to pick up and be able to focus on driving rather than on remembering which of the esses is which or where you have to turn in for the blind corner(s) at Pitt.
Is Nelson's still the same quality as Cleveland roads? I thought it got repaved finally a couple years back?
I haven't been there since 2005ish, so in my fuzzy mind it wasn't horrible at that time. I had a moto racer buddy who said early-mid 90s it was so bad they had cones in the potholes 😮.
In reply to XLR99 (Forum Supporter) :
Can confirm cones in holes back then. I remember they tried to grind the track to smooth it out on the back straight right before a Longest Day race. They broke through and we had some gravel areas to work around. There was a nice washboard area in the braking zone after the kink, the car was in the air more than half the time.
I broke a camber plate on my Fiat there in '91 or '92.
I signed up for one of these in 2020 (may have been a competitor) and they had a Shelby Cobra replica as one of the choices to drive. As it was the only vehicle with a manual transmission thats what I chose to drive. I paid in advance in January. When the pandemic closed everything down I had to cancel the trip and the experience. I was so bummed out I've never looked at them again. Maybe now is the time.
Man, I would go back to drive a Cobra replica for sure
The Cobra replica isn't us. I can't imagine using one. I had one for years. Spooky handling due to the short wheelbase, lack of safety features including traction and stability control and unknown build quality. Super fun car, but not well suited for our model. For 2025 I believe our lineup is going to be: GT-R, C8 Z06, Ferrari 488, Lambo Huracan, Porsche GT3, Porsche GT4 RS, Ferrari 296
Don't get me wrong, I love a manual transmission. However if I were to buy or drive a modern supercar I would go automatic all day. They are far faster and incredibly smart. Not quite as "engaging" for sure, but I think a better overall experience. Specifically the Ferrari transmission and Porsche PDK are stunningly good.
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