Oh, I'm planning if I do go to go up on saturday and head home on tuesday. No sense going up to Monterey and not making a nice little vacation out of it.

As for the spare tire issue - I've had a blowout before on this car (complete blowout - as in fix a flat would have done me no good) and I don't want to risk that on a 500 mile trip.

One more thing I'm worried about - what if I figure out how to get my sh!t up there, and it ends up raining all weekend? What makes Monterey a nice place to visit is that it's a very pretty area... but if it rains, I wont be able to see anything really and that'll pretty much **** up any track time.

 

A word of caution to all-

Games such as Grand Turismo 3 will NOT prepare you for Laguna Seca. These kinds of semi-simulator games are fun, but not what I would consider to be any form of substitute for actual seat time there.

Nothing will prepare you for the 200 yards leading up to turn 2, or the corkscrew (and coming out of it), or turn 11.

You can play them to your heart's content, but there's no similarity. Laguna can be (and usually is) very unforgiving.

If you want a good idea of Laguna, watch Speedvision when they show a race there.

 

Ditto to what GTR said.

 

For me, a point of clarification...I never said that it was anything but something of preparation for what the track does. Calling a video game of this nature a substitute for seat time is folly. If someone interpreted my statement as saying that, nothing could be further from the truth.

All GT3 does is provide something of a starting point...nothing more, nothing less..which is better than nothing.

 

GTRPower:

> Games such as Grand Turismo 3 will NOT prepare you for
> Laguna Seca.

It depends on what you mean by "prepare". Getting all of the GT licenses and driving the LS simulation will help you. Period. I did exactly this with GT2 before taking the three day Skip Barber racing school at LS last year. There is no doubt in my mind. GT2 did help me. And there IS a similarity between the game and the track.

But this help and similarity only goes so far. Regarding the simulation, the lines you drive, the vertical elevation changes, and the cambers of the corners are most notably different from the track. Also, a fundamental problem with the simulation is that your vision through the corners and far ahead down the track is severely limited.

And of course there are handling and safety issues.

So, GTRPower, I agree with your warning for caution. GT is NOT a substitute for seat time. BUT IT WILL HELP. I would much rather have someone do GT first than show up at LS stone cold. EVEN BETTER of course would be for everyone to take the Skip Barber school first before driving their own car there.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the weather. We don't get a lot of rain; if we do get rain it's hardly ever a downpour.

If you are looking to make this a special vacation for you and your special someone there is some nice hotel in that area. Some good ones are Monterey Plaza hotel, Hyatt, Marriott, and Doubletree. If you really want to go for romance try Seven Gables Inn and Sundial Lodge.

I would also suggest for lunch or dinner we could all go to Baja Cantina. This restaurant theme is motor sports; many car clubs go there. Motor Trends magazine also likes to do photo shoots there. Plus the foods pretty good.

If we can help in anyway just tell us, we live 15 min. from Laguna Seca and 20 min. from Monterey.

 

I think GT3 helps in with knowing what turn is coming up, which way it's going to turn, and a general idea of the severity of a turn. I think you'll be better prepared playing the game vs someone who's never seen the track before. Definitely the game is no comparison to real life driving.

 

Count me in if the price is right and the schedule of events is doable! I have a lot of questions but I'll wait to see this develop. Keep us all informed and how soon you need the money

 

definitely want to participate and may even be able to trailer queen my s2000! Just concerned about my amateur status on the track and laguna seca being pretty challenging. But it's all for fun! And how much instructor time will the amateurs get?

 

I'll definitely be up for it, if I can get a job between now and then. If not, I think my finances might be a little tight.