This is video of me giving a ride-along experience to a customer at the Supercar Track Xperience at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix last week. This is by far the best reaction I’ve ever had from a customer. His maniacal laugher is awesome. This guy’s a firefighter in Phoenix who brought his wife out to drive 3 cars as a ‘thank you’ for being such an awesome mom. He made the day all about her and didn’t even want to drive a car so I took him out in the McLaren. Watch in full-screen and check out the speeds on the dash as we go though the turns.

This car is UNREAL. As you can see in the video above, it handles and accelerates like nothing else. I’ve driven the MP4-12C’s closest competition, the Ferrari 458 Italia, and while that’s an amazing car, it didn’t have the slam-your-head-back acceleration and ride-on-rails cornering of the McLaren.

Me driving a Porsche 911 Turbo for instructor warm-up laps at Xtreme Xperience. My goal here was to barely break traction through the turns to work on geting a feel for controlling the car. You’ll see me turn the PSM off after the first lap and things get a bit more slippery after that. LOVE that Porsche. 

Source: youtube.com

This is video of me giving a ride-along experience to Xtreme Xperience’s newest employee  @Chrgrint. The Mercedes SLS AMG is an absolute blast to drive. It’s perfectly balanced which allows you to feel the car rotate around you through the turns. The naturally aspirated 6.2 litre V8 delivers power instantaneously and makes one of the best sounds in the automotive world (in my opinion). The transmission is amazing; in S+ mode, it almost reads your mind while in AMG mode (manual with paddles), the shifts are almost immediate and have a predictable feel. The only down side is that the steering is too good. It does not provide as much input as some of the other supercars such as a Ferrari F430. Plus, there are those doors. Those beautiful gullwing doors. Just watch your head getting out.

Cars Driven at Autobahn: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, Ferrari F430, Ferrai 458 Italia, Ferrari F430 Scuderia, Lamborghini LP560 Coupe, Lamborghini Gallardo, Audi R8 4.2 FSI, Maserati Granturismo, Porsche 911 Turbo, Aton Martin V8 Vantage, Bentley GTC, Corvette C6, Mercedes SL65.

Top Speed Reached: 135 mph on the front straight in a Ferrari 458 Italia.

The Autobahn Country Club is located in Joliet, Illinois on 315 acres, just a short drive out of downtown Chicago, minutes off of Highway 55. The North Track is a 1.46 mile road course and features 9-turns, 3 straight-aways (the longest is 1237-ft) and 40-ft wide racing tarmac. The track also has a South track, LARGE paddock, a go-kart track, skid pad, clubhouse, timing towers, privately-owned garages, a snack bar (best food of any track I’ve been to), free wi-fi, and clean bathrooms.

Driving a Ferrari F430 @ Atlanta Motorports Park

Before each Supercar Track Experience at a new track, we (Xtreme Xperience instructors) have to get a feel for the new course. In this case at Atlanta Motorsports Park, I was lucky enough to warm up with our Ferrai F430. This track is a tough one to nail. We spent 30 minutes out there on the first day, this video is just the first lap.