I'm just back from the Motor Press Guild's Track Day, in which a bunch of automakers bring a bunch of their cars out to Willow Springs International Raceway for a bunch of journalists to thrash on a 2.5 mile race track. (Can you believe I get paid to do this job? I can't.)
Of all the cars out there -- and we're talking about cars like the Dodge Viper (which I drove), Shelby GT (ditto), and Audi R8 (missed it, the line was too long, but I'll be reviewing it soon), my favorite was the Honda Civic Si. Stop laughing. It's just such a wonderful track car -- so easy to drive, so forgiving, and so well balanced. If you lift off the throttle in the corner, it brings its tail 'round just like a proper rear-driver -- but if you're overzealous with the power, it won't send you butt-first into the weeds. All that plus it sounds lovely and it won't complain if you spend a bit too long at the red-line. Fantastic car.
I also came away with a new appreciation for Volkswagen/Audi's Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) transmission. It's got none of the drawbacks of a regular automatic; the revs stay right where you want them, just like a manual. There's almost no interruption in power flow when you shift. But I knew all that. What I realized is that, as much as I love stick-shifts, the truth is that for someone with my level of racing skill -- and let's just say I'm a long way from being Parnelli Jones -- it's nice not to have to worry about clutching and shifting, which takes up a lot of time, or having to keep one eye on the tach to make sure a downshift won't over-rev the engine or cause a skid. (Read more about DSG here.)
Other cars that really impressed me: The Volkswagen R32, which is basically an all-wheel-drive GTI with a V6 engine and the road manners of an Audi; the new Impreza WRX, which hasn't lost its edge on the track; and the new Lexus IS-F, which is way more bad-ass than I ever expected. I'll have full test drives of all three of these cars coming up in the next couple of months. -- Aaron Gold
Photo © Aaron Gold
Hey, Autoweek Internet reported today that the R32 AWD system packed on 400lbs! Wow what a porker for such a small car…did you feel that the extra heft affected accel/braking/handling/mpg during your test drive? That car seemed to have it all at a potentially affordable price…the weight could pull it down into “nice try, but…” territory.
The R32 has extra heft but it also has a lot of extra power. I didn’t get to do a back-to-back comparo with the GTI as the keys had disappeared (grrr) but I did drive it back to back with the very same Jetta GLI I tested not long ago (good ol’ #12). (The GLI weighs about 120 lbs more than the GTI.) Totally different experience — good as the 2.0T is, the V6/DSG combination is a nice setup. It sticks, goes and rotates a lot better. Of course, track driving isn’t street driving, and I’m scheduled to give the R32 a proper test early in December. We’ll see how it works on the About.com Cars Top Secret Curvy Test Road…
Wow Bill that wasn’t cold…that was just mean. I’ve been reading/blogging on this site for quite some time and I can’t recall ever reading that Aaron purported himself to be an expert. I think that actually “a driving expert” will give an overly unidimensional view….all about the technical aspects of driving a certain car. I’ve got R&T, Autoweek, Car & Driver and Automobile for that. I’m looking for a more balanced review, from someone who has significant knowledge, but doesn’t talk over people’s heads and speaks to “less important” issues that motor heads don’t recognize. If this isn’t tehno enough for you, look elsewhere. You don’t have to minimize a site’s author, that others relate to, just because you’re above it all. Your attitude is self ingratiating and serves no purpose other that bolstering your ego and thus dimishing your statements, because of their arrogance and contrary nature.
Oh boy, Bill, being subtle AND humble are your strong points, aren’t they? Of course, all of the other auto enthusiasts that read these articles certaintly couldn’t even THINK of comparing their driving skills and tastes to yours, now could they? If you read the article and thought about it just a bit, he was trying to convey which vehicle he felt offered the “most fun to drive” factor, by instilling driver confidence, making the experience all that more enjoyable. Just because the Viper (or your aforementioned favorite, the Mustang) is faster, pulls more skidpad G’s, or has a V-8 (or 10) rumble doesn’t make it a better driver’s car. You also have to take into consideration the fact that a manufacturer has to make a vehicle that will fulfill the most people (consumers) in the most ways (sales). This is why Ariel won’t ever sell 250,000 vehicles, no matter the price. Their vehicles don’t appeal to the general public, only a few automotive extremists. I’ve driven a Viper, and in no way could it compare to a couple of laps in, say for example, a nicely prepped BMW 2002. Could the Viper spank it in more or less every performance criteria? Oh, you betcha. Except for the maniacal grin I (or probably many of the other people with (as you put it) “deficient driving skills” wouldn’t be able to wipe off our faces when done. Oh yeah, and Ariel produces the Atom, and yes, it would spank the snot out of your Viper or Mustang every way, except for top end, with a weeny 4 cylinder.
Bill, if I thought racetrack performance was the most important factor in a consumer’s decision to buy a car, I’d become an expert track driver. I make lots of jokes about my lousy driving, and while I am still learning the fine art of picking a good line, but the truth is that I know how to make the car do what I want it to do, I know how to stay alive, and I know that if you’re driving a car with a high-torque engine and a low-tech live axle at the rear — like, say, oh, I don’t know, maybe a Model A Ford, a Checker taxicab, or a 2007 Mustang — you take it easy. (That said, my idea of “easy” is probably your average person’s idea of “vomit inducing”.)
While I didn’t talk about my drive in the Viper, I will tell you that yes, I treated it with kid gloves. This was the first time in a couple of years that Chrysler brought a Viper to Track Day, because in the past Vipers have been damaged by over-zealous journalists who do not have a realistic idea of their level of skill. I could have driven it a lot faster, but I only had two laps, I didn’t know the car, and I wasn’t going to be the guy who spun the thing off into the dirt. (And Chrysler had someone in the passenger seat to babysit us so we wouldn’t do just that.)
Incidentally, I also drove the Shelby GT on the track, and while I drove it harder than the Viper, I still took it easy. My momma didn’t raise no fools!
Now contrast this with the Civic Si. Here’s a car I could really press to its limits in relative safety. The Si has no nasty habits waiting up its sleeve. You can lift off hard and get a nice rotation without worrying about leaving the corner backwards. You can get into the power without worrying that you’re going to break the rear end loose and go off the track trunk-first. And thanks to the limited-slip diff, you can mash the throttle and not smoke the inside-front tire. And here’s the best part: The Civic Si’s track behavior translates to the street. You can drive the Civic Si just as hard on the open road, and while you may get a ticket, you probably won’t get dead. With a Mustang or a Viper, it’s easy to get in over your head. And if your reply to that is “If you know what you’re doing, you won’t get in over your head” — I agree. And that’s exactly why I’m so wary of cars like the Mustang and the Viper, and why I take it easy on the public roads — because I know what I’m doing. — Aaron
Oh, I almost forgot, thanks for the kind words, everyone — and Bill, even criticism is appreciated.
I do try to make the reviews relevant to the type of car, so while I may not even talk about horsepower numbers on a Yaris, I will do my best to tell you what a high-performance car is like in the curves. Even if sometimes — as with the Mustang — the truth isn’t what everyone wants to hear. 
With all that said, I still have a bone to pick with the Civic Si, as I do with the S2000. There’s just too little low end grunt and in real world driving it really gets to be a drag running around at 4000 rpm, not to say hard on the mpg’s, or the ears. I really find it annoying to have to pay that much time on keeping the engine up where it performs well. I’d like to see a supercharger to get it up there…but there goes the mpg…I’m not an afficionado of these mechanical issues, but the Si just doesn’t cut it for me as it is…and everyone by now knows how I love my Honda’s!