JspecSC3

iTrader: (4)

Has anyone ever been to Thunderhill Raceway?? I hear its better than searspoint. It is located in Willows, Ca which is about and hour and a half north of Sac. I was thinking about going there on an open track day. Does anyone have any experiences with the track they might like to share? Things you liked about it? Things you didnt like about it? If I was rich I would rent it out for a day to have the CL members all come out.

ISinCH

I went for the first time in October. It was a blast. I highly recommend it. I plan on going again in a few months. I went through the Thunderhill Driving School. It was $195 for the entire day, which includes instructors and 100 hours of track time, lunch, and a t-shirt. It was a great experience. Everyone is very helpful. All of the instructors volunteer there time. Most our seasoned High Performance Driving Event regulars. You might actually meet a few road racers as well. It is not set up as a competitve environment, but you do get opportunities to pass on the straights. Most people are just out to have fun, but don't push their cars to the limit. If you check the Thunderhill website you can find clubs that rent out the track on a regular basis. You can run with those groups for a little more money. I think that you might get some more track time. NASA also offers HPDEs and Time Trials. I plan on looking into the Time Trials this coming year, I have autocrossed for 3 years now. It seems like the next logical step. It sure was a lot of fun.

The track is a lot of fun. My first 2 sessions were on only half of the track. There are a good mix of turns and elevation changes. The most challenging sections are an off camber sweeper and the Eagles Nest. The Eagles Nest is a left hand turn at the top of a hill. When you crest the hill you lose sight of the road. You have to trust that it will be there. Once you learn the line it is a very fun and fast track. I was able to run the full track during my last 3 sessions. I think that my top speeds were around 105 on the front straight. That included a chican to slow cars down before turn 1. The track is wide with plenty of run off room.

Check out the Thunderhill website. They have pics and an in car video of a lap. I can also send you some of my pics. Let me know if you would like to see them. I plan on going again in late winter or early spring. You are than welcome to join a small group of us that will be going. I think that another IS owner will be coming as well.

newr

It's hard to say one track is better than another. Better in which term? I personally find that Infineon is a lot more technical to drive than Thunderhill. I do like Thunderhill because the track is very open and there is a lot of run off room for errors. If you mess up at Infineon, you will likey have some kind of body damage because there are concrete walls all over the place.

Here is a little cost break down for this kind of hobby.
$40 membership per year
$150/day or $275/weekend of HPDE
$10 admission fee for one or both days.
$60 gas to and from the track
$35-$70 gas for actual track event
$10-$20 lunch (1 or 2 days)
$20-$40 dinner (1 or 2 days)
$10 breakfast
$10 water & gatorade
$50-$100 lodging (1 or 2 days)
$50 misc.


Wear and tear items (these costs vary)
Brake pads
Brake fuild
Brake rotors
Tires
oil & filter change
dings
dents
CRASH
etc..

I know it's expensive but having a time of your life is PRICELESS

jdmtruong

i went there for bike track days. it was good. watch out for turn #2 tho.

SCoupe

Great to know some other CL members are interested in these tracks... a strong second to ISinCH comments about Thunderhill. (btw...next time any of you are heading there, please PM me, I'm interested.)

Yes, Thunderhill is a blast and then some. It is owned by SCCA and it is a very well maintained high quality track, certainly on par with both Infineon and Lugana Seca. I joined NASA http://nasaproracing.com/schedules/norcal.html and put my SC300 5-speed out there about a year ago on two different full track days and really enjoyed the entire experience. Learned that the car, though quite heavy, was forgiving and generally pretty quick. I ran in the HPDE1 group and returned midweek about a month later to run HPDE2. This is one amazingly fun track.

I have to agree with "newr" about costs, pretty close from my experience (exceptions taken on the part about dings, dents and crash, those are not unique to tracks...lol).

ISinCH

SCoupe - We are going to the High Performance Driving School on April 27th. So far there are 3 of us going. We have 2 IS300s and 1 2002 Si. We would like to see some more Lexus owners join us. You should definitly come out with us. After this event I want to try out some of the NASA events. The Time Trials sound like a lot of fun. I will post a new thread to see if we can get some other owners interested.

SCoupe

Comrades count and I appreciate the invite. I'm going to call T-hill and ask them what level they are gearing these events. I only ask because I done a number of hot laps at T-hill and might find it redundant. I know I need more practice and I also don't think I really know all that much, but it would be the third time there.

Having said all that, none them were with my current set-up, 2jz-gte +++ and Supra suspension, brakes and other goodies that were installed in the past months.

ISinCH

They ran 3 groups when I went for my first time. They had two groups that were novice/semi experienced and the third was experienced. It was my first track event, but they offered to sign my up for the experienced group after my 2nd session of the day. I declined and opted for just being allowed to drive solo. The third session was great, but the 4th and 5th sessions were not as good. I was stuck behind a newer Porsche that was very slow in the turns, but would not let me pass him on the straights. My poor IS did not have the legs to pass him, but I was on his bumper from turn 1 until turn 15. It was very frustrating. I am going to request to run with the experienced group right away. I will probably run the 1st session with an instructor so that they can sign me off. You should be able to do the same. Maybe 1 or 2 sessions and you can get out on the track with the fast drivers.

Sounds like a great setup. That would be cool to see. Someday I would like to install a turbo.....

LexFather

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ht=thunderhill

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...4&page=1&pp=15