Volkswagen Driver Training

[hanson8]

Totally agree that the GTD on all comments of the GTD. Absolutely brilliant car! plenty of low end torque. More suited to a long cruise than on the Race Track. But agree that there is absolutely no noise from that deisel engine. didn't know it was turned on inside the car.

To Jayse, Someone just crashed it on todays 12:30pm session.

[Big Yellow]

man i had a blast today!!! first time ever on a track and i think i am hooked on a new obsession now HAHAHAHA. i got to drive the GTI and was very impressed with it! Lucas was behind me in the GTD and was all over me in the corners LOL but the GTI pulled away fairly easy on the straights.

agree if its a paid event next time, that longer sessions and smaller groups is a must!!

[blaast]

I was in the session where the GTI was crashed (31-08-10).
Two stories...
Instructor: Driver slammed the brakes on too hard and it pulled to the right into the barrier.
Driver: Braked hard and it pulled to the right. ABS and ESC should have kicked in but didn't feel it!

Not sure if he has to cough up the $1000 excess!

It was a great day but we didn't get a second run on the track due to the crash...!
The hot lap in the R was great too.
I haven't driven these types of cars before, but I felt very confident with the vehicles ability (GTD) to push it pretty hard.

[Buller_Scott]

yeah, yesterday was awesome!!!!!!!

i was lucky in that, although i should have been in the yellow group with my fellow asians, i managed to get in the blue group which was quite a bit smaller- everyone got to drive both the GTD and the GTI.

i have to say, although the GTD has oodles of torque, i DID find myself liking the upper end go of the GTI. it was great to really get out there and let 'er rip, though, because it really highlighted the fact that even the standard cars would need some decent suspension work, and at least pads+rotors+fluid [modest but effective] brake upgrade in order for them to be more effective in the corners, given their already decent power/ torque [for both cars].

the skidpan part was awesome too, i found it really educational- particularly the swerve and recover. and talking to James Brock about recover in corners etc in a FWD car- he really simplified how it all works with his explanations.

we were over in the skidpan when we heard the off- there was a bit of banter and all that, but i feel sorry for the guy who had the off- apart from feeling sheepish, the fact that he had it at the end of the straight, where we were clipping AT LEAST 170kmh would have been pretty terrifying- you could tell that he was a little shaken. lucky it was in a controlled environment, though.

and i agree with terence- yeah, i think i just found myself a potential new hobby. that was so much fun, so safe, and even though im sure to get laughed at when i rock up to the track in my little diesel girls car, it'd be great to get to know my own car a little better.

cheers guys- that was awesome!

[Big Yellow]

if the the brakes were working properly theres no way that it could have just snapped right into the wall.

the brakes were used much harder during the R hotlaps.

word on the street is that VW have denied any mechanical fault and no excess was needed.

[Buller_Scott]

no excess? lucky guy......

unlucky sod who buys that one as a ''low km demonstrator- AMAZING VALUE THIS MONTH ONLY!!!!" once it's fixed up

[hanson8]

Big Yellow, Buller_Scott,

I was the unfortunate one who was following the car. He was coming out of Pit Lane and I was on my Hot Lap on my second run with a GTD. I was doing 180Km/H and Saw him exiting pit lane and I immediately backed off. If i didn't back off he could of hit me.
He was only doing 100KM/H.

I think it was just total Driver Error and the brakes don't fail like that. I drove that same car before and there was absolutley no problems with it.

[Peter Jones]

Here's some pics from today.

[Peter Jones]

and a few more.

[Peter Jones]

Great day, well organised with a remarkably talented set of instructors, I actually knew 3 of them!

2 of the instructors were VW tragics that have been racing VWs for the last 20 years.

One of them's actually an infrequent member on here too.

We got speeds capped to 120 km/hr today due to the rain.

As you'd expect all the cars go pretty well, in the wet all the acronyms were kicking in which sort of limited how much you could get out of them.

Compared to the Mk1 I'd have to learn a whole lot of new tricks if I were to race one of these.

The acronyms make these cars easier to drive fast then a MK1. (But I like a challenge )

They'd be a good safe car out on the street. I drove a GTD which was zippy enough for most.

Need more time with the DSG box to figure it out, only had 2 laps to play so let it do it's own thing.

Even in sports mode I thought the shifting could have been more aggressive.

Bit slow out of the corners but I think that was due to the traction control and the wet surface.

Found it a bit unsettling to have the stability system kicking in when I wanted the car to be sliding, I guess you'd have to get used to it.

I thought the adhesion on the standard tyres was excellent, especially given the rain.

Managed to kill a couple of cones in the slalom, cutting things real fine and going for speed

The GTD is very quiet, I was missing my usual deafening induction noise!

Really great of VW to run these events, I'm impressed by the time, effort and resources invested in the event.

The whole thing was very professionally run.

Wish I'd had a longer run in the cars to learn to drive them better.

[Big Yellow]

i had the older instructors for the slalom and track time and thought they were bloody fantastic!!

provided heaps of feedback and tips and praise when i did something right haha, made for a good feeling hehe.

[adrock]

I was there yesterday also, in the 10am session. Spewing I didn't get to meet you guys. Pity about the weather and being capped on the speed, but it was also good to know how hard you could actually push those things in the wet. Drove the GTI and the GTD. GTD was great for a diesel, but I still enjoyed the GTI more. I'd never driven one before.

I actually chose the Tiguan for the skid pan as am thinking of one for the wife and I have to say I was super impressed. I gave it a heap in the slalom and it took it in it's stride.

Good on VW for putting it on, enjoyed it so much I'm looking at going on a proper extended course.

Forgot to add, the hot lap in the R was freakin awesome. Our guy was hammering it and kept catching the guy in front. Felt 100% comfortable (even the 4 wheel slides) all the way and I woulda been happy just doing that all morning.

[PhilVW]

Awesome.... Sounds like an awesome day!!

I have one coming up in October for the New Polo GTI on Phillip Island!

Really looking forward to that!! Will put pics up!


Phil.

[OraQube]

You guys must of had more fun on the skid pan considering it was raining and wet.

I too, found the Tiguan to be a real surprise. Felt really composed through those cones.

[elephino]

2 days to go until my turn (at last). Weather looking good, but wet between now and then.

Anyone else going to the Creek on Thursday?