David Pitlyuk

Back in April I wrote about the Lexus Performance Driving Academy, which I just attended this past weekend.  Now that I’ve gone through the academy, I wanted to post my thoughts…I’ll take you through my day.

As a reminder, there were two different programs that were available.  One on Friday was $295, but allowed you to get hands on with the new 416hp Lexus IS-F.  On the weekend (which I did not attend) was free, but didn’t give you IS-F goodness.  Two of my friends attended the Friday program with me, so they stayed over my place on Thursday so we could all go together Friday morning.

To get into the driving spirit, I drove my Viper with Alex riding in the passenger seat, while Eric rode his modified Subaru STI.  The driving academy was located at Summit Point in West Virginia, which is about an hour drive from where I live.  The drive up to the track was fun, especially getting into WV, we got to experience some twisty roads that really got us prepped up for what was ahead.

We arrived at about 11:30am and saw the parking lot was full of all sorts of fun cars.  There were a ton of Lexus’s (including some IS-F’s), as well as a bunch of Corvette’s.  There was even a new Bentley Continental Flying Spur.  A Mercedes Sprinter shuttle picked us up from the lot and drove us over to the event.

We had about an hour before anything started, so we were provided a lunch inside a tent with an IS-F to gawk at.  Lunch was surprisingly good, with a variety of foods like chicken, maceroni & cheese, cheese biscuits, cookies, and more.  They also had an IS-F simulator setup that was pretty neat, and very hard…it made me a little worried about what to expect later on.

After lunch, we had a little opening chat, and then it was off to our groups first event, the advanced techniques classrooms.  This was a very helpful course that went over a variety of techniques and showing the lines of the track.  They also had a simulator setup in the room with a 2nd screen that was linked to a camera that showed the pedal area.  This was extremely helpful because they had a pro driver go up there and show us how to drive the course.  Seeing what his feet were actually doing was very beneficial.  The instructor then chose me to go on the simulator and try it out for myself.  All I have to say is it’s much harder than it looks.  I luckily had the pro driver next to me giving me pointers like when to apply brakes and give more gas.  Even so, I ended up slamming into the wall!

The next event was called “lead/follow”.  This is where groups of 3-4 IS-F’s would follow a pro driver on a road course.  The idea behind this is to really get an idea of the lines on the track, by following the pro driver you could learn fairly easily.  We had to go arounds of about 3 laps, the second go, the pro driver was much more agressive, which made it way more fun.

Here’s a video from lead/follow:

After lead/follow, we took a shuttle to another track where we would do something called the relay.  This was an event where our group split up into two different teams.  Each person drove around the track, and each individual time was added to the total.  We amazingly ended up tieing at 7:12.  The track here was incredibly slick as they covered it in peanut oil since it’s used for training for police, CIA, secret service, etc…and they use it to do stuff like drifting around the track.

The following event was the autocross where a cone track was setup with all sorts of turns, etc.  This was a timed event, each person got two practice laps, and then two officially timed laps to try and get the lowest time possible.  The benchmark time was set by a pro driver at something like 21.1 seconds.  This was the same pro driver that set the lap time for Mazda’s Rev It Up national event.  The reason this is so impressive is because the Rev It Up event was about 25,000 people that tried to beat his lap time, and only person did.  Then he went right back out, and in one go, beat that persons time.

The lap time is set by the amount of time it takes to complete one lap, if you hit any cones, 2 seconds is added to the time.  Also, at the end of the lap you are supposed to stop within a coned box…if you don’t, 5 seconds is added to your time.  On my first two practice laps I ran a 24.xx and then a 23.8x.  Afterwards, I ran my two official lap times and I got a 22.9x and then a 22.7x.  These were actually very good times, in fact, I had the 4th fastest time out of the group of about 150 or so people!  The fastest time of the day was 22.1 seconds.

The last event was the hot lap, which one was one of the best experiences I’ve had.  The hot lap was when you go out on the track with a professional driver and he goes as fast as he could.  I posted a video of a lap, but it does no justice!  It literally feels like a roller coaster in real life, I kept banging my head against the car every time we’d hit a turn…either way, check it out for yourself:

Afterwords there was another meal, along with a closing speech sort of thing.  Before we left, we all received gift bags that had the following items:

• $750 certificate off of a new 2008/2009 Lexus
• Kaboom drink
• A watch on a carabiner
• Wired magazine
• Lexus “F” hat
• Kaboom t-shirt
• Lexus IS-F DVD
• $30 gift card for XM Radio
• Lexus pen

The Lexus Performance Driving Academy was well worth the $295, and I would easily do it again.  It was no holds bar with the cars we drove, and I definitely learned a lot to improve myself with driving.

The economy may be in a fairly bad place right now, but the right people still have money to spend. How about on joining a car club where membership starts around $38,000/year and goes all the way up to $100,000+? Oh, I forgot to mention the $15,000 initiation fee. Today we’ll be profiling Luxautica, the ultimate car club.

What Is It And How Does It Work?

Luxautica is a high-end car club that allows the elite to have access to an arsenal of vehicles from a $184000 Aston Martin DB9, to a $1.7 million Bugatti Veyron. They even have one of seven Maserati MC-12’s ($1.4m) in their fleet.

For a yearly fee, members get access to points, which can be redeemed for a car. Let’s take a look at a sample scenario. Let’s say you get the Silver membership ($38,400), you are given 1,200 points. You could go for a Lamborghini Gallardo, which is 20 points for a weekday, 30 points for a weekend, or 140 points for a week. The cars in this price range should expect to be around this many points. So you could rent a Gallardo for about 2.5 months out of the year. On the other hand, their most expensive car, the Bugatti Veyron, will run you 1,000 points/day.

On top of having access to the cars, you also get a few extras:

• Access to the private member lounge
• Private VIP events
• Concierge services
• Access to premium tickets to local sporting events
• Chauffeur services for the Maybach and Rolls Royce cars
• Exclusive golf excursions
• Sales and acquisition services for exotic cars

The concept of why somebody would pay such high prices for just renting these sort of cars comes behind the high cost of ownership and the little amount of time these cars are actually driven. Between the cost of maintenance, and depreciation, these cars are very expensive to own. Luxautica lets you get access at potentially a much cheaper per mile cost when you look at the big picture…on top of more selection.

The Fleet Of Cars

Luxautica has a fleet of 20 cars worth over $11 million, but plans on growing it further. They said if they have 100 memberships, they will double the fleet. Here’s what you can currently expect:

Aston Martin DB9 Volante | $183,250

Bentley Flying Spur | $170,990

Porsche GT3 RS | $124,900

Spyker Laviolette | $278,000

Ferrari F430 | $173,079

Ferrari F430 Spider | $201,123

Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 | $313,600

Mercedes SLR | $495,000

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano | $264,034

Ford GT | $139,995

Lamborghini Gallardo | $180,050

Bentley GTC | $193,990

Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder | $206,000

Rolls Royce Phantom | $340,000

Mercedes Maybach 62 | $386,500

Porsche Carrera GT | $484,000

Saleen S7 | $555,000

Ferrari Enzo | $1.1m

Maserati MC-12 | $1.4m

Bugatti Veyron | $1.7m

Who’s Behind The Company?

Luxautica was started by Raju Mantena, some of the cars even came from his personal collection. Raju founded a privately held specialty pharmaceutical management firm in 2003, which he sold in 2006. He sold it for almost $200 million, more than enough to start Luxautica.

The Facility

Luxautica is located in a 12,005 square-foot bulding that used to be the Millennia art gallery. Part of that space is a private lounge for members only.

The private lounge is a 4,800 square-foot clubhouse that features high-tech audio/video with 16 plasma screens, a game room that converts into boardroom, a cigar room, a private bar with world-class wine list and cigar collection, and a 1,600 square-foot patio.

If you don’t want to go for the cars, you can have access to the members lounge for $15,000/year. Gerry Mattia, an Orlando chiropracter who has a nondriving membership was interviewed in this article.

“I’ll take them over there, and they see $1.6 million Bugattis, and the club is done so extremely well, it’s very impressive to them. It’s great for me in business circles,” Mattia said.

The social aspects are a plus, he said.

“It’s similar to a country club, but instead of it being golf and tennis, it’s cars,” Mattia said. “You get to meet a lot of other people. Most of these people, obviously, if you join this, are fairly successful. If you want to advance sometimes, that’s the place to be.”

No detail was overlooked, the lighting in the facility, done by Electronic Systems Design, was a $500,000 project on its own. In fact $2 million was spent in renovating the facility for Luxautica.

For us regular people that could only dream about driving these sort of cars, you can at least go look at them for $20/adults and $10/children. Here’s all of the contact info:

Luxautica
4190 Millenia Boulevard
Orlando, Florida 32839
1.877.666.6878
info@luxautica.com

We all dread that check engine light flashing on the dash, don’t we? It usually means to get ready and drop some cash and get something fixed. A buddy of mine with a Ford Escape had a check engine light pop up, so he took it to the dealership to see what was wrong. He paid something like $80 just to check it out…not even fixing anything.

Sometimes a check engine light can come on for something as minor as the gas cap needing replacement. Do you really want to pay $80 just to find out you need a new $5 gas cap? Wouldn’t it be nice to find out what the problem is for free before deciding on dropping some cash? I found out that you could when my maintenance light came on my Honda Accord.

I was driving, and all of the sudden a yellow maintenance light came on the dash. I later found out that this was not the check engine light, but a “timed” warning to take the car to get serviced…aka, pay the dealership money…but more on that later.

The reason a check engine light comes on in the first place is because the cars computer is throwing an error code. The computer is known as OBD, or on-board diagnostics. On 1996 and newer cars, they use ODB-II. When you take your car in to see why the check engine light came on (or to turn it off), they simply plug a little device in called an OBD-II scanner, which allows them to do a variety of things, including clearing the CEL (check engine light) and seeing what error(s) was causing it to light up in the first place. The plug is normally located around the steering wheel column.

What you may not know is that going to your local auto parts store like Autozone or Advance Autoparts, they have an OBD-II scanner on hand as a courtesy to customers. Simply walk up to the front counter, and tell them your CEL is on, and you want to find out what codes it’s throwing. This way you can at least know what you may possibly need to fix it. Another benefit is if you don’t trust your mechanic, you can ensure exactly what’s wrong with the car.

So back to my maintenance light. Once I saw it on, I went over to my local Advance Auto Parts and asked them to read for any error codes. After checking, we both found it odd that no errors were being shown in the scanner. Luckily the employee had a Honda Civic and realized that the light was not in fact the CEL, but just the service car light. We popped open the owner’s manual (which I should have just done in the first place probably) and found that you can simply reset or turn off the light by following a couple simple steps. 15 seconds later, problem was solved.

My whole point is, you can either pay $80/hour of labor for the dealership to do the same exact thing that a local auto parts store will do for free in seconds. I didn’t know this until a friend told me, so I would assume some of you may not either.

Good luck with all of your car troubles, and I hope you learned something!

[Check engine light photo sources: crazyscientist_11, music for the eyes]

Lamborghini has really outdone itself lately, and the predecessor to the original Gallardo is a great example of that. The newly named Gallardo LP 560-4 outclasses the original car in almost every way, and it looks better too.

The car was officially announced back in March during the Geneva auto show. Some of the notable features are as follows:

• Features a new 5.2 litre V10 engine that pumps out 560hp. The original Gallardo does 520hp.
• It’s 20 kilograms lighter than the original Gallardo
• The power weight ratio is 2.5 kilograms per hp
• It does 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds
• Top speed of 201mph
• Increased fuel efficiency
• 18% less C02 emissions

From the exterior, the most notable updates is the new front end ( which looks a lot more Reventon looking), a new rear (which looks night and day better than its predecessor), and new wheels. The car is surely more refined looking:

One blog that I recently found was that of Samuel Hubinette, who is a professional drifter for Dodge/Mopar. If you read through his blog, you’ll see that he does a lot of promotional stuff like filming and driving in commercials for car makes. Back on March 31st, you’ll see a post he made about a commercial he was working on for the new Lamborghini Gallardio LP 560-4. It’s a pretty cool post with some nice behind the scenes pictures….but we were all dying to see the outcome. Look no further, the video was just released and it is amazing:

I love the film work in the video, and it really makes me want to buy the car….especially with the phone collector feature Too bad that the $200,000 USD price tag is just a bit over my price range. For more pictures of the car, check it out here.

Back when I was getting my Corsa exhaust installed on the Viper, I happened to see the new Audi Q7 SUV transformed into a stretch limo:

I love the way the Audi Q7 looks, and to see it in a stretch limo format was very cool! This post over at Autoblog regarding a white Q7 limo reminded me of what I saw and to make a post about it.

If you want to rent one of these 14 passenger SUV’s Royal Luxury out in NY has one. Prices start out at $450 for 3 hours.

This past weekend I attended the Spring Meet from the College Park Tuning club at the University of Maryland. They run this event every year, and it has gotten quite popular. The last time I had gone was a few years ago, and a good amount of cars showed up, now it’s in the tune of 1,000’s of cars.

Every car that attends, also submits at least $1 or a can of food that is donated to charity. Last year over $5,000 was provided! I ended up showing a few hours late, so apparently I missed out on a lot of cars, but there was still a lot of people there, and well worth the hour drive. Take a look at the pictures:

Here’s my Viper as well as my buddy Jason’s RT/10:

A custom Dodge Charger limo:

The event had a mobile dyno, here we can see a Firebird getting some numbers:

Nice blacked out Porsche:

A few nice Nissan 350Z’s. The blue one has a Veilside widebody kit on it:

This was one customized Hummer with an awesome suspension on it. No detail was untouched:

Here’s the system in the back of the Hummer. The picture does no justice, but the subwoofer (An MTX Thunder Jack Hammer 9900) in the car is absolutely huge. It’s 350lbs, 22″, and capable of being louder (in decibels) then an airplane engine! I believe it costs about $6,000!

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Thanks to a post on Autoblog, I found out about Lexus offering a performance driving school…just an hour away from where I live! There are two different programs to choose from and 4 different locations. The locations/dates of the academy are the following:

• May 9th-11th - Joilet, Illinois - Autobahn Circuit
• May 30th-June 1st - Fontana, California - Auto Club Speedway
• June 27-29th - Summit Point, West Virginia - Summit Point Motorsports Park
• July 11-13 - Hampton, Georgia - Atlanta Motor Speedway

There are two different programs that are available:

Regular Driving Academy

This is a 2-hour session that is absolutely free. It’s by invitation only, but you’re able to register and put yourself on a waiting list to try and get in.

You’ll learn some of the basic fundamentals of high performance vehicle handling. You’ll have a chance to drive Lexus IS 250, IS 350, GS 460, and GS 450h. Afterwards you’ll be able to ride in the passenger seat with a pro driver behind the wheel, and experience a hot lap in Lexus’s new 416hp IS-F. You’ll also be provided with a meal and snacks/drinks anytime during the day.

Ultimate Driving Academy

The ultimate driving academy is a 4 1/2 hour event and costs $295. This is the one I’ll be doing (If you’re going to the Summit Point event on Friday June 27th, let me know). There’s quite a bit more that you get over the regular driving academy:

The ultimate session is focused on advanced competitive driving skills, utilizing Lexus’s 416hp ~$60,000 IS-F. Part of the time is spent at the chalkboard going over grip dynamics, contact patch, line theory, the 100% rule, and more. Then you’ll compete in a relay rally race where you’ll work to get the best team time on the track. Afterwards, you’ll get behind the wheel with a pro driver in the passenger seat providing personalized coaching and technique instruction to shave those seconds off of your autocross times. Then you’ll do a lead/follow event on the track, utilizing braking and acceleration skill. You’ll also have a chance to sit in a hot lap with a pro driver. The event also includes a premium gift bag, award ceremony, 2 meals, and snacks/drinks throughout the day.

For those that have looked into race driving schools in the past, you’ll know that everything you’re getting for $300 is quite a bargain.

I’m very excited for this event, and will surely be taking some video and pictures to post here.

For earth day, part of the effort that the company I work for did was to make a bunch of the closest parking spots in the garage reserved for hybrid vehicles. As a joke, I thought it’d be funny to take the extreme opposite car and park it in one of the spots. I only parked it for a couple hours, and within 30 minutes I already got a parking violation. After I moved my car, the spot was open for the rest of the day as I guess there were no other hybrids in the garage…so no harm no foul

Last Friday I had a Corsa catback exhaust system and Random Technology high flow cats installed on my GTS Viper. The reasoning behind doing this was three-fold:

1. The new Corsa exhaust looks way better
2. The new exhaust sounds way better, and is much louder. It’s a V10, it should be loud!
3. Performance gains The new setup should have added about 25-30 horsepower to the wheels. That should give the Viper about 410whp (estimated), which is about 475hp to the crank (estimated).

Since video blogging is the new thing lately, I made a little video showing you the before and after…as well as my buddy’s Viper which has a full exhaust system (including the headers). Enjoy!

The weather on Saturday cleared up to become a perfect day in the afternoon, so Jason and I decided to take the Vipers out for a little drive around the town. I took some video so you can see how the new Viper looks. Interestingly enough I found the video got an honors on YouTube, as it was the #7 most popular video the day I posted it in the autos section. Somebody even noticed I was wearing my SmashMyViper.com t-shirt (that I haven’t worn in about a year).

Another part of the reason I wanted to make it was because John Chow was raving about his little Flip camera…and I just didn’t get it. While I realize it takes 2 gigs of video, basically everything digital camera takes good quality video as well. Why carry around two things, when you can do it in one? So just to prove it, I created this video using my Canon Powershot SD900 digital camera, and quickly editing it using Windows Movie Maker.