Xtreme Xperience makes dream cars a reality at DriveWay Austin
By Carlo Falco
FOX 7 Austin
Most just drive these cars in their dreams but for one weekend you could give it the full beans on a race track just northeast of downtown Austin.
AUSTIN, Texas - "Gas, gas gas!" calls my co-driver Todd as we hurdle down the back straight of the DriveWay Austin Grand Prix Course in a red Ferrari 488 GTB. We briefly touched 110mph before he calmly said "brake for me" as we entered turn 6 pulling 1.5 G as we exited the corner and accelerated onto the front straight, the 3.9 liter V-8 screaming all the way.
I definitely don't own a Ferrari, and I didn't know Todd until I sat down in the seat next to him. I'm driving this dream car because Xtreme Xperience came to town over the weekend of March 12-14. It allowed almost anyone with a license to drive new exotic cars at full tilt in a safe racing environment.
On the options menu:
3 Ferraris
3 Lamborghinis
2 McLarens
a Porsche
a new C8 Corvette
a Mustang GT500
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Xtreme Xperience came to town over the weekend of March 12-14. On the menu were three Ferraris, 3 Lamborghinis, 2 McLarens, a Porsche, a new C8 Corvette, and a Mustang GT500.
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Xtreme Xperience is what General Manager Brandon York calls a "coast to coast traveling circus" of speed, engine noise, and adrenaline.
The tight, technical track at DriveWay Austin saw 18 of their 50 possible cars whizzing around through chicanes, hairpins, sweepers, and a version of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca's famous "Corkscrew" corner.
And it started to rain.
Which, with upwards of 500 horsepower on tap it can sound pretty dangerous. But according to York, their experienced driving instructors are there to make sure no one gets hurt.
Every time the cars come in from a hot lap they're given a full safety checkup with certified technicians to make sure the cars are in tip-top shape for their next run around the track. The checkup includes tires, brakes, and suspension components to ensure the safety of their drivers.
"if they miss something, someone can get seriously hurt," says York.
Everyone takes their jobs, especially safety, very seriously. At one point an instructor noticed a weird sound coming from the front end of the car.
They quickly ended the lap and the techs took a quick look at the wheel. Noticing a bolt holding a wheel bearing was starting to back out they took the car out of commission.
Instead of just tightening the bolt, they replaced both the front-end wheel bearings and gave the car a full front-end overhaul before starting testing and returning the car to service.
York let me know that they effectively serve as a secondary, unofficial, form of testing for several major manufacturers since most owners won't ever give the cars the full beans every time they're driven.
That means they're able to diagnose problems like the supercharger in the Mustang GT500 that has to be replaced every 3,500 miles or so or the wheel-bearing bolts in the Dodge Charger Hellcat that isn't tightened effectively.
York says they're even partnering with SRT, Dodge's super performance division, to help the company design and build more effective parts. They've done similar deals with aftermarket suspension companies, providing collected real-world telemetry data to best develop durable, responsive springs and shocks for their exotic cars.
Beyond the underpinnings of the cars which may have some modifications, York stresses that these cars are over 95% bone stock. He says many customers come to test drive certain cars they're looking to buy for themselves.
But for the vast majority who will never get the chance to own one, he says it's more of a bucket list item. Everyone from grandparents to 20-something's were giddy to get in and drive at the race track, and the kids who were too young to drive were just as excited to be driven around the track at breakneck speed.
The traveling circus that is Xtreme Xperience has already left Austin for its next city. The next chance for you to drive your dream car comes March 26 & 27 at MSR Raceway in Houston. Or, if tickets are sold out, it'll be back at DriveWay Austin November 5-7 or at Texas Motor Speedway outside of Dallas November 12-14 later this year.