[djdennehy]

Tomorrow the Old man and I are heading out to Utah and the Octane Academy to hoon Fords and slay tires. I will try to take as many pictures as possible, I am pretty sure I am going to have the time of my life. Those of you who have already gone, what things should I know now or should ask for while I am there?

 

[Pedro]

Awesome stuff! I cant wait for my turn to go in October. Looking forward to the pics. Can you find out if they will let you take gopro footage?

 

[WScottCross]

The thing that I screwed up is that the reception at Ken Block's facility is in Park City, which over an hour from Miller Motorsports. We got there, but right at the end and had little time to hang out and check things out. You'll be at elevation there so drink lots of water. Miller Motorsports takes care of everything else. You can bring a GoPro if you have one, but have it set up ahead of time so you don't slow down the rest of the class, they move you around pretty quickly so they can fit everything into one day.

Also, the guest doesn't get to drive anything except the karts at the end. They will be riding as passengers in the pace cars during lead and follow and while the instructors demonstrate how to drive each event. That was unclear when I signed my daughter up, because they said the guest must be able to drive a manual transmission, but they never drive.

 

[djdennehy]

Awesome stuff! I cant wait for my turn to go in October. Looking forward to the pics. Can you find out if they will let you take gopro footage?

Yes as long as you use a suction mount

 

[djdennehy]

So I am going to do the best I can to summarize our two days in Utah. The Ken Block facility was pretty fun, but it really seemed a bit gimmicky to me. I will say however, the vehicles they had on display within the garage were simply awesome. One was a WRC/GRC car with some serious side damage (I am betting it has been retired) and the other a Gymkhana car from Gymkhana 4. The F-150 was pretty cool, but not my cup of tea.

Miller was by far and away the best part of the trip. The facility is huge, clean, and everyone very well organized. The education, morning drills, and museum were great. The instructors definitely knew their craft, gave me several good points as to how I could better my car control and lines on the West track, and also gave many practical pieces of advice to the group.

The AutoX course was surprisingly smooth for me, I ended up being first in our group by nearly 2 seconds (with the +4 for getting the FoST into the box, my time was 45.9 seconds). The West track was a revelation. If you can, get into one of the white FoSTs mine had upgraded suspension and engine tuning. I was able to get her up to about 105... the instructors were well above that.

IF YOU HAVE AN ST YOU MUST DO THIS...

 

[WScottCross]

I was going to drive the FoST on the track, because it has more power, but I was the only one to choose the FiST for the track events. I figured that since that's what's in my driveway, I should drive it on the track and learn from it. Glad your experience sounded as fun as mine was.

 

[CrookedRacer]

That was unclear when I signed my daughter up, because they said the guest must be able to drive a manual transmission, but they never drive.

They are pretty clear about the fact that the guests won't drive. It says so pretty boldly right at the description of the Guest Experience: "Note: If you purchase a Guest Experience your guest does not drive the Ford Focus or Fiesta ST cars."

What makes it unclear is the simple fact that they charge as much for guests as they do. I mean, any sane person would think, "It's $495... So it must include driving the cars, right?"

 

[djdennehy]

$495 at many other tracks would only buy you a morning's worth of events including some classroom instruction, skidpad, and an open track session with a pace car or a instructor onboard. Octane Academy offers no drive time outside of the carts, but guests do get to see and participate in almost everything. My Dad and I made a trip of it, and before we committed I called several tracks on the East coast to see what they offered. Considering the cost, Octane was better than everywhere else. In an ideal world they would lower the cost, but we were more than happy.

 

[WScottCross]

They are pretty clear about the fact that the guests won't drive. It says so pretty boldly right at the description of the Guest Experience: "Note: If you purchase a Guest Experience your guest does not drive the Ford Focus or Fiesta ST cars."

What makes it unclear is the simple fact that they charge as much for guests as they do. I mean, any sane person would think, "It's $495... So it must include driving the cars, right?"

I was in the 3rd class they held and that statement was not there when we signed up, which was the first day they opened the online registration. Why state that the guest must be able to drive a manual? They changed the statement after we went..