August 15, 2005
Car and Driver: Ride and Drive
Somehow I managed to get invited by Car and Driver to participate as an editor for the day in their exclusive Ride and Drive program.
I'm a car enthusiast and naturally have a subscription to Car and Driver magazine. Apparently there's a random selection process that picks a few people from the subscriber base in certain areas where the events are held and offers them the chance to be an editor for the day. The idea is simple: As editor for the day you get to drive their cars around some cones in a parking lot and submit your opinions for magazine consideration.
Beating up on cars I don't own, no string attached? I'm there! I didn't so much care as to having quotes in the magazine, I was just looking forward to driving around the test courses.
Here's a picture of the letter they sent me, along with the registration card I had to use to get in:
Because we were allowed to invite a friend along for the ride, I brought Justin, a long time high school / college friend and fellow car enthusiast, down with me to FedEx field (where the Washington Redskins play, just inside 495 - the DC Beltway).
I suppose at this point I should mention that while my magazine subscription is still to my place in Baltimore, I actually just moved to Hershey, PA about a week ago. More on that later (maybe).. Anyway, we had an appointment at 8 to meet the Car and Driver crew in the stadium parking lot. Being as I now live much further away, it was quite an early start for us. Let's just say I'm not entirely used to getting up at 4 AM and driving 3 hours while seeing the sun rise.
Anyway, when we arrived, we were greeted by the 4 test cars and two tracks. The tracks were done in typical autocross style of cones in a parking lot, but the parking lot was huge and the tracks were laid our bigger than you might expect.
Here's the two tracks, side by side, in the straightaway for acceleration testing:
The one track was for testing a Cadillac STS and BMW 530i. The other for testing a Cadillac CTS against a Lexus ES 300.
We collected as a group under the welcome tent (there were maybe 30-40 people invited total) and listened to some driving instruction. The group was divided in half with half going to one track and the other the half going to the other. At each track there were 4 cars (2 of each type) to accommodate 12 drivers (3 people + 1 pro driver for each car). The first track I went to was comparing the CTS and the ES330. Halfway through the event, the two groups switched tracks.
The idea was you drive the 1 car for two laps, then drive the other car for two laps so that you could make a good comparison between the two. They asked us to focus on braking, handling, acceleration, overall ride and comfort, steering response, etc. Inside the cars, the pro driver was always in the right front passenger seat telling us the best way to maneuver the course.
What a blast! The cars were a little underpowered for my liking, and they wouldn't let us turn traction control off, but rest assured there were tires squeeling in every turn. The CTS was more fun than the ES330, and I even managed to avoid running over any cones.
The other track was much of the same, but the STS and 530i were a slightly different class and weren't quite as nimble. Despite lots of understeer, I think I avoided most of the cones there as well. I liked the STS overall better than the 530i, but the BMW was the better handling of the two.
All in all it was great fun. We were there for about 2 hours of testing, and left plenty of rubber on the pavement. Thankfully, they didn't ask us to replace any of the tires...
I'm not really expecting my quotes to appear in the magazine, but I have a feeling Justin's might. He came up with quite a few good ones... I'm looking forward to the issue where they print the results and seeing if they used any of our quotes / pictures in it.
I have a few more pictures of the day, but no where to put them all at the moment. Maybe this is a good time to finally build myself a photo gallery, or get a Flickr account... Anyway, here's one more picture. This is the Cadillac STS going through the handling course:
Definitely a memorable experience...
Comments
You lucky PUNK! Thats like a dream! Looks like you had a blast though. I can only imagine the look on your face when you got that letter. Knowing my luck, I would have thought it was spam and thrown it away :D
Posted by: Josh Dura at August 15, 2005 10:56 AM
Funny thing - I got a registration card in the mail saying I was invited, yada yada, and I put it on my junk mail pile to throw away. It looked like just another junk mail coupon offer thing. After mentioning it to a freind of mine (the same one I invited along), he told me what it actually was and said I'd be stupid to throw it out and that I should definitely register since it was legit. After I confirmed my registration, then I got the letter/id carrd that I posted a picture of.
So yeah, I seriously thought it was junk, and almost thew it out! I'm glad I didn't... :-)
Posted by: darron at August 15, 2005 11:10 AM
Dang dude!
That is killer! I didn't realize they picked randomly from the subscriber base. Here's hoping for the Lamborghini vs Ferrari vs Bugatti test drive. =)
-erik
Posted by: erikbianchi at August 15, 2005 05:24 PM
By the way, I've uploaded all of the photos to my flickr photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darronschall/sets/838099/
Posted by: darron at September 16, 2005 01:30 PM
I am suppose to go this Sunday Oct 2 at 10:00 AM. I was considering blowing it off but after reading your comments I am looking forward to going. Our test track is being set up at the Homestead Speedway in Florida.
Thanks for the info.
Posted by: Al at September 30, 2005 01:45 PM
I got one of those invitations for the show in St. Louis as well as one for GM's Auto show In Motion! And I'm going to both of them.
GM's is 10.13-16; the C/D R/T show is 10.22-23. I'm going on 10.14 and 10.23, respectively.
I've driven all of the cars mentioned in last year's ASIM. What a BLAST!
The CTS wins hands down over the ES 330. The 2006 Caddy looks even better now that they've dressed up the interior with more wood trim pieces on the center stack. The driving was smooth and solid, very buttoned down whereas the 330 felt more floaty and wallowy going through the turns. From the pictures, you'd think that the CTS would induce claustrophobia from the high cowl and and side window height. No, it was the 330 that felt that way instead. The CTS seats adjusted enough to avoid it.
Between the STS and the 530, oddly enough, the 530 wins the prize! The BMW just felt better comfort-wise and it drove better handling the curves with supreme confidence. Fit me like a glove. Now if only I could pry the iDrive knob from out of the console!
Posted by: Malachi at October 4, 2005 11:50 AM
I was there on that Saturday and it was great! I knew nothing about this, almost didn't show up but I'm GLAD I DID. They had enough space that walk-in were allowed. Me and two friends did that. The 530i, STS, CTS and ES300. Of course I liked the 530i, but the CTS was fun to drive. It was small and RWD, very tossable around the corners. The FWD Lexus was not a good competitor - I almost killed a cone or two with the understeer.
There was little or no pressure really, even snacks and cold drinks were provided. The only bias came at the end when we went into the "Cadillac Tent," to finish our questionaires among the new Cadillac showroom models. They gave us a free Cadillac bag and hat - but it's hard to complain about free stuff, especially after leaving tire marks all over a parking lot with four cars you can't afford!
Posted by: Enrique at October 9, 2005 12:26 AM
My husband got an invitation to the November Ride and Drive in Phoenix Arizona. It is going to be held at Phoenix International Raceway. They will be test driving a BMW, Cadilac and Mercedes. It sounds like it will be great fun. I'm jealous!!!
Posted by: Jean at October 29, 2005 08:40 PM
Looks like fun..i am going to the one in PHX this weekend
Posted by: john at November 16, 2005 05:09 PM