I did a Mazda driving event in 2006. Got to autocross a couple of Miatas and an RX8 in addition to a few skills clinics run by professional drivers, so all in all it was great.

Haven’t done it myself, but hoping someone talks about the M school! Sounds like a blast!

I did Euro delivery for BMW then picked it up at their performance center in South Carolina. They put us up in a hotel, had a track day and drove an X5 over a few obstacles. Most memorable part was being a passenger in an M5 that an instructor drove around the course at full speed.

I did the ST Octane Academy in Utah a few years ago when I bought a new Focus ST. It’s impossible not to have fun on a track and autocross course with a car you don’t own. The hydraulic hand brake in the Fiesta ST was fun, probably my favorite part was doing J-turns and parallel parking by sliding the car sideways into its spot. The track portion was fun but there is a mix of skill levels and no passing was allowed. I’m not going to pretend I’m fast but there are people who attend that genuinely have no idea what the car is capable of and are out for a Sunday drive. I had to cruise at idle down the straightaway for every one of my laps to give myself space.

I recently did a BMW Ultimate Driving Experience and it was a ton of fun considering it was free. I got lucky and had no traffic but my buddy got caught behind Sunday drivers in the autocross and it definitely ruined the fun for him.

I went to a Fiesta ST launch event. They had a couple cars there and a auto-x like setup that they were letting people drive. I did a soft lap to get to know the car and course, then gave her the beans for my second run. I ended up setting the fastest time of the day, but it was gently hinted that I wouldn’t be getting a 3rd session.

Picked up my M2 this spring at the factory in South Carolina, was a hell of a way to purchase my first (and possibly only) new car. They put you up at a hotel by the track and give you a half day of track driving. It was super cool to see how the M2 drives at full speed around a track and especially interesting to drive an auto when ours was a stick. Then an instructor took us on a ride along in an m3 which was insane.

It was a great experience and the 1500 mile road trip back to the northeast was incredible

I did one for Chrysler a long time ago. When the PT Cruiser GT was new. They had a drag strip with 2 PTs side by side you could race. I drove a Crossfire around an autocross course. I think they had the first 300 and Sebring as well but didn’t drive that.

These things used to pop up occasionally but I don’t think they do them anymore unless you already bought the car or pay. I didn’t get anything as cool as shoes. Probably just a lanyard.

My dad leased an e60 M5 in the mid-2000s, and included was a day at BMW’s testing facility in South Carolina.

It was a great day. An hour or so in a classroom for theory and a breakdown of the day, then the afternoon in cars. Skidpan in an M6, acceleration and breaking demos in Z4 M Coupes, and best of all a couple laps around a track in M5s.

Also got to see Bill Shatner there that day, picking up his new car.

I did it for my GT350 and it was great, I brought my friend with me so it was a hangout thing we did together

Been a lifelong bmw owner until recently when they decided to go with the braille school of design for their cars.

I’ve been to their 6 Driving Experience in Spartanburg, SC. Also been to numerous driving experiences they host throughout the years.

Been to the government fleet expo where I got to drive their offerings on a race track.

Been to a Mercedes Benz event to test their fleet.

Been to a Ford event for their release of the… forgot what it was… a sedan of some sort.

Haven’t been to the Porsche school but that’s next.

I’ll say every factory puts on the best show with hospitality tents and they give you lots of little gifts and merchandise.

The bmw school was top notch with a tour of the factory and shop and they fed us 5 star food and had tons of lessons and ride alongs with their staff and demos and solo track sessions. If I bought another new car I’d definitely go again.

Lexus invited me to a testing event at ATL motor speedway after I bought a used RCF. Got to take a brand new RCF and LC500 on an auto cross course, and they had LS and LX/GX/NX/RX models you could take for a spin to get a feel for. And even the new (at the time) IS350. It was honestly a fun time.

I did a gen 2 cadillac ctsv event in maybe 2009 or so. It was at a track in new york. Fun event, bought a similar cts-v later.

Have done a number of hpdes and set a local lap record, so am a decent driver. The biggest issue i had is i wasnt allowed to push the car beyond 60% or so. Seemed like everyone else felt like they were near their limit though.

When I got my BMW M3 it came with a free voucher for a day of instruction at the BMW Performance Center with the option to upgrade it to other classes they offered if I paid the difference. I was interested in learning how to track so I paid a bit for the 2 Day M School. It came with a two night stay at a local resort. Dinner was free on day of arrival before the frost day of class. On the first day, breakfast lunch and dinner were provided, all very very good, they didn’t cheap out on subpar food. On the second day we same thing, but wine was served for dinner as a celebration.

A shuttle was provided to and from the resort to the track. We each hopped into an M3/4 and M2 depending on the exercise, and I learned a lot of about high performance driving from drifting on the skid pad, to braking, and cornering. We even go to use the track next door, Thermal Club, which was a members only exclusive Motorsports resort for millionaires (you need to buy a 1-2 million dollar home on the grounds and pay an $90k annual membership fee.) In the end it made me confident enough to start attending track days and even compete in time attacks. I’ve won several local time attacks since and have attended dozens of track days including checking off a Buckley lost track day at Laguna Seca. It changed my life honestly, I never thought I would be able to actually take my car on the track previously.

I did one with Jaguar, really it was for the release of the E Pace and there was a fairly long test drive of one, but otherwise it was based at Donnington and they made the most of it. There were a couple of car stability/traction type tests where you were essentially encouraged to roll, slide, or understeer into stuff with a couple of different models - honestly the only kinda failure was racing an E Pace through these GPS gates on a very very tight course - it did understeer a lot.

There were three different track sessions, the first a group sesh in new straight 6 XEs which was great, just follow the touring car driver leader who got progressively faster and no marshalls to tell you not to fling the tail out. The second was in an F Type and same format. Finally was being a passenger in an SVR F Type driven by a pro driver so you could see how far off the pace you’d actually been! They had an enormous pile of rims with new tyres on, I dread to think how much the whole thing cost.

There were also just a range of different jags you could take off for a test drive away from the track. My friend and I got into an F Type in the pouring rain and I was in the passenger seat just pressing buttons to see what they did, Jag rep stuck his head in to give us a few directions just as I pressed the Race/no TC/light everything up in red button and all the guy said was ‘oh, feeling brave?’ and went off to the next car. Not even the mildest attempt to tell us this was stupid lmao

And there was a really nice lunch. 10/10.

I did a great 3 Day event for MINI when I worked for them as a technician at the BMW Performance Center at the Thermal track in California.

Flew us all out to. Put us in an amazing hotel. Had a phenomenal buffet dinner on the first night and a great breakfast the next morning. Then we went to the track and beat the living shit out of JCW MINIs and M bimmers. It was absolutely amazing.

We had a great lunch at their training center located on track grounds and went back again for another few hours. It was awesome.

That night we had a big party at the hotel and it was even crazier than I expected, seeing a bunch of upper management people with the brand getting hammered and just having a good time.

The next day we got to talk to the drivers/trainers and hang out with them and then we got certificates, clothes and traveling gear. I still have all but the shirt. Not sure what happened to it.

Thanks for the reminding me of it. It was a great experience.