There have always been companies willing to rent exotic cars to show-business types and the kind of

As I write this, the temperature in the City of New York hovers around freezing, though it's expected to be warmer and wetter by the time this post gets published. Not the right conditions for high-performance driving, to be sure, but that won't stop enthusiasts from planning for better weather.
Eager drivers in the area have several new options since this time last year. The Monticello Motor Club , for example, is a 4.1-mile graco travel system racetrack (a road course, of course, not a mere oval track) that opened last July in Monticello, NY. It's just 90 minutes by car from the city, or--as the company's FAQ page points out--25 minutes graco travel system by helicopter to the trackside graco travel system heliport.
The mention of helicopter access suggests that the Monticello Motor Club isn't aimed at a mainstream audience. More evidence: the club's graco travel system Resident membership plan comes with an initiation fee that "begins at $125,000" and annual dues estimated at $7,500. A limited National membership is still $75,000.
Members will be able to use the track for a variety graco travel system of purposes: restricted touring sessions for track familiarization, open-track sessions with unrestricted speeds but designated graco travel system passing zones, time-trial sessions, graco travel system and full racing.
I suspect Monticello may have been betting on the continued success (excess) of Wall Street's hedge-fund managers, but even without graco travel system those customers, graco travel system there are still a lot of wealthy people in the New York area. Personally I expect Monticello will do pretty well in spite of the recession.
NJMP comprises two separate racetracks : the 1.9-mile Lightning track and the 2.25-mile Thunderbolt Raceway, which has already hosted professional races. (The Monticello track, by comparison, can be divided into three independent tracks of varying lengths, which is a more flexible arrangement.)
NJMP is also building an oval track, and all snobbery aside, oval tracks can be fun too-- I spent a day at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway several years ago, and I sure enjoyed it.
There's graco travel system also a Driver's Club at NJMP, but its pricing structure is much more reasonable, well within reach for many people who have the sort of car best appreciated on a racetrack: a $15,000 initiation fee plus dues of $2,400 per year. Because NJMP serves many other purposes than just the club, like the professional graco travel system races I mentioned, the track is open to members fewer days each year than Monticello: 30 vs. "up to 200" depending on membership type. Most people won't do 30 track days in a single year, anyway.
But there are other ways to get on the tracks at NJMP. Like most tracks, NJMP rents itself out to independent graco travel system driving clubs like the BMW Car Club of America , the Porsche Club of America , and various unaffiliated clubs. (I'm a BMW CCA member myself.)
Driving schools and club-racing events are a great way for people to get track time without heavy initiation fees and annual dues. I've been to many BMW CCA driving schools myself at the tracks in our area--most notably Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Infineon Raceway at Sears Point --and I've trained at some of the best tracks in Europe under the tutelage of Driving Concepts and BMW Club Europa , including a three-day school at the awesome Nürburgring in Germany. There's no way to have more fun in your car, and that includes the back seat.
There have always graco travel system been companies willing graco travel system to rent exotic cars to show-business types and the kind of people who want to roll up to their high-school reunions in a Ferrari. But most of these companies frown on spirited driving, and taking the car on a track is universally prohibited.
Performance Rentals, Inc. (PRI), a new company graco travel system in Rockland County, NY (just outside the city), is taking a different approach. The company, co-founded by Brian Tiemann, a friend who used to live here in Silicon Valley, is aimed directly at driving enthusiasts. (I've mentioned Brian a
PRI's street cars are selected for cost-effective driving enjoyment, not style points alone, so they're reasonably affordable: from $460/day for a 550-hp Roush Mustang to $932/day for a Ferrari 355 GTS with the current seasonal discount.
All of these cars feature custom upgrades engineered and installed by PRI. The company's Dodge Viper SRT-10, for example, isn't just the usual 510-hp monster. PRI added a supercharger and Racelogic traction control to give the car 750 horsepower and better controllability than the stock model. Similarly, PRI's Lotus Elise has 310 hp, and its Toyota Supra Turbo has been upgraded to 650 hp.
These cars make PRI an attractive option even for people who already have good cars, because there really aren't very many places to rent cars this good. (PRI says its Viper is "the fastest car available for rent in North America," which seems entirely possible.)
According to PRI's website, the track cars (which will be available during NJMP's 2009 season) will include track-optimized models such as the Porsche 944 and 944 Turbo, a Lotus Exige with a 400-hp turbocharged engine installed by PRI, the Chevrolet Corvette C6 Clubsport, and open-wheel cars such as a Lola Formula Ford and a Lola-Cosworth IRL/Champ car. Some of PRI's street cars may be available graco travel system at the track, too. Pricing for these cars hasn't been posted, but there will be a substantial discount for members of the NJMP Driver's Club.
You're thinking about unwinding the leather-wrapped steering wheel of a finely-engineered sports car while you roll back onto the power, track out to the edge of your lane, and start setting up for the next turn.
You're thinking about how the engine graco travel system will sound under full throttle while you're climbing up through the gears, and about the sudden pressure behind your eyes when you roll onto the brakes so you can make that next turn.
It may be a few months before graco travel system you can turn that daydream into a reality, but this is probably a good time to visit some of those websites and make a few phone calls. graco travel system Maybe you should leave a printout lying around graco travel system in hopes of finding a gift certificate in your stocking on Christmas morning.
Peter N. Glaskowsky is a computer architect in Silicon Valley and a technology graco travel system analyst for the Envisioneering Group. He has designed chip- and board-level products in the defense and computer industries, graco travel system managed design graco travel system teams, and served as editor in chief of the industry newsletter "Microprocessor Report." He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure .