The Lexus Performance Driving School Teaches You to Be Fast With Finesse

• The Lexus Performance Driving School is an introductory course to driving on a racetrack.
• Participants are instructed in on-track performance, autocross driving and drifting.
• I joined the party at Sonoma Raceway, and it was tons of fun, but I wish Lexus had a proper sports car for the experience.

Driving a sports car on a great road is bliss. Little compares to the sweet sound of a screaming exhaust bouncing off canyon walls while accelerating out of a curve. But today’s vehicles are more powerful and capable than ever, and exploring their limits on public roads often requires extra-legal speeds — and can be downright unsafe.

Enter: the racetrack. The Lexus Performance Driving School exists to give owners and enthusiasts a safe, controlled way to really explore these cars' potential. I recently got to experience the full program firsthand at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California — with racing legend Scott Pruett as one of my guides.

My program consisted of three modules — track, autocross and drifting — and I'd have the opportunity to go through each twice. In the morning, the experience was geared more toward familiarizing myself with each activity and the associated vehicle, while the afternoon sessions were more about taking what I'd learned and pushing myself harder and harder.

Lapping Sonoma in the LC 500

I adore the LC 500: It’s gorgeous, sounds phenomenal and has a sumptuous interior. Behind the wheel of Lexus' stunning coupe, I completed two sessions of three laps of the full Sonoma course at a moderate pace, and the instructor gave personalized feedback during debriefs after each stint, talking about things like when to brake, turn in, get back on the throttle, etc. Being able to have this one-on-one approach left me feeling more confident to pick up the pace in the afternoon session, where I could refine and hone the skills I'd learned in the morning.

However, the LC 500 is far from a track car. This is a grand tourer through and through — too big and too heavy to really feel at home on a canyon road, let alone a challenging racetrack like Sonoma. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed hustling it around, but I couldn’t help but wish I was driving something lighter and more tossable.

Autocrossing in the IS 500 F Sport

I switched into the IS 500 F Sport sedan for this part, where I was timed driving around a short, tight course of cones. The autocross was sneakily tricky: It was about precision more than outright speed. 

To be honest, the IS 500 is not a vehicle I would ever recommend as an autocross companion. It’s powerful, but I found the handling to be cumbersome and the brakes were difficult to modulate — not ideal for navigating a tight course. I struggled in the morning session, but once I figured out how to make the IS 500 work with me (which wasn’t easy), I shaved more than a second off my best time and ended up being one of the quickest of the group.

That said, I would’ve liked more feedback during this activity. I was largely on my own here; no one ever watched my runs to provide any sort of guidance before the next go around, which was a bit of a bummer.

Drifting the RC F

The goal with this module? Slide a Lexus RC F on wet pavement around a cone, ideally making at least one full circle.

Drifting with control is harder than most people realize; it takes a ton of focus to properly balance the throttle and turn the wheels just the right amount to stay in a slide. I don’t know what happened inside me between the morning and afternoon sessions, but something clicked with my drifting skills: I managed to make three full circles around the cone, and I could even repeat this feat a second time.

The drifting instructors were really helpful, providing excellent guidance via walkie-talkie as they watched me sliding around. I never would’ve been able to improve so much so quickly without them telling me when to lay into the throttle, how quickly to turn and so on. Plus, the RC F was a great companion for the task, with big V8 power and rear-wheel drive making it a cinch to break traction and slide the tail around.

That’s a wrap

The day ended with a chance to ride shotgun with our instructors for a blistering lap of the Sonoma track. After that, there was a small recap, and some awards were handed out for the group with the best autocross time. Bonus: Lexus set up a Batak challenge to test everyone's hand-eye coordination — something super important for precision driving — and I won. 

The best thing about the Lexus Performance Driving School was leaving with a genuine sense of accomplishment. I felt a tangible improvement in my driving skill, and I wholly attribute this to the instruction I received during the program. This wasn't a driving school for experts (Lexus offers a Master Class program for more advanced folks), but the Performance Driving School was an excellent introductory course overall — even if the vehicles weren't always perfectly matched to the task.

Photos by Ryan Greger