Thanks for the compliments! Compared my other cars its worlds apart and ahead. My primary track car, an e36 track rat, runs roughly a 2:25-28 at cota. My first time out in the MKII I got a 2:18 under the belt and worked down to a 2:13.7 over the weekend. The pro instructor, Eric Foss, ran a 2:08, and for anyone that knows the track, sub 15 is a very quick car, and sub 10 is nuts.
The feel of the car is extremely confidence inspiring. I was worried after having put my old gt in the wall, but the MKII puts power down very clean. In mode 1,2, you can mash the pedal and if its pointed straight it hooks. If you have some steering angle it will kick predictably. I tried getting sloppy a few times just to see how the car would respond, and it was forgiving. In mode 3 the rear end would come around a bit more but it was manageable. I kept it in 3, which is limited traction control but loose stability. I even went out when it was damp, slid around a bunch, but the car managed putting down power just fine and never felt sketchy. I kept the traction control on full tilt that session though!
Steering feel was perfect, in a word.
Cornering grip was the biggest adjustment. My typical street cars do 1g peak ish, my e36 peaks around 1.5g, and the MKII would peak around 2.1g and sustain 1.6-1.7g. Adjusting to that was the hardest part, as all my min speeds were much higher than I was used to. That and the aero really hooks at speed and takes some adjusting to trust it. I was relatively slowest in the high speed stuff compared to the pro, but the car has an aero push for safety I presume. So as I came to speed the car always felt stable and never felt sketchy in those high speed sweepers.
Braking, OMG. This is one of the cars strongest characteristics. The abs was predictable and pretty easy to manage. My breaking points were 30-40m deeper and I was going 20+mph faster than my e36. And I feel I could probably work in even further! Typical break point is the 180m in the bmw, I was hitting the 140m in the MKII with ease. Compared to any other car, the brakes are just unreal.
The engine is wonderful, the sounds, the power, the torque, it really feels and sounds awesome. It does feel a little flat on the back straight in top gear but its probably the aero dragging the car down. 164mph on the back straight is respectable and was our max speed on track. My street GT does this roughly, but that car has no drag relatively.
Overall, its just a joy to drive and has more grip, sound, brake, and looks than nearly anything else out there. It was the track hero for sure this weekend, and it made me feel like one too lol.