Kellyex1450
Well-known member
Last Saturday I decided to have a midlife crisis and took my painfully average 2020 base model Bolt to a Speed Ventures track day at Streets of Willow. Since convincing my friends to do anything remotely fun is like pulling teeth with a rusty wrench, I went solo — and honestly, it was glorious.
The Bolt, in all its underwhelming EV glory, showed up rocking the only performance mods I could manage without taking out a second mortgage: some forged wheels and a set of 200-treadwear tires. Despite looking like a slightly sportier rental car, it actually did amazing — except for those “reduced propulsion” warnings that popped up after 8 minutes of “spirited” driving in each 20-minute session. I guess the Bolt needed a juice box and nap break after every few laps.
Miraculously, I ended up snagging second place out of 20 cars, which included a bunch of Toyota 86s, 400Zs, E30s, Si Civics, MR2s, and more Miatas than I could count. The only person who beat me was in a track-prepped M4 — basically a missile with doors — so I’m not even mad.
For $180, I got four 20-minute sessions, which works out to about $4 per lap. That’s practically a steal for getting to drive like an absolute maniac without worrying about speed traps or Karen from the HOA complaining about tire squeal. I’m definitely going to make this a yearly thing now, even though I waited entirely too long to try it.
If you’re on the fence about doing a track day, just do it. It’s way less intimidating than you’d think, and nobody’s out there trying to swap paint like a demolition derby. The rules keep everyone from acting like Mad Max, so you can actually have fun without wrecking your ride. I’ll link some in-car YouTube footage if you want to witness my Bolt’s shocking (pun intended) performance.
![Jun-28-2025-Speed Ventures (Sat) [[42b060a0d4]] - 5 Blue Group - Session 3 Turns 1-3 - 111NCZ9...jpg](https://forum.badlinesgoodtimes.com/data/attachments/39/39242-123df551472e2b7a5f43ef27d38b1565.jpg?hash=OFiXfeFX7_ "Jun-28-2025-Speed Ventures (Sat) [[42b060a0d4]] - 5 Blue Group - Session 3 Turns 1-3 - 111NCZ9...jpg")
The Bolt, in all its underwhelming EV glory, showed up rocking the only performance mods I could manage without taking out a second mortgage: some forged wheels and a set of 200-treadwear tires. Despite looking like a slightly sportier rental car, it actually did amazing — except for those “reduced propulsion” warnings that popped up after 8 minutes of “spirited” driving in each 20-minute session. I guess the Bolt needed a juice box and nap break after every few laps.
Miraculously, I ended up snagging second place out of 20 cars, which included a bunch of Toyota 86s, 400Zs, E30s, Si Civics, MR2s, and more Miatas than I could count. The only person who beat me was in a track-prepped M4 — basically a missile with doors — so I’m not even mad.
For $180, I got four 20-minute sessions, which works out to about $4 per lap. That’s practically a steal for getting to drive like an absolute maniac without worrying about speed traps or Karen from the HOA complaining about tire squeal. I’m definitely going to make this a yearly thing now, even though I waited entirely too long to try it.
If you’re on the fence about doing a track day, just do it. It’s way less intimidating than you’d think, and nobody’s out there trying to swap paint like a demolition derby. The rules keep everyone from acting like Mad Max, so you can actually have fun without wrecking your ride. I’ll link some in-car YouTube footage if you want to witness my Bolt’s shocking (pun intended) performance.
