Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Motorsports Performance Driving School Experiences
22 messages, Last post on Oct 06, 2009 at 9:25 AM
You are in the Motorsports Forum. Your Host is steve_
|
|
|---|---|
|
Have you been lucky enough to go through one of these schools? Your Host did the Skip Barber Open Wheel Course and thought it was one of life's best experiences. But not everyone feels like that. Tell us about the experience, the type of school (purpose of the course, who ran it, etc.) the costs, your pros and cons on the instructors and cars, and the overall effect on your present driving skill.
|
|
|
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Mar 23, 2005 12:21 pm) - What does the Open Wheel Course emphasize? Was it 1 or 2 dys? I am planning on taking the Skip Barber 1 or 2 day driving course this summer.  "> I will eventually try the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, but  I am a very new driver and their course requires more road experience before coming. I may also take a local defensive driving course before the summer, if possible. 1. Does anyone have advice on good local courses (North East states- preferably near the MD/ Wash D.C. area) that would emphasize excellent active driving skills on the streets and highways? ** I am also open to comments on courses in other parts of the country. Will you please mention the city and state. 2. Can anyone shed light on the meaning of these acronyms I have come across reading the posts? Are some better than others? CCC - Car Control Clinic SCCA - Sports Car Club of America PCA? CCA? Thanks for your help. |
|
|
|
| The Open Wheel Course is actually officially called the Three Day Competition Course, and gives you basic training on how to behave on a real race track and not kill yourself or anybody else. | |
|
|
|
I went to the Lexus Performance driving school at California Speedway last year. I had blast but would give it a a "B". The good: - Very well run, classy (what you expect from Lexus) - Relatively low cost ($400 for a full day) - You get to use their cars (only a plus if you happen to own one of their cars - I didn't want to learn on some car I don't own) The bad: -No drive-alongs where an instructor is in the car with you giving you real time pointers. -I couldn't get an IS on every course. Trying to take a GS, LS or SC on a auto cross type course is not much fun. - They only offer it in two locations - Southern California and Texas. - It doesn't appear that they are offering it this year. |
|
|
|
The link's not working, Steve.
|
|
|
|
|
Steve, that link seems broken... shifty |
|
|
Replying to: fredmcmurray (Apr 19, 2005 8:24 am) "Bottom line, anyone can drive fast in a straight line no matter what kind of car they're driving, but when you're racing, the rules of the game change dramatically." 2005 AMG Challenge — Advanced Course (Inside Line) Steve, Host |
|
|
I've done a couple schools, one with what was Bragg-Smith Driving School in Pahrump, NV about an hour northwest of LV, but is now Spring Mountain Motorsports Park. When I did it, all they had was Corvette Z06's but they have since added Radicals, you have to see one to believe how fast they are. The 3 day school is about car control and learning to drive a Corvette at Speed, the follow-up 2 day school is the advanced class and I have yet to get back. We did exercises and some lead follow on the road course on the first day. We then did more lead follow and open tracking on the second day and the third day was mostly open track. The exercises are things you just don't either get to do in your personal car or for that matter want to do, like pulling the ABS and stability control fuse and locking the car up on the wet skid pad and then going back later and doing it again with the systems on. Visual exercises like driving a serpentine course with a sun shield blocking the full front view to let you know you can look ahead and arrive where you want to go, very telling. Over all a great value. I expect I'll get back for the Advanced class later this year and might see then if I want to try a Radical class in the future. I then did several open wheel classes at Sears Point (Infineon) Raceway with Russell Racing School. The techniques class is a blast and just for fun, some got out of control but if you follow the instruction I found it to be nothing but fun, good exercises and plenty of speed on the last day open lapping the road course. The Advanced Course in Formula Mazda's with full race slicks gets serious about the 2nd day when some start to get a little out of control. By the third day doing race starts and pushing the rev limiters close to max you find out if you really want to pursue racing or just want to enjoy driving on a track, not for the faint of heart or wallet. Also, the instructors do a great job of watching for over agressive driving, one guy was asked to leave the 3rd day after lunch so he didn't graduate and there fore wouldn't qualify for the Russell race series. He had pulled a series of bone head moves which when we were at higher speeds were just plain dumb, IMO. They are looking for people who are fast but safe and therefore are cantidates for the arrive and drive race series they run once a month, I'm still spectating on the racing. If you ever saw yourself in a race car as a kid or think you are a good driver, don't we all (?), these courses are a place to put it in perspective. Having the kid out of college really helps! Randy |
|
|
|
| Getting into a real race car can be very humbling, yes. | |
You are here:
Forums
Motorsports Performance Driving School Experiences
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
