The wife is interested in some driver's schools. I don't think the typical race type driver's schools or HPDE would be the most appropriate. I'm looking for something to get her more comfy driving the car and being able to push it in a safe environment.

Anyone have any input on a "school" of that nature?

I'm only familiar with race school and HPDE stuff.

Thanks.

 

The first schools I took were the Phil Wicks ones and I was very comfortable in them, especially since I was driving a Cooper with a CVT. I felt I was getting the right instruction as well as enough seat time. The only problem I had with them was that they were few and far between where I live.

When I bought my MCS, I drifted towards BMW CCA, mostly because the one here in Ohio as well as the ones in neighboring states offer many opportunities to drive at a variety of tracks throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall. The instruction in them is superb, as is the seat time.

I recommend either school. Even though they are both HPDEs, the drivers are placed into groups according to their experience...from novice to advanced. Each car in each group has its own instructor paired with the driver and there is classtime in-between track time, too. These are NOT racing schools, but are what the letters stand for: High Performance Driving Experiences. They teach everything from what the flags mean, to braking, finding the apex, driving the line, being consistent, etc. Yes, you may go fast, but you are controlled by the instructor beside you as well as by the flaggers and, ultimately, the track steward [if you are consistently irresponsible and get blackflagged].

 

I actually attended a CCA school earlier this year in my RX7. I've been doing HPDE on/off since 1988 with some kart racing in the "off" perriods. It was a very well run event by the San Diego chapter at Buttonwillow. However, I'm not particularly interested in HPDE type schools for the wife.

I thought there may be some schools that were more focused on things like car control, cornering limits and emergency lane changes and such. That would provide a more directly applicable set of experiences to what I'd like my wife to learn.

Any input from others along these lines?

Thanks.

 

Phil Wicks has a Safe Driving Academy that would be what you are describing. It is not always offered, due to venue. I believe most BMWCCA chapters offer something like Street Survival that may fit the bill.

BUT for the most part, novices for the Driving Academy do the Safe Driving curriculum in the first two to three sessions. It is just done on the track in stations. Straight line ABS braking, ABS in a turn, slalom, emergency lane change are all addressed in the stations and repeated until all are comfortable with their skills. The later sessions evolve to rounding the track and learning the capabilities of the car/driver, increasing field of vision to see corner workers and looking ahead to upcoming turns. All of these will apply to daily driving.

Next Phil Wicks should be in Las Vegas in March.

 

In the northeast, the BMWCCA puts on ADSS events - Advanced Driver Safety Skills schools. Sometimes, they're also called "car control clinics".

These are held in a large parking lot, and consist of straight line braking, braking and turning, emergency lane change, and skidpad exercises.

I don't know if the west coast BMWCCA chapters do these, but it's a great place to start.

 

I know that Mid-Ohio has a Mid-Ohio School which teaches how to drive in inclement weather, using cars with "outriggers". Each student has an instructor inside with him, as the cars are put thru various scenarios of pending doom. Is this what you are seeking?

 

The BMWCCA of LA (bmwclubla.org) had a Car Control Clinic that I attended with other MINI owners in the beginning of this month. This was held at California Speedway in Fontana for 1 day and you could add on a HPDE track day for the other day. I believe the cost was $100 for the car control clinic. I think the next one will be held on the weekend of May 31st next year.

 

great info. thank you all.

might even take one of those for myself.

 

I'd avoid any with the word "McGoo" in the name.

 

here are my two ideas.

The phil wicks school is really halfway between a regular HPDE and car control clinic. the first day you go around the track to "stations" breaking, slolom, high speed lane change. It's a nice way to get started. When we did it here in the Charlotte that was only on the first day. The second day was just straight HPDE.

Second idea is where i work

http://www.1800bepetty.com/SafeDriving.aspx
This school is designed for new drivers but we often have adults in it. They are more difficult to teach since they've already got bad habbits and they've been using these bad habbits for years. Also, witht the Petty school you drive our cars for 5 of the 6 modules.

 

It's a bit of a drive, but the GGC BMW CCA is having a car control clinic in February near San Francisco. The exercises include slalom, skid pad, braking, accident avoidance.

http://www.ggcbmwcca.org/?page=calendar&id=292

One of the best schools of this type I've taken was the two day high performance driving school with Skip Barber. That was in the early nineties, so they may have changed. But the outline of the curriculum looks similar. The school I took was entirely in the paddock, other than a hot lap with an instructor at the wheel. It looks like they've added lead-follow on track. Among their locations is Laguna Seca (outside of Monterey).

 

Thanks. We were just up in SF last week.