Watkins Glen:Driving School

[audisnapr]

has anyone done this before? If so, what kind of experience did you have? Was it worth the money? Any kind of feedback would be great.

My g/f wants to send me to a driving school for my birthday/xmas gift.

I was reading through their documentation and saw that "this is not a racing school, but a driving school". What exactly does that mean? I can go fast, right? [:D]

[D0WNxSH1FT]

I took an advanced driving school put on by the BMW Car Club of America; Boston Chapter at New Hampshire International Speedway.

The class took place in a large parking lot next to the speedway. they set up cones for a skidpad, a figure eight so we could learn about under/oversteer (basically we got to powerslide/drift heheh so cool), then we did ABS breaking skills. where u go about 30-45mph (depending on your car, my RSX did it at 37mph, Porsche do it at 45mph.) and you go till the first cone then u hit the brakes and try to stop before the last cone, and at another skill u had to stop and turn w/ out hitting any cones. after that we did advanced lane changes, basically u go straight at the same speed as before, then at the last second the instructor tells u which lane to go into and u have to swerve into it w/o hitting any cones. and we did double lane changes, where the car make two 90deg angles, w/o hitting any cones (again u dont know which lane to go into till the last second). in between all of these skills we had classes which taught us about the physics of driving, about contact patches, weight distribution, etc. and at the end of the day they set up an AutoX which had a slalom, s-curves, shicanes, half the skid pad, etc.

all in all it was the most fun ive ever had in my life. it cost me $125 but that included a years membership in BMWCCA. normally its $75 for the class.

NH is about 4 hours from Westchester County, NY. The Glen is farther i believe.

look at the Advanced Driving School dates...
http://www.boston-bmwcca.org/events/2004/

[audisnapr]

thanks D0WNxSH1FT, I really appreciate the input. Looks like this Watkins Glen is very similar then.

I spent most of last night reading through their documentation and it would appear that they go through pretty much the same techniques... braking, extreme lane changes (in case of an accident in front of you), cornering, etc. They also have class time to teach a lot of the physics of driving just like you mentioned - weight distribution, contact patch, correct driving methods, race lines, etc. I think the only difference would be that you actually get track time at Watkins Glen.

Since this is a "beginner" driver school, you track your car with an instructor. And depending on your skills and the instructor's evaluation of you, you can actually do solo runs (although I don't expect that for myself). Apparently they put cones out on the course to help you understand the best lines to take throughout the course. From what I can tell, you actually get quite a bit of track time - 20 min sessions as much as time and scheduling will permit.

The cost of the school is $360 to start, but you can opt for some add-ons like, garage space $50, banquet dinner $35, helmet rental $30, membership to ACNA $44 (which is mandatory) and possibly a few others.

As fun as it sounds, and as willing as the G/F is to send me, I don't know that I will be able to go. It's a week from this coming Mon/Tues. You have to have a formal inspection before you get to the track signed off by a mechanic as well as a few other things. So we'll see.

Thanks again for the feedback. It does look like fun. Hopefully I can make one of these and actually get some good learning track time.

[D0WNxSH1FT]

There are certain dates that they have the Advanced class AND track days. its the same idea, an instructor teaches you on the track to find your lines, etc. its about $60 for that class. (it wasnt available on the date i went).

[audisnapr]

I'm a total beginner though. My ego tells me that I know how to drive, but my humility says that I'm a beginner. I've never been on the track with any car other than a desert race truck. Similar, but totally different I'm sure. So I'd like to go in as beginner. It sounds like they have all levels at this event. They place you in groups so that when you are on the track you aren't getting hunted down by really fast guys.

[D0WNxSH1FT]

sounds like a great time. ive never been to the Glen, i was gonna go on father's day weekend, but we decided to go to Lime Rock in CT.

[skene]

Whoa... I'm part of ACNA.. and i didnt pay a dime..... hehehe.

[audisnapr]

Association Croquet North America?

[skene]

no.... Another Crackpot in North America.

:P

Audi Car Club of North America.

[ROUGHEDGES]

go to pocono, they have the pda(performance drivers association)
which is only 100 bucks or so.

what trucks did you race, a prerunner?

if you liked that theres the scca road rally which is pretty cool and its only around 50 and the run lasts about 5 hours depending on which one it is.

i went to derek daly gt school and formula 2000 racing.
They did that lane change thing to. The funniest part was they told me i could come off the line as hard as i wanted, soooo i almost killed a set of tires :0 umm holding out first gear burnouts.
you will have fun and learn alot. go for some kind of school. i have enough time to get tested for my scca license but havent set up a test date yet.

[audisnapr]

seems like many of you manage to find these driving schools for cheap. I found another 1-day school at Pocono through the M-Club, but it costs $200! Not sure exactly what it entails, but they do have 4-25min track runs and at the end of the day, a select group (those who are members and signed up early) get to do a time trial.

***update***
Sorry roughedges... just realized you asked about the trucks. I've actually been in many different style offroad race trucks and one class 5 unlimited baja bug. My brother races a mitsu pre-runner in cali so I've driven that a hand full of times. Way back in the day I used to work for Esslinger Engineering and got to test the Esslinger Ford Mickey Thompson stadium truck for my boss. Also got to drive and ride in a class 8 unlimited desert truck as well.

[Digit@lex]

I've done a Pocono PDA driving event. It's fun but try to schedule the long course if you go. It's higher speed due to the longer layout used. I definitely recommend PDA events. Those guys are easy going and fun. Most events are about $200 a pop.

[ROUGHEDGES]

is joe from imp still heading those up

[Digit@lex]

Originally posted by ROUGHEDGES
is joe from imp still heading those up

Yep, I believe so. I think he is the owner of a company AZP now.