I just got back from vacation, one weekend of which was spent at a Race Car Driver Training course. It was held on a 9 corner road course and was the most fun I've ever had with my pants on!

Day 1: classroom session a few weeks ago. Traction theory, braking theory, heel-toe downshifting, early apex / late apex, flags, etc. etc.

Day 2
morning consisted of a track walk followed by practice drills
(i) heel toe downshifting
(ii) single corner practice
(iii) pylons - at the end of the pylon course an instructor would randomly raise a flag and the driver was to skip one pylon and move on to the next. This was to teach us to drive with our heads up
(iv) linked corners (two corners) practice

afternoon consisted of full course sessions
(i) instructor drives your car at moderate speeds - most of us felt our cars had never been driven so hard - lol
(ii) student drives car at slow to moderate speeds - which seemed pretty fast to me at the time.
(iii) student drive again - permitted to go a bit faster
(iv) passing drill: instructor demonstrated a couple times, followed by student practice
throughout the weekend we used the following rule for passing - the passee must indicate by a quick wave of the hand out the window that a pass is expected, otherwise the passer got called into the pits for a chat. This wouldn't ever be used in a race, but since we're all new they use this method for our safety.
(v) written exam

Day 3
morning
(i) track walk
(ii) instructor drive 2 laps - review; student drives remainder of 20 minute session
(iii) solo! 20 minute solo session - passing permitted on main straight
(iv) solo session 2

afternoon
(i) solo session #3 while half the class watched from two different corners while listening to observations from instructors
(ii) other half of class drives while first half watches from the two different corners
(iii) repeat above, watching from the other corner - passing permitted on two straights
(iv) race simulation: rolling start behind pace car, passing permitted on two straights and in two corners
(v) certificates handed out

I should mention that speeds were increasing throughout day two. By the end I was running flat out in 4th on the main straight. Don't ask how fast because I was too busy watching out for my brake points and for other cars on the course. Once or twice I had a chance to check the tach, but that was it.

In short: a bargain at twice the price. I was extremely satisfied with the course. Day 2 was a bit frustratrating for me as I felt I wasn't getting it on some (ok, most) corners. After the instructor demonstrated to me that I was braking way to late it became a lot better. Day 3 was so much fun I can't properly describe it. I strongly recommend seeking out such a course if you can. This one was in Vancouver, BC. People came from as far away as Alberta and Washington state. I drove about 400 miles to get there and would do it again. In fact, I just might do it again next year... or install a roll cage, buy a firesuit, and get on with actual racing!

for more info on this particular course go to http://www.sccbc.net/driver_training.htm They do it twice a year.

 

My bride and I did a Skip Barber two-day course two years ago. Also tremendously fun and a terrific learning experience.

 

Time to join the rest of us in the Autocross & Road Race subforum

 

Sounds awesome. I have done drivers training in Victoria through VMSC a few years ago. The track was not big enough to get up to 4th gear, that's for sure. I might consider this for next year. I am curious on the heal-toe down shifting. I do autocross and I have found it impossible to do smoothly with the TBW system in these cars.

Did the instructors talk on this, is there a trick to it with the Mustang? (assuming you were driving a newer Mustang)

 

yes, they talked about it and demonstrated. I drive an '05 GT. Keep your heel on the floor just below the brake pedal for both braking and accellerating. Use just the ball of the foot under big toe on the brake, with the side of the foot over the gas pedal. About mid-way through the braking zone press the clutch down, shift down a gear and pivot at the ankle (or at the knee, whichever works) so that the right side of foot catches the gas pedal and briefly rev the engine - without lifting on the brakes at all. Let the clutch out. Takes some practice. Ideally the brake would be slightly higher than the gas pedal when the brake is pressed down, but this is not the case (well... not in mine anyways) so it is a bit awkward, but certainly do-able.

what is TBW?

 

throttle by wire? or drive by wire?

 

Sounds like you had a blast, I'm extremely jealous! I probably won't have the funds to do a class like that this season, but my goal is to do something similar next spring / summer at Mid-Ohio.

 

Yup, your hooked for life now

 

yep. I'm all over the internet looking for the nearest auto-x and suspension upgrades and roll cages. lol. way more fun than the 1/4 mile, imo, but far less available

 

yeah, the 1/4 is like a Sunday drive now, lol.

 

Nice post Calvin - thanks for sharing your thoughts. I know exactly what you mean about not being able to look at the speedo during the laps because your concentration on the track is total, and you are definitely in sensory overload. When your mind is focused like that, it's just impossible to notice other things going on except the task at hand.

I did a High Performance Driving Education event (HPDE) last November at Lime Rock Park in CT with my 2005 Mustang GT. It was basically the same structure as what you described (classroom, instructor drives moderately (i.e. really fast, but not nearly as fast as he *could* go) to show student the line, and then the student drives laps with the instructor in the car), except the Lime Rock HPDE event was all crammed into a single day. In my case, I never got to solo, as that would have been the second day, and I was only there for the single day. For me, it was good that the instructor was in the car the whole time -- he told me when I made mistakes, but he also told me when I nailed a corner or braking point.

I still don't really know the limits of the Mustang on a road course, because I never pushed it enough to go off-track. But I am a LOT closer to knowing the limits after that day of HPDE. I also recommend it to anyone - it's educational, as you'll learn a lot about proper driving techniques and about how fast your car can really go - but most importantly, it's a BLAST!

BTW, Lime Rock has a long front stretch that is WOT in 4th gear, and I was able to glance at the speedo a couple times at the Start/Finish line. It was reading 120 mph. And then it was hard on the brakes down to 60 mph and 3rd gear for Big Bend at Turn 1.

 

Once you get enough experience under your belt you'll be able to watch your gauges and carry on a conversation if you are driving at 7/10ths.