Sallye M

The instructors tell the class if you run all four wheels off the track they will check out the car and charge a $100 alignment fee.

Topsarge12R

Great review. Thanks!

11B250

interesting... good to know. Would be a good idea not to go too crazy I guess. last thing you need is to damage the car and pay $$$

mjcourt

Must be something new. When I was there they weren't charging for going off track. But you sure do NOT want to go off. It usually sends rocks on the track and can end the session for everyone else. It sure won't make you popular.

DAC17

I'm there now for the two-day class. So far, exactly as you described (thanks!). Only downside so far is the slow internet connection at the condos!

socalspringmountain

Hi!
Which bldg are you in? I'll look into it tomorrow am!

socalspringmountain

If you're shooting from the inside out, make sure spot metering is on. That should help with the overexposed video.

seel2000

Haven't ever really considered it until this review. Very well done. I'm impressed without ever stepping foot there. Isn't it time you purchased your C7??

alienranch

Hey Arctic - looking forward to your review. Give 'em hell.

socalspringmountain

Hi All!
to clarify the above, it is on a case by case basis...so basically, if you are in one of our school cars, and make a mistake that causes you to go off track, and you go off far enough to the point where we have to put the car up on the rack, then you may incur the charge. More often than not, the students here pay attention to the classroom briefings, apply what they learned on the skidpad, and either save the skid(s) they get into on track, or if they do spin/go off, they stop the car very quickly (like we teach, both feet in!)
if you still go off, very likely you won't go far, if even leave the asphalt, and you won't damage anything, or throw the alignment off. we still look at the car, we check it, and make sure it's good to go for the next session, but there is not a charge for that kind of work.

socalspringmountain

We do have 30 (2015) stingrays here in use now. we have another fleet of 2014 cars without pdr, which will be replaced soon by 2015's.
you may use the PDR at your discretion, with your own card. We do sell cards at the apparel/welcome center as well, if you decide you want to record some or all of your sessions. If something is captured on video that we would like to review, then we do ask for that card. it's mainly so we can use it as a training tool for the class. Unless something very serious happened on that video, then we will return the card to the owner in it's entirety.
as you can see by the video posted above, we don't confiscate it typically!
we do, however, ask if you post something, that you don't use people's names, unless you get their permission...to avoid either embarrassing someone, or making them feel bad..
cheers!

romaja

Thanks. I will bring my card. See you April 2-3 for level 3!

ChucksGrnH

I was lucky in that my wife was the one who "bought it for me"(40th birthday present), although, in reality, I had to pay the credit card, so I guess, technically, she let me buy it for myself. The real expensive part though, is that after taking the course, I really, really, want the car! I doubt that she's gonna get that for my next birthday though.

11B250

Ah, what do you drive?

My wife offered to get me this for a birthday few years back ('11 or '12?) and I told her it's too much money to spend on a few days of driving around a track. I feel pretty stupid about it now

DAC17

Sorry... Didn't see your note until now. It was building B.

Thanks!

14 Stingray

I attended with Chuck and I drove an auto for the first two days because that is what I have at home and I wanted to learn paddle shifting. I did drive the stick on the 3rd day to learn the rev match. I had a great time as well.

I brought some cameras and suction cup mounted to the windshield. Working on the edit for them.

By all means, get the third day. You will not regret it. You use everything they taught you, and they are more than happy to hop in the car with you if you ask them to give you a few more pointers.

BillB3672

My grandson and I are going to the Ron Fellows Driving School next week and will be taking my C7 from Phoenix to the school. My grandson is 28 and it will be a fun trip I am sure!
Thanks to all for the great post on the forum!

Questar

I just finished the 3 Day course on Jan 29th and drove the 2014 six speed auto for all three days. We drove in "M" mode (paddle shift) for all sessions, all three days. Our class used the 2.2 track and for the autos this requires two mandatory shifts points and one optional.

While the other cars are learning to heel/toe we are mixed in with them, getting the same track time, learning the turn in points, corner speeds and apex points. Basically it's track time and that's what you want. Because the instructor leading the way is calling out shift points (mostly for the manual transmission drivers), I found it interesting to realize how much more time I had to concentrate on learning the track... How different the shift points were for the auto cars.

Basically I drove most of the track in third gear. Downshift to second going into 7... Come out onto the straightaway and shift to third then fourth... Brake into 8... Then brake and downshift to 3rd before going through turn 9.... Brake and downshift to 2nd before entering corner 10... Then power out of ten onto the pit straight and up shift to 3rd.

There is an optional 3rd to 2nd shift point but I saw very little difference so opted to concentrate on trying to "perfect" my line on the track and get my corners right.

I learned a lot about the car and the auto on this course... Stuff I would never have discovered on my own... And things the user manual just can't teach you. The course was the best I've seen... Just awesome.

romaja

I am curious if you ever drove the manual on the track to see the differences between the 2 transmissions?

I was down last year for level 2 and drove the manual transmission. I had not taken delivery of my 2015 M7 yet. I never felt it was distracting or took away from the course when shifting the M7.

The rev match feature can be used if a person feels he can concentrate better on the turn in points etc. The rev match IMO has a learn feature built in. When down shifting w/ rev match on, it lets you know if you have matched the revs correctly. In my case I was blipping the throttle to 2500 RPM on most of the down shifts. This was too low and the rev match feature would bring it up the rest of the way to 3500 RPM. The instructors told me that 3500 is a good ball park for most of the down shifts points.

Aside from the learn feature the rev match paddles are very handy. If you want to use it on turn 3 you can, don't want it on turn 4? Flick it off with your finger.. done

If a person feels he is spending too much time doing the heel/toe thing, just flick on rev match and don't worry about syncing revs. Now all you do is shift which takes slightly more effort than the paddles you are using in the Auto.

Questar

One point that I rarely seen mentioned in the SMMR. Reviews is the fact that the instructors are pretty much ALL RACERS WITH REAL RACING EXPERIENCE. These guys were incredible.

It's very rare to find experienced and accomplished racers who also have the ABILITY TO TEACH. Rick has managed to do this and the results are incredible. We had 10 instructors for our class of 20 the first two days... 12 students stayed for day three and we had 5 instructors (plus Rick) on that last day.

Here's what people rarely tell you... Every one of those instructors brings different experience and skills to the course and during the 3 days you get to work with and get input from all of them. These guys aren't just "regular people" who got a job at the driving school... They are highly skilled, highly qualified and richly experienced DRIVERS who can walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

As an example, one of instructors in my group was Richie Hearns. I got to do lead/follow with Richie in the instructor car... I also got to have Richie get in the passenger seat of my car and help me drive the track with his constant input and corrections, to help me get the "line" down pat. In case you don't recognize his name, Richie Hearns is a retired IRL and Champ Car driver. He was the top rookie at the Indy 500 finishing 3rd in 1996. He won at LVMS that same year. The guy has mad skills, so to have a guy like that sitting next to you and patiently helping and teaching you is "priceless", as the saying goes.

Another one of my instructors was Ken Howatt... Who took over the steering wheel and had me ride-along in the passenger seat of my car (auto)... Where he proceeded to give me the ride of my life. Ken is my age (60's) so it was kind of depressing to see just how good he was and how BAD I was... But it was also exilerating at the same time. We did a 4 car "train" twice around the track (each of the four cars driven by an instructors with a student in the passengers seat). The idea was to "show us the racing line at speed" but it was also to give us a glimpse at what the unmodified stock corvettes can do. It was EYE OPENING to say the least. Ken told me this was JUST 70% of what they drive when "full out" but I gotta tell you it was awesome. These cars are capable of WAY MORE than most people would ever dream of... And way more than I'll ever get out of it... But it was fantastic to experience that... And a huge learning tool.

I can't say enough about how good these instructors are... And how great a program and team that Rick Malone has assembled under the Ron Fellows Driving School.

One last comment. I want to share something Rick Malone said during one of our class sessions, because I think it is very appropriate. I constantly read on this and other forums, about how C7 owners immediately want to start modifying their new car and purchasing "custom tunes", super chargers, exhaust systems, etc.. If you want to spend money to improve or upgrade your car then improve and upgrade the single MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR CAR... YOU!. Take the Ron Fellows corvette driving school. It will not only teach you things about your car, it will improve your skills and allow you to find and use the performance that's already in the car. You'll be amazed at what's already there, but you either don't know it or haven't the skills to utilize it. It will be the best investment you'll ever make in your car. Period.