btchn99

I have never ventured into this section before so please pardon the intrusion. I was wondering if anyone could give me input on driving schools.

Here is the link I posted in C5 gen.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1567436515

TIA for any help you can give me.


Lori

Lan.Jet

I would start with a local HPDE like http://www.pdadrivingschool.com/
Then after you are comfortable a three day school like Spring mountain or Bondurant.

btchn99

Thank you very much. It's hard to find something close that people have experience with or compliments to offer

CHJ In Virginia

I have to agree. A weekend at one of the local HPDE - High Performance Drivers Education - Track day events is the way to go for starters. Cost will be MUCH less than Bondurant or Spring Mountain and fairly local. That way they can see if it is the kind of thing that interests them. Beginners levels are available with in car / classroom instruction with these groups. I have run with them all and give them a positive grade. Large bang for the buck !
Car Guys - www.carguys.com
Mazda Drivers - www.mazdadrivers.com
Track Daze - WWW.trackdaze.com
Chin Motorsports - www.chinmotorsports.com

C66 Racing

Lori,
I too am a fan of the HPDE route. I started DEing my 94 RX-7 in 99 or so and four years later caved in to desire and turned my 02 Z06 into a dedicated SCCA T1 class racecar. Over the years I have DE'd with or instructed for numerous DE clubs including Porsche, BMW, Alfa, SCCA, THZCC, and probably one or two I've forgotten. I've never really been disappointed.

However, you probably will find a variance in instructor experience even within the same club. Sometimes you get a guy like me with 30ish races under his belt, other times you get a guy whose never raced. So... don't let one bad instructor totally turn you off to the group.

My advice, go watch a DE event and see how they are run. I suspect you'll be comfortable with it and will sign up for their next event.

John Shiels

People at HPDE are very friendly for the nost part 95%. Go watch one first and ask questions. Tell some people you are just starting to look at an event. There are a few left this season so get out to one. Post here if you are going and you more than likely meet a few people from the forum.

ghoffman

Intrusion, hardly! By all means Welcome! On this forum you will find National Champs, Professional Champs, Crew Chiefs, engineers, that all have valuable inputs that are more than happy to share. All you have to do is ask. You still have a few events that you can make with SCDA before the year is out:
http://www.scda1.com/schedule
The thing is, no matter how experienced the instructor(s) are, or what their background, they will all give you more "tools" for your toolbox. Some will be more or less useful for you, but you as the driver will ultimately need to choose what you do and refine your skills with practice.
Cheers!

MungoZ06

Lori ... you're in NE PA
I saw the posts about driving schools like SM, where you drive the school's car ... that's fine, but not something that most people can do on a regular basis.
If you're interested in taking your car out, there are a couple of Corvette clubs that do schools at Pocono - one in April on the short north infield course, one in late May on the longer, faster course.
The Regional Competition Director for the East Region (of which these two clubs are members) is Brian (RacingFast on this site) ... he also instructs for NASA PDA.

BondurantHPD

When you're ready for a professional driving school don't forget that we offer CF members 10% off on new bookings. Just mention you saw this on CF.

We would love to speak to you about all we can offer at our school should you choose.

Warm regards,

Dan

socalspringmountain

Comparing us to HPDEs is kinda like an "apples to oranges" kind of comparison. HPDEs are a good way to get a feel for driving on the track & you will pick up some quick advise & pointers. You work with a variety of instructors (as others have mentioned). Most are typically "weekend warriors" simply meaning they have other full time jobs, & are doing events for extra cash, or because they love to do it. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying the don't have useful knowledge to pass along, most of them do & are very experienced. Car clubs like PCA also offer some good weekend instruction. The instruction is most often done in your car. Check with your insurance, but, in most cases, insurance will not cover any damage that occurs on the track. With GPS & Onstar they can determine these things.

When your talking about a Corvette School like the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain & the higher cost (compared to HPDEs) you have to remember a few points. We teach the Ron Fellows philosophy of driving over 3 days, & includes approx. 300 miles of track time. Our instructors are professionals who do this everday for a living. This is their job & they truly are world class instructors. The instruction is done in our cars (C6, Z51, Z06, & Callaway Corvette), so you don't have to sweat insurance, or wear & tear on your car. Our track is a 2.2 mile track purpose built for training Corvette drivers. We pay for all of our own cars, maintenance, our instructors, & our facilities so that is where most of the cost goes to.

Most important of all, our class teaches you all aspects of driving the Corvette, including braking, car control, accident avoidance techniques, visual scanning, heel & toe downshifting, & weight distribution/ weight transfer skills. All of these skills are not only usefull on the track & improving your skills, but they do translate into normal day to day driving & can save your life.