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Rick Malone, Chief Driving Instructor, and his staff of track proven instructors at Ron Fellows Performance Driving School are true teaching professionals. I was extremely impressed by the instructors level of teaching skills. Imagine, a room full of professional drivers that left their egos at the door, nonjudgemental, the patience of Job and the knowledge to open the door to the magnificence of the C-7 Corvette.
Each attended of the Owners Class was matched with their car weather a Stingray manual or auto and the same for Grand Sport and ZO6. Two days of instruction and maximum track time left each of us with ability to push past our limits and understand the extreme capability of the C-7 Corvette.
Again, I can’t thank Rick and his team of Professionals enough, and a special shout out to Tommy! Tommy was my demonstration driver early on day two. Tommy showed me how the car could Carly dance through the motions of the road coarse. I was able to take skill sets he demonstrated directly back to the track. Wow! What an experience.
*Special note: My class happened upon a special bonus as our timing was on the mark, it rained for our two days of instruction allowing us to capture a higher level of instruction and track application of the car as the wet track replicated conditions of much higher speeds.
See you again soon!
Del Sawyer
Last edited by Del the Grand Sport; Nov 30, 2018 at 01:35 PM.
I fully agree. I attended back in the Fall of 2014 in a M7 stingray. I will be attending again the first week of February in a M7 Grand Sport. I can't wait.
Ever since I started looking on this forum there has been nothing but excellent reviews for the Performance Driving School. I definitely will be attending next spring and drive a Grand Sport M7, same as I own.
I have done it twice so far (2015 & 2018) and loved it both times.
Not so sure I would have enjoyed it nearly as much in the rain - I did a one day Cadillac program in the rain in Lime Rock, and while fun and challenging in its own way, the amount of speed you give up really changes the feel of the car at the limits, and the reduction in capability deprives you of the opportunity to see what well over 1g cornering is like.
Agree wholeheartedly! Most of my adult life has been involved in receiving, editing, revising, and creating classroom and practical instructional material, hiring and developing instructors and delivering content at the college, general aviation and airline levels. I was thoroughly impressed at the quality of the program and the instructional skill of the SM staff. The training was scheduled and executed with military precision, and the instructors stuck to the curriculum like Gorilla Glue, using consistent terminology to aid student learning and retention, and they checked their egos at the door when they led students on the road course, providing useful, timely, accurate feedback. It is truly on the short list of the best instruction I have ever been exposed to.
Spot on review !
Rick and his crew were the best. Was there the first week in Nov, this year, and thought it was one of the best experiences ever. Perfect weather, exceptionally maintained track cars, good accommodations and food . . . memories that will last a lifetime. Rick and his guys are masters of keeping you encouraged, focused and aggressive. Track-time was a blast but class-time was the catalyst for that. Driving around on the street at home isn’t the same anymore, Rick’s analogies are stuck in my brain every time I accelerate or brake.
Can’t wait to get back for more !
Del,
thank you for your post and review! I'll send this to Rick and rest of the staff here, so that they know that as a team, we made a great impression on you!
always striving to make the experience better, so please don't hesitate to send us an email, or letter!
hope to see you again soon!
I'll be going back next week for my 3rd time in the Level 2 course. Couldn't agree more with the many aforementioned complimentary remarks about the first rate staff and facility. I get better every time and can't wait to get back on the track.
Your review is right on. Great instruction, great time. Go as fast as you have the gonads to go. No limitations. Of course, if you wreck the car, you’ll be paying.
correction: I shouldn’t say go as fast as you want with no limitations. This isn’t true until the afternoon of day 2. At that time, when you get your chance to be the first car behind the instructor, if he/she is comfortable, will speed up as you push. For me, that equaled as fast as I dared and wanted.
If they want, the instructor will drive away from you fast in a Camaro while juggling two radios and looking in the rear view mirror.
And the chance of wrecking the car is low.
Last edited by Jeffthunbird; Dec 15, 2018 at 10:44 PM.
Speaking of crashing, does the school offer insurance if you happened to have a crash??
Yes... BUT... IIRC it was $200 but provided limited coverage (e.g., wouldn't cover a total loss).
IMO it's overkill for most owners where the goal is to learn about the car, and unless you have a Mario Andretti gene hidden in your DNA, the probability of needing it is remote. The instructors are skilled at keeping student cars on the track, and most owners approach pushing the car conservatively... Perhaps it makes sense for the advanced classes where the goal is pushing the limits harder
Agreed, the first day of my session had rain but we still drove (limited to 85 mph) and learned just how well the car performs in wet weather (in the weather mode).
I did Level 1 school 3 years ago and just did Level 2 last Oct. Both were great but enjoyed Level 2 a lot more. Level 2 there is less lead and follow and you get to pass but only on the back straight. You have the option of having a instructor ride along or not but instructors are watching from positions around the track can inform you as you are driving what you need to improve on. There were 14 in our class which was split to 7 in each group most were Z06 and GS, think I was one of the few driving a Z51. I was never passed and I passed several in our sessions and that was the most fun seeing a car way out in front and then tracking him down to pass and find out it was Z06. If you thought Level 1 was hoot you will really like Level 2 !
Performance Driving at Spring Mountain
