Driving Schools Recommendations ??

What part of the world do you live in?

The US?

What part of the US?

 

try http://www.sportcarschool.com/

You post over in the rocky mountain region and ask for Roland Linder. He does a great job.

 

It depends on what you want to get out of the school.

If you think you want to race at some point, go to a Skip Barber or Bob Bondurant school. You will learn great skills in their racecars.

If you just want to learn how to drive your 360 to its potential, learn high performance driving and in general become a better and safer driver, then sign up for some local Drivers Education events. The local Porsche and BMW clubs plus probalby the Vette club all do these. I instruct here in Atlanta with PCA. It is a great way to learn first hand in a safe environment.

Be aware however: none of these schools are 100% safe. There is no such thing on a racetrack. A guy was killed last weekend at Watkins Glen at a PCA DE event. Though that is very rare, cars getting smashed is not. We average 1-2 cars per event around here....



Terry

 

If you are looking to race some day, consider starting with a school like Skip Barber, where you will work in open wheel cars and really learn the fundamentals of racing. If you're just interested in taking the car out for track days and learning to handle it better, look at some of the schools that use Corvette Z-06's or Mustangs or some other road car so that you will learn in an environment that is similar to the car you will be driving (i.e., a road car, not an open wheel Formula car). I believe Bondurant does road cars at some of their locations, as does Panoz at Road Atlanta and Sebring. Of course, there is nothing wrong with starting with an open wheel course like Skip Barber. I did that, and it translated well over to the road car.

 

Terry has a very good point. It all depends on what you desire. As for me, just last week i attended the three-day Skip Barber racing school at Lime Rock Park. It was a great learning experience (http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68115 ). This was on Monday through Wednesday. On Friday and Saturday i drove the 308GTS QV at Lime Rock Park at an FCA event. The Skip Barber learning MOST DEFINITELY helped out.

But if you just want to learn basic car control, etc, then perhaps something else would be best (and less $$$). You DO learn car control at Skip Barber of course... and other things.

 

My personal favorite is the Track Time Performance School. www.tracktime.com. You get to use your own car with their instructor riding with you, plus classroom instruction. I'll be at their event at Road America in WI Aug. 15 + 16. It's been a huge help for me, and because it's my own car, I can apply the knowlege everywhere (cheaper too. 2 days = $650). No, I don't work for them. However, you may have to ask if your spider has adequate rollover protection. They're kinda fussy about safety, but that's what you want in a school. Where ever you go, make sure that safety is #1 priority.

 

If you want to learn driving skills and car control in your Ferrari, I highly recommend Evolution Autocross Schools, rather than track schools, as a starting point. Far less danger, less speed, and far more control opportunities. Evolution schools are held all over the country. http://www.autocross.com/evolution

Further, in Texas, there are several car clubs that also hold autocross schools that each have their own features. For example, the Maverick Region of the Porsche Club of America holds some good autocross schools every spring. They really focus on car control with skid pad drills and braking drills and so on.

The beauty of autocross is that the danger is really low... safer than driving on the street... other than you might get some cone marks on the car which can be a bit of a pain to clean off (they do come off though).

 

I did the Skip Barber school 25 yrs ago, it was great!
Last year ,after being out of a race car many years, I did a private school with Panoz at MSR to get a competition license; not so great.IMO the instructors came off as Holier than thou.
For street driving I'd check out the bring your own car stuff, provided if you are really going to push it ,the track has ample run off room.Check out MSR to see if they support such a school. 817-512-3162.Great track.
Hallet is close and offers such a program, but lots of tire walls.

 

Hmmm... interesting to hear that! I've considered a Panoz school at TMS; but another incident I heard of worried me a bit.

MSR is a great, safe track. The Porsche Club and Driver's Edge both have DE's there (where you drive your own car with an instructor riding along)... with friendly, competent instructors.

 

I've been to the Bondurant school twice. Once in 1978 when it was in California and then 6 years again at Firebird in Phoenix. I have also been to Skip Barber. Bondurant is excellent overall. It will teach you car control and how to be smooth which then translates into very very fast. Bob is still the man!!

 

Edwin,

I've been down your path and here is my advise: don't track your own car much. it gets really expensive and forget about it if you crash (even a small one). i have a 360 as well and i now race formula mazdas, it's just way more fun, they are faster on every level and waaaaaay cheaper to run. brakes and just basic fluid maint. will pay for your own race car.

here is what i did: skip barber 3 day then the 2 day twice. then i got involved with the mazdas, and have been doing that for a while now. if single seat formula cars don't "fit" you, buy a radical or something of that ilk, again it will be faster more fun and cheaper than whaling on your ferrari.

it's not that i'm cheap or broke but anyone that races cars will tell you that this is an expensive hobby and nobody should just waste money. for the price of a few lube jobs, tires, a few sets of brakes you could go to racing school and get a racing coach and be light years faster than guys that just attend track days in their own cars.

good luck, noel

 

I took off a year in FMazda to recoup from the crash dammage expenses.Will probably be back next year. If it were a Ferrari that would have been the end of racing for me.
The Spider should have a roll hoop for track use.

 

Just be VERY careful about who you chose to run with. There are some yahoos putting on track events that IMHO are not very safe. For local events, usually PCA and BMW clubs put on pretty safe events. You want to make sure the rest of the participants are as worried about their cars as much as you are and that the instructors are not just looking to joyride in your Ferrari ( I've seen that happen)

Agree with AC, talk to Roland Linder. He is a great instructor and cares about your safety and your cars safety.

 

On the Panoz School - I've participated in their advanced racing course and done a couple of series races at Road Atlanta and Sebring. I've always found the instructors to be very approachable and friendly - much more so than the Skippy folks. Lisa Kay Golde, the series administrator, is a wonderful person, give her a call with any questions. Anyway, I certainly feel they're worth a shot.

On running your own car - here's EXACTLY what not to do: take your nice street car, then make it "better" in gradual but expensive half steps - buy different wheels and tires; lower the car slightly; buy race wheels and tires; redo the entire suspension; tinker with the exhaust; buy a trailer and tow vehicle; sell the open trailer and buy an enclosed trailer; buy a bigger tow vehicle; install a bar; install a cage; etc. Try to duplicate effort and expense wherever possible. I'm giving you the executive summary - if you'd like, I can lay out in detail how to spend far more than the cost of real race car to destroy the value of your street car, obtain performance and reliability inferior to that of many race cars, and end up with a toy possibly not legal for any race series.

If you don't want to race, I'd be tempted to pass on the big schools and attend a good marque club or similar event - fine instruction for far less $$.

 

Hey, I resemble that remark!

listen to WCH, he speaks words of wisdom. How often have you seen this ad in the paper
"for sale.....put 100K+ into "race car" will sell for $19,000.

Be careful, track time is expensive and highly addictive

 

i've attended several classes at skip barber and have enjoyed the couple of races I did with them. they are (obviously) very talented, patient and fun. The ability to arrive and drive in their series is also appealing if you're not sure how often you will be on track. The real time expert feed back during the race series I think is invaluable.

I have been to Bondurant for two extended sessions (4 day, z06 experience, advanced road racing among others) and had a blast. Again can't say enough of the people. Fun and focused on making you faster! Each school is different but in my experience both are light years ahead of the local clubs and well worth the money.

While I like track days with the P-car, I am either going to continue with the skippy cars or buy a dedicated track car. In my experience few street cars on track are as fun as even relatively inexpsensive race cars--and the extra safety of full cages belts fuel cells fire systems etc. seems worthwhile.

 

www.thedriversedge.net - a few of us here on Fchat are instructors.

www.hcrpca.org - like others have said, the local Porsche clubs have driving events with instructors as well.

 

Edwin,

I would send a PM to Roland Linder who is a member of this community. Sorry I can't make any other recommendations. Best of luck.

Andrew