July 16-18: Learn car control... and feel your Ferrari at the edge...

I'm writing to see if I can fill a day or two of this event with some Ferraris and/or FerrariChatters. At my constant nagging , the host of this event has moved it from its typical Mineral Wells home, to a much better surface... I haven't gone to check it out yet, but will if you guys show some interest in going.

What is it? Its the absolute best way to:

• Safely get a feel for your Ferrari (etc) at the limit.
• To improve your car control skills.
• To learn how to "look ahead"... to not just navigate a turn or obstacle, but to do so setting up for the next turn or obstacle.
• To get started into autocross or track driving.
• For experienced track drivers, to take their car control skills up a notch in a much safer environment than experimenting at the track.
• For someone with a new car, to quickly find the car's handling limits and characteristics.

If you've ever thought about doing some of these driving events you hear about, but weren't sure how to get started. This is it... not the only way to get started... but the best way!

Details? Each "phase" has a standard course that has been carefully crafted to teach certain things particularly well. They have multiple timers set up, so that you get multiple segment times from each run... and see how one effects the other. However, you generally don't need the times except as general confirmation... you can feel the improvements with ease.

There is very little "talk time"... the learning is done on-course... in-car... you and one of several national-champion autocrossers as your instructor. These guys' car control abilities are humbling. They can get into each student's car and find speed you did not know was there... and they're taking it easy in the student's cars! I've been wowed by runs even when they're pointing out the window with one hand to show me what they're looking at.

But the best thing is that once you get a feel for how the car can and should behave... and once you learn where to be focused... you can do it, too! No need to master heel-and-toe or such complexities... you can easily just run the whole course in 2nd gear to avoid worrying about shifting.

Unlike an autocross where you may get 3-5 runs... or even a small-club autocross where you might get as many as 10 runs... you'll get 25-35 runs (depending upon which "phase"). And with the awesome instruction, you will learn probably 20x as much vs. a day of autocross. In one day, you can make more progress than a year's worth of autocrosses with 2 clubs! In fact, many weekend autocrossers never really learn as much as you will learn in Phase 1 of this school!

The school? Evolution Performance Driving School ( http://autocross.com/evolution ). They travel the country putting on these schools. The SCCA Solo2 and ProSolo National Championships are dominated by Evolution graduates.

Only for beginners? Not at all. I've taken Phase 1 twice, Phase 2 three times, and Phase 3 once. The Phase 1 course is small to keep speeds down and eliminate shifting worries... but it has all the key elements that you need to navigate. Thus, it is a tremendous way to refine all those skills. Further, its a great way to really find the limits of your car and to experiment with the changes in those limits when you shift the weight differently.

Thus, every time I get a new car, I try to join the next Evolution school available so that I can quickly learn the real handling limits. And get some practice and feel for keeping it there. Not to mention the practice looking ahead, which is critical in autocross, valuable on track, and may save your life some day on the street.

Where and when? It will be held at the Grayson County Airport in Sherman, TX (north of Dallas on US75). The site has both concrete and asphalt areas... so, if you take more than one day, you might get to learn the differences between the two surfaces as well.

They will hold two phases each day. You can join for one, two, or three.
They will have a Phase1 on asphalt and a Dial-In on concrete on Friday July 16th.
They will have a Phase 1 on asphalt and a Phase 2 on concrete on Saturday July 17th.
They will have a Phase 2 and a Challenge school on concrete on Sunday July 18th.

I plan to attend the 17th and the 18th for sure... not sure yet on the 16th.

Costs? Way cheap for a year's worth of autocross. To take one phase that weekend, its a mere $200. Each additional phase that weekend is only $160.


Soooo, anyone interested in joining me and my Stradale for some major car fun??? I need some feedback if there is interest... I'll check out the lot and I need to get feedback to the host to make sure he locks down the dates... they need a min of 5 for each school, I think.

 

I did an Evolution school very first thing... no autox experience... no track experience. Other than the fact that I had to ask what it meant to "work a corner", I see no disadvantage in doing this as a first event.

HOWEVER, getting one autox in before the school will help you get a little extra out of the course. And, of course, an experienced autocrosser will get yet different things out of the course. That's why I tend to take an Evolution course or two every year or two.

I agree completely with the other Rob said, except maybe this... depends a lot upon the tires and the surface. If you have a typical car with too little camber and you're running street tires on concrete... tires will be toast after one day. If you're running a well-suspended sportscar with max performance tires on asphalt, you could do four of the schools on one set of tires (at least).

With that said, if you make the common newbie mistake of pushing too hard, causing a lot of understeer and tire scrub, you'll toast your fronts no matter what tire/surface you're on.

 

Dude, don't worry about your car. The key things you learn from the course are independent of the car. Of course, its nice if you are in your final car setup since you'll get a lot of practice with that setup. But, if this is your first time with these schools, there's sooo much you'll learn in any car.

 

Don't go in with nearly finished tires... you might cord them before the end of the school. If, for example, you decide to do Phase 1 on Sat and Phase 2 on Sunday (both on asphalt), and you have 1/2 your tread left on your current tires, I'd advise ordering your next set from Tire Rack, delivered to your local install place that's open late Saturday. That way, if you do use up your tires on the first day, you can get them swapped.

If you do order tires for this, it would be a good time to try out some max performance tires... such tires will actually hold up better to this kind of wear than normal performance street tires.

BMWCCA has an autocross this Saturday, June 24th, at Mineral Wells.
BMWCCA will have another autocross July 11th, at Mineral Wells.
Equippe Rapide will be running an autocross July 11th at Pennington Field (Bedford).

Normally PCA would be having one in that period... but they are hosting the Porsche Parade (annual event) here in Fort Worth next month... so they are busy.

With a "new" Ferrari, unless the paint is already somewhat abused, I'd avoid Mineral Wells. Pennington is a nice clean concrete parking lot... smaller area so the courses are a bit shorter and slower... so its a great first autocross.

Wow, you go thru Ferraris quick! Can't wait to see it.

 

I recommend both. Track events aren't the best place to find the traction limits and learn car control... and many of the "look ahead" techniques taught very well in Evolution schools are taught very little in DEs.

But Rob is correct that a Ferrari is a much better track car than an autox car. However, to me street driving is far more like autox than track. In track, you learn the "correct" line and then perfect getting every last bit out of that line (and then find the "advanced" line and repeat ). In autox, you are faced with a new course that you must drive immediately... you learn to drive more by looking ahead and computing rather than memorizing (so to speak). On the street, its a relatively tight course that's ever-moving and changing due to traffic and obstacles. The looking ahead and understanding of car control and your ultimate limits can result in much more effective navigation in emergency situations. JMHO.

 

Does Sam's carry good tires for a Ferrari??

TireRack is the way to buy tires for anything that's not mainstream.

You buy at www.tirerack.com; then you can have them delivered to your house OR to the installer of your choice. I take my cheap cars to Firestone; I take my Ferrari to FoD or Nine-Eleven Enterprises. FoD actually orders tires via TireRack! Eventually, almost the whole world will buy their tires through TireRack!

If your Ferrari will see rain, I highly recommend the Bridgestone S-O3... high performance in the dry and amazing stick in the wet.

A great "max performance" tire is the Kumho Ecsta MX... that's what I put on Frances' car (and I assume are still on there). Kumho tires are often half the price of the big name brands... yet they're some of the best performing tires on the market.

If someday you start doing driving events regularly, you can get like me and start driving R-compounds on the street. They only last about 4000 street miles... but they'll last longer under track/autox usage... and they're cheaper per tire, so it works out fairly well. Before I put it up for sale, I was running Kumho ECSTA V700 tires on Frances' car.

 

Correct. They'll set up two independent courses next to each other.

If you want to do both Phase 1 and Phase 2, that's two one-day courses... either Friday + Saturday, Saturday + Sunday, or Friday + Sunday.

 

Or Friday AND Saturday? I'll be doing Phase 2 on Saturday... so, if you guys do Phase 1 on Friday and Phase 2 on Saturday, then we can be in the same class Saturday. If you guys only do Phase 1 on Friday, then I'll definitely show up on Friday in addition to Sat + Sun... (I definitely want to do the Challenge School sunday, since I haven't done that one before.) However, I'll be getting in way late Thursday, so not sure I'll make it out early enough Friday to be *in* a class.