-FuknFast-

I live at Vancouver, Washington about 10 mins away from portland. I was wondering if there were any cheaper driving school lessons. I looked up PRODRIVE at PIR, they wanted like 3000 dollars for a 4 day lesson. That's just crazy!!

Are all racing schools around that price range? I am still saving money to purchase my EVO, but I want to further improve my driving skills before i get one. So, does anyone know of any racing schools that are cheaper in the northwest?


Thanks
Jboyer

ImportPePe

iTrader: (4)

Attend BMWCCA events, much cheaper

LDB

Check out the Jim Russell schools. A web search should yield them and others. I'd think there are schools less expensive than $4k out there. Good luck with your search.

Secret Chimp

iTrader: (2)

He is looking at programs that provide the car for you. BMWCCA is only useful to a person who wants to take their personal car onto the track.

SC~

rogue

iTrader: (34)

Thats not too bad. I signed up for a BMW performance driving school at the South Carolina Grounds for 900 for a two day car control class.

ZENTRAEDIevo

Skip Barber has the best programs. It is worth the money.

www.skipbarber.com

Kayaalp

iTrader: (1)

He has a 3000 GT VR4. Why wouldn't he take that on the track? You can do a 2-day BMW CCA school for about $400.

I don't think it's really necessary for someone's first track experience to be behind the wheel of a formula car like Jim Russel or whatever. You can learn the basics just as well (or even better) in a car that you are familiar with. Until you're really good with the basics of high speed driving, you won't get the most out of a racing school anyway.

Emre

WestSideBilly

iTrader: (1)

What are you really looking for? If you want track time in your own car, there are lots of inexpensive options ($100-300/day). If you want genuine one-on-one instruction from a professional, experienced driver, as well as not providing your own car, you're going to pay a lot.

The $3000 course he references is Prodrive's 4 day racing school. Professional racing instructors, one-on-one help, Spec Ford race cars. Skip Barber is similar, running $3000-3500 for a 3 day course (depending on the track) in their Barber Dodge race cars.

Performance driving schools go for anywhere from $250 to $2500 depending on length and type of cars provided (if any).

nothere

iTrader: (23)

a very basic driver school with a car club should run way less than $200. Of course it will only last part of a day. I have done a session with the Alfa club here near Seattle. There is a good Alfa club in the Portland area, try them. At the time I was running an old alfa but there were lots of other marks there. I suspect they will be having a day in Feb , for sure March. Then do some of their lapping days too.
contact me if you can't find them with a search of the web

Bruce

nothere

iTrader: (23)

oh.
anyway go on and use the car you have now, it's good learning and will improve your driving no matter what car you drive. heck there were a few rental cars out there being flogged.

Kayaalp

iTrader: (1)

I know what you're getting at, but there's one thing I'd like to say. In good driving schools (like those held by the CCA, PCA, etc.) you also get one-to-one instruction with experienced driving instructors. Many of our instructors are professional drivers. Many of them are actually the same instructors that work for Skip Barber, Jim Russell, etc. But they volunteer their time with us rather than getting paid for it.

My point is, you really don't need to spend $3000 for first-rate driving training from experienced instructors. I think it's better to be in a car you're familiar with so you can focus on technique rather than trying to figure out how a formula Ford works. Also, many of the advanced racing techniques (setting up for passes in a corner, etc.) are not really necessary for beginners.

You can learn proper cornering lines and do skidpad exercises just as well in just about any car, so why spend huge amounts of money for the privledge of beating up a fancy car. For example, BMW charges about 900 bucks for their level 1 driving school, which are basically just car control clinics (skid pad, accident avoidance, threshold braking, and slalom exercises). Most chapters of the CCA and PCA offer similar schools for between $50 and $150. Use the extra $800 to buy yourself some new tires or something and you'll be even!

Emre

-FuknFast-

First of all, thanks for all the feedback!!

I actually want to learn how to drive my own car. Not some fancy go-kart. I will be getting my evo anywhere between feb and may, and i want to learn how to drive it. Maybe some one-on-one time with an instructor to teach me some skills like heel-toe downshifts or how to enter a turn correctly at high speeds. Steering too because i tend to understeer alot and i couldn't recover from it. Resulting a couple of accidents with my VR4. I just don't want to ruin my EVO.

Maybe one of you guys who are pretty good at driving (or been to a driving school) could teach me! LOL! $300?

urbanknight

iTrader: (14)

Best to learn in a controlled environment. Getting track time with the BMW club, or redlineevents.com, racerfactory.com, etc, and signing up for the beginner sessions will get you a respectable instructor who can teach you plenty.

Kayaalp, I didn't see you post a link to what organiation you're from. Feel free to post it in a reponse here (it's ok as long as you're not making a big advertisement with it's own thread or something like that)

runny_yolk

Just FYI, you don't need a track to practice certain things like heel and toe. I learned it by practicing on the street. Everytime I approach a redlight, I'd try the toe heel. Sure it sucked ***** at first but eventually I got it smooth enough where I basically use it everyday for street driving. Two quick tips: try it wearing a flat soled shoe, I don't have racing shoes but my Vans work really well for driving. The other thing is, initially try to downshift just one gear, but once you get good enough, practice downshifting two gears at once (ie 4th to 2nd). This will create the sort of RPM difference that you would likely see on the track. But for most the other stuff, there's no replacement for seat time. (ie I'm tempted to practice left foot braking on the street, but right now, my left foot is calibrated to slam down on the clutch. I would hate to do that on the street and get rear-ended)

Kayaalp

iTrader: (1)

I'm on the board of directors of the Quebec Chapter of the BMW Club of Canada (Canadian equivalent of the CCA). The website is down right now. I'm one the the people that organizes driving schools for the Club. Also, I'm a new instructor with them (I'll start next season).

I agree with that. Heel-and-toe is best learned and perfected on the street. You really don't want to fumble with it when you're braking and turning in on the track.

Emre