Western driving school instruction suggestions | FerrariChat

Western driving school instruction suggestions

Discussion in 'Tracking & Driver Education' started by NETbilling, Jul 17, 2017.

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  1. NETbilling

    NETbilling Rookie

    Mar 12, 2013
    43
    Hi All,

    I have a 911 Turbo S and a 458 Italia and want to learn to drive them both correctly on the track and otherwise.

    The 458 and 911 drive completely different obviously. I know Porsche has a new school and track here in Long beach. However, Are you paying for the name or is the instruction really great? I have heard of Bondurant but don't know if it would be the same experience. Any suggestions on the West coast? Should I use one of my cards for the school or theirs?

    Your educated input is greatly appreciated.

    Mitch
     
  2. innerloop

    innerloop Formula Junior

    Jan 17, 2010
    259
    Houston Heights, TX
    I've only ever attended the Skip Barber schools, so I can't compare them to the other options. But I loved the experience and continued on to their race series. Some people are put off by their ongoing financial difficulties, but you'll have to figure out how much that means to you.

    My real advice is to pick a school where you can use their cars. When you're at a school the only thing that you want to have to focus on is learning. You don't want to be distracted by the wear and tear on your tires and brakes or worry about crashing. Most schools have a low or no responsibility for crash damage in the early courses. Now I'm not saying that you should plan on crashing, it's just that if you want to learn to drive at the limit, then you can't be out there having reservations about "what if".

    I also think worrying about taking schools in cars like one's own is a mistake. It's unlikely that these are the only cars you'll ever own so don't focus too much on any one car's particular handling characteristics. It is far more valuable, in my opinion, to develop good basic skills that apply to many cars than to try to exploit the last few tenths from any particular car.

    Lastly, I don't know anything about your particular skill level, but in general people should start driver training in cars a lot slower than a Porsche or a Ferrari. Every car has a handling limit at which it losses traction and at least in the beginning, that limit should be manageable. By the time your 911 or 458 losses traction, things are happening real fast. I recommend focusing on proper lines, smooth inputs, good footwork, etc. as those are skills that apply to lots of cars and lots of situations.
     
  3. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 28, 2003
    75,370
    Texas!
    Yep. Spot on.
     
  4. fatbillybob

    fatbillybob Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 10, 2002
    26,288
    socal
    Skippy school is risky. As they go in and out of BK some claimed to have lost money with no instruction. Instructors going unpaid such that quality instructors getting harder to find.

    In so cal you got fast lane at willow springs raceway for a bonafide race school
    the porsche center is an experience center not a driving school. it is way overpriced for what it is and won't get you what you want
    local POC and PCA have excellent tiered driving school up through wheel to wheel racing. AlfaRomeo club of socal also has a very nice tier through wheel to wheel racing. NASA has a program but I don't know what it is. SCCA is the place to race with the best racers and tightest competition but I had better instruction. Out of the area there are other for profit race schools bondurant etc.

    People are funny one size does not fit all. If I had to go to a skippy and pay $3k for all the rules to follow I would drop out despite the fact that skippy WAS the best. Too many rules and not enough fun now would have killed it in my early days. What are your goals? Going to race school in open wheel single seater is total overkill for someone who would like to exercise his Ferrari and maybe get on track once a year. Think about how committed you are to tracking these cars. Tracking and racing are like drugs. The sport sucks you in but many many things stop you along the way like work commitments, kids in soccer taking your weekend, cost of race tires. Anything can kill the buzz so you have to be realistic in how far you think you will take the sport and that will give you a better idea of how to get where you want to go.

    I got my flame suit on but I think the best way to get on track is have zero experience and sign up for a speed ventures weekend. Just because you are on a race track does not mean you are going to crash. If you 1st drive at freeway speeds your risk isn't any worse than driving a freeway. Then you work up the speed, get some tips from guys who have done it longer, maybe do a lead follow with a more experienced guy and take baby steps. This is the way to have the minimum rules and minimum hoop jumping and maximum initial fun. You will be driving very poorly from a racer's point of view but will have a ton of fun that might bring you back again. If your appetite is wet then you go back another weekend and if you want more structure you do it with POC and do their ladder. Maybe you decide you don't want to risk a $20k ferrari or porsche fender so you buy a $20k 2004 vette and beat on that with NASA HPDE program and maybe graduate to racing. There are many many paths. I say try and articulate some short term goals and there are people around like me in the southbay who can help you reach them. WE have been where you are right now. I started with an alfaclub lunchtime drive around capped at freeway speed and now I fly into races with SCCA all around the country supported with a 53ft semi-transporter. If I knew back then I was going to commit to racing at my current level, I would have gone down the skippy route and it would have saved me time and money but I would have missed out on a lot of fun along the way going from trackdays, to time trial, some race school and ultimately racing wheel to wheel. I'm sure I will race some low level pro races before my time as a racer ends.
     
  5. Ky1e

    Ky1e Formula 3

    Mar 4, 2011
    1,250
    FL
    IMO seat time is what matters. Get out on the track as much as you can whether it be in your own car at HPDE, or at a racing school. My suggestion would be do a a couple HPDE events in your own car and then goto a racing school where you use their cars. After a few times out there if you still like it and want to do more/learn more then hire a racing coach to bring you to the next level of learning.

    I started by doing about 6 Chin Events (HPDE events in my 458) then bought a dedicated track car and got a racing coach and did a couple more HPDE events but in the track car. After a few of those (which was about 6 months after my first time on track) I did a 3 day racing school. After that I bought another race car and started racing. Always have had a dedicated race coach with me on track since I started (and still do) and it was the best way to gain proficiency quickly.
     

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