Anyone have experience with this school?? Good for a n00bie? I've been wanting to go to driving school and have the luxury of learning on my own car so it appears that this one fits the bill but i'm wondering if it's all it claims to be. Do you get what you pay for or is this a bargain? I mean skip barber, even the 1 day(or was it 2) course is double the cost and then some leading me to wonder that if that old "if it's too good to be true it probably is" rule applies. Anyone care to weigh in with their opinions; it would be greatly appreciated -rob

 

Its worth it. not a bargain but worth it. they take you out with scca competition license holders as instructors. you get about 4-5 sessions. lately theyve been spicing things up and taking ppl out on a skid pad to learn how to break traction so you know what it feels like. but generally, until youre in group 3, the highest group, you only go around the short track, which is plenty fun and interesting. and they only allow passing in the straight, and put a chicane at the end of the straight to slow you down, because otherwise its really a 100mph turn. in group 3 you get to go to the back section, which is lots of hard braking and fast turns but still gotta deal with the chicanes. and you get a t shirt at the end of the day so you can tell all your friends how much fun you had plus a free lunch from friendly alice (anyone who has been to thunderhill knows who im talking about)

a note about their disclepline tho, they are relatively harsh if you make a mistake, if you go off the track, they bring you in and make sure you realize what you did and that you dont do it again, sparing any feelings, which some ppl think is too harsh, but i tend to agree with that type of instruction.

NASA has their own track schools as well as various other clubs. check into them if you want. since youre in socal, why are you coming up to thunderhill? they should have track events down south as well.

i expect greg to chime in and give his take on this, he's been instructing this year.

 

heheh i'm in fresno right now for summer so it's not that far for me -rob

 

The reason costs are high with Skip Barber is because you drive their cars with no liability for you, if you crash or damage their car. That makes the cost of the course go up, but is it really more expensive if you consider the wear & tear of your car. You can ruin your tires and need a new set, you can blow your engine by stuffing it in the wrong gear, or worst you can crash or roll the car. Given those risks, which is a better deal???

Here's a pic of an M3 that crashed in Thunderhill, more pics on the other thread. Just something to think about whether its better to ran your car or theirs.






[Modified by Alexis, 11:32 PM 6/25/2002]

 

I've heard the NASA schools suck. NASA is for profit, so they try to squeeze as many people in. The Thunderhill school doesn't focus so much on profit.

I've gone twice and I'm looking to go again before the end of summer, especially since I graduated to group C. The back side is way funner too...

 

please see my comments on the other thread. let this be a reminder of the danger and possible outcome of the risk that you take up when you get on the track, however this does not EVER have to happen. as for wear and tear on your car, yeah sure it does, but sitting in traffic every day is arguably pretty bad for the engine. cars were made to be driven hard, and yeah there is greater cost for tires and maintenence, just gotta figure it in. also, i dont think if you crashed a skip barber car, they would allow you to leave without paying for the damage, but im just guessing. read the fine print. however, they do individual professional instruction. i think a pro school is better done after you get a bit of experience, altho it could be argued its best done before you do anything, as they will ground you better and help the learning curve develop in the right direction. however, this being said having not ever taken a pro school, so take it for what its worth. also, i agree with the above statements about NASA, even though every track school is still out for money, I prefer Thunderhill track school. but i dont want to start an arguement of whats better, they have their +/- as most things in life.

 

I have done both. I liked both for different reasons.

The NASA HPDE is usually run during race days. In other words, if there is a problem in a race group, it could effect your track time. It works both ways though. I have had my race practice group shortened because of some HPDE incidents. This was a complaint that both HPDE'rs & racers had. This year, in NorCal anyway, they seem to leave a 20 min slot open to accomadate those problems if they pop up. I think the NASA system is good. You do get a NASA (most also hold a SCCA license) licensed instructor in Group 1. If there are enough instructors, you get might get one in Group 2. Group 3 starts the day with Group 1/2 passing rules & finishes with Group 4 rules. In Group 4, passing is open. There is more room to progress with NASA. Remember, NASA's system brings you up to what can be 'almost' racing. When you get good in Group 4, you can license test.
You do get a little more track time with the Thunderhill Street School. It is better for the newer drivers. Once you truly get to the Group C level, you will quickly become bored. Group C is approx. NASA Group 2. It becomes pretty hard to find open track space when you are only running half the track. *added in edit* You end up with a lot of cars with much more power than we have. You can our corner them. You can be a better driver period. Most Honda/Acura cars will not out drag a V-8. Sure you can practice the correct line, but you have already done that many times (days) at this point. You will want to move up to Group 3 in NASA at that point.


[Modified by civicrr, 11:03 PM 6/25/2002]

 

i dont agree with this above statement. also, group c you get the whole track with a chicane between turn 6 and 7, as well as the one before turn 1, both are 100 mph turns.