Hey Everyone,

So I am finally graduating from the purgatory known as college down here at Clemson and my dad was looking for a cool graduation present for us to do together so of course a driving school came to mind.

We are both beginners, I have done a few auto crosses and he has done nothing and we aren't looking for a 3 day or week school, just a really fun 1 day event. We are on the east coast, I'm in SC and he is in Boston so within driving distance for one of us would be good but we could make it work otherwise.

I was hoping everyone might have some suggestions about a good place to go or experiences you've had with different schools. I would assume that a good basic car control class would be the best for both of us, I eventually want to race Honda Challenge or something similar so I'm looking to start building those skills.

Thank in Advance for any suggestion you guys have!
Matt

 

http://www.skipbarber.com/raci....aspx

 

http://www.trackschedule.com

Meet up at VIR

 

Check out the Team O'Neil rally school in New Hampshire. It's not far from Boston and you will learn tons of car control in one day there. I did their intro course with my dad a couple years ago and we had a blast while learning a ton.

 

Would you consider using your street car(s) in a HPDE? http://www.SCDA1.com hosts some fantastic and safe events. LRP, NHIS, the Glen, NJ tracks.

 

Hey Matt, have you heard of the Clemson Sports Car Club at Clemson. I'm in it and will be the president next year. We have a great relationship with NASA-SE and have plenty of HPDEs and other events that you might want to check out. I know that you could also do a Panoz racing school at Road Atlanta. My old roomate did both the one day and 2-3 day schools and loved them.

 

Driving schools are totally awesome, I loved the ones I have been too! They well worth it and are a BLAST!

 

Matt,
Now that I've been giving it more thought, I'd recommend an event at either Road Atlanta (I don't think that too far from you), VIR, or Lime Rock Park. Panoz has a school down at Road Atlanta, but I'm not sure how much they go for. I think that's an awesome idea for a grad present with you dad!

 

I would love to do it in my own car however my bone stock 98 honda civic is most likely not up to the task haha. The Oneal rally school looks awesome but the minimum is two days which is pretty expensive I'm sure.

Has anyone heard anything about the Audi driving experience? The bondurant ones look awesome too, has anyone done those?

 

skip barber is an awesome organization, awesome cars, awesome instructors, and some of the best feedback you can get.

I have done multiple racing schools with skip as well as a race weekend at Sebring.

I got a driving school present for graduating high school in 2005. We flew up to Mid-Ohio and did their 3 day school in rsx-s.

Be prepared, your going to get hooked. and then its $$$$$$$$

 

Ummm, you'd be quite suprised. Besides, bone stock is the best way to run it. I ran my Prelude that has 110 HP bone stock for a few years before building it into a racecar.

In your case since it'll be a grad present, doing a race school would be the way to go. I've heard good things abotu teh bondurant schools, but have never done them myself.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Type_RS_59 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Check out the Team O'Neil rally school in New Hampshire. It's not far from Boston and you will learn tons of car control in one day there. I did their intro course with my dad a couple years ago and we had a blast while learning a ton. </TD></TR></TABLE>Team O'Neil school teaches you how to drive straight sideways lad. Not the typical roundy round roadracing school. You actually get to drive on real roads, with gravel, ditches, bumps, jumps, rocks and trees. Their 4 day class is $4150 and worth every penny of it. They're in NH 2 hours north of Boston

Some pictures of me at a recent event.

 

Depends on the budget. A Skip Barber or other racing school where they supply the car is great, but typical in the thousands of dollars. A car club driving school where you bring your own car is is usually a few hundred. You are also right next to the BMW performance center which holds driving clinics with their BMWs. I've been to one. They are fun, but less technical and educational that other events I've done. I think the BMW driving events start at $600 and go up from there.

I've never done a racing school like Skip Barber, but I'm in ATL and have been doing driving schools in the southeast for several years. I can highly recommend the Tarheel Sports Car Club (www.thscc.com) they have events at VIR, CMP, and Rockingham. The next one for VIR is near the end of May. GREAT organization w/ AWESOME instructors.

Another good club is the local BMWCCA (www.peachtreebmwcca.org). They have several Road Atlanta driving schools each year. The next registration opens up on May 10th.

Don't worry at all about your car not being up to the task. You'll quickly discover that driver skill is far more important that HP. Some of the fastest drivers in the clubs I go to have cars with a little more than 100HP, but they have been doing this for years.

If you go to a BMWCCA or Tar Heel event come by and say "hi". I'll be driving a white CRX w/ a carbon fiber hood.