Hey guys,

I'm looking into going to racing/driving school before I go back to school again. I am checking out the Two Day Skip Barber Driving School. Do you guys think driving school is worth it? This one will cost about $1400. Would my money be better spent on $1400 on performance and cosmetic mods, or on a driving school course? And a couple questions on driving schools: what are some good ones? what are some good tracks? I'm probably going to have to take the School at Lime Rock Park.

Thanks,
Ben
Maryland

 

All of the big name schools are worth the money. Barber, Bondurant, etc. Lime Rock (although I've never driven it) is probably a good choice. Most of them start you out in a Neon (or other coupe/sedan) and eventually put you in a small formual car.

 

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Let's not get confused between Skip Barber Racing School and Skip Barber Driving School.

Racing school is entirely in Formula Dodges, except for about 10 minutes of track time in a Neon with an instructor in the car. The driving school is mostly in Neons, and Dodge trucks on the skid pad. At the very end, you get to drive a Viper on their "autocross" course - which is basically a 1/8th of a mile oval with chicanes on each straight. If you do the driving school, you will never put a wheel down on the track.

In my opinion, if you already autocross, and have done just about any track time, the driving school is a waste of money. They start at way too elementary a level. Bite the bullet, fork over the extra cash, and do the racing school. I loved it.

Matt

 

I say go to the driving school.

If you spend that money on your mods, you'll have a car with $1400 worth of mods and a "bad" driver. But go to school, you can drive any cars fast.

 

What is your goal? Are you looking to get into comepetition? Or do you just want to learn to driver faster and on a higher level? If it's comp, save and spend the $$$ on your car.

If you just want to up your driving skills, head on out to the track with a club or high perf school ran by the track.

 

Skip Barber racing school does a lot more for you than just a normal driver's ed. I took the school pretty early on in my "training", after 4 track weekends, but it helped me make a significant step forward in terms of my ability behind the wheel.

If you are planning on doing this for any length of time, I say don't put the money into the car, put the money into yourself. Cars come and go, a good driver will be fast in anything they get behind the wheel of.

Matt

 

So which would you learn more for the money? A 3 day barber racing school or an SCCA school with a racecar rental?

 

you dont really learn anything in an SCCA school... you just try to keep the car in one peice the whole weekend. The skip barber school is hands-on one-on-one instruction with data aquisition and realtime feedback on your performance. Not like the SCCA school where you just get tossed out on the track with some n00b's and drive...

 

Well, I didn't get any data aquisition. The realtime feedback is interesting though. They have instructors all around the track, and you go out, do a lap, and pit back in. Then the instructors tell you what you were doing right/wrong at each section of the track.

What it did for me was get me comfortable with heel-tie downshifting, introduced me to trail braking, taught me threshold braking, taught me how to learn a new track and how to find the fastest way through a turn without spinning, and made me a LOT more comfortable on the track.

Matt

 

but was it worth $3k........

or would $3k of HPDEs be better?

 

I always say try to learn in the fastest car, not your car. You always have your car to apply things to when you are doing your events. But for racing school you should try to explore the upper limits of your driving skill. After driving the F-Dodge, your slower car will seem less of a challenge.

 

That is hard to answer. I don't regret doing the school, and I don't think I could have learned some of those things from Driver's Ed events. For example, how to learn a new track without somebody showing me the line. Maybe I could have learned the rest elsewhere, but then again, not many instructors in a driver's ed are going to teach you how to trail brake. I think it is worth the money, if you are serious about wanting to race.

Matt

 

Find a local Porsche or BMW club that does Drivers Education events. I've been to several of these, and you get classroom training, in car instruction, and plenty of lapping. The best part is that its relatively inexpensive compared to the big name schools. After attending a few of these, then go for one of the big name schools...thats what I did anyways. I did a few PCA events, then went to a 3 day Road Racing school at Road Atlanta, then a few 1 day'ers at Mid Ohio. Its an addiction, so get ready to open the wallet frequently.

 

I agree totally. I had 5 track days under my belt before I did Skippy. The advantage is that you are not wasting valuable and expensive time learning things that you could learn at a normal driver's ed. Use that time to learn the things that you can't learn elsewhere. Oh, and know the track you are going to take the school at. Do at least one driver's ed day there so you don't waste time trying to learn which way the track goes.

Matt

 

You can learn a lot if you suck ***. "Who's the driver of car 55? Oh, OK. Let me tell you what an 'apex' is. And let me explain 'the line.' And what the hell were you thinking when you made that pass?"

Really, the classroom time isn't that bad. You just don't get the one-on-one feedback such as from a HPDE because your instructor isn't riding with you (instructors can ride along if your car has a harness and window net on the passenger side, but not many cars have that).

One thing I liked about the SCCA school was riding with my instructor on track in his street car during lunch. It was low-low-speed "mock racing" with other instructors on track, and I really got a feel for what it's like driving in close quarters, how to make a pass, defending a pass (or re-pass), etc.

 

Nasa teaches this in a 'school' environment... seems a bit safter to me than just throwing a bunch of n00b's out on the track together and say "keep it in one peice". Alot of the BSR instructors go out to the SCCA school to "drink beer and watch the students wad up their cars" as entertainment. Not that i blame them...

RJ

 

agreed! Thats exactly what I am afraid of. A big repair bill on my newly built (or rented) race car. Why skippy school may actually end up being cheaper.

Pat didnt you get hit at the scca schoo?

 

Not really. I hit somebody who spun at the top of the hill coming out of turn 3 during one of the practice starts (start, race to turn 4, slow down, repeat). He spun right before I got there and was sitting in the middle of the road. I tried to avoid him but just clipped the nose of his car.

 

I enjoyed and learned a ton from my Skippy 3-day. The focus is driving. Do anything else with your car or someone elses and you'll find yourself addressing the performance of the car first and foremost.

I WOULD NOT recommed Lime Rock as a track to take it at though and neither would people I know that work there. LRP is a short track with only 1 left turn and some seriously hairy turns that you can write a car off in a hurry if you screw up. (West Bend and Downhill) I did mine at NHIS and loved it although, it was only 1 week after they put the sealer down for the Cup cars and turns 1 and 2 were slick and scary. From what I understand, that sealer is now all gone.