Dear USMB members:

 

I got a private post from a lister that just got a car like mine and he asked me what mods I'd done.

I gave him the list, the last one being: Driving abilities and training.

 

So, the question is:

Who has taken training and/or studied driving? Who feels that they are a 'good' driver that has not done so?

 

One of my favorite life experiences was track time with training; the clouds parted and a ray of light hit me several times, and my driving habits were changed forever.

 

The reason I bring this up is that I found one of the courses I've taken- http://www.irdc-racing.com/ No financial interest, blah blah, but seeing what YOUR car can do on the edge with maximim input of the forces of nature and at the limits of adhesion while a club racer is sitting next to you providing input (then, if you offer, taking over the wheel so you can FEEL what a perfect line is) is worth the price of admission. Hell, it's cheap if you think of the cost of renting Pacific Raceway!

 

-QuickRX

I'm about to take an Evolution Performance Driving School (Autocross school) next month. I've taken a couple of the autocross schools put on by local clubs and I'm definitely quicker afterward.

 

Like they say, the best possible mod for autocross is the driver, then the tires, then everything else.

i used to do some spec racing. karts. 125cc MX engines. amazing power:weight. i learned ALOT from our track days.

 

this is my main beef wih ricers. i absolutely HATE thse that have these nice cars but couldn't buy driving skills.

you mean it's not just point and shoot with subies? hehe...

 

(and sideways and point and shoot and etc. )

I wish that I lived somewhere that I could get access to driving courses, schools, and such. I consider myself a pretty good driver, but I know there is much room for improvement.

nah the school of hard knocks is good lol

 

I havn't taken any classes as of yet but I have taken my 76 to the extreme and then some (oh what fun it is doing a 360 cause of loss of traction) now I need a weber and some rally tires hehehe so I can upgrade to the next step and who needs dual range and a 1800 anyways lol me and my EA-65 1400 single range can do good

does this happen to have any parallel to the SCCA crowds fun and training?

Lots of RWD drifting experience, aah some auto cross, 2 rally crosses, playing in the woods. Um ya I like to think i'm a really good driver. (better then Andrew lol)

i really want to go down to denver and hit up the skip barber along I-25.

i can say that i drive better than ALL of my friends. always when a driver is need for anything at all, i'm the go-to man. feels good.

everything i know about racing, i've learned from Gran Turismo.

 

Now that im closer to Laguna Seca and Sears Point (or whatever its called now) I'll have to look into some racing classes and courses

 

-Brian

MDD-

 

I know the feeling. I don't think any of my friends could touch me in a race if we had similar cars. Problem is, they all think I'm gonna kill myself!

 

Case in point: Two years ago, I entered a snowmachine race with my personal sled. I was at a ridiculous disadvantage due to my setup, which was for going up mountains and through deep powder instead of racing on a lake. Mine had 2/3 the horsepower of the next smallest one. In a 60 mile race, aside from a couple of guys with super-fast sleds, nobody was more than a mile and a half ahead.

ive been through about 5 AUTO Xing corces, had a buddy of mine that has been doing it for about 22 years now teach me and go on ride with me telling me what to do and such. also ive ran my camaro i had on the roadcorce at many different places and have had a great time.

I have done a defencive driving course. I think its money well worth. It has helped me out a few times.

the obvious Defensive driving course

"The COURSE" by the MSF for motorcycle riders

 

dirt speedway training (unoffical) back in high school (Costa MEsa, CA.)

 

Dessert tdriver training by my Uncle in his COrvair powered sandrail. (his rules were simple: I don't let it stall and I can't touch the steering brakes.) He would tell we what manuver to attempt and that I was not allowed to touch the steering breaks.... he would randomly (intensionally) yank on one or both of them when i would be doing "X" as a way of helping me prep for the unexpected in such activities as a turn, slide skid or a total lock up...... all out on a dry saltbed in AnzaBourrego dessert and later in the worlds largest "Toy" SandBox, Glamis Ca.

 

These two places are where I was taught how to safely ride a 3-wheeler and dirtbike and sandrails. ITs really all about driver, tirepressure and then suspension travel, and brakes.

 

you gotta be willing to make mistakes and stay humble....we are human after all, right?

Originally posted by TheSubaruJunkie

everything i know about racing, i've learned from Gran Turismo.

 

 

-Brian

 

i agree with gran turismo. it made me a pro at driving my PINTO, never ran it off the road.

i can drift a FWD, which is commonly proclaimed as impossible.

 

i consider myself a skilled and controlled driver, as i like to take laps in the field, i keep my turns tight and sideways.

 

this winter with my broken front axles, i have learned a thing or two about RWD, i can pull some TIGHT donuts!

 

but if im too high of a gear, the car will come around inthe rear. so i transition into reverse, keep going, and bust out a reverse 180 to go straight again, all the while keeping the car moving.

 

for some reason it is impossible for my to do a 360 on purpose: if you think of how to steer or brake into a 360, its complicated.

 

but for anyone else, they just stand on the brakes, and 360 away. i dont get it.

I learned to drive in the snow, hows that for training?

Seriously - driving is all about Physics. Take a physics class at your local community college - you will learn all you need. Then go to a track (or dirt feild), and practice with what you have learned. It's really not that hard to figure out. It's all about coeficients of friction (static AND rolling), weight transfer (brakes, acceleration, steering), and gearing / rpms.

 

You decide what you want to practice, and after each run, think about what the car did right and what it did wrong, and how you can change that using what you know about physics.

 

Same goes for learning to drive a stick - if you know the principle of operation behind a clutch, and a transmission, it makes driving one a lot easier. For me it was a 10 minute ordeal, since I already knew how the system operates internally.

 

GD

no class can ever replace real world drivig.

speaking of autcross, i beat a 57 vette by 2.3 seconds in five laps last summer. he just didn't dive hard enough. it was his baby and the biggest turn had a square curb right atthe outside apex. i just shifted to 4hi and tore through it. overall, even with all the nice cars that were there, i got second or third to last place.

also, i've lived in the town i'm in now for 16 years so i know every little road and cutacross and whatnot. i wish i kept a tally of however many cops i've out run.:-p

No classes, but LOTS of exp. in some of the WORST driving conditions U can think of. Snow, snow & ice, floods, lots of granit roads @ high speeds, mud, rocks, Fressno CA @ rush hour:-p , lots of twisty narrow roads w/ bad assfault. I have seen it all, and it's made me a much better driver. I would LOVE to take a corse in rally driving, but allas, no $$ for that:rolleyes: Driving on good roads, with good conditions is the eazy part. It's handelling all the other stuff that makes it a challeng, and I love it!

Originally posted by AKIRA

I learned to drive in the snow, hows that for training?

 

going out ans screwing around in a n icy parking lot will teach you a thing ot two. lets you apply what you know

Well, it looks as though there are several driving classes throughout WA/ORE...

 

http://www.icscc.com/schedule.html

Links to the respective clubs are available by clicking about.

 

-QuickRX

 

"Do Itttttttttttt..."

-That pizza guy

hey soobme there might be a affordable rally class coming in march sometime up here Edrach will have the info soon hopefuly

 

and as for Gran Turismo both 2 and 3 ROCK!! can't wait till 4 comes out

Hey, now, that's something I'd be interested in!

Please post any info up here, and ping my email account as well, if you would.

 

Ed- I still have that RX- we met in the Redmond QFC parking lot, if you remember.

 

-Tom, the co-star of "The Great Christmas Tree Robbery" of 2001... as seen on TV!

Co-starring: Corky, as the concerned donor.

I took the rally school at thunder hill this last summer. not to bad if you really want to rally. lots of verry rally specific info. navigation car classes and stage info as well as some actual driving.

there was a rally cross after the school that was lots of fun.

no official "classes" but 11 years of over the road truck driving in all conditions, and plenty of winter driving in Michigan, where I grew up, and Wisconsin, where I live now....driving all sorts of different vehicles - fwd and rwd.

over all, I think I am a fairly good driver, but there is always room for improvement.

I do push my Soob, and myself, when it is relatively safe to do so....practice makes perfect, right?