[hkj]

I took my e90 to the car control clinic hosted by golden gate chapter of BMWCCA today. It was a total blast! Being a first time student, I have learned SO much in this one day school. And the best part of it is that the whole thing is done in a safe, controlled manner, with an instructor sitting next to you giving you feedback on what you did right and what went wrong. It's definitely the best 100 bucks I've spent recently.

One of the instructors said it best "You don't need a lowered suspension, bigger exhaust, or one of those short throw shifts. The best performance upgrade you can do to your car is to upgrade the driver ! Your car is capable of doing so much and it is the driver that needs to be brought up to par with car's abilities." After spending one day with my e90, I definitely agree with what he said.

The day is divided into 3 parts: the slalom, the skidpad, and the braking/lane changing exercise. The slalom is the most fun and also the most difficult (for me), but is also where you can appreciate BMW's superb handling the most. After a few laps, I was able to fly through the cones at high speed, linking all turns together. It's definitely satisfying feeling (knowing that you've accomplished something you couldn't do before) and also very exhilirating. It's like riding a rollercoaster except you're in control of what happens next. I find that the tip of going through slalom is to look at the last cone in the straight, and not cone that's immediately before your car. This way you can anticipate the next turn while avoiding the current cone and keep your car is a smooth, balanced manner.

The braking exercise if very interesting too. They set up a straight way for you to accelerate, before coming to an area where you have to do a quick lane change (no brake before lane change) followed by hard brake. At first a lot of people were very cautious and doesn't really push the car to high speeds before braking. This soon changed as people gone through the exercise a few times and became more familiar with it. When you know you're in controlled environment you can really push yourself to the limit and try to do it at higher speed than you're normally comfortable with. A few times I had pushed too hard and wasn't able to do the lane change in time and took out bunch of cones with me. But after a few more tries I think I got this part down pretty well.

The skipad is another blast. You basically drive in a circular track, except that you keep your steering wheel at a fixed angle the whole time and use controlled throttle to steer the car. i.e. when you hit gas the weight shifts rearward and leaves less traction at front wheels, and your car understeers and therefore goes forward. When you let go of the throttle, the weight shifts forward and now your front tires have more grip and the car will turn. When done correctly you can keep the steering wheel fixed and never had to use brake, and by controlling your throttle, you can make your car run in the circular track. It took me a few tries to get this one down. But the whole thing about throttle steering was completely new to me and I was glad I had experienced it today.

All three exercises were fun and very educational. I've learned a great deal about my car and my own driving today.

On a side note, of the cars that showed up, I saw a lot of M3s. More e46 than e36 iirc. There are some non-M e46 sedans and coupes, one e60 5 series, and a few M5s (sadly, no e60). A few non-BMW cars showed up as well: an evo, a corvette, a VW golf r32 and a mercedez. There are total of 4 e90s in today's event, counting myself. 3 SG and 1 arctic. All of them being 330s with ZSP. It's definitely nice to see few e90s in the event. I chatted with one of the e90 owners and found out he also belongs to this forum (sorry I forgot you name, but I hope to see you in future NorCal meets). I hope to see more forum members in BMWCCA events in the future.

Lastly, I have to say, the BMWCCA organizers and instructors deserved huge kudos for setting up this event. ALL instructors were volunteers who spent their entire Saturday with student drivers going over the same exercise over and over, while providing constructive critisism and were always in good spirit no matter how much you screwed up. And believe me, sitting in the pessenger seat while the car is running circles on a skid pad is NOT fun. Imagine what is it like to do it the whole day. So, big thanks to the instructors for putting up with all the mistakes we made.

All in all this is a wonderful experience and I'd definitely recommand for everyone. Also those drivers without any experience, don't be intimidated by it. Before going to this event I had done no performance driving whatsoever and I did fine today. The instructors will work with you and provides feedback that suits your skill level.


-hkj

[sdorn]

That sounds great. If they offer something like that around Atlanta, I am definitely going to try and attend. I just joined the BMWCCA last week.

[RGRAY]

Originally Posted by hkj

I took my e90 to the car control clinic-hkj

I don't think I would want to use my own car.

[ase2dais]

[BenMW]

Sounds like a great time, Im really jealous right now, I wonder if they have something like that in the Dallas or Chicago area?

[325 Baller]

Im going to the teen drivers class with my dad one weekend in April, he is doing the M class while im doing the Teen one, im trying to convince him to let me do the M class also but he claims you have to be over 18 and im 17? Does anyone know if this is true?

[ben1364]

HK said it exceptionally well. I would add that a rental fleet Chevy Cobalt is more capable than an untrained driver in an exotic car. Spend the money on training.

[db17k]

cool experience! that sounds like you learned a lot more than i did at skip barber racing school at Laguna for $500 more bucks.

[ben1364]

Originally Posted by sdorn

That sounds great. If they offer something like that around Atlanta, I am definitely going to try and attend. I just joined the BMWCCA last week.

Most CCA chapters have web sites and newsletters where chapter events are posted.

[JackMac]

I plan on attending at least two DelVal BMWCCA events this year (have the schedule right in front of me), and eager to try it with my E90.

[Wolf359]

I hope those cones didn't leave too much scratches on your new car's paint?

[Pyrat 2]

Originally Posted by BenMW

Sounds like a great time, Im really jealous right now, I wonder if they have something like that in the Dallas or Chicago area?

Check out the Windycitybmw.com site (Chicago area chapter of BMW CCA). They are taking applications right now for a few classes within the next couple months.

Car Control Clinic
Road America Driving school
Autocross driving school.

[hkj]

Yeah check your local chapter of BMWCCA for more classes. I'm sure they offer classes like this through the US.

Regarding the comment about driving your own car, in my opinion this is what makes the whole experience fun and exciting. Because you also learn what your car and and cannot do. You know you can apply the experience you gained to your daily driving, e.g. you know where the limit of your car's traction is, when is it likely to start sliding, how long it takes to come to a complete stop at certain speed etc.

By the way this class is not an auto cross class and does not cause any significant wear to your car. You won't even come close of having to replace your tires afterwards.

[hkj]

Originally Posted by db17k

cool experience! that sounds like you learned a lot more than i did at skip barber racing school at Laguna for $500 more bucks.

How did you like the Skip Barber school? Which one of their classes did you take?

I've been wanting to take that class for a while now. I just wanted to make sure I get the fundamentals of high performance driving down before I take the more expensive lessons. Let me know what you think of their class.

-hkj

[vladinecko]

nice, i'm jealous!

[db17k]

Originally Posted by hkj

How did you like the Skip Barber school? Which one of their classes did you take?

I've been wanting to take that class for a while now. I just wanted to make sure I get the fundamentals of high performance driving down before I take the more expensive lessons. Let me know what you think of their class.

-hkj

The class was a total hoot! i had a blast. "Introduction to Racing" was the class i took. It's 1 1/2 hours in the class room learning how to apex a turn, when to brake, etc. then they let you loose on Laguna Seca in these mini formula cars for about an hour. It's a modified 130 Hp dodge neon engine mated with a 4 speed manual racing transmission that revs up to 14,000 RPM!!! they throw this into a formula chassie that weighs only about 1,000 LBS, the result is 0-60 in around 4.6 seconds. Once on the track you follow a skip barber instructor who's driving a modded (i'm guessing) dodge neon. now that seems unfair, but these guys are such good drivers that it's quite a task keeping up with them. they will start the class on the track in three groups each consisting of 5 formulas and 1 instructor. After you go 5 laps around the track everyone stops at the beginning and they rearrange the students depending on driving skills. Fortunately after the first heat they put me in the lead aggressive group and it got fun!

Anyway it did teach me some manuvering techniques, but it just didn't seem long enough to retain much of it.

All in all it was a great experience, and if it wasn't so pricey i'd take the 3 day class. Mind you this isn't the driving school, it's the racing school, Skip Barber does both. the driving school is more along the lines of what you were taught at the BMWCCA driving school.

[David328M-Sport]

Good investment. I am planning on sending my eldest son, Danny to a number of driver training courses as soon as he is legally allowed. Just going for one's drivers licence is not good enough. I also intend on having Danny take as many driving lesson as possible with a professional driving schoold before he obtains his licence. Technique, understanding and experience.

[db17k]

Originally Posted by David325Australia

Good investment. I am planning on sending my eldest son, Danny to a number of driver training courses as soon as he is legally allowed. Just going for one's drivers licence is not good enough. I also intend on having Danny take as many driving lesson as possible with a professional driving schoold before he obtains his licence. Technique, understanding and experience.

Lucky Kid!!

[Driv3r]

Originally Posted by 325 Baller

Im going to the teen drivers class with my dad one weekend in April, he is doing the M class while im doing the Teen one, im trying to convince him to let me do the M class also but he claims you have to be over 18 and im 17? Does anyone know if this is true?

Bro! im doing the oneday teen driving on april 22!! cant wait

[BenMW]

Originally Posted by mdemange

Check out the Windycitybmw.com site (Chicago area chapter of BMW CCA). They are taking applications right now for a few classes within the next couple months.

Car Control Clinic
Road America Driving school
Autocross driving school.

Mdemange...im about to sign up for the BMWCCA...but it has an area for me to write in....."Were you recommended by a BMW CCA member? If so, please indicate who:
Name:
Member #: "

I dont know if you want me to put anything in here for you, you may get some benefit?

I will be registering for the Windy City BMWCCA and the Lone Star Chapter because I go to school at SMU in Dallas. I am pretty excited about the driving courses and becoming a better driver.

[JSpira]

Just to clarify, from what I can discern, the OP is writing about a car control clinic, not a driver school.

A BMW CCA driver school is a track based learning event which allows drivers to eventually drive at speed for good old-fashioned fun. It is also a learning event, drivers are grouped by experience, must walk the track, attend class sessions, and obey instructions.

BMW CCA NY chapter used to hold our Driver Schools at Bridgehampton which no longer exists. After an almost decade long hiatus, the chapter will be holding several Driver Schools this year. We also have multiple Autocross events planned.

You can read the rules etc. for a Driver School here:
http://www.nybmwcca.org/NY-2003-MANUAL.pdf

Schedule for NY is at http://www.nybmwcca.org/latest_news.shtml

Car control clinics are also important but they don´t take the driver at speed onto the track.

[ben1364]

The normal, and recommended sequence is to first complete the car control clinic, followed up by driving schools at whatever intervals are convenient.