Driving school… is it for you?

Turned the key to the on position and hit the button to start her up. As she breathed fire into my veins, the engine sounded like it was suffering while we waited in the pit stop. As the pace car led us down the stretch, she purred into motion. Slowly around the track of Laguna Seca to get a feel for what we were about to incur and then faster and faster. 0-60 in 4.7, and taking the turns like we were in a jet fighter pulling 2-4 G’s. It doesn’t get much better than this… or does it?

After getting comfortable with the speed and the way she handled, I was approaching turn 10 and it’s apex, I felt comfortable giving her a little extra push before and during the turn, but it was too much and as the F1 under steered, (you are not supposed to accelerate into a turn) so I did exactly what they told me to; clutch and brake in. I think I did about a 400 degree screeching wipe out so I was facing about the same way as I was originally going when I finally stopped, but that was AWESOME!! I wanted to under steer her again, but it never happened.

There is no speedometer in this beast so you can only guess at what speed you are going, but the pace car was up to around 110 and there were times I was playing catchup so I’m guessing we were hitting speeds around 110-130. The ground is so close to you in those cars that it doesn’t even feel that fast.

Getting in and out of them is a task in itself. If you weigh over 250 you might have some problems. In fact the school asks you for your weight and height when you sign up to be sure you will fit. You also have to know how to drive a stick for this particular school. I am sure there are classes to teach you how to drive stick, and if you have never done so, you definitely should try it. It makes you feel like you are a part of the engine which equals more fun.

Half the day was spent on the track and to tell you the truth, I could have spent all week on it. Turn 8, which is defined as the corkscrew is the best turn ever. You can’t even see the track from the top of the corkscrew while you are driving. You just have to have faith that it is still there as you go over the cliff.

After the trips around the track, we had lunch and then proceeded to learn how to brake hard without locking up the tires with a Mazda 3, go around a small cone track they had set up to learn how to take a turn with a little under steer with a Mazda Miata, and finally we learned how to correct an under steer on a Mazda RX8 with rear balding tires and wet pavement. This was by far the most fun of the 3 events.

The school that I chose was called Skip Barber. The one day school was around $1100 so it is not cheap, but every penny is worth it. They have very highly trained and professional staff that give you the experience of a lifetime. In fact, at the end of the day, the staff took us in the Miata around the small cone track at full speed. We were drifting on every turn and at no time did we feel like the car was out of control. They really know how to drive these cars and showed me that I’m only 20% of the speed racer I thought I was.

This goes out to my Aunt who bought me this trip for a Christmas gift. Thank you very much for this great experience. I loved every minute of it.

In my humble opinion…

I think before every driver gets behind the wheel, they should complete one of these schools. Not only is it a lot of fun, but you learn so much about how to drive that it can save you in many situations. Not to mention, better drivers equal less accidents which, equals cheaper insurance. (actually I am pretty sure that after completing one of these courses, your auto insurance will go down. I’ll have to call and find out)

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