$300 a lesson, I think of myself as an excellent driver, I was weened driving a Talon and have entered several drift contests in Raceway Park, and Summits among others, never placed higher than 5th but I still have confidence in my driving ability. And honestly that's not too much to ask for a day of my time that I could be getting overtime on a saturday ;D

Contact me via e-mail: markchangg@jerkfaces.com maybe we can work something out especially if it's going to be multiple sessions.

 

I would say don't practice on the streets as one person suggested, but definitely autocross. At the autocross, you're very likely to have traction problems if you push the car too hard and you'll be able to learn to correct them effectively without any risk. That's the best thing you're going to learn at your age - how to recover from starting to lose traction. Don't push the car like this on the road... please. Also, go to an autocross in the rain at least once. From the ride I was given in an Evo, I'd say you may have difficulty losing traction too much in the dry, but in the wet perhaps you'll get further skid control practice.

You'll have a lot of fun at an autocross and you'll meet lots of people who can help you. Locally, there are usually instructors at races that are willing to ride with you to help you out if you want and there will be people who've taken driving schools nearby as well as schools operated by the clubs that you can learn about.

It's a win-win situation, you'll meet cool people who can help you, learn about schools operating in your area, and you'll get behind-the-wheel experience that you can't duplicate on the road.
-N

 

aZnLaNcEr: Dude, I admire you. You are probably the MOST mature and the smartest kid around. It takes real ***** to admit that you need to learn how to drive a powerful car. There is no shame in that. All this means is that you will not become one the crash statistics.

To start off, I kinda wish you learned how to drive on a 120hp car, but since you have more than double that, just take it easy and don't try to show off in front of your friends. That is the worst thing to do, this is when you crash.

Unfortunately, learning to drive takes time and TONS of practice. I have been driving for over 15 years, and I still learn new things all the time (and I have collected my share of trophies in solo I, II, driven mutiple times at Lime Rock, AMP, Mt. Tremablant, Pocono, Watkins Glen race tracks). So, get in a frame of mind that will never learn everything. You will become a better driver than others, but you will always find room for imrovement and learn new things. It will just come at a slower rate in the future.

Now, as a few people pointed out, the best thing for you to do is find a local car club that does solo II (auto-xing). 99% of the times, all the guys are really cool, and they will have people that will go out and teach you in the beginning. Just tell them you are new to the sport and need help. These and other clubs also have auto-x schools - take them! Once you are pretty conforatble with auto-x (about a year's worth of events), maybe experiment with a "drivers school" at a real track. Now, do a bit of research to make sure they offer good instruction and there is little or no yahooing by people thinking they are racing, instead of learning to drive. Once you get the basics of taking corners, you can do a few solo I's. After that, just get in on as many driver schools, auto-x's and solo-I's as you can. I have been doing these things for 15 years, still learning, and having a blast!

At the same time, find big parking lots with no one on it, and go there in the rain and (snow if you get that down there), and just experiment with braking, sudden steering wheel jerks and stuff like that. Tripple check that there are no potholes or people around and do it in the middle so that you don't hit anything if you loose control.

Good Luck man, I'd be willing to teach you for free, but you are a tad far away from me...

And to the people that made fun of aZnLaNcEr, you probably are one of the people that do NOT know how to drive, but *think* they know how to drive. God help us...

 

Another option is marquee car-club driving schools--for instance, most BMW CCA advanced driving schools will combine classroom instruction with one-on-one on-track driving (you'll have an instructor in the car with you until you're signed off for solo)--for two days it'll probably run $200-$300 plus the $50 or so for annual club dues, which should give you about 8-12 track sessions. At the events I've been to (Midwest area) there are non-BMWs there (including instructors), so if you're polite you shouldn't get hassled for your car, and if you're lucky there may be an instructor with AWD. The events I've been to are very low-pressure and novice-friendly, and I've seen everything from A4 Wagons to F355 Challenge race cars (don't worry, they have seperate run groups for beginners).

Watch out, though, as your Evo will be one of the fastest cars in your run group--don't confuse car acceleration with driver skill, and don't drive over your head! Also, I'd do more than one event, because just one can leave you knowing "just enough to be dangerous". Driving on a race track is dangerous, and you absolutely must respect the danger factor. As a 17 year old male, you will probably tend to overestimate your abilities and drive like a complete maniac--resist this urge if you can!

They also have car-control clinics (with cone obstacle courses, wet skidpad, etc), which might be a better place to start getting comfortable driving your car on the limits of traction in a safer setting.

Corvette, Porsche, and Audi have similar clubs too, but I don't know much about them--find local club people and talk to them.

Once you get more experience, there are cheaper ways to get open track time, but they aren't as structured.


Good bang for your buck: buy books on performance/race driving such as the Skip Barber "Going Faster" or the Carrol Smith "Drive to Win".

If you have a PC, find an older game "Grand Prix Legends" which is an extremely realistic (although very challenging) simulation of 60's formula cars ("Gran Tourismo" is not all that realistic, but will teach at least lines and some basic technique), which have lots of power, no downforce, and whose bias-ply tires make powersliding/drifting the fastest way around the track--good way to learn throttle modulation and skid control. Buy wheel/joystick and a set of pedals, though.

Good luck, and try to keep four wheels on the road!

 

WRC4EVER is a humble man but he can really drive. He is a BMW club instructor. He is going to help me also.

 

I'm glad you had the ***** to come out and say what a bunch of other people are probably experiencing as well. I've always wanted to know how to really drive a car as opposed to just getting from point A to point B and I think advanced techniques are especially important when attempting to control a car as powerful as the EVO. I felt stupid about this before, but I guess it's nothing to be ashamed of as long as you're trying to learn.

 

If you're in SoCal.
Here's the SCCA site down here. www.solo2.com
They just had a driving school last weekend. $90 for 2 days I believe. It's a good start. Seat time is important.

If you want to try karting. www.dromo1.com in the city of Orange.

I would autox as much as possible, that's the cheapest way to learn car control.

 

aznlancer, you got PM.

Claudius, thanks for thinking of me I am in L.A., btw.

and Erik, thanks too.

 

u could also try that SCCA Evolution Driving school, i believe it was like 200 bucks for 2 days? im not sure, but that might be a good idea also

good luck man, i just turned 17 last month and got into autoxing (going again this sunday), it's fun as hell, safer than the street and did i say fun as hell? good luck!

 

thanks for all the info guys. since i am planning to visit my sis down at riverside for a week soon i might take some people up one there offer cause it really does suck up north. i am an hour away from infineon which is the closest track and 3 hours away from thunderhill which is the closest school. maybe i havent looked close enough but i havent found anything involving a SCCA up here. o well. if anyone up in san francisco see a white evo going on the slow lane 95% chance it is me lol