I just finished two days of evolution school. I took phase 1 and 2 back to back. Day one was great, but phase 2 kicked @ss! It rained until there was nearly a half inch of water cover the lot. I learned so much about how to control my EVO on the edge because of the water. Andy spun us out twice. I really wish there was video.

I'll sit down tomorrow and make a better write up. Right now, all I can say is if you have not taken this school and you want to driver faster: sign up. Their course and the instructors will make you a much better driver.

My only regret right now is that I didn't sign up for phase 3 or Dial in.

One of the STi drivers was changing his alignment between sets and he showed me what he was doing. In ten minutes he was able to show me what I've been wanting to know. Admittidly his alignment isn't as exact as what you get w/ lasers and all, but he was able to adjust his car to make it do what he wanted it to do. That is what I'm after.

 

where is the school at?

 

These schools are worth the money. No question.

Don't be surpised if you don't pick up alot of time the day of the school, but all of a sudden things click a few weeks down the road and your dropping time like mad on your competitors.

I've found another good way to focus on driving, it is not to make any changes to the car all day. Bleed down your tire pressures after each run and keep the car consistent. This usually helps you to understand where/when you make improvements.

http://autocross.com/evolution/

 

is this a country wide school or just local to you?

 

The schools are offerred all over the place. Go to www.autocross.com/evolution

The instructors are all national level trophy winners and they fly/drive to the school location. These schools are so good people will drive across country to attend. We had people coming to Mineral Wells, TX from St. Louis and kansas city.

 

Evolution school phase 1 & 2 review



The DFW region was fortunate enough to have 4 of Evolution School’s classes hosted at Mineral Wells over the Memorial Day weekend. This included Phase 1, 2, 3 and Dial In. I attended phase 1 and 2.



Previously I had attended PCA schools where they setup slalom courses and skid pads for you to work on basic car control skills. Evolution schools feature none of that. You start in phase 1 running a simple autocross course that features a slalom and a skid pad but you are focused on learning how to navigate the course as quickly as possible. Along the way you will figure out how to balance the car on the skid pad and how to do slaloms effectively.

The morning of phase 1 is spent getting a baseline of your driving skills. You drive the course a couple of times by yourself and then you ride along with the instructor and then you drive again. You repeat this twice which comes out to about ten runs. During lunch there is a drivers meeting where they discuss how to start cutting your times down. If you have started auto crossing I’m sure you have heard people tell you to look ahead. Get ready b/c you are going to hear it again. The difference is the instructors actually explain what it means.

The afternoon is a repeat of the morning expect now the instructors are telling you to look ahead. My instructor actually grabbed the back of my helmet and ‘helped’ me look ahead.

While I’ve minimized the amount of technique they teach, it is worth noting that they did focus on specific issues for individual drivers. My instructors (I had two different instructors through the day) didn’t think I had any problems with my steering, or breaking. They focused in on my tendency to be too aggressive carrying speed in to corners. I was murdering the cones on the exit of a Chicago box because of this. Overall though I would say that looking ahead will be the best cure for this.



Phase 2 continues the practices started in phase 1. The instructional approach stays pretty much the same and builds on the lessons from phase 1. Phase 2 aims to make looking ahead second nature. They have several surprises in store to help you learn to look ahead.



Unfortunately I decided not to take phase 3 this year. Next year I will not make the same mistake.



Did these classes make me any faster? I have to wait until June 19th and June 26th to find out. Of course other drivers in my class (STU) also took this class so they should be faster too. But I don’t think I’m going to be at the *** end of the rankings anymore. And next year….. I’ll repeat phase 2, and take phase 3. I also plan to take Dial In after I get coil overs.

 

awesome..

 

I recognized a few of the instructors names. I can say they are really high caliber driver/ racers!

 

Evolution School (previously known as McKamey School) was the best money I spent to improve my autocross times...I highly recommend it.

 

how much do these schools run for?

 

Prices vary, typically $200 to $250 per school, 1 day each. Lots of seat time.

 

wow...not bad at all...anything i should keep in mind? like having new tires ready to go or something?

 

Schools tend to kill tires very quickly so I put on a set of good used tires (cost me $36 for the tires and $40 for the install/balance). This way I was able to focus on driving and not worry about killing a set of $800 tires on a weekend. The cool thing is that all I have to do now is put on my good tires again and my times should drop further.