{"id":22045,"date":"2019-02-19T09:09:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T14:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=22045"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:24:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:24:38","slug":"how-to-choose-a-performance-driving-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/how-to\/2019\/02\/how-to-choose-a-performance-driving-school.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Choose a Performance Driving School"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I\u2019m reading Facebook the other day and this guy with a Dodge Challenger Scat Pack was really upset because he lost a stoplight drag race to a V6 Mustang. Obviously, the Challenger has WAY more power, but one of the replies said it best: \u201cJust because you HAVE 485 horsepower, doesn\u2019t mean you know how to USE 485 horsepower.\u201d Ohhhh, burn! But the response is absolutely correct! All modern cars have surprisingly good performance, but it\u2019s up to us to learn how to use it.<\/p>\n

This is a perfect lead-in to expand on something I wrote a couple months ago here at Dodge Garage: New Years Resolutions for Car Enthusiasts<\/em><\/a>. Specifically, how you can take advantage of all the performance in your car by making the most important modification: the DRIVER MOD!<\/strong> I\u2019m talking about attending a High Performance Driving School.<\/p>\n

Before we go any further, you need to do something unnatural. Awkward. Perhaps even a bit embarrassing. You need to admit that you\u2019re not as good as you tell your friends you are. Now, your secret is safe with me, but at the end of the day, the numbers don\u2019t lie and a bone stock car with a great driver can beat a modified car with an average driver. Happens all the time! The BEST<\/strong> thing you can do is leave your ego at the door. Now that we\u2019ve got that out of the way, let\u2019s talk about getting faster.<\/p>\n

What kind of motorsports interests you? Drag racing? Road courses? Autocross? Rally? Drifting? Making that decision will help narrow the choices. For the sake of this article, I won\u2019t specifically name names, but a quick search will get you the top ones in whichever discipline you\u2019re interested in. Some are better than others; do your research before spending your money. That said, let\u2019s talk about what you can learn in various types of racing programs.<\/p>\n

Drag Racing<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/strong>\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

To the average person, it appears that drag racing is all about the car. The driver is just there to push the gas and hold the wheel, right? Absolutely not! To make a great drag pass, yes, you need to have a consistent car, but you also need to understand the car and how to use its potential.<\/p>\n

Rose Chadwick is the woman behind Save It 4 The Track<\/a>, a grassroots drag racing program that I\u2019ve featured here on Dodge Garage<\/a> before. I asked Rose to tell us the things she\u2019d expect out of a drag racing school. \u201cTo me, reaction time and a good launch off the tree starts it off right. When I was learning to drag race, that was the first thing and only thing I focused in on. I have beaten some cars that I should not have because my reaction time was on point. Warming your tires and a great burnout is key as well. It is the difference between fishtailing all over the place. Another thing I learned was to look straight ahead, keep your wheel straight, don\u2019t worry about what the other guy is doing, focus in on your light and your launch!”<\/p>\n

Drifting<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/strong>\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ben Thrailkill<\/a> is from South Carolina and is part of the Panic Motorsports<\/a> team that preps my personal racecar. He\u2019s also a drifter and points this out: \u201cThere are a lot of drifting schools across the country. Most of them have moderate horsepower cars with enough grunt to get you sideways but not so much that you\u2019re going to get yourself in trouble!\u201d I asked him what types of entry-level lessons they\u2019d teach us: \u201cThe basics of drifting; how to initiate a drift. How to keep the car sideways. Slow hands when using the steering wheel; it should just float in your hands.\u201d Ben adds, \u201cIt\u2019s not just about horsepower, it\u2019s about technique.\u201d I had to ask; for someone who\u2019s never drifted, ever … how long would it take to learn the basics? \u201cWell, I could get you going sideways in the better part of an afternoon,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cJust remember, the pros have been doing it for decades!\u201d<\/p>\n

Road Course<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/strong>\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll never forget my first autocross school, back in the early ’90s; I did well compared to other students. Then I went for my first competition and got my 10mm socket handed to me by what I referred to as \u201cold men in crappy cars!\u201d But those old guys had something I didn\u2019t have: knowledge! You need to understand what the car is doing, then learn to dance it right there at the limit. The same holds true with road course driving: balancing the car between acceleration, braking and cornering is very difficult, but with a combination of classroom and practice on track, you can do it. The good news is that the track day scene in the USA is HUGE right now. There are events available across the country and across the calendar, and many of those groups offer instruction to help grow their following. My buddy Brian Wozny did his first-ever track days last year. \u201cOver one weekend, with feedback from my instructor, I was able to shave TEN seconds off my lap time. That\u2019s a lifetime on a road course!\u201d A good instructor will help you visualize balancing the car on all four contact patches. He or she will walk you through \u201cSlow In, Fast Out\u201d and threshold braking techniques. \u201cThe instruction was priceless,\u201d says Brian. \u201cI\u2019m SO much faster now because of that input.\u201d<\/p>\n

School vs. Experience<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/strong>\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

One thing I\u2019d like to point out is that there are a number of programs, usually offering exotic cars, that are \u201cexperiences\u201d and not \u201cschools.\u201d Understand the difference between the two before you spend your money. Experiences are a lot of fun, but they\u2019re not designed to make you a better driver. Racing schools (both drag racing and road course) almost always have their own fleet of cars and you want it that way. Yes, you\u2019ll pay a bit more, but to have their team of mechanics keep and care for them is worth the investment. Many schools also get you a provisional racing license if you choose to go into competition. Again, do some investigative work and see what they offer.<\/p>\n

You Can Do It!<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/strong>\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll notice that the common theme in this story, regardless of what type of racing you get into, is \u201ctechnique.\u201d The basics of handling a car are not taught in high school drivers ed. You don\u2019t just hop behind the wheel and \u201cgo fast\u201d as the guy I mentioned at the top of this story found out. However, whatever form of motorsports you\u2019re into, you can get involved, you can learn to do the same things you see on track, on TV, in the movies … all it takes is a willingness to learn and the right instruction. The extra benefit? You\u2019ll never look at your daily commute the same way again!<\/p>\n

Driving School Pro Tips<\/strong><\/h1>\n
    \n
  1. Do your research; read reviews of various programs<\/li>\n
  2. Program should have a mix of classroom and on-track instruction<\/li>\n
  3. Pick a school that provides their own fleet of cars<\/li>\n
  4. Have an open mind, don\u2019t be afraid to learn and don\u2019t get discouraged<\/li>\n
  5. Technique, technique, technique<\/li>\n
  6. Have fun!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    So I\u2019m reading Facebook the other day and this guy with a Dodge Challenger Scat Pack was really upset because he lost a stoplight drag race to a V6 Mustang. Obviously, the Challenger has WAY more power, but one of the replies said it best: \u201cJust because you HAVE 485 horsepower, doesn\u2019t mean you know how to USE 485 horsepower.\u201d Ohhhh, burn! But the response is absolutely correct! All modern cars have surprisingly good performance, but it\u2019s up to us to learn how to use it. This is a perfect […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":22120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[639],"tags":[625,528],"class_list":["post-22045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-bondurant","tag-drag-racing"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/drivingSchool-feature.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22045"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22045"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43651,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22045\/revisions\/43651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}