Not really a kill story, just wanted to tell my race school experience. I attended proformance race school at pacific international raceway in Kent, WA. The school is owned by Don Kitch, his team won the 24hrs. of Le mans in '03. It was only a one day class, but it was an amazing experience. I learned just how far the limits are in the G. The limits are far beyond my abilities, but I was surprised how fast I was tracking the G. Getting the ABS to engage when braking for corners, and getting all four tires to slide a little around the corners(still in control but getting that surfing feeling). The instructors commented on my choice of car and had nothing but praise for the car and the few mods I have. Now to the good part. I passed an '02 carrera 4, '04 sti, '03 s2000. I just didn't pass them, I passed them every time we went out for lapping sessions(4 times). I know that the driver has a lot to do with it, but we were all beginners. I was so impressed by my car, I almost couldn't believe it. I passed every car in my group, except for a subaru 2.5 with straight pipes, suspension and race tires(actually didn't see him in front or behind me all day). I think everyone on this forum should experience this, and see just how great a car we have!

 

Man, I wish I could take some time off from work and go to one of those driving schools...Awesome

 

Sounds great. I have yet to track my car or go to a school, but I want to do that soon.
At a recent auto-x, an old guy w/ a Porsche 944 asked for a ride-along. He was impressed with the car and gave me a few pointers.

 

You're preaching to the choir in this subforum.

 

I need to get out to one too. How much did it cost you?

 

At the last autox I went to a lady was codriving a porsche 944, then the people who owned the car left mid day and she asked me if she could finish the runs in my car. She did them a full 7-8 seconds faster than me. I mean, yeah it was my first time out, but it was REALLY nice to see what my car could do. Goes to show improving your own skill will do a lot more for you than mods when you are starting. I think there are a lot of people that think, oh if I get new suspension I'll be doing better cause the car can do better, when in reality, they are not even approaching the cars limit as is and the new mods don't teach them to get any better at this.

 

Wow, what a true statement if there ever was one....

 

I admit that improving one's driving skills is more effective than mods, but... Seat time is a premium. My first autox was 8 runs, and my second was 6 runs (though I wasted the first three with overpressurized tires). At the local events, if you run, you work the course. The first time, I worked for prolly 3 hours. The last time, at least 2.5 hours. That's 5.5 hours for roughly 14 minutes of seat time. Improving one's skills is imperative, but it's not like going out to your driveway to practice your free throws or going downstairs to practice pool.

Also, if there's one single mod that will see *immediate* benefits, it's a set of nice tires. My sedan has stock goodyear's, and an associate/mentor has victoracers on his m3; he consistently outruns me by 4 to 5 seconds, and he said tires alone are at least 3 seconds on a 60 second course. If I continue to autox, you bet I'm gonna get better tires.

 

The day class only cost $450 and I probably had about a total of 3 hrs. seat time. It was well worth it in my opinion. Proformance also has lapping sessions for $225 with part time instruction, and $150 for lapping with no instruction(after you take their course). Very cheap if you ask me. After this course, I totally agree that experience and instruction are the best mods. I am planning, however, on getting wider front tires, my stock Pilot sport 225's were pretty chewed up at the end of the day. I thought about running same width front and back for more balance(245's),

 

Having an instructor drive my car at an auto-x clinic was the BEST learning tool I've experienced. Instead of just incrementally getting faster through practice, you see the instructor push your car to the limit and now you know where that limit is and you can try to shoot for it.