vB Easy Archive - Advanced Driver Training

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Advanced Driver Training
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Posted by: SuperCM

After reading this article about those who are not of average height can be injured by airbags, I began skimming around reading up on proper seating position and this lead to an article mentioning BMW Driver Training.

Now, a few years ago I gave it some thought since it seemed pretty nifty when I was younger. However, at the time the $500 price tag push those to the backburner seeing how I was a student at the time. However, now that I'm part of the workforce and making money, I suppose I could afford it now.

Has anyone here taken any sort of advanced driver training? Not necessarily the BMW Driver Training, but even private schools. The MTO has a listing of schools around the province and I'm wondering if it's better to go with these and what sort of criteria to look for when choosing a school.

Anyways, any comments or experiences are welcomed.

Posted by: rip

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperCM

After reading this article about those who are not of average height can be injured by airbags, I began skimming around reading up on proper seating position and this lead to an article mentioning BMW Driver Training.

Now, a few years ago I gave it some thought since it seemed pretty nifty when I was younger. However, at the time the $500 price tag push those to the backburner seeing how I was a student at the time. However, now that I'm part of the workforce and making money, I suppose I could afford it now.

Has anyone here taken any sort of advanced driver training? Not necessarily the BMW Driver Training, but even private schools. The MTO has a listing of schools around the province and I'm wondering if it's better to go with these and what sort of criteria to look for when choosing a school.

Anyways, any comments or experiences are welcomed.

Take a look at Y&D's program...i did racing school (when i had dreams of racing) which is overkill for the street

You might want to look into that as a vacation package

Posted by: paul34

It's always been a dream of mine to go to a real racing school for a couple of classes

(not that popular one somewhere out west... I forgot the name)

Being educated on how to handle your car properly at the limits is never overkill. Most accidents during the winter or rainy times happens because people don't know what to do when their car suddenly approaches the limit. This is also why we have stuff like traction control, ABS, etc. It's to compensate for the lack of driver education.

It's interesting though... people drive 2+ ton hunks of metal everyday, and don't know what to do if all their electronic nannies stop working. What if pilots couldn't handle anything other than clear skies and perfect descent and ascent conditions? What if they didn't know what to do in bad weather, when an engine catches on fire, etc.

We expect pilots to know how to handle the plane under any circumstances. However, we do not expect the same from drivers. I'm not sure why.

I'm not saying its "people's" fault... as I don't know either. However, the difference is, I'm aware of it and want to change it very much - the only problem is $$$. But maybe in the future !

Then I think I'll start autocrossing too

Posted by: JwY

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul34

It's always been a dream of mine to go to a real racing school for a couple of classes

Me too. I will try one day if I find the time and the money.

Posted by: icanttype

I work at a driving school that was founded and is owned by Ronn Langford, MasterDrive. It teaches a lot of advanced driving stuff, i'd recommend taking a course like you want to it'll be very beneficial. Like everyone said earlier ABS and stuff like that is just compensation for driver incompetence. The most fun i've ever had was a personal performance day with Ronn himself driving porshes and going 60ft slaloms!

Posted by: Abom

I took a few courses at a local race-car driving school back when I was living in Alberta (and was 16). I learned a lot from it, most importantly, the fact that your driving "skills" mean absolutely nothing if you do not know the limits of your vehicle. YOU might be able to drive 100 km/h, but your 1972 Nissan Micra might not be able to handle it, as an example.

Anywho, that plus my "formal" driver training was a must to even get insured in Alberta at the time. I found the courses useful, but definately not a replacement for real experience.

Posted by: rovert

It's so worth it. I've been taking them for over 10 years and I started at 16 years old. The cost is a lot but after I add up the course costs and the many times I have been able to avoid car crashes.....it's all been worth that extra time. I started in small parking lot courses, worked to larger autocross courses, then to small tracks, and now I'm qualified for international raceways.

The thing most us do naturally is like what deer do when they see headlights. They panic, freeze, and stare at their problem. Your hands will steer the vehicle where you stare/look at and if you are staring at a pole or a stopped car in a panic situation, you will have a high chance of hitting that. Advanced driver training teaches you where to look and how to get into the habit of not freezing up when something happens. It's a VERY hard nautral habit to overcome and I still find I do that at times.

After you learn where to look, you learn how to handle a car and how to toss the weight around to make effecient panic manoevers and you'll learn how the handling dynamics of a vehicle naturally after a lot of practice. The most fun is putting the car on a slippery skid pad while you learn to control a sliding car.

Go ahead and check car clubs for events like these at a discounted price. I found the BMW driver training was great but not enough "road time". Other courses I have taken privately gave a lot more time behind the wheel and I have learned much more. Have fun and drive safe!