professional driving schools in the Pacific Northwest? I'm looking for the advanced performance places that will teach you the finer points of handling and vehicle control. I hear about them in other parts of the country but can't find anything up here in WA.

 

http://www.pacificraceways.com/ has a driving school that lasts a weekend I think. Its like $500. I may look into doing it this summer. http://www.proformanceraceschool.com/

If youre referring to something like Skip Barber (sp?), I dont know of any, but check out the link above, I would think its the same, if not similar.

 

I've looked into the proformance school...I like what they have to offer, especially for the location (close to home) and the price. The will start having courses again in march, once the weather starts to get better.

 

Right On! That is exactly what I had in mind :D I just submitted my request for March or April. It would be very cool to get some other 8 drivers to do this as a group. If others are interested I'll see what I can work out with them. Looking towards the end of March to go through the one day program cost $445.00.
PM me if there is any interest in a group day. Thanks again fellas!

 

If I can swing the money I'd be up for the group school.

 

One thing to think about with Pacific Raceways is that there is minimal runoff room, and in the rain there are SPECTACULAR crashes - yes, I've witnessed more than I'd like to see.

If you're a newbie to track stuff, I would suggest Portland International Raceway. You can go sliding off track and typically not hit anything. It's also a GREAT facility, and worth the 3 hour drive. Once you're more comfortable, PR is awesome (especially in the dry - what a hoot!)

If you want something closer, you can do a SCCA High Performance Clinic at Bremerton - there will likely be one in early April right around the time of the SCCA Club Racing School.

(BTW, I've raced Spec Miatas the past two years - PR in the rain can be downright dangerous, and you're really looking at a high probablility of rain).

Other than that, Don Kitch and the Proformance folks are absolutely AWESOME.

 

I thought Bremerton was just a 1/4 mile track. . . I guess I had better call them and see what they are offering. Good point on the rain issues and looking at the videos from the Auburn track there really isn't any room for forgiveness. But seeing that 75% of my driving is in the rain or on wet roads learning performance handling in wet conditions is a benefit.

 

Bremerton Motorsports Park (BMP) is used for 1/4 mile drags, autocrosses, and can be made into a makeshift road course. It's not a complex track, but it's cheap (the HPDE's are essentially track days with roving instructors, and I think its about $100 for a full day). BMP does not host any driving schools, they are the property owners and lease the facility out.

Check out the NWR-SCCA website for info (there probably won't be much info until later in the winter). It's www.nwr-scca.org

As for getting experience in wet handling, I agree, that's great, but there are safer and less safe tracks to do it on. PR is less safe. I hear they've tried to do some track improvements this winter due to the volume and severity of the crashes, but I doubt it takes the risk out. You can get great wet experience at PIR in Portland and it's a relatively safe track.

I'll try to find some pics of some of the crashes, so you can see what I mean. Many of the road race community cancel if there's bad weather at PR, but they are more than willing to race wheel-to-wheel at PIR. Thay may tell ya something!

 

Here's a video of a Spec Miata race from last AUGUST at Pacific.

You can clearly see how close the hills, trees, etc are, as well as the walls at the start/finish line. In the middle of the front straight it does a "jog" onto the 1/4 mile strip. This is the most dangerous part of the track - there's a big bump there, which forms HUGE puddles. If you hydroplane, you're *gonna* hit a wall. (BTW, my car is the one just in front of the camera car at the start... :D )

http://www.nwspecmiata.org/videos/se...race_start.wmv

Also, here's a short video of the bumpy section going into turn 9 at Pacific, right before the front straight. The water pools because of the bumps, and it's awful easy to whack the wall once the car hydroplanes. And to think, this isn't even the *really* bad part of the track in the rain!

http://www.nwspecmiata.org/videos/d'...er_t9crash.wmv

I can honestly say this track is an absolute BLAST in the dry, but extremely scary in the wet!

 

Here's another that may interest some. They have a set of courses planned for July, I believe. The calendar is available on the site.

http://www.autocross.com/evolution/

 

My husband is an Evolution instructor. Keep in mind this is autocross, not track stuff. HIGHLY recommended!

The NWR-SCCA will *definitely* have Evo schools in 2005. Most likely on a weekend, and at a great, huge site in Packwood (yes, it's a long drive, but the site is worth it!)

 

Thanks for clarifying my post. Should have mentioned that. Hope you'll keep everyone informed about the Evo schools as the date(s) is/are set.

 

I'll do my best to keep everyone informed.

Another great resource for autocross is the WWSCC (Western Washington Sports Car Council) www.wwscc.org

There's an e-mail list as well as a forum that you can get to from that site. Huge, friendly autocross community in the Seattle area.

Also, it is awfully humbling to think you're a great driver, just to go to an autocross and have a base Mini beat you by 5 seconds... But autocross is a priceless way to learn car control in a safe environment.

Annie (yes, I have credentials...)
2004 SCCA Solo II BSL National Champion
2003 SCCA Solo II DSL National Champion
2003 SCCA ProSolo L-1 Champion

 

Wow! Great videos. I've done PR several times on motorcycles, but never in a car. And NEVER in anything like the conditions shown. I think most riders are too "smart" to even try. (Oh, probably not.)

Happy to see Peter's windshield wipers continued to work, even after the crash. :D

BTW, I've always found the "bus stop" is the most dangerous section of the track, at least in the dry.

 

"bus stop" ?? not a term us scca racers have used...

I think 5A (on the backside, left turn after the little back straight) is probably the worst in the dry... too easy to think you're invincible. The big dirt hill can quickly convince you otherwise...

 

You can also contact the BMW CCA. They regularly put together track days and usually don't have a problem if you are not a BMW owner but want to take the course.

 

Guys/Gals...the BEST 'newbie' track within a day's drive is Thunderhill. It's about 12 hrs south of Tacoma - right off I5. ACRES of run-off...a VERY fun course. When I went with miatas, it was a 3 day event - drive one day...eat dinner, go to bed early. Get to track...drive all day....back to hotel...leave next morning.

VERY MUCH worth it - splitting rooms helps ease the cost.

6 or 700 miles each way, If I recall.


Did I mention it's 'worth the drive'?

 

Hehe

much better than my credentials...

1998 Arizona Boarder Region 2nd Place Novice class
1999 Arizona Boarder Region 1st Place Daily driver

Both in a '94 miata...gee I miss that car!

Haven't autocrossed now in over 5 years ...I definately need to do some this year.

To anyone that hasn't done it....DO IT!!! You'll have the time of your life.

BTW horsepower means nothing!!! I got my times squashed by 67 hp Lotus Elans every time I went out even though I had twice the power!

Then again I did beat my share of NSXs, Esprits and Porches (think people with too much money and too little skill).

 

Ok, I'd heard rumors, and here goes - this I copied from the S2000 site, which got it from the Alfa site:

"PR Track Renovation!
Reported by Steve Schaeffer, 01-12-05

Don Kitch of Team Seattle mentioned at the January meeting that there are some changes to the Pacific Raceway track layout for 2005. The radius of Turn 9, the entry to the straight, has been softened. The grandstands have not been moved, but it sounds like they are trying to make the entry less dangerous. They are also putting up a larger catch fence to protect the fans.

There were a series of areas in the pavement at Turn 10, the kink in the straight, that collected rainwater, and created hydroplane hazards during rainstorms. They will either repave, or patch those holes to cure this.

These changes will be made this month (January), as soon as weather permits."

All I can say is YYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I agree with what Banannie has said in this thread. I took the Proformance high performance driving school last summer with my S2000, and I'm in the process of convincing my wife to take it this summer with her RX-8. They teach good, useful stuff. I have enjoyed my track days since then, with two caveats:

In the rain, it's an absolutely horrible track, with lots of standing water and not enough run-off area. One experienced S2k driver hit a patch of standing water at the kink in the front straight and nailed the wall along the drag strip. Not good for either his car or his carcass. I spun on 3b when I goosed it a bit too much, but only went backward into the gravel on the inside of the track. You do learn to drive smoothly, but it's not fun, IMO. Also, even if dry, the track is really slippery in the winter, especially in the back area which never gets any sun. I did a track day in November, and I don't think I'll be doing that again.

On a dry track, I personally get the biggest pucker factor in turn 1; maintaining full throttle at almost 130mph around that turn, over the bumpy pavement, is a bit hair-raising; I've also seen some spectacular pictures of those who lifted on turn 1, and the results (most recently a brand new Ferrari 360 (I think), which rolled all the way to the fence in turn 2). Other turns would be more scary, I think, if I raced (turn 7 strikes me that way, banked the wrong way into rough pavement), but on track days I'm not going full out, just trying to learn to drive the best I can.

For a first track day/driving school, I would make sure that it has a high probability of being a dry day. If it is dry, Don does a great job.

 

dmp

Ran at Thunderhill yesterday. It's a great track! :p Definitely worth the drive, although it only takes 3 hours from San Jose.

It was my 2nd time there and again the only RX-8.

 

3 hr drive....geesh...if it were that close, i'd go once a month - if I had the $.

lol

:D


14 Feb is another track day at THill, btw.

 

It's actually on Feb 6 and I can't make it.
The next one at Thunderhill is Mar 24 sponsored by Hooked On Driving http://www.hookedondriving.com/morei...?Product_ID=56

I guess I'll be autocrossing until then... :p

 

it's on 14 February, too :D

http://home.onemain.com/~bonster/teamevents.html

 

oops, sorry! :p

Do they put on good, organized events with good instructors (I'll be in Group C)?

Too bad, I'll need to take a day off from work :D