Who's in??? Ive already registered. If you guys havent done a BMWCCA autox, I highly recommend it! Heres the link for more info:
http://www.rmcbmwcca.org/nextautocross.htm

Lets see you guys represent!

I'm in, I'll be in BS.

Ill be there, running in DS. Hope to see you all there. Is anyone going to be at the drinving school? Ithink I will be at the suday day, I got a comp spot for advertising in the Motorsport Report.

No driving school for me, not enough seat time and too expensive. If you hit a plateau then maybe it would be worth your money. I'd be up for a racing school tho, the one last year (Kumho) got cancelled because of lack of interest.

I would be up for a racing school, let me know if you find anything out about it. I will see you at the autocross.

Originally posted by ///Manuel
No driving school for me, not enough seat time and too expensive. If you hit a plateau then maybe it would be worth your money. I'd be up for a racing school tho, the one last year (Kumho) got cancelled because of lack of interest.
How much does it cost ?

BMW driving schools are 120ish I believe. You have to run with an instructor. You spend half your time in class studying. It's not very expensive compare to other stuff but for $60 you could get 4 hours of seat time during open days. I got stuck numerous times behind slower people who wouldn't signal to let me by, it sucked!

I think a racing school would be more like 300 but well worth your money. Hell some BMW instructors were worthless and gave very little advise.

I've registered for Saturday DS :)

Nice, the deadline it today the 15th to send payment.

Originally posted by ///Manuel
No driving school for me, not enough seat time and too expensive. If you hit a plateau then maybe it would be worth your money.

Originally posted by ///Manuel
BMW driving schools are 120ish I believe. You have to run with an instructor. You spend half your time in class studying. It's not very expensive compare to other stuff but for $60 you could get 4 hours of seat time during open days. I got stuck numerous times behind slower people who wouldn't signal to let me by, it sucked!

I think a racing school would be more like 300 but well worth your money. Hell some BMW instructors were worthless and gave very little advise.

///Manuel I gotta respectfully disagree. I've seen you drive and you're a very good driver, but I'm surprised there's nothing left for you to learn from an instructor. I like the seat time at an open track day but I also value time with an instructor in the right seat. Even if you're not on a plateau, a ride with a good instructor can always find something to work on you hadn't noticed before.

Plus, the more I learn the more I appreciate about the safety focus at this chapter's driving schools. RMC compares very favorably with all the other BMW CCA chapters in their incident history. At an open track day it's truly a free-for-all, with etiquette and skill varying widely between the drivers, and absolutely no safety measures in place. That means no trained corner workers, no ambulance on site, no tech inspection, no pit & grid traffic control, often not even a worker to watch for traffic spacing before waving you onto the track.

The classroom sessions, especially in the intermediate (B) and advanced (A) groups, are an opportunity for give-and-take with other drivers of similar proficiency. Plus access to experienced racers, instructors, and diagnosticians. You can really get some issues talked through and ironed out that way.

If you're not learning anything from an in-car instructor, seek out a different one for the next session. Personally, I have gotten to know the different instructors' styles and reputations, and I approach specific ones I know to be toughest. When we're preparing for the session and they ask me what I'm working on, I tell them to be nit-picky and don't hold anything back.

Consider please (and I don't know if this is the case) whether the learning blockage is the instructors' inability to teach, or the student's unreadiness to learn. Some students (and I'm honestly not saying you're in this category) come to the track convinced they already know everything, and they're just out to go fast. With that attitude of course they're not going to learn much.

If you're not getting a pass wave, pull into the hot pits and complain to the safety steward. Next time around they'll get black-flagged and they'll get a talking-to. It's the instructor's responsibility to keep an eye behind and ensure the driver isn't causing traffic problems.


The spring driving school registration opened Friday 3/14. Some slots are still available, especially for the Sunday school. Register at RMC BMWCCA page (http://www.rmcbmwcca.org) The cost this year is $135 per driver or $235 per couple (two people sharing a car).

bsut, I agree with you and was sharing my experience. Let me give a few more details.

I've had the luck to drive with an "instructor" (racer) during an open day and learned a lot more from him (for free!). We talked about several different parts of the track etc, it was awesome. I very often offer rides to people and jump in their car as well, which is not allowed at BMW events. I know open days don't offer as much safety but as long as you respect certain essential rules, open days can be very safe (especially if you are not driving a motorcycle :)).

Nothing beats seat time, some people require to be assisted and others less. The driving school is very well suited for people reaching plateaus, wanting to learn/discover how to drive their car to the limit, and/or simply improve their driving skills in a very safe environment. Depending on your background they can be very productive.

At my last school, I got stuck in the D group and later moved to C (which wasn't much more help anyway), I can't remember why they wouldn't allow me in A or B, probably due to the number of drivers already in those groups. Traffic was bad (couldn't really work on transitions and such). I had good experience with 2 instructors which taught me / made me try a few things (namely line related). But I really had to take their advises and come try them out a different day where speeds were more appropriate.

I might have had a bad experience with that school and didn't think it was worth my money (now that I remember I barely used up my tires and brakes, that was just wrong).

I did a few of Mercedes' club days and got plenty of seat time with those, improved tons and even got some *racing* going on (shhh) now that was awesome. At the end of the day, your tires are bald, pads are gone, you lost about 10lbs, and you are feeling pretty tired.

Ah, it might be time for me to start racing after all. I was just out there last weekend to see my friend drive a 2002 tii in ITA, sweet!

Is the sunday's driving school counter-clockwise? The track is very fun to drive that way. And as far as I remember it was that way last year. Also, would you know what is required to become an instructor?

I like hopping rides at open track days too. Last Sunday (3/9) I rode with Lauri while she knocked off her winter rust, gave rides to several people in Lauri's car and two guys in their cars. No traffic, lots of seat time, running my own pace. I got to work on a couple of ideas I've been experimenting with.

You got slotted in the beginner group because it was your first school. I expect you should sign up for intermediate or advanced to get in traffic moving more at the same pace.

Yes, on Sunday the spring school runs Second Creek (http://www.2ndcreekraceway.com) counterclockwise. It's nice having two different tracks so close to town!

If you're interested in instructing, talk to Cliff Lawson. I don't know that there's a list of requirements or a specified path laid out, though I understand the driving events committee is working on it.

It *was* my first school. However, I clearly stated that I had done 1 autoX school, numerous autoX's and a few track days at the time and registered under intermediate. I wish they had shown a little more flexibility.

I ran the track counter-clockwise only once but it was awesome. Besides the fact that you even out the car's wear :) it really is different while surprisingly easy.

I'll contact Cliff and see what I need to do. He will probably give me some crap for still running street rubber!