BMW Performance Driving School

[bigfish]

Hey all,

I attended a BMW performance driving school last weekend at California Speedway in Fontana. Their were 100+ drivers with their own cars and over the weekend we attended classes on car handling skills and then hit the track.

On Saturday I thought it would be a little heavy on class time and light on the track time, but it was a perfect mix. We broke into 4 groups (A,B,C & D) and each driver was matched with an instructor. Each group had about 25 cars in it. I had two instructors over the weekend, Joe & Steve both were awesome. Once they assessed your skill level on the track, they let you have at it! Their were 3 designated passing zones, top speeds reached 145mph! You had to signal the car behind you that it was OK for them to pass, we didn't want to end up with our daily driver in the wall at turn 9.

At the end of each session on the track we reviewed the high and low points (plenty of both). During each track session you are constantly getting feedback from your instructor via a two way radio in your helmet (that took some getting used to) as to what they would like to see you do on each part of the track. I was one of only two X5's at the event over the weekend but we held our own! Paul in the other X5 was showing me the ropes a little, this was the second time he participated in the Performance Driving School at the end of the first day he had some suspension issues in the front end that he could not fix.

On Sunday the weather was hotter and the track was a bit more slippery. I ran most of the day with the DSC off and it made a huge difference in exit speeds coming out of corners 3,5 & 9. I was able to get the car to drift on all four tires. A couple of Porsche GT3's snuck into my group on Sunday, I held them off for a little while, but eventually they came screaming by.

All in all the event was worth every penny ($550) lots of track time about 3 hours each day. Good food, great instructors and the track was in perfect condition. Next year I will be turning up with different tires and maybe a Brembo brake upgrade! I would highly recommend anyone who wants to see what they and their car are capable of to check out these performance driving schools. I believe they take place at just about every major track in CA (Laguna Seca, Infineon, CA Speedway, Button Willow ect..) Check with BMWCCA to find out more.

bigfish

PS. I have attached a couple of photo's of the event. I also have some video of my runs on Sunday. If anyone is interested I will post the video to my server when I get a chance.