Advanced Driving Skill School

[RIbimmer]

I just attended the Advanced Driving Skills school at New Hampshire Speedway. This was my first BMW club event of any kind. For any 1-series owners who are new to performance cars and driving (like me), I thought I'd share my experience:

I think it's fair to describe the Advanced Driving Skills school as "Step 1" in the driving programs offered by BMWCCA. This is not a track event - all driving takes place in a parking lot. There were basically three parts to the day: skid pad, braking and emergency lane changes, and a short autocross.

There were 15 or 16 cars in the school and just over half were BMW's, including several e36 M3's, an e46 M3 'vert, a couple of e46 sedans, an e30 325i, a 335i sedan, a previous generation 5-series, and a Z4 soft-top. There were also a couple of Miatas, a Pontica GTO, a Honda, an AWD Toyota Celica, and a Lexus coupe. I had the only 1-series and did receive several compliments on the car from both instructors and fellow drivers.

The day started with a 40 minute talk on vehicle dymanics, tire contact patches, anti-lock brakes, etc. I think they know everyone wants to get in their cars and start driving, so they don't drag this out too long. But its good information and an appropriate way to start the day. The instructors then divided us up into groups and sent us to drive different exercises arount the parking lot.

My first chunk of time was on the skid pad, where we were supposed to learn about oversteer, understeer, and how to safely correct from both. The skid pads are just circles of cones with water being sprayed on them. I struggled a bit with this activity, especially with oversteer. It took me several trys to even get the back end to break loose. Once I was sliding, however, I usually continued into a spin. If I didn't spin, my corrections were often overly jerky and the car would snap back. The key is is smooth modulation of the throttle and steering wheel and I really only pulled that off a couple of times. I clearly need more practice.

After lunch, it was off to braking and lane changes. This was a lot of fun. There were some puddles in the braking area to keep things interesting. My little 1'er received several compliments from the instructors during these exercies, including "your brakes are too good" and "your car is so stable that this isn't a challenge!" I finally found the limit when I tried the the double lane change at 40 mph, taking out a couple of brave cones. The brakes were fine, but the front tires were giving up at that speed. (I still have the run-flats.)

The day finished off with a sort of mini autocross. This was really fun. First, an instructor drove us around the course in our cars, then we drove with an instructor riding shotgun, and finally we got a bunch of runs on our own. No stopwatches, just a chance to use some of the techniques we had learned and see what autocross is all about. I learned that I love it and want to do it again.

All in all, it was a great day. Anyone who is interested should check out the website for the BMWCCA Boston chapter. http://www.boston-bmwcca.org