Depends on your goals. I've met and raced against some of the instructors that are good teachers relative to DE's but not racing and race craft. I would start at PDE and go from there.

 

Ok good, I just wanted to establish a good starting point for me, nothing for racing yet. I would like to race in due time, but for now I'm perfectly happy with car dynamics at the limits. Are all the PDEs the same? What exactly occurs, they ride with you around a track?

George

 

Hello E55AMG,

Great contribution to the conversation. The lead-follow can work well, it really depends on the aptitude of the student. Many of my students learn by seeing (I ask all my students what kind of learners they are at the beginning of the day.)

I'll agree its not always appropriate, but set up properly it can produce good results.

Cheers!

 

Hello Hardman,

I did the Skip Barber 3 day school at Laguna Seca and it was very good for reinforcing things and shedding light on other things. I had been performance driving for about 3 years before I took the school.

I did think it was very effective; only constraint was that it was very limited in terms of one-on-one; not a slight to the school, just a statement of fact.

A good thing to think about is for you will be "How do I learn?" Are you the type who can read something, for example, and then apply what you've learned? Or, do you need to be engaged in a conversation about something with lots of question and answer time before you learn.

If you are the type who learns by doing or following, that would have an impact on the type of school/learning environment that you should pursue.

I've read through the entire thread and everyone makes excellent contributions and you can't go wrong by following any of the advice given.

I think if you take the approach of determining how you learn and then ask the schools the appropriate questions; that process will get you the best bang for your buck, so to speak.

I've only been on the board for a short period of time and I see there are many people here with experience. You could start your process by using this forum to ask some of your basic questions and go from there.

Great topic to introduce, thank you. Good luck to you.

Cheers!

 

You can "rent" a pro driver for the day and get 1 on 1.

Not cheap, but a quick way to learn.

A lot of very substantial drivers do this regulary.


tw

 

Yes, it is a great way to go. Many of my friends spent money on modifications to make their car faster, I spent money on learning to drive faster.

I "hired/rented" in 2007

John Lewis
Andrew Davis
Wolf Henzler
Dominik Farnbacher
Shane Lewis

Had some one on one time with some other drivers as well.

 

^^^Absolutely


Im hoping for Darren Law, Leh Keen (As soon as Im in that 997...), and Randy Pobst this year...as well as Don ***...

Gonna be a sweet year...

 

Don't forget about Craig Stanton

tw

 

u and lehman will get nothing done

 

hahahahha why is that? Your going to be running around the track in a go kart and well be playing dodge-em?

 

ha...ha...you're funny

so ill race you and leh in karts..i have a spot in atlanta..and i will beat you both.

 

sadly, Im sure you would beat me at karting...Im just not in tune with 8 inch wheels and 6-9 hp...

Plus, I weigh around 175...so you have a slight weight to power ratio advantage...

 

What kind of money did that cost for a day??

 

$1000

 

If you have never been on a track, I think Bonduraunt or Barber makes the most sense. The Bonduraunt 4 day school probably crams the most information into the least time.

I would highly suggest doing one of the schools and then some DE events before hiring a "name" driver. It will make much better use of your time and money when you do hire a private instructor.