Driving instructor/school?

[ThatSilverCar]

I just picked up a used s550 a few months ago. Been enjoying my time, but my ultimate goal is to work my way up to a supercharger and hopefully spend some time on a road course occasionally. Not sure if it matters, but I'm not a young owner, I'm approaching 40 so guess this is my midlife crisis car lol. Feel like a lot of 17 y/o's some how end up in these cars, 17 y/o me is very jealous. I've spent my driving career in 4x4s and the off-road community so my driving skills differ here a bit. I feel like I could benefit from some seat time with an instructor to more safely help me understand mine and my car's limits and to prep me for my future goals.

Have been looking at accredited racing schools etc., but I'm not sure roughly $3k a day is worth the price of entry for me right now. I figure there almost has to be a more reasonable option available. Not looking to become a pro driver or even competitive, just want to have fun and be safe. I'm in the south eastern US, but will gladly travel for a weekend somewhere. Would prefer somewhere I could use my own car though.

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[luc]

Find a track near you, go to their website and find their calendar
Contact a few open track clubs and contact them. Most clubs have instructions for novice drivers and should be around $300 for 1 day

 

[WItoTX]

Find a local autocross event, and have an instructor ride with you (Instructors are free). Do a couple events, then move up to the track if you want more speed. I have some friends in the Atlanta area that do autox events there. But just about any town I've been to have some sort of event.

Check with the local Porsche, Corvette, or BMW clubs, and even on here, venture over to the track day threads. The SCCA CAMC thread, and the others are all good sources of info. Good luck!

 

[NightmareMoon]

Yeah you want to search for "HPDE" (High Performance Driving Events) in your area.

Those and Autocross events will both give you an instructor. As luc mentioned, they HPDEs will run ~300 a day (it varies a little) and you'll get a ton of seat time. Autox is like 1/6th that price - you won't get as much seat time but its lower speed and a little safer, but the instruction will be a bit less intensive too.

If you commit to a couple years of autox, you'll learn a lot. Even though HPDE events only may cost $300 for entry fee, expect to spend more on preparing the car, possibly a hotel near the track, and put some money aside for consumables like brake pads, tires, and more frequent oil changes.

As for 17yr olds driving mustangs... At that age there's no way they're paying for a new car themselves. Its probably daddy's money. I honestly don't see many kids in newer muscle cars unless its a family thing.

 

[ThatSilverCar]

Yeah you want to search for "HPDE" (High Performance Driving Events) in your area.

Those and Autocross events will both give you an instructor. As luc mentioned, they HPDEs will run ~300 a day (it varies a little) and you'll get a ton of seat time. Autox is like 1/6th that price - you won't get as much seat time but its lower speed and a little safer, but the instruction will be a bit less intensive too.

If you commit to a couple years of autox, you'll learn a lot. Even though HPDE events only may cost $300 for entry fee, expect to spend more on preparing the car, possibly a hotel near the track, and put some money aside for consumables like brake pads, tires, and more frequent oil changes.

As for 17yr olds driving mustangs... At that age there's no way they're paying for a new car themselves. Its probably daddy's money. I honestly don't see many kids in newer muscle cars unless its a family thing.

This is good info, thank you. And to be clear not trying to be cheap or anything just can't see spending enough to buy another car for a weekend of track time lol. I'll chase this for a bit and see if I can locate some autox and some HPDE events.

 

[Dana Pants]

I would add “track night in America” and motorsportsreg.com to the list of things to use/ look into.

many of the fast track people I know cut their teeth at autocross. I highly recommend it as a starting point.

 

[txgt]

I recommend the HPDE route as well. You can go to www.motorsportreg.com and see what events are in your area (add HPDE to the filter).

In the Novice group you'll have a full-time instructor to help you learn the track as well as techniques!

 

[ThatSilverCar]

I recommend the HPDE route as well. You can go to www.motorsportreg.com and see what events are in your area (add HPDE to the filter).

In the Novice group you'll have a full-time instructor to help you learn the track as well as techniques!

Excellent, thanks for the link and guidance. This helps a lot.

 

[NightmareMoon]

This is good info, thank you. And to be clear not trying to be cheap or anything just can't see spending enough to buy another car for a weekend of track time lol. I'll chase this for a bit and see if I can locate some autox and some HPDE events.

You’re doing to right thing though. The mustang is a lot of car and the delta between what most people can do and what an experienced driver can do is huge. Magazines, TV shows, and youtube videos make it sound like the car is everything, but in practice, 99% of cars performance is limited by the nut behind the wheel.

The skills you will invest in by spending a bunch of your weekends at the track or autocross site will stay with you forever, and those skills make you more capable of saving your butt in all sorts of cars, weather conditions and situations. Its very rewarding!

 

[Weyland-Yutani]

This is great! I would also add that investing some time in auto-x or HPDE before you even think about mods is a huge plus. I instructed at auto-x for a while and trust me, you can make a car worse by modding it blindly.

 

[ThatSilverCar]

This is great! I would also add that investing some time in auto-x or HPDE before you even think about mods is a huge plus. I instructed at auto-x for a while and trust me, you can make a car worse by modding it blindly.

Yea that's usually my motto for the off-road world. Drive your rig how it is, let it tell you what it needs. Cheap lift and big tires doesn't = better wheeling lol.

 

[GTP]

This is great! I would also add that investing some time in auto-x or HPDE before you even think about mods is a huge plus. I instructed at auto-x for a while and trust me, you can make a car worse by modding it blindly.

All good tips so far.

I would add to go HPDE before adding any forced induction. If you really like tracking your car you should not add FI because you likely will not be able to keep it cool enough.

 

[2morrow]

I would add “track night in America” and motorsportsreg.com to the list of things to use/ look into.

many of the fast track people I know cut their teeth at autocross. I highly recommend it as a starting point.

Exactly this. I coached at SCCA's TNiA program for about 4.5 years and it's the best value in motorsports.

@txgt is right about motorsport.reg as well.

If you get serious into road course I would re-evaluate FI. It just causes unnecessary headaches. Power and speed causes a lot of problems early on and stifles your learning curve. Just my .02.

If your ever in the NorCal or even SoCal area hit me up. Lots of great tracks out here.

 

[ThatSilverCar]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone's advice here. I did my first HPDE (introduction) event. Had a great time and learned a lot. Hope to go back and do the two day HPDE event soon.

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