I just took the family to Limerock Race Track for the Skip Barber 2 Day high Performance Driving School. It was a gas!
Skid pad, autocross, braking, lane toss, and time on the track.

Got to try some great cars: Lexus ISF, Porsche Cayman, Porsche Carrera, BMW M3

Here is a video of 2 laps in a Lexus ISF. This was a lead and follow excercise not a race.
Loved the car, lots of power and it was pretty well balanced.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIp142-8MWo

 

its like gran turismo =P

 

it is a one of a kind experience. glad you got to enjoy that with your family! how did you find the track? i remember doing mine at laguna seca, and (having played a lot of gran turismo), it was a lot of fun to emulate the digital version to the real life one.

 

Limerock is a different sort of track. The longest straight is ~1/4 mile leading into a tight right hander. It is amazing how quickly that distance disappears when the instructors are having you change positions and the last car has to pour it on to get into 2nd position. It didn't always happen.

Limerock on the back field also has an interesting uphill. You can let the power out and feel the car hug down until you hit the crest and the car springs loose. That quickly turns into a downhill into the the last turn, another right hander into the front straight.

Last year we did the 2 day Mazda school which has no track time. We quickly discovered that when someone would ask "How fast did you go?" you have no idea. It wasn't until I saw the video that I could see the speeds. The fill video has much more data including lateral "g's". The best part of the video was that they are trying out a new system and it was free.

 

Awesome. I'd love to attend one of these driving schools one day - it's one of the best mods you can do!

 

I drive faster than that on freeway. lol. jk.

 

Skip Barber is extremely expensive, but you can learn some great techniques. We used to have the Panoz Driving School at Road Atlanta, I took that course and learned a ton. The Panoz school was bought out by Skip Barber, so it was pretty much the same thing.

I have also done the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (I know it is NASCAR, but I won it through work), which was pretty fun going 160mph in a NASCAR. That actually gave me a bit of respect (starting with none) for NASCAR drivers, the forces of the speed on the banked turns is incredible.

I have also gone to many sponsered events and time trial events at multiple tracks, like the most recent AMG event in Savannah, and those are great to learn how to handle your own car around a track.

But the most fun I have had was doing the World Class Driving event. We got to each drive 5 amazing cars (check out the site = worldclassdriving.com) up through the north Georgia mountains, my father and I had a blast! Not much for driving instruction, but pure 100% fun.

I highly recommend attending at least some form of driving class/school/event, racing instructors have a wealth of knowledge to give and it can come in handy at any time.

 

That sounds like fun... I also love the videos.

The video looks like it was edited from Gran Turismo

I should dig it up and start playing again.

 

they were trying out a new video system. the best part was that it was free!!!!

 

Nice, I am going to the skip barber @ lime rock on the 29th

 

Which course are you taking?

 

I am taking the intro to racing, I think its just a 90 min lapping session with the spec Miata.

One day I will try the 2 day school like you, its more comprehensive and there are some more fun cars... but more expensive

 

The Miata is fun. We got to try them last year when we did the 2 day Mazda driving school. Not sure what goes on with the 1 day racing school.

 

ive been looking into the NASCAR one in vegas. to go at that high rate of speed and to not lose one's focus, thats impressive. theres so much knowledge to be learned from attending a driving class/school/event. though it can get pretty costly, but the expertise and direction from professionals is something you get to keep forever.

 

I've done the Racing Adventures - Racing Schools, it was worth every penny.