Skip Barber High Performance driving school
10-01-08, 10:02 PM
#1
Skip Barber High Performance driving school
Hi,
Today I was at the Skip Barber High Performance driving school at Laguna Seca, this was the first day of the 2 days course, and it was a blast! This is a very involving class; there were 12 students for 6 instructors! I was not planning to document the classes, so I did not take my cameras, which I regret deeply as there was some awesome moments, so I only have bad cell phone pictures and much worse cell phone videos!
The purpose of the High Performance School is to teach the basics of vehicles dynamics, use of the car inputs, throttle, brakes, steering and gears all together to get the best of the car without going over the limit, and do all this in a controlled environment where looking for the limit and stepping over it is without consequences.
The day starts with some old school class-like talk about the basics; tires contact patch, weight transfer under acceleration and braking and the 100% rule or the “string theory” (acceleration/brake + steering = 100%, the more you steer, the least you can accelerate or brake) and understeer and oversteer, what cause them and how to get out of them. Overall pretty standard stuff, people that have attended the Lexus Performance Driving academy will definitely remember these fundamentals, but this is always good to recap.
Then we proceeded to the morning driving session, we were splited in two groups for two exercises:
After that, we got a lunch pause; it was time to connect with fellow students. After lunch we got back in the classroom for some more chalk talk, this time about lines, turn in point, apex, and track out point, the proper way to get around corner, the various types of corners.
Then we proceed to afternoon driving session that was broken into 3 groups:
Last, but not least, we got to do “payback” laps on the Autocross, in a 911 and in a IS-F, instructors where driving and we got to ride shotgun. This, if anything, tell you that there is so much we still need to learn. The instructor in the 911 was very fast, but very clean, while the instructor in the IS-F just drift the whole course in a cloud of tire smoke, this was just nuts, such a blast.
There you go that wrap up the first day, we got around 3-4 hours of driving time and tomorrow we will take the 911 and IS-F on the track itself, and I can’t wait to go down the corkscrew in the IS-F!
Stay tuned for tomorrow's update!
Today I was at the Skip Barber High Performance driving school at Laguna Seca, this was the first day of the 2 days course, and it was a blast! This is a very involving class; there were 12 students for 6 instructors! I was not planning to document the classes, so I did not take my cameras, which I regret deeply as there was some awesome moments, so I only have bad cell phone pictures and much worse cell phone videos!
The purpose of the High Performance School is to teach the basics of vehicles dynamics, use of the car inputs, throttle, brakes, steering and gears all together to get the best of the car without going over the limit, and do all this in a controlled environment where looking for the limit and stepping over it is without consequences.
The day starts with some old school class-like talk about the basics; tires contact patch, weight transfer under acceleration and braking and the 100% rule or the “string theory” (acceleration/brake + steering = 100%, the more you steer, the least you can accelerate or brake) and understeer and oversteer, what cause them and how to get out of them. Overall pretty standard stuff, people that have attended the Lexus Performance Driving academy will definitely remember these fundamentals, but this is always good to recap.
Then we proceeded to the morning driving session, we were splited in two groups for two exercises:
- On a wet skid pad, with a couple of BMW 330i, we got to induce, feel and correct understeer and oversteer. The understeer part was kinda boring, as correcting is just a matter of slightly lifting the throttle, oversteer on the other hand was a blast as you got to correct by counter steering and really get the car sideways. This was a great way to start the day !
- The other exercise was an emergency lane change exercise, with some Porsche Boxter on a 3 lanes simulated highway where we got to toss the car at 50mph from lane to lane at the command of a green light, one lane over or two lanes over, and then come to a controlled stop. This was a great useful exercise that can definitely found direct application in everyday driving.
After that, we got a lunch pause; it was time to connect with fellow students. After lunch we got back in the classroom for some more chalk talk, this time about lines, turn in point, apex, and track out point, the proper way to get around corner, the various types of corners.
Then we proceed to afternoon driving session that was broken into 3 groups:
- First, steering wheel handling and shuffling; this was the first time we got to get in the IS-F for some low speed steering wheel shuffling exercises, we didn’t got to experience the full roar of the IS-F but that was nice nonetheless. Then at the same station but with the Boxters we also did some braking exercises, feeling the ABS and controlling the car under heavy braking. The instructors told us they use to do this with the IS-F but one guy press the brake and the throttle together one day sending the car into the wall... Since then they use the Boxters for this one...
- After than we moved to the Autocross, a large Autocross, roughly twice as big as the ones at the Lexus Performance Driving Academy, we run it with the Boxters again. This was a lot of fun as we really started to pick up speed and good lines, the Autocross has all kinds of curves, and even a mini straightaway. We run it with an instructor with us at all time, so we really got to improve the lines and putting together all the fundamentals taught during the day.
- The last exercise of the day, and the more fun, was the trailing brake exercise on the skid pad again, this time with BMW 330i and Mazda RX8. This was to get a feel of using the brakes to induce cornering, the wet skid pad, make it easier and does it at lower speed, this was basically a drifting exercise, get in the turn slightly trailing the brakes, feeling the back of the car getting loose, catching it and power sliding out of it... The BMW was terrible due to the lack of LSD, but the MX8 was a blast.
Last, but not least, we got to do “payback” laps on the Autocross, in a 911 and in a IS-F, instructors where driving and we got to ride shotgun. This, if anything, tell you that there is so much we still need to learn. The instructor in the 911 was very fast, but very clean, while the instructor in the IS-F just drift the whole course in a cloud of tire smoke, this was just nuts, such a blast.
There you go that wrap up the first day, we got around 3-4 hours of driving time and tomorrow we will take the 911 and IS-F on the track itself, and I can’t wait to go down the corkscrew in the IS-F!
Stay tuned for tomorrow's update!
Last edited by timeToy; 10-01-08 at 10:11 PM.
10-03-08, 05:51 PM
#7
Hi,
Today was the 2nd day of the Skip Barber High Performance driving school at Laguna Seca, I have the same BlackBerry camera I had yesterday so do not expect better pictures...
Let’s jump right in!
The day started with a chalk talk about tires specs, compound, sizing up and down and their influence on performance driving, then we talked about going fast on raceway, braking, entering a corner and accelerating exiting the corner, using the fundamentals we reviewed yesterday. We also spend a lot of time talking about friction circle and the combination of inputs, steering, brake and throttle to make sure to keep the car in control at all time. Lastly, we talk heel and tow downshift, the mechanical theory behind it and how to do it.
We then proceed to the parking lot where we break into 3 groups to participate in the morning exercises.
Then it was lunchtime and we got back in the classroom for the last talk: Racetrack procedures and safety, and lead/follow rules. That was a quick talk, we headed down to the pit lane where the cars were waiting for us!
That was an incredible experience; I will definitely recommend it to everyone. It is not about going fast (a little though...) it is about doing to right thing at the right time, about learning how to feel and recognize the car’s reactions and be able to correct them appropriately, and incidentally when you put it all together with proper lines, speed is present. The program and the instructors were top notch, the cars in great conditions, all around 10k miles and the track is, well, beautiful, I mean this is Laguna Seca, this is the real deal, it is not a shorter, easier route, it is the full track, corkscrew and straightaway included.
Next step for me will be the Mid November at California Speedway to run the “Roval” course with my own IS-F !
Today was the 2nd day of the Skip Barber High Performance driving school at Laguna Seca, I have the same BlackBerry camera I had yesterday so do not expect better pictures...
Let’s jump right in!
The day started with a chalk talk about tires specs, compound, sizing up and down and their influence on performance driving, then we talked about going fast on raceway, braking, entering a corner and accelerating exiting the corner, using the fundamentals we reviewed yesterday. We also spend a lot of time talking about friction circle and the combination of inputs, steering, brake and throttle to make sure to keep the car in control at all time. Lastly, we talk heel and tow downshift, the mechanical theory behind it and how to do it.
We then proceed to the parking lot where we break into 3 groups to participate in the morning exercises.
- We started with some heel and toe practice on the Boxters, one student per car, so we had a lot of runs downshifting from 3 to 2, blipping the throttle not to unsettle the car, though a little technical it was actually not as hard as I thought it would be.
- Then we moved to the wet skid pad again, same skid pad as yesterday, this time with a couple of RX8, one with half decent tires the other with completely bald tires; but driving it in a figure 8 style this time, so the straight is longer, we got more speed and the curve is longer. The exercise was similar than yesterday, basically finding the drifting point during braking and controlling the slide with the gas and steering, but the longer turns, the higher rate of speed and the slippery tires make for a much more interesting exercise, filled with a lot a spin out...
- Last exercise of the morning was the Autocross again, same as yesterday, but this time with a 911 and a IS-F, so significantly more power than the Boxters; which makes for a much more delicate control as the speed increase. Yesterday experience with the proper lines, braking, and turning point help a lot jumping right in. The IS-F was a blast to drive there, sometimes giving up a little of tire smoke under heavy acceleration, the IS-F felt very balanced and clean, it has a little more body roll than the 911 but the car’s behavior was always very neutral... Unlike the 911: that thing as the engine in the back, and on a short, tight and curvy course like an Autocross you can definitely feel it; If you properly mastered the skid pad, it may help a little inducing oversteer turn in, but then you find the car on a very fine line between helping the turn and a wipe out. Talking about that, I managed to get the most spectacular wipe out of the class in the 911, going though the mini straightaway flat out in 2nd, the car was unsettled by a little dip on the course and send me spectacularly spinning off course in a cloud of tire smoke as I was locking the brakes. That kinda calm my enthusiasm with the 911...
Then it was lunchtime and we got back in the classroom for the last talk: Racetrack procedures and safety, and lead/follow rules. That was a quick talk, we headed down to the pit lane where the cars were waiting for us!
- We were separated in groups of between 1 and 3 cars and got 3 20minutes sessions. It was a lead/follow sessions, where the instructor drive in front of the group to show the proper line, braking and turning point and the students follow behind. Each session was increasingly faster and they reshuffle people by speed in between the sessions. My first session was in an IS-F. I found going fast on the track easier than going fast on the autocross, the corners are much bigger and longer, so there is more time to decompose the various steps and “do the right thing”, unlike on the autocross where everything happened so fast. Don’t get me wrong, we were far from being slow! My second session was in a 911 and my last in an IS-F again. The last session was definitely the fastest, by a big margin as they put the 3 fastest and cleanest students together (one guy drive a IS-F off track and ruined the back fender in the gravels...). That last session was definitely the most impressive, the instructor told us we were lapping in less than 2 minutes, which seems to be fast for beginners like us (this was the first time I was driving Laguna Seca)
- After we also got to do “payback” laps with the instructors, one instructor and one student in each car, 911, Boxter or IS-F; I for sure jump in the IS-F and again, I realized than less than 2 minutes suck, my hot lap was done in around 1:45 (in Sport mode and Manual, as the instructor, unsure if traction control was off (it was), press the button again, which enable it back again...). I must say that was very fast and very clean indeed, but less mental than yesterday’s “payback” laps on the autocross
That was an incredible experience; I will definitely recommend it to everyone. It is not about going fast (a little though...) it is about doing to right thing at the right time, about learning how to feel and recognize the car’s reactions and be able to correct them appropriately, and incidentally when you put it all together with proper lines, speed is present. The program and the instructors were top notch, the cars in great conditions, all around 10k miles and the track is, well, beautiful, I mean this is Laguna Seca, this is the real deal, it is not a shorter, easier route, it is the full track, corkscrew and straightaway included.
Next step for me will be the Mid November at California Speedway to run the “Roval” course with my own IS-F !
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11-18-08, 05:21 PM
#12
Lexus Test Driver
Sweetness bro, way to represent!
I knew months ago when Skip announced that they were adding the IS-F to their fleet because they liked cars with big horsepower and awesome brakes that they wouldn't be disapointed
I knew months ago when Skip announced that they were adding the IS-F to their fleet because they liked cars with big horsepower and awesome brakes that they wouldn't be disapointed
