VIR Track Day Help
 

Fellow F'ers, we ATL/SC crew are looking to do a weekend at VIR sometime in '17 and wanted to know what the best HPDE group would be a good one. I know Chin has events up there but they are by far the most expensive I've seen. Any recommendations or links to clubs would be appreciated.

I have taken my 11 F to VIR a couple times with the mustang SVT cobra club. Really a great bunch of guys and wonderful instructors. All kinds of cars show up and it is a low key weekend. Tons of track time on the full course. They co-run with Track Club USA and you can join there. I will probably go to Winterfest or Superfest in February or April 2017. Read up on the forums at this link.

http://www.svtcobraclub.com/forums/

trackdaze also has good events and they run the grand course at vir. Maybe I'll see you there.

I'll let you know when we'll be up there, typically with BMWCCA or the PCA. I think the BMW Club has one of the better instructor programs out there but is a bit more strict than the PCA on letting folks go out solo.

Lately my wife has been racing (not instructing) and the events don't always overlap, but she's building a new racecar this winter and will likely do some events to shake it down before racing. She typically does BMWCCA, PCA or sometimes NASA or Mustang Club if not racing.

They haven't rolled out the calendars yet for BMW http://www.tarheelbmwcca.org/calendar.html
http://www.carolinas-pca.com/
http://zone2.pca.org/zone-2-calendar/drivers-education/


Will add a few more once get some info back. Wife has instructed several times in an IS-F; would be glad to connect you if we go.

I second Track Daze.. Also, Hooked on Driving puts on good HPDE events. I also want to drive VIR next year. LMK. My buddy Mark (thegrunt) will want to go too. Plus, maybe Rafi from RR Racing will be interested in attending.

-Mike

NASA HPDE's are cool, if you did not get much instructor time, I would not try and get to solo, instructors have a lot to say about your driving and driving at a track in particular, don't rush to move up either. I stayed in HPDE1 for a very long time, in HPDE2 instructor usually hops in with you on the first session to see if you can drive solo, even in HPDE2 I would drag my friend along with me to give me pointers, show proper lines etc. don't ever rush to SOLO, as a lot of solo drivers I see that did not do DE1 should never be solo and should never be on the track.

NASA - Has a very good instructor program, includes classroom, download sessions etc. they're very strict about car safety and progressing you to SOLO (Groups HPDE 1-4)
HOD (Hooked On Driving) - Also pretty decent, more lenient on car safety inspection and progressing to SOLO (Groups A,B,C,D)

As mentioned above, BMWCCA, Mustang Club, Audi, then you have clubs that only do Advanced (SOLO) TT4C, Precision Track Time etc. but these give you the most of track time, but don't make attendees mad by saying you're Advanced and you're not, they're usually open passing and non-skilled driver can be more of a danger than anything, you can also get kicked out if you ignore the flaggers or get complaints from people.

I really liked NASA as a start, they're like family now :)

Thanks so much for all the input guys. I looked into trackdaze and they have two events at VIR, March and Nov and at this time HOD has none on their 2017 event listings.

Dave, keep me posted on when you and the wife might be heading up there, I'm definitely in for some instruction, especially on a new course, I think it's always a good thing to have some experience riding shotgun.

As it looks right now, I would be more likely able to work around a November weekend instead of March, I figure the more time we have to plan the better. Plus, the F loves the cooler temps. I would hate to do this over the summer and risk backing off due to trans/oil temps.

Hell, maybe even by November the racecar will be done and I can tow it up with the F....haha