David Stamm

I live in So Cal. What are some recommendations for performance driving schools here?

Canyon56

I know a few people who did the two day schools with McKeever. Their offices are in Valencia. The classes are up at Willow Springs.
http://www.raceschool.com/courses_high_perf.html

Skip Barber holds two day schools up north at Laguna Seca (and kind of pricey)
http://www.skipbarber.com/driving_sc...hp_school.aspx

Doc V.

Skip Barber

Duckman

I've done Skip Barber at Willow Springs but it was a long time ago. The training and the track are very, very good. I don't know how current the equipment is.

flatsixforme

If your cost conscious and prefer to drive your own car I don't think you can beat one of the PCA Performance Driving Schools. I don't know about the orange county region or further north but the San Diego region puts a very top notch school twice a year. I just participated in one a few weeks ago and had a great time. I liked the fact that I was able to explore my own car's handling instead of a prepped race car that I'll never drive again. Price was $295 for 2 FULL days of driving and one evening of "chalk talk." Note: You will go through a couple hundred dollars worth of tire during the school so there is a hidden cost.

Another good school I've done is the Jim Hall Karting school in Oxnard. I did the 2 day school and had a blast. Going 0-70 in 6 seconds when you are 2 inches off the ground will surely get the juices flowing. It's a nice big track and you get going very fast. This school was not nearly as instructor intesive (they can't exactly sit in the passenger seat) as the PCA school so a true novice might not get as much out of it as someone who had some previous experience in performance driving. Karting is a great way to work on your driving skills as you are better connected to the road. However, moving from a kart to a car requires different techniques I've found due to having to factor in a cars movement with the suspension. I think this was $625 but that was 4 years ago.

I've never tried the expensive schools so I can't weigh in on those.

fast_freddy

If you have a Porsche, do a DE. You'll get very very similar coaching and it'll cost you a whole lot less. Also, you'll get to learn more about your car rather than something else.

I did a Skip Barber school at Lime Rock many years ago (open wheeled car with Saab turbo engine) which was fun and I learned a pretty reasonable amount but nothing more than I did at my first DE.

Kika

Trackquest http://www.tracquest.com/ is very reasonable with a lot of track time. I haven't gone in a while, since they seemed to have dropped Willow Springs. I went more often with my 911SC when Rennlister Todd Serota was running it. I believe he sold it a few years ago. Willow (closest to Los Angeles area) does not allow convertibles with a few exceptions (i.e. the pop up roll bars on some cars are allowed)

you drive your own car, separated into run groups, white: beginner, blue: novice and red:instructors and SCCA drivers.

No passing in white and blue sessions. Todd always arranged a big dinner together afterwards that was a lot of fun.

As fast_freddy pointed out, DEs are the way to go. try tracquest, also SCCA and other car clubs, including PCA have them. According to Pano there is a DE at Fontana on Jun 15 sponsored by the San Diego Region. de@pcasdr.org is the contact info, guessing you need to be a PCA member to go.

2Many Cars

+1 on McKeever at Willow. He trains the celebs for the race at Long Beach and has a stable of cars you can use if you prefer not to use your own. I've done his school twice with clients and we all had a blast. He does allow you to use your own car but it's lots more fun using his because you can drive the snot out of them and not care.

If you really want to learn the basics, have fun and get maximum bang for the buck see if Jim Hall (yes, that Jim Hall, and his son) still run the go-kart classes in Ventura. It's been a while since I did it but it's probably the best way to get started learning the fundamentals and the karts not only are fast they really let you feel what's going on so you'll "get it" pretty quickly. Great stuff!

Eric in SD

BMW Car Club (bmwcca.org) puts on some very well run DE's at tracks throughout California (throughout the US for that matter) and everyone is invited, as long as you join the club for $40. Several Porsches usually show up along with a few other brands. BMW people are great and generally love Porsches!

Kein_Ersatz

Region PCA DE event in your car.

mac993

Did Bondurant a few years ago and it was awesome. Had a blast got a ton of seat time and the people were great.

leonardjohnr

+1 on your local Porsche DE...

Martin S.

It depends on how big a rush you are to get schooled. Recommend you check out www.porscheownersclub.org They (we, the POC) conduct two (2) one (1) day schools per year at the Streets of Willow, Rosamond, CA The school is on Saturday...then you participate in a one (1) day event on Sunday...about $300, both days. The school is not a mandatory prerequisite to attend an event, but I'd recommend it if you have no other driving at speed experience. The 2009 Short Track Series Calendar is on the web site, posted as the Short Track Series (STS).

The above is part of the Porsche Owners Club Short Track Series...you casn graduate up to Time Trials, and ultimately to wheel to wheel Cup Racing if you so desire.Your registration fee includes a instructor....in fact you can always request an instructor.

I went to a four (4) day Bondurant course when it was at Sears Point, aka Infineon. It was an incredible experience. The school is now in the Phoenix area.

As mentioned in the string, McKeaver runs a school at the Willow Springs track. I have heard it is very good. In fact, I have heard that all of the schools are good, Jim Russell, Bertil Roos, etc.

The local PCA DE series are also a great way to learn...San Diego has their Performance Driving School...BUT, in many cases the DE is one lap arounf the course. get back in line, do another lap, etc...then you get corner worker duties. The POC events are all continuous laps and NO cones to navigate about.

PM me if you want more info on the Porsche Owners Club.

2Many Cars

If you are just starting out I would highly recommend starting at the Streets of Willow as opposed to another, faster track. A big part of getting a feel for driving fast is learning how to drive a proper line and smaller, tighter tracks like The Streets of Willow will get you there faster. On the faster tracks (like Willow itself) you'll hit higher speeds which while fun, will be a distraction from learning good technique. I've driven both tracks at Willow and would strongly recommend starting on The Streets. The 100+ mph straight on The Streets is plenty fast versus the even faster back straight on the main track where it will take quite a few laps just to get over the "seat pucker" factor much less learn the line. It's also worthwhile attending a DE or class where they include some skidpad time so you can get a feel for the limits without embarrasment and in a totally safe environment.

IMHO if you have a good handling car, tight tracks like The Streets are actually the most fun anyway, regardless of skill level.

kjr914

+993 on PCA.
Autocross (AX) is a great way to get to know the basics of your car BEFORE going to a bigger track, where a mistake is MUCH more costly. The San Diego and Orange county groups are very active...and a good bunch of people to boot!

For the $3000 you'd spend on a 3 day "racing school", you can do 10 PCA Driving Schools, 15 DE or 75 AX days.


Martin, I think you're confusing the AX & DE setups. The DE is continuous lapping (the next one for San Diego Region is at CA Speedway in Fontana with paid corner workers, not 100% how they do it at Qualcomm Stadium). The format for AX is the one lap, then lineup for the next run....but you get 12+runs in a day (vs the 3 for SCCA To slightly misquote...."PCA Membership has its privileges" )

My sense was POC was much more racing oriented than PCA. If only I had the spare $$$$.....