First Time Driver Skills

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally posted by alf
Jeff
Driver Skills days are not the same as Driver's Ed days. Skills day is running through 4 or 5 stations...slalom, skid pad, braking, late apex turn, mini auto cross in an abandoned airfield. You could take your station wagon and do the skills day. In fact, you will probably see several station wagons there

DE days involve driving on the track with other cars at track speeds, that is where you have to bleed the brakes and all the other good stuff. Skills day you could show up with a car that has a clean bill of health and should be fine.

It took me awhile to go through the PCA brochure and the PNWR web site to determine what the differences are. As readily apparent as they are to the old hands that have "been there, done that", it wasn't quite so obvious to me when I first started looking into where to start. So, thanks Alf, your point is well taken. I can definitely see where much of the advice offered applies more to DE than DS, especially the downshifting, brake bleeding, etc. It's all still great advice. I do plan on getting the car teched for track days and hitting one of the beginners' events at Pacific Raceways. For now, though, Drivers' Skills will be enough to get me started. Do they make them take the groceries and baby seats out of the wagons?

[Don Wohlfarth]

Jeff, I think you posted that you had spent quite some time looking for your car. If you had a PPI your car should be in pretty decent shape, no oil leaks, fuel leaks, brake pads and rotors OK, etc.
Relax. You will be taking a driving skills class where experienced drivers will help you improve your driving skills. It can be overwhelming with information overload. Take a deep breath, relax, enjoy yourself.
All of us started at exactly the same place, we just started a little sooner.

[Jeff Higgins]

Wow. Here I sit a day after completing my first ever divers' skills. First off, let me thank all of you for you advice going in; it made a pretty overwhelming day far less so than it could have been. It was absolutely invaluable to know, going in, that I had all the bases covered on the car. More importantly, my own physical and mental needs were covered, so I could concentrate on the task(s) at hand. Preparedness was certainly the key to getting through the day and having fun doing it. Anyway, I was absolutely amazed at what this car can do. I was even more amazed at what I could do after some first class instruction from some fantastic teachers. I will quite cheerfully add my voice to the chorus that says if you ever get the chance to do this, DO IT!! I mean skip your own wedding, sluff off the kid's graduation; whatever insignificant little life event that interferes can wait; this is important.