RE: Update: Prep for Driver's School

["Will Hartje" <WHartje@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

For those of you going to a driving school for the first time there is some
preparation you can go through.

1 Learn the skill of heel and toeing. This can be practiced safely on the
street and is a good practice to incorporate in your daily driving.

 2 Learn the skill of threshold braking, this too is a useful skill to be
able to use on the street, so long as there is no one right behind you..

3. Go to the track with 4-5 lbs extra pressure in your tires.

4 Check your wheel lug nuts for tightness with a torque wrench before you
go.

5 Empty the car of all loose items that you won't need at the track.

6 Read a good book on performance driving before attending school such as
Sports Car and Competition Driving by Paul Frere  (ISBN 0-8376-0202-5)

Hope this helps.

Will Hartje
Chief Driving Instructor, NASA AZ



- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-bmw@domain.elided [mailto:owner-bmw@domain.elided]On Behalf Of M3 Buzz
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2001 5:43 PM
To: bmw-digest@domain.elided
Subject: Update: Prep for Driver's School

hello again - I posted the attached note way back at the end of July when I
registered for my first Driver's school, looking for advice on mods - what I
got back was solid recommendations about the biggest mod I could make before
the track - work on ME.  Boy, can I tell all of you that YOU WERE RIGHT ON
TARGET!  I did nothing but change the brake fluid before the event and check
the rest of the tech checklist.  The car is awesome, and I now know it'll be
a
few (many?) more schools before I'm more capable than it is.  I had an
absolute blast!  Thanks to all who said to keep it stock for now and invest
in
the schools - that's good advice.  I learned more about the line by feeling
it
in the seat of the pants than any amount of talking it and seeing it in
books/videos, etc.  Braking is easy to describe, but to do it right, you
need
to have someone keep you off them longer than you might be tempted, and then
BRAKE HARD and turn in!  Again, nothing like experience.  And Pocono is
forgiving, but the only mud on my car was put there by the car I was about
to
pass when he put a tire into the puddle at the apex - no excursions, but
plenty of squeeling tires to tell me I was close enough...did I say I had a
BLAST?!

Although my baby is no longer a virgin, it's still in pristine condition,
although the pads are a bit thinner, but I made up for that in smiles and
adrenaline for two days.  The only thing I'm considering, maybe next summer,
are harnesses and track tires - to save wear and tear on the left knee and
the
expensive street tires.....will revisit this list to tap the incredible
knowledge here when I get closer to doing those two...THANKS again to all
who
replied to my original note!
Tom
'99 M3

>Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 21:10:15 -0400
>From: "M3 Buzz" <M3Buzz@domain.elided>
>Subject: Re: Prep for driver's school
>.....
>hello all - new to the list, had a question very likely asked before, sorry
>about that, but here goes:  I'm a couple of months away from my first
driver's
>school - Pocono on 10/6-7 with the Delaware Valley BMWCCA chapter - and
wanted
>a quick hit list on things to consider and/or definitely do before the
school.
>I have a stock '99 M3, and am considering a K&N filtercharger with an OBD
II
>re-program (Turner offers a package, any feedback on that appreciated too).
>Will also need to be talked/walked through first brake fluid change and
>probably other prep stuff I don't know about.  Any thoughts on best
>bang-for-the-buck mods (and not too many bucks either) are welcomed.  Got
the
>bug when doing a lunch-time touring in the M3 on the Pocono track during
7/1
>Italian cars weekend!!  Now it's time to get myself up to speed, so to
speak,
>on what to expect and what would be useful to have...also, have read the
>driver's school FAQs etc, so I have some idea, but nothing beats real life
>experience!  Look forward to many years of discussion here, hopefully soon
>I'll be able to add something!
>  Tom
>  ///M3 'buzz'
- ----------------------------




- --
to be removed from bmw, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe bmw" to majordomo@domain.elided

------------------------------