Advanced driving techniques. Courses. Schools.
By the zak - Sun, 02/24/2008 - 12:48pm.
What advanced car driving courses or schools are around the Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline area?... advanced driving techniques that go beyond just good driving, such as the skills of the race care drivers or the skills of the experts in security driving for people of means hiring for their family the best of drivers.
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None "in" boston
...because there are no racetracks in Massachusetts.
Avoid the "teen driving" programs, or anyone who runs them- they're little more than demonstrations, and they run huge groups of students through them assembly-line style for a platinum-plated penny. They're mostly run by car dealerships looking to write off crappy American cars they can't sell and maybe get some sales from parents. You/your kid don't get to use the car they'll be driving, and they don't get much "seat" time. In some of the programs, they don't get to drive at all!
If you're looking for learning how to handle and control your car (most people don't need to know how to do J-turns :-), then start off with a "car control clinic" offered by either the BMW Car Club Of America, or the Porsche Club of America. The Sports Car Club Of America also offers such classes (BMWCCA allows any marque, I think- PCA may require Porsche owners only. I forget exactly. SCCA allows anyone.) If you like it, then go to a full on "High Performance Driver Education" event, which is at an actual track (closest are NHIS and Lime Rock Park.) It's strictly non-competitive and rungroups are divided by experience level. You have an instructor in the car with you the entire time you're on the track, and you spend time in the classroom as well. You drive YOUR car- insurance typically covers ONE claim from these kinds of events, as long as a)it's clearly stated that timing/competition is prohibited at the event, and b)there is a curriculum being taught.
If you truly want a program for security drivers and the like, look at the Tim O'Neil rally school- they offer that, general driving and rally driving courses. It's up in Franconia Notch, NH. They have a big fleet of cars for training you in RWD, FWD, and AWD (this is one case where you do NOT want to be in your own car!)...and a huge plot of land with trails Tim designed from his experience rallying.
PS:
Could you please take some English classes, "the zak"? Or at least proofread your posts? How on earth did Adam give you rights to post here? I thought this was supposed to be the "best" of Boston bloggers.
Wow, that was a totally
Wow, that was a totally random Zak post. Do we really want the Zak using aggressive driving techniques? He might try to jump his car off the library roof as a form of Zak protest. The Zak must have watched the new Knight Rider show last Sunday.
Adam needs to turn on
Adam needs to turn on moderation for community posts, so that zak in turn needs to learn how to clean them up to get them posted.
Zak musta crashed his rice burner drifting or something, because he's been posting much more lately [unfortunately].
Skid School
There is a training program for emergency handling techniques (and for humbling young drivers with the knowledge that they really CAN'T control the vehicle as well as they believe they can). It is called skid school. I believe there may even be an insurance discount for taking the course.
They hold it at Hanscom Field a few times a year.
J turn
J turn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-Turn