Parking Lots
 

Does anyone know of any empty parking lots in MD, that I can practice driving in?

The Burtonsville Shopping Center is nearly empty for the most part (relocated to the other side of street).

Also, looking on Google maps with satellite view, there's one at
6011 University Boulevard #350
Ellicott City, MD 21043.

Go to Google, type in your home address and then switch to satellite view and find empty parking lots. Hopefully that'll help you out.

Good luck.

I normally look for schools on the weekends. They are normally pretty isolated and empty. Not sure if MD has any rules against it but I have done it for years in other states and a couple times in MD.

i mean the first time you get caught should be a warning hopefully

What do you mean by "practice" lol

Not like he's going to do what we do in parking lots... ;)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1dkD7auEXc"]Black Betty Gone Drifting - YouTube[/ame]

I typically take a set of cones with me and lay out some random pattern. I only do it to test my grip in different conditions myself though. Can't afford to burn my tires out on non track days!

They don't have AutoX in Maryland?

If I was the property owner and caught anyone doing anything other than parking or driving to a parking spot I would call the cops and press charges.

Get on a closed course and stop giving performance drivers a bad name.

So you hooligans are the ones marking up our autocross lot in Frederick!

Haha we had permission :P Sad to say they don't like us anymore lol

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFA-wXp-VPg"]Skid Racin' - YouTube[/ame]

Schools are heavily policed after hours in my county.

This times 5000000

I use to work at SAIC (Columbia), I went there taking the GF practicing 10mph driving on a my car (manual) since she doesnt know how to drive the security promptly came and said get off the property. Even though he was a **** about it I can't really do anything so i am like sorry for the trouble leaving now.

Just picked up a DGM BRZ Limited. If you have a regular meetup in the greater Baltimore area, let me know.

Reminds me of how paintball got. Kids and people shooting each other in public places or shooting innocent people as (jokes) made paintball look so bad and its sadly dead now.. Rockville was the place to get ammo/air and its gone now :(

But thats cool, just go to a closed area or get permission :P i want to learn how to drive like that.

I tried to teach myself some driving skills at local shoppers parking lot. It's nearly empty, but there is cop in the middle of parking lot -_-...

There are entire clubs that go out and find safe, empty parking lots for people to learn how to drive in and then organize events in these parking lots with set courses. It's called Autocross, sign up and learn the right way.

I think he wants to learn pedal clutch/gas modulation and shifting technique, which I imagine isn't what's being "taught" at autocross.

Trial by Fire:party0030:

I doubt it.

I could be wrong in thinking that he is looking for a place to "hoon" around a bit and learn the limits of his car, but I don't think you need to ask on a forum for an empty parking lot to do legal "learning to drive a stick at super low speed" kind of things.

If he just needs to practice learning the clutch/gas modulation then any empty parking lot on a weekend morning will do. Somehow I didn't get that feeling when reading through this thread seeing as that the majority of people were talking about empty parking lots with no cops. And honestly, if he can drive to such a parking lot just fine, he probably doesn't need to sit around and practice in a parking lot.

Edit:
And after re-reading through all of the posts again, I realize that you don't think he is going to be doing legal learning to drive stick in a parking lot either:

In my country, the police don't harass you for slowly putzing around an empty parking lot trying to learn how to work a clutch....

That's quite an ASSumption there, chum. The cops I know don't like trespassing, which is what practicing driving at night in an empty school parking lot is.

You're just arguing for the sake of arguing now, I can do that with my wife.

To the OP, I apologize for making the ASSumption that you were wanting an empty parking lot to learn the car better doing some spirited driving. If you are just wanting to learn how to work the clutch because you don't know how then it has been my experience that going to an empty church or shopping parking lot in the morning will be just fine. If the cops come to ask you what you are doing and you haven't been driving fast and clearly ****ing around then tell them you are trying to learn the clutch, I am sure they are not going to harass you anymore. Honestly though, if you can get to this parking lot, you probably know how to work a clutch plenty well and can just get better through driving around town.

Of course this is all going off of Orbital's ASSumption that you are not asking around on a forum for an empty parking lot so that you can do more spirited driving...

Either way, you should check out your local autocross scene. It is the best and cheapest way to really learn your car in a safe and legal environment.

We can agree here, pal.

Ah, that sucks. The cops used to come out and watch us when we would practice drifting or do grip tests, but I guess someone probably did something stupid at some point to ruin it for everyone else. >.<

Why is everyone assuming people who want to throw their car around some cones in a parking lot have a manual transmission and don't know how to drive? I bought a brand new car with paddles and want to play around in a safe environment with the different assists without having to wait in line or pay to play. You don't practice braking drills and specific maneuvers during a Solo2 autoX run.

Besides, my 05 STi is the dedicated track car. If people are going to insist on a pay event to throw the car around, could they at least recommend a good driving school in the greater Baltimore/DC area? AutoX isn't really the best place to get a feel for emergency braking, skid pad tests, and a little drifting to see how far I can push before I lose grip. I do the same thing with my motorcycles to learn their limits.

^^^ lol. You can easily find the limits of any car at autoX in about 40 seconds.

Really? How often do you slam on your brakes to a complete stop or practice drifting during autoX?

Been there. Done that. I fully plan to attend some events in the future, but I'd like a place to practice in the meantime without having to wait for others to schedule shit out and be limited to maybe 4-8 runs.

You can practice drifting all you want at autoX. You could also go to a drifting event.

Also going from 55-20mph in a braking zone at autoX you'll want to slow down as fast as possible which is pretty much the same as a panic stop (unless you can't figure out all you need to do is keep your foot down to complete the panic stop).

Or go illegally hoon up a parking lot and make us all look like assholes. Whatever.

The first run of the first time I took the FRS to an autox, I was sliding around all over the place because I wasn't used to the car, but I didn't knock over any cones or cause any traffic. They scolded me multiple times, announced it over the loudspeakers, and personally approached me and told me to go to a drift event instead. I've been doing this for a few years, and I've never seen so many people with their jimmies rustled like that after just one run before.

So no, don't practice drifting at an autox. Go to motorsport-appropriate events for what you want to do.

PS: if you're leaving skidmarks on the pavement, I don't think the cop will just give you a warning. Someone's gotta pay to get that cleaned up, and they don't want it coming out of the school's budget.

Your autox club doesn't sound fun....

And I would tell them to shove it. I don't care which club that was but if you were clearly not being belligerent there's no place for that kind of attitude at an autox... Then again, their event their rules. At least you don't have to go back since you have plenty of options.

Hell I was drifting all over the place last weekend on a couple runs. Yeah they made a couple light-hearted jokes about it over the loud speaker apparently (like how the hell did he get going fast enough to drift the first turn), but certainly no animosity...

Haha yeah. The deal was that the guy who usually runs them was out of town, but they decided that the show must go on anyway. So it was run by a bunch of guys who didn't know what they were doing, and they were probably stressed out about all of it.

Plus it was an SCCA event, so you get a handful of people who just gotta get those perfect lap times in for the national competitions and will get pissed if you do something wrong or your car isn't totally within the rules for its class. :rolleyes:

I didn't realize drift practicing was a common safety concern these days...

As for slamming on the brakes, you can do that on a normal empty road in the middle of the night. It's not illegal.

A cop would probably consider slamming on your brakes for no reason reckless driving or negligent driving.

You have shitty autoX clubs. I'd never say a word to a drifter if he's not hitting cones even if he takes 20% longer time wise. Sometimes you get idiots who think there are things more important than having fun.

If you were being disruptive it would be a different story, but it doesn't sound like you were at all.

On 2 occasions this past autox the announcer is like the Firestorm FRS is making some sweet slides!

Yeah, I'm not remotely asking for the nearest elementary school or church parking lot to practice in. There are abandoned malls, industrial areas, etc which could potentially have an arrangement worked out with the property owner to get releases signed and host up a place to play around and practice whatever. This is how SCCA gets lots set up at Universities, Airports, and stadiums.

I want to do the same thing, but without a set course, timing, etc. Just break out some mini cones and practice whatever I want with zero pressure to get it all figured out in 4 to 8 runs lasting less than a minute...

When I was into stunting my Speed Triple, we'd get a business owner to let us sign waivers and use their private industrial road for wheelie/stoppie practice. It's not irresponsible. It's a hell of a lot of fun and a great way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Better to practice in a closed safe environment than be like the d-bags back in Malibu who try to drift around the Snake and nearly kill bikers.

A church parking lot would be so much better to practice in. If anyone approaches you just start yelling HALLELUIJAH, THANK YOU JESUS and claim that The Lord is communicating with you.

And that's why I bed my brakes in on the highway at 2AM.

Yeah, I guess knowing how to counter-steer into a slide isn't ever useful on the road... especially on crappy road surfaces, during the first 15 minutes of a light rain, or say when you're having fun on a twisty back road and wag the rear a bit around a corner. Knowing how the car behaves when the rear gets loose isn't important at all.
/sarcasm

[ame]http://youtu.be/0FPEnFKNcNg?t=3m29s[/ame]

Don't tell me you wouldn't have fun doing that. :party0030:

Fun or practicing for safety concerns?

This thread is ridiculous... I am not a police officer, you don't need to beat around the bush to try and convince me that you are "just practicing sir". We all know what you are doing when you are trying to find a parking lot to SUPER-DRIFTO-POWER-NUMBER-ONE in, and it's not for safety.