Considering Driving School Over Performance Upgrades
 

Instead of upgrading my FRS with performance parts when I honestly probably can't drive the car to its full potential anyway I was thinking about investing those funds in driving school. I was leaning toward http://www.dirtfish.com/. Do you think that going to track days is enough to get better on my own instead and save my money? Are there any other schools around you guys have heard of or can recommend?

driving school is the best "MOD" you can buy/get

I think a nice balance of both would be the best. Part of the fun is learning how to drive the car faster(Safely on a track) weather on your own, friends, instruction etc..

Sounds to me like you've made a wise decision.

While I am sure DirtFish would be a blast, you might want to focus on a program that will have you driving RWD cars (preferably one where you drive your own car) on tarmac, since that will be more analogous to the driving you will be doing anyway.

Any you can recommended? In California preferably. I'd like to go somewhere reputable.

+1 to driving school > mods (until the car becomes the limiting factor) and...

this. Most clubs that organize track days offer the option to have an instructor. Try NASA, SCCA, BMWCCA (all cars welcome), NCRC if you're in norcal, or ask in the track section for others. There are a lot of people in the track section who are happy to help, and some threads on how to get started.

lol see my suggestions in post #7; we crossed paths :)

DirtFish is a great program if you are driving a rally built car as a daily...otherwise i would Highly recommend a driving school that lets you drive YOUR car and teaches you the limits of YOUR car. I did this with my FR-S and as soon as the track opens back up i will go again it helped that much with understanding this car and how different it is from every other car i have driven (and im coming from a 240SX).

I've heard great things abut DirtFish, but it's up in north WA and focuses on rally driving. There are many good schools in CA. Where in CA are you? Sonoma Raceway (formerly Infineon [formerly Sears Point]) has a school called Hooked on Driving. Just research any racetracks near you, there's likely a school at each of them. I live 10 min from PIR (Portland International Raceway) and can't wait to take some classes there.

I'm in SoCal but have family in NorCal I can stay with so really anywhere in California works. Thanks guys. I appreciate the input!

Taking Driving Classes or going to Driving School is an excellent way to spend money. You get to push your car further in a closed and contained environment to learn the limits and how to control at the limit. I don't have any statistics, but I would say the majority of high speed or inclimate weather accidents happen because people do not know how to control a vehicle when traction is lost. How many times have you heard of someone losing control of their car and being surprised and not know what to do? But if you are familiar with the sound of your tires losing traction and how your car behaves at the limit then you know what you have to do to save your vehicle in those situations. I've had a lot of experience in the SCCA and going to AUTO X meets and even though it's kinda ghetto to be in a "coned-out" parking lot of a baseball stadium, you really get to know your car.

When I was an in-experienced young driver I used to get into accidents all the time. I had 3 accidents when I was 17. Thankfully I survived and was never hurt. I thought all of the time spent in Gran Turismo made me a "GOOD" driver but in fact it just gave me a false sense of skill. Sure it taught me lines and basics, but it also made me more confident than I should have been. Once I got on the track and met people who knew more than I did, I kept an opened mind and learned as much as I could from everyone. I feel like that is a reason why I haven't gotten into an accident since I was 17, which has been ten years. (Hate to date myself.) But more importantly it gave me an outlet to act like a HOON and I learned to keep it on the track or closed courses, not to mention it taught me to look after my own car and appreciate what I had and not what I wanted.

Basically, it's made me a better PERSON on the road, not just a better driver looking out for himself.

I have the urge to post Video link for http://i49.tinypic.com/2mx2uxc.jpg
Ghost of Akina ehh? :D

I'd suggest attending a track day like this one: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20477

It's very inexpensive on a fairly forgiving track and for the $125 (or whatever it ends up costing) you have access to instructors that are more then happy to spend time with you. They tend to have several instructors and you can go with a different one each time if you want. By the end of the day you will be much more comfortable with your car.

Most groups like this break the attendees into 3-4 categories. Beginner, intermediate and expert. For the non-expert categories they only allow passing on the straights reducing the likelyhood of any car to car contact. But also allowing a beginner to focus on their driving and line rather then worrying too much about whomever is behind them.

I'll be out there at the end of Nov along with a few other 86's.